Cleaning eggs

I am getting chickens in the spring! first time! And I was wondering, how do you clean your eggs before you put them away or sell them or give them to neighbors? I have read so many different ways!

Teresa
New Freedom, Pennsylvania

All I do is to rinse the eggs off under warm tap water, scrubbing off any major stains with a green nylon scrubbie pad. It gets the eggs clean without soap. I don’t wash clean eggs as washing can remove the protective outer coating that keeps eggs fresh longer. Congratulations! You’ll LOVE your chickens. — Jackie

Planting under a tree

You are truly an inspiration! You approach things with a lemonade out of lemons (hell I bet you could make better stuff than just lemonade with your lemons!) mentality! You show us all that there is nothing we can’t do!

What do I plant under a redbud tree that has had a lot of poultry poop and killed the grass? I am thinking just maybe some wood mulch and another duck pond and let the mulch break down. Anything that EATS the nitrogen they produce?

Waylon Cook
Chelsea, Oklahoma

Thanks so much for the kind words! We can all do a whole lot more than we “think” we can if we just try. A favorite Native American saying sticks with me, “Even the strongest eagle cannot fly if he is afraid to spread his wings.”

Many plants can utilize heavy nitrogen but few can survive “hot” fresh manure. You have a good idea in applying wood chip mulch or even straw mulch and letting the fresh manure cool down. Then you can plant whatever you wish under that tree — from hostas to vegetables, depending on the shade of the area. Hostas love shade but many vegetables need at least half a day of sunlight. Redbuds don’t produce heavy shade, but I don’t know what other trees shade the area. — Jackie

Spilled lamp oil

As of 6 weeks ago welcome me to the world of homesteading – on an acre, on a gravel road in Indiana! Thanks for all your great advice. I spilt lamp oil on a set of pots and pans moving. How can I safely remove all traces?

Are you thinking of building another hoop house on your next seminar? That would be great. Hope to see you there.

Margie from Indiana

Lamp oil is easy to remove from pots and pans. I did that myself when we moved here! All you have to do is to fill a sink with very hot water, add dish detergent, and scrub well. Rinse, drain the sink, then repeat again. Your pots and pans will be fine then. (Before washing the first time, be sure to wipe all oil off with a rag or paper towel.)

We won’t be building another hoop house during the August seminar, but we sure will guide folks through the steps of building one while we tour our three up-and-growing hoop houses. They aren’t that difficult to build or use. Cheap, too! We’d love to have you come join us! — Jackie

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