Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[ValerieJ]

@ValerieJ , too bad Cooper seems to be shooting blanks. I was really counting on him producing offspring for you that laid nice dark brown eggs.

I know. I don't get it at all. He does seem to go after the Australorps more than anyone and they don't lay eggs anymore. He may not actually have been mating with the other girls much.

Had to raise a few chicks myself this year, which is where we got Ralphie. Hoping this fall I will get a chick or two from a broody. My current broody is back on the nest, but she has been sitting for more than 3 weeks so I don't have much hope for chicks from this batch.

 

[Smokerbill]

I foraged out back and got a half gallon of Oregon grape berries. They're thick in the woods this year. Last year there were hardly any.

I'm in the process of making Oregon grape syrup with 6 cups of them. Still need to finish straining, then boil the juice with sugar and bottle. Should be nice on pancakes this winter. Or on plain yogurt or ice cream.

I'll make jelly too. There are lots of green apples on my tree I can use to make the pectin I'll need.

ETA: I just learned that these berries are high in both pectin and acid so I think I just made jelly instead of syrup which is OK with me. My brother thinks I should be making Oregon grape wine...

 

[Kmaria187]

We had way too many eggs!!!! So I got a vacuum sealer machine and we went to work on our eggs so we could freeze them for the winter time when we get almost no eggs. We processed 5 1/2 dozen eggs!!! and still have another dozen for us to eat now. Each Bag contains 6 eggs. we went ahead and scrambled them since most likely we will eat them that way anyways.

 

[Smokerbill]

I'm kind of getting tired of eating eggs most days so I'm thinking about switching to fried chicken.

Just kidding. Sort of.

 

[ValerieJ]

I foraged out back and got a half gallon of Oregon grape berries. They're thick in the woods this year. Last year there were hardly any.

I'm in the process of making Oregon grape syrup with 6 cups of them. Still need to finish straining, then boil the juice with sugar and bottle. Should be nice on pancakes this winter. Or on plain yogurt or ice cream.

I'll make jelly too. There are lots of green apples on my tree I can use to make the pectin I'll need.

ETA: I just learned that these berries are high in both pectin and acid so I think I just made jelly instead of syrup which is OK with me. My brother thinks I should be making Oregon grape wine...

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I have those growing on the edge of the forest here. They've been there since we bought this place 11 years ago. I have never picked them because I thought they were an Oregon poison grape!!!

 

[ValerieJ]

I'm kind of getting tired of eating eggs most days so I'm thinking about switching to fried chicken.

Just kidding. Sort of.

Want Cooper back to try it out?

 

[Hinotori]

I have those growing on the edge of the forest here. They've been there since we bought this place 11 years ago. I have never picked them because I thought they were an Oregon poison grape!!!

They have a unique taste to them. I rather like them.

 

[Smokerbill]

Want Cooper back to try it out?

Nope, but thanks for the offer. Actually I've been thinking about raising rabbits for meat someday. I have all the cages I'd need so startup costs would be minimal. But first I'd need to consume most of the meat from my freezer.

 

[Smokerbill]

They have a unique taste to them. I rather like them.

I'd like to find the nutrient profile of Oregon grapes. Like most berries they probably contain loads of antioxidents and other nutrients.

 

[ValerieJ]

Nope, but thanks for the offer. Actually I've been thinking about raising rabbits for meat someday. I have all the cages I'd need so startup costs would be minimal. But first I'd need to consume most of the meat from my freezer.

We've been doing that for two months! Somehow we got ahead of ourselves. Maybe next week or the week after we can start buying meats again. We'll see. Fish is the only thing we buy regularly. We do love fish and shrimp here.