Welcome to The Yardstead
One of the simplest ways to supply some of your own groceries is keeping hens. Chickens are one of the most widespread and commonly kept domesticated animals. Hens can produce fresh eggs daily that are superior to store bought eggs in many ways. Fresh yard eggs have a better taste and higher nutritional value than most mass produced eggs. Chickens which are confined in huge prodution facilities frequently live out their entire lives in cages where they can barely move. It is common for hens in production facilities to be enclosed in cages 24 inches wide by 20 inches deep and 16 inches tall, with 8 or more hens in each cage. Their movement is severely restricted and the birds are unable to spread their wings or move about the cage without climbing over the other birds. The birds are also fed a highly controlled diet which lacks nutrients that free range chickens get from bugs and vegetation.Raising your own hens is really easy and many people find the birds to be quite entertaining. It is believed that chickens .....
Nothing tastes quite as fresh and wholesome as fresh bean sprouts. Bean sprouts are loaded with vitamins A, B C and E. Bean sprouts are also high in Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Niacin, Phosphorus and Potassium. They also contain 20% to 30% protein and all the essential amino acids. Dry bean seeds can be turned into edible sprouts in just 2-5 days. The sprouts generally yield between 2 and 4 times more edible material than beans. Sprouting beans is very easy and can be done in your kitchen with less than $15 worth of equipment.
Almost any type of beans can be sprouted. Some of the most popular seeds for sprouting are mung beans, adzuki beans, garbanzo beans, lentils, peas, and peanuts. Some beans sprout faster than others but my most are ready to eat in two to five days. The only things you need other than the beans are water and.....
Well, we had a very good spring garden this year at the yardstead. We had bountiful harvests of squash, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, onions and cucumbers. Basically everything we planted for the spring did well except our Okra plants. Im not sure why, but the okra plants we started from seed took several weeks longer to begin growing after we transplanted them to the garden than the other seedlings we planted. The okra did eventually grow though, but by the time the plants were growing well I had given up on them and they suffered from neglect for the rest of the season. Overall we were very pleased with the spring garden and were able to put several quarts of veggies away in the freezer. With all the spring vegetables played out, our garden is kind of bare at the moment. Late summer is so hot in our area that its difficult to grow good vegetables. It is however a perfect time to begin planning for a fall garden. A well planned and cared for fall garden can produce fresh veggies right on into the winter. Some good choices ........
