My Top Five Blog Posts of 2015 (and a tribute to my mom)

A tribute to my mom

2015 was a year of highs and lows, the lowest of lows coming the day after Christmas when my mother passed away following a long battle with breast cancer. Mom was the woman who taught me my love of gardening, cooking, crafting, and birds (although not necessarily chickens, of which she had enough as a young girl helping to care for her own mother’s flock)… Continue reading

Vegetable Rice Casserole

Vegetable Rice Casserole from Counting My Chickens

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Vegetable Rice Casserole: The inspiration

The fall garden gave up the rest of its bounty last week.

With six to eight inches of snow in the forecast (it ended up being nine), I harvested the remaining broccoli, cauliflower, and… Continue reading

Molting: Why Your Chickens Are Losing Their Feathers

molting

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It’s a little disconcerting to open the chicken coop these days; it looks like a chicken has exploded inside. There are feathers everywhere – in the coop, in the pen, blowing around the yard.

It’s apparent… Continue reading

Caring for Your Chickens in Winter: A Guide

Caring for Your Chickens in Winter

Are your chickens ready for winter?

It’s been a glorious autumn in Iowa, but these photos from last winter provide a chilling reminder of what lies ahead. Where I live, negative double-digit temperatures are all too common during the winter months, along with blowing snow and ice… Continue reading

How to Can Crushed Tomatoes in 57 Easy Steps

tomatoes2015 was a banner year for tomatoes!

We harvested the first tomato in June and kept harvesting them – by the five-gallon bucketful – right up until the first frost, which occurred on October 17. Almost a week later, I still have a five-gallon bucket of tomatoes sitting in the garage.

So what does one do with all of… Continue reading