Then we covered them with tomato sauce and lots of cheese and baked them until the cheese was melted and the zucchini was tender. The thinner ones took about 10-15 min. and the thicker ones 15-20 min.
Finally we cut them in half and enjoyed our supper. Zucchini pizza from long slices!
Recently we were able to cut and bale about 15 acres of hay belonging to a friend in the LaFayette area. We took our mowing, tedding and raking equipment to the field. Then we cut it and tedded it to help it dry. Finally we put it into windrows so that another friend could round bale it for us.
The hay was loaded onto a tractor trailer, 24 bales at a time, and hauled to the farm.
Aren’t rainbows are fun to see? No, the hay didn’t get wet; the rain was somewhere else.
The hay was delivered to the farm and then it had to be moved into the barn.
Hay was unloaded to the ground.A third friend fitted the bucket loader with a hay spear.The spear can pick up the hay.
The initial goal was to get the hay in the barn and under cover. Over time it will be stacked more neatly for when we need to use it in the winter.
A round bale is about the same amount of hay as 12-15 small bales.
We repeated the process two times. Finally the tractor trailer is ready to go back to its home.
We are thankful for the ability to get hay, for a dry stretch to be able to cut and dry hay, and for friends who help us with the process.
Recently we got our first cutting of hay for 2024 – 170 bales. We have described the process here, here, and, really well, here.
First you need a hay field. To grow, hay (grass/pasture) needs sun, rain, and heat. We have had all these things this spring. Long about June 1st we look to see if the grass is tall enough and then start watching for a block of dry days.
That block came this past week and weekend. So the hay got mowed and then tedded. The tedder is pulled by the tractor. It flips the hay into the air so that the upper dry side gets put on the ground and the lower wet side can be up and can dry out. If you have a tedder, this will happen once or twice.
The field will look something like this. Then the hay will get raked into rows. Finally the baler will get pulled and the hay will be baled. Ideally it will also have a kicker that will kick the hay bales onto the wagon.
Ideally doesn’t always happen. 🙂 The kicker wasn’t sliding correctly, so we ended up putting the bales right on the ground. And the knotter (for the strings that go around the bales) wasn’t always knotting correctly. So the hay would get spread out and wouldn’t be formed into a bale. And then the race was on to get the hay in the barn before the rain. But multi-generational help got the job done!
This year’s first cutting is now in the barn, a start of what we will need for the cows and sheep this winter.
I made a baked egg dish this week. First I sauteed a lot of vegetables, added eggs, milk, and cheese, then baked it with the lid off at 400F for 30 minutes or until it was done. It served 6 with leftovers. It was a good way to eat eggs!
[March 2025 update – I baked this with the lid on and liked the results better. It was moister and more even cooking.]
Eggs, Cheese, and Vegetables
Sauteed vegetables mixed with eggs and milk and grated cheese and baked. A good way to eat eggs!
1/2-1cup/personvegetables, include what you have – broccoli, cauliflower, summer squash, zucchini, green/yellow beans, winter squash, pod peas, sweet potatoes, greens, kale, greens
2 eggs/person
1tbsp-ishMilk/person
1ozgrated cheese/person
Instructions
Grease/oil skillet or ovenproof pan. Saute vegetables adding oil as needed.
Mix eggs and milk.
Mix grated cheese with sauteed vegetables. Add in egg mixture and stir well.
Bake covered in oven at 400F for 20-30 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
Notes
You can bake this uncovered, but I think it is more evenly cooked and less dry if you bake it covered.
Late last fall we got 30 Barred Rock chicks to add to this year’s laying flock.
These birds have matured and are now in the Taj Mahal. Here you can see some of them out in the grass and at the feeders.
At around 4 1/2 to 6 months chickens will start laying eggs. At first the eggs will be small. Then sometimes they will be really large and have double yolks, though we also see that as they get older.
The two eggs on the top come from our current layers. You can see how they are a bit bigger than the other three eggs.
The lower three eggs are from the barred rocks. They would have normal yolk and white inside, but they are smaller than what a mature hen would lay.
The one in the middle bottom – That egg doesn’t have a hard shell. Eggs have two shells – hard outer shell and the soft inner shell. When you peel hard-boiled eggs, you might notice that there is a soft lining that you need to use a nail to grab and peel away from your egg. That is the soft inner shell.
Eggs with soft shells can happen because the chicken is immature and her body just hasn’t figured out how to put a shell around the egg. It can also happen because she doesn’t have enough calcium in her diet to produce hard shells. So we give our chickens free choice oyster shells that they can peck at to add to their calcium supply.
