Surviving Minnesota!

[KlopKlop]

Hey all!

I was gone all weekend camping expecting to come home and find hundreds of posts! only 23? must have been busy!

We went to Mineopa State Park by Mankato. beautiful park with the added bonus that they integrated a small bison herd there last year from the Blue Mounds state park herd. ANND 3 of them just had calves this week! so cool to see! Weather was nice except for saturday afternoon it rained on and off. I also found a small area covered with Morel mushrooms while we were hiking. I didnt pick any as i had no idea if they were for sure morels but 99% sure. also i dont know how to prepare them. another time though!





More fun stories to come later on when i settle in for good. gotta go lock up the flock for the evening.

 

[I Love Layers]

I Love Layers they dont usually calve on their due date. But its usually within a week of it.

She was AIed so its pretty accurate.

 

[duluthralphie]

I went to the Carlton chicken swap. There was no food vender or breakfast sellers like online stated previous swaps had at it. The chicken bingo also wasn't present. The building was barely opened for the bathrooms.

There was a lot of barnyard mix breed chicks. Nobody was tagged or tested. I thought they where supposed to be regulated and everyone tested. I couldn't find the tester either. I asked around. I need to get some birds tested for a swap in lake Elmo on the 8th.

2 or 3 people selling food, a couple selling hard goods like rabbit junk, horse junk, new wood build goat hay feeders and small rabbit hitched and wooden stuff like that.
One lady had a giant sow hog for $300. I fought she sold it. She also had Guppys, that was kind of cool.

There was one lady with calls but it was just one white hen and 4 drakes. They didn't look bad but she didn't know anything about testing and was chain smoking the whole swap while I was there. She got ashes on me so I took it as a sign I shouldn't be interested in her stock.

Someone had Calgary ducks with bad eyes. Much of the stock there wasn't nice, but was was nice and well taken care of was really nice, but not really much pure breed.

A few sellers with lots of peacocks and Guinea they looked nice. And bel mcflue chickens looked nice quality.

Backyard breeding puppy people had a few puppys. Some where ugle toy breed mutts, some full labs.

Many goats. Don't know anything about goats.
2 donkeys.

Someone had quail but they where all bought up before I got there. They where adults and had to many males in the mix by the looks of the females.

Nice plants , the plants where the best thing about it for me. I got some large onion chives for planting for $5.

After reading all this, I am glad I did not go to Carlton.

I am amazed they did not have a tester or Vet there, I thought that was the law too.

I was bumming because I did not go, now I feel better..Thanks!

Kloppers, if its not a morel you would know in the morning if you woke up dead.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Klop it looks like a morel. Awesome find. The morel cap and stem are fused together. That's one tell tale. You have to rinse them to get the sand/dirt out of the crevices. Then sauté with garlic salt and butter and serve over a nice thick juicy sirloin.

I like the bison. But are they free to come in the campsites. I'm sure they could be quite protective of their young...?

 

[LauraHope]

With rare mushrooms like morels, you want to have paper bags ready. Don't put in plastic bags as the moisture can ruin them before you get done hiking , then they go to waste.

But never throw them in the garbage. Always Find an area where they would Likly grow and spred them out. There spores can grow more if it's a favorable envirment. In Montana I've found small grove hillsides of early season morels, which are Black and Tan while shed hunting. I had a good knife and plenty of paper bags and plastic bags to collect about a pound or 2 of them. Left certain ones here and there just in case, though they dropped enough spores already to spred more. The mycelium underground doesn't dye by pickin them, so if you do take them all, one year, they will come back again same as the last. But year after year collection might hurt the spred. There has to be a reason we don't see mushrooms like they used to 50 years or even 20 years ago. I think when people find them they take every single one.



If you really want to do it right, dust them off before putting them in the container while in the field. They can last for 6 years in the fridge once dried properly.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Good morning laurahope, and other bycers who are outside soaking up a glorious morning I guess as I see a total lack of posts!!!

I want to do my work around the house today since I got on a good roll yesterday. But I better go to the job that pays better. have a great one all!

 

[jerryse]

My favorite way to cook Morels is split them length way and dip in egg then cracker crumbs and fry in real butter .

 

[KlopKlop]

Klop it looks like a morel. Awesome find. The morel cap and stem are fused together. That's one tell tale. You have to rinse them to get the sand/dirt out of the crevices. Then sauté with garlic salt and butter and serve over a nice thick juicy sirloin.

I like the bison. But are they free to come in the campsites. I'm sure they could be quite protective of their young...?

No they are in a huge fenced plain. Probably 2.5 miles long and 1.5 wide. 6' tall tension wire fence for protection. In my eyes it's protecting them from the dumb humans harassing them while trying to snap their next Facebook profile pic

 

[LauraHope]

I am looking for quality call duck hatching eggs or a single adult female to breed. I want hatching eggs most. Anyone know anyone who's has really nice calls that are to standard

I know of someone who is selling a breeding pair. Message me if you would like to look at them

I am looking for call duck hens only right now. Or hatching eggs

 

[LauraHope]

There is a spot near the road by my cabin in cheek Wi which has "black shreks ear"(my own personal name because of what they look like) aka chandelier mushrooms.

They come in a black species and I think a tan one. They are SOO good. The texture is amazing. I couldn't get enough of them last year. Cool thing about them is the spores are all around the outside of the vase shaped mushroom that looks like a shreiks ear, you know from the animated movie. So the spores spread more as you pick them. They are touch to break so you can put them in a mesh oinion bag and spread the spores as you walk home!

I cook them in a tomato sauce dish whole after hand cleaning and washing each one. The sandy soil really get the sand all in them and down the circle, and gets them caught in the hole as it gets smaller before it grows into the ground.