Sunday, September 7, 2008

Green Eggs and Ham?

Hodgepodge

I am getting between three and five eggs per day! The Ameracaunas are definitely ahead of the curve as they are laying two eggs per day for the last three days! The green eggs are theirs. Floozey (Buttercup) is laying the white egg, a Cuckoo Maran is laying the darker brown one, and I don't have a clue who is laying the lighter brown ones! We have a growing list of regular customers who are waiting for me to start selling them for $2.00 per dozen. I am planning on putting an assortment in each carton. If someone wants a special order, I may have to jack up the price. (Gouge 'em real good!!!)


The Corncrib

This smaller building (Appx 15' x 25') is an old-fashioned corncrib. It has three storage areas. If you look closely at the front, you can see a set of double doors in the center and a door on either side. The double doors open wide and allow storage for larger things, like tractors, or other farm implements. The two side doors open into long rooms that are about 6' wide and run the length of the building. These side "rooms" have open ceilings and slatted sides to allow for good air flow to keep the corn dry throughout the year. These days, farmers who wish to keep corn year-round for feeding livestock generally keep dried corn in weather (and mouse) proof silos.


In the photo below, Ruth and I keep our firewood on this left side of the corncrib. It works really well for drying the wood and also keeping it dry. We have a little blue sled that we keep in there and during the winter months, we load it up and drag it across the snow into the garage. This works pretty well for us and this room can store all the wood we need for the winter! The wood stove has cut our heating bill so much that we had to pay a penalty for not using nearly enough propane. Hmmmm, something wrong with that picture...

The other side of the building is the tool room, where we store all of our yard tools.

This picture shows the room behind the double doors where I store my Farmall B tractor. This tractor deserves a post or three of its own! It was built in 1941 and I am the second owner. I found the sign nailed upside down on the floor of tool room.



I love my tractor.

29 comments:

Amy said...

Don, I'm so jealous. We need a wood stove so badly. We had every intention of putting one in this year too. You know how it goes sometimes. You just can't accomplish all your goals because unforeseen events crop up and ruin your plans!

I'm equally jealous of those beautifully colored eggs. Allow me a few moments to soak up the lovely pallette of colors....ooooooh! Aaaaaah!

I knew a fella who collected Farmalls. He had somewhere around a dozen of them when I worked with him back in '96. I have no idea if he still has them all. They are wonderful to look at and there are a few around here parked out in the front yard of their owner's home. They're also an important part of agricultural history.

I like your corn crib. It looks to be a very handy and practical building. Nice post!

sugarcreekstuff said...

I have Ameracaunas and some of them lay the tan eggs.
I envy your firewood room, mine is a big ugly blue tarp, not very roomy.
I only recently heard of Farmalls, ours is an old Ford. Nothing like an old tractor.

MYM said...

Wow...those eggs are so cool! Like Easter :)

lol@I love my tractor. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey, are you my uncle? My uncle has a nearly identical corncrib (where we used to play...what were mom and dad thinking?) that he stores wood in now. He also has several farmalls in his barns. Excellent!

Ginnie Hart said...

It's funny, Don, but after all these years/times of seeing the corncrib, I never once wondered what was behind those two side doors! Sometimes I amaze myself at my lack of curiosity!!

Just think...if Nicholas lived on your farm and collected those eggs and sold them (and gave you a percentage), he could become quite the entrepreneur! :)

freefalling said...

I like your tractor, too.

Country Girl said...

Nice tractor and your out buildings are great. I wished mine were as straight. Green eggs, I want some!
Last year was our first year burning wood and we only used 100 gal of oil. This year I hope to use NO oil.

Paula said...

Wow, your girls have got their egg laying parts in gear, Don! Those are some beautifully colored eggs. Don't you just love the Araucaunas' colors? They are usually all a different shede of blue/green!
Yay for posting pictures of your Farmall! I was wondering if you were ever going to show that thing off. Hubby went to a plow day Saturday, so I'll be posting some pics of him on his "H" soon.

sandy said...

Enjoyed this post and wow, look at those eggs..

Wish I lived close enough to order some eggs.

Gwen Buchanan said...

I love "Everything" about this post Don, except you having to pay the penalty.. you're right, something wrong with that picture!! crazy!

Unknown said...

i'd love some, Sam I am! i just love the colorful assortment of eggies, it's my favorite thing.

i love winters on the farm. i am so looking forward to xmas time, dressing in boots and coats to head into the darkness for wood reloading.

loves!

Don said...

Amy: Wood stoves are nice to have. Fortunately ours waas here when we bought the place, or we would be in the same boat as you. There's always something...

I was second-guessing myself when I ordered the different cariety of pullets, as some of them aren't the higher production kinds. But, I decided that I am not in the egg business to make money, so I want an Easter Basket every time I go to the coop!

My dad and I bought the Farmall together and had big plans to do some cultivating on his 40 acres for forage for wildlife. We just neveer got around to it and he sold the land, so the tractor ended up in my corncrib. I'm OK with that. It makes the farm feel more farmish.

You should see the teeny white egg I got today! It is hardly bigger than the quail eggs. I broke it open to see what was inside and it was all egg white, no yolk.

Don said...

sugarcreek: Thanks for the visit! I like the Ameracaunas, they are very self-sufficient and active. They don't take any crap from the roosters either!

I like having the wood out of the weather and drying in the crib. It seems like a good idea. I hope I'm not inviting pests inside!

Don said...

DrowseyMonkey: Thanks! IT's a lot of fun to see what the daily harvest is goiing to be.

Warren: I wouldn't mind being your uncle, you guys look like you're having a great time over there!

Don said...

ginnie: There are lots of doors around here! Did you see the little door going into the chicken coop? I have often wondered why someone built that door. I'll post it sometime.

I think Nicholas would have to do some pretty good math to get any money out of the eggs! I seem to be giving them away as fast as they get layed!

Don said...

freefalling: Well come on over and give the tractor a spin around the path!

Don said...

country girl: Thank you for your nice words. I'm afraid Ruth's photos make the buildings look a lot straighter than they really are! They all have a good lean to them. The tractor is nice to look at, but not very useful! I want one like you have one of these days.

Our son is up your way playing guitar on a Princess cruise that is going from NYC to Saint Johns and then back down the coast. He called me from Bar Harbor today. Very cool place!

Don said...

I saw the Ameracaunas at the farm store and bought the last three. They are all different, but seem to be laying exactly the same color of egg. I love the shade of green! They go well with the browns and white.

My uncle has a Farmall M, and it it gigantic compared to my A!

Don said...

sandy:Maybe I can send you a dozen?? I sent Laura a box of quail eggs...

Don said...

Gwen: I would love to get off the grid! It is annoying me more and more to be so reliant on things beyond my control. I must be getting old and cranky.

Don said...

I just love gathering eggs. There is something so fulfilling about it.

It is also gratifying to trudge out into the cold darkness to bring in a load of firewood that has been sitting there since May, waiting for you.

laura said...

That's a serious looking tractor, Don, in a comfortable, old-fashioned way. You should paint it--a picture of it I mean: a red tractor on green grass!

Anonymous said...

Your place is great! All those wonderful outer buildings and the history they have. You've done a great job preserving them and utilizing for other purposes.

Gotta love those eggs too!

Stiggy said...

I love machinery as you know Don - I am SO jealous of your tractor - you have a proper one!!!!

:D

Don said...

laura: my daughter Lesley did paint it. I need to see if I can post her work. It is a cool old machine.

Don said...

carole: I love old things, and this farm has its share of old stuff. My barn roof leaks tho!

Don said...

stiggy: it is a cool old tractor, but it doesn't have a three point hitch, so it can't really farm much. I would like to get one that has a snowplow and some tilling gear.

Anonymous said...

I love the dark brown eggs. We have one RIR that lays our darkest brown eggs. Now we're just getting 4-6 eggs a day. I think our chickens are getting ready to head into their molt!

I love old barns. Thanks for the pictures!!

Danni said...

Hi - I found you from Amy-Twelve Acres' blog. I have serious tractor envy - yours is a beauty. I would love to hear and see more.
You have a delightful blog and I'll be adding it to my "list". (Don't worry, it's a *good* list) lol
A lot of things you talk/write about are, in many ways, similar to my own experiences...
'cept you get GREEN eggs from your Ameraucanas (lucky, lucky - I "only" get brown). :-)