When you look at the photo of the potato, what do you see? A freak of nature or something unique and, in its own right, cool?
When we see this kind of imperfect produce, it tells us that something interesting happened to the potato during its growth. We acquired this neat specimen at a farmer’s market. If you shop at farmers’ markets, you’ll see lots of produce that wouldn’t be “acceptable” in grocery stores solely because it’s not perfect. Regardless of the fact that it’s still eminently edible and delicious…and very possibly better for you than the “perfect” version (see NPR’s article “Beneath An Ugly Outside, Marred Fruit May Pack More Nutrition“). Continue reading ““Ugly” Produce Needs Love, Too”
Saturday was “kindling day” for Siobhán, our American Chinchilla doe, and Oonagh, our Silver Fox/New Zealand doe. This is a first pregnancy for both girls, so it’s never safe to assume that everything will go smoothly.
We’ve been shopping at farmer’s markets for years, in many cities and states. One of the parts we particularly enjoy is the opportunity to meet the farmers. We’ve found great diversity among the individuals who farm: some grew up farming, others are career changers, and still others begin after retirement. One common thread, however, is pride in their products.
In addition to the Black Copper Marans eggs we put in the incubator a couple of days ago, we just started incubating some American Bresse eggs. While we have, to this point, raised dual-purpose chickens primarily for eggs, these are intended to be primarily meat chickens.
So, we have the fancy yellow incubator and the new hatcher just sitting idle in the gym/feed storage/sometime-duckling-brooder room downstairs. After the first hatcher fiasco with the still-air wafer thermostat incubator, we upgraded to a digital forced air model that seems to hold temperature much better than the other one did. Shockingly, the new hatcher hasn’t even been used yet. Seems like we should be getting our money’s worth out of this equipment. Guess it’s time to hatch some eggs!