We raise Golden Buff Orpington Chickens. Yes, I know. I NEVER (ever) would have thought that I would be a farmer…much less WANT and CHOOSE to grow a garden AND raise animals!!!!! And chickens…..well, that’s a story all by itself.
It all began about 3 years ago. We started buying eggs from a “way off the beaten path” kind of place. I wanted to move TO IT. You had to leave the highway behind and drive about 2 miles on these switchback turns up a mountain to get to Laurel’s house. Laurel (the egg lady) lived in a beautiful log house overlooking an incredible view of the Tennessee mountains. I sent the Handsome Husband to get eggs one day with a warning… “Just be prepared to fall in LOVE with this place!!!” I’m pretty sure he rolled his eyes…yeah, he definitely rolled his eyes. He does that at lot at me.
He arrived home that afternoon and said, “We need to put a for sale sign in the yard. We’re moving to the middle of nowhere to raise chickens.” (My Handsome Husband is from Dallas, TX. Like Mr. City Boy!!!! His idea of us “farming” was a few tomato plants in neat little raised bed boxes in the back yard.) But, that’s what we did…we put a for sale sign in the front yard.
Fast forward 3 years, after selling our house, living in an (incredible) rental place for 1/2 years, we built our own house. A friend of ours brought us 8 little baby chicks just 2 weeks after moving in and FINALLY (5 months later) we got our first egg. YAY….our life is full.
Our First Egg
We barter eggs & fresh whole wheat bread with a neighbor friend of ours in exchange for getting to drop off our bag of trash in her trashcan each week. She called this morning and asked if the eggs I brought her…like at LEAST a month ago, were still good to eat. I wouldn’t hesitate to eat them (which I told her) but I wanted to give her a bit more confidence before she cracked one and “tossed her biscuits” from the rotten egg smell.
Did you know you can check the freshness of an egg by a float test?? (Might be interesting to try this out on an egg “fresh” from the grocery store.)
HOW TO PERFORM THE FLOAT TEST:
*Put the egg in question into a glass of water, covering the egg by about 1-2 inches of water.
-If the egg lays flat like the above picture, you’re good to go. Your egg is fresh!
-If the egg turns up on its end like the glass on the left, it’s not the freshest but definitely safe to eat (and a super candidate for boiled eggs with the shells coming off without sticking to the whites!!)
-If the eggs floats, throw it out. It’s yuck.
***The USDA recommends using the eggs within 3-5 weeks from the date of purchase. Use your best judgement (or just brave it and crack it open. If it isn’t any good….you’ll know!! For SURE!)***
Happy Day :: C
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