VOGMASK Filtering Face Mask Review

Help us welcome our newest sponsor VOGMASK !

We all know we should be wearing a face mask when we clean our coops and sprinkle DE (diatomaceous earth) in our coops and runs.  But those plain white masks are SO boring.  I admit I wasn't ever wearing one, although I knew I should be. But since receiving this pretty blue floral mask from Vogmask, I wear it every time I sprinkle DE or refresh the bedding in the  coop - and actually enjoy wearing it!  It's super comfortable with two stretchy ear loops, and you can pinch the top to conform to the shape of your nose.

That's why we are SO excited to welcome Vogmask as a sponsor!  They sell the face masks in six different beautiful patterns.  Not only for barn chores, the masks are also great to wear for mowing if you have allergies or on cold days when you're out skiing or hiking.

From their website: "Protect your breath in style with vogmask™, the world's first good looking filtering face mask. With the choice of high-tech microfiber or organic cotton, these comfortable, reusable masks combine protection and style like never before. Whether you seek shelter from the perils of modern life or just want relief from allergies, vogmask™ has you covered."

Shop VOGMASK for cute and functional filtering face masks.

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Homemade Citrus Curd (Lime, Lemon, Orange or Grapefruit)

I am always on the look out for easy, delicious recipes using our fresh eggs.  I love lemon curd and recently found a recipe for lime curd. It sounded interesting and limes were on sale, so I decided to give it a try.  I had never tried making curd before, but was surprised that the technique is very similar to making Hollandaise sauce, but with more of the juice and sugar.

A Week in Farm Photos - Sept 23rd -29th

The ten best photos from the previous week around our farm. Enjoy!

I would like to know which one is your favorite!

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These photos are shared here:  Your Sunday Best

Nest Eggs

As the days grow shorter and the chill of autumn is in the air, the nesting instinct grows stronger.   Nesting.  It literally means creating a safe and comfy place for those you love.  

Well this sure is the season to nest.  It has already started getting dark barely past dinner time which makes for long evenings.  This time of year always makes me want to brew a pot of tea, bake a loaf of sweet bread, curl up in a soft blanket with a book, and make my own nest.

Enter Nest Eggs, an easy, seasonal, decorative project using blown out eggs.   They will look cute displayed on your kitchen counter, dining room table or make a sweet hostess gift.  I used duck eggs because they are larger and I wanted to use white eggs, but you could use chicken eggs, either white or brown...or even blue if you have them.

Materials Needed:

4 Blown Out Eggs (for instructions on blowing out the eggs read HERE)
Kitchen Sponge
Scissors
Black Acrylic Paint
Paint Brush
Modge Podge
Wooden skewer
White Caulk (optional)









Here's what you do:

Cut sponge into six pieces.  Using sharp scissors, cut out the letters N, E, S and T in the style you wish, using one piece of sponge for each letter.

Dab each letter in the paint, just barely touching the sponge to the surface of the paint, then press sponge gently onto the egg. 

Let the eggs dry completely then paint with a thin coat of Modge Podge. 

 Use the skewer to 'hold' the egg so you can paint it.  

If you wish, you can cover the hole in the bottom of each egg with a dab of white caulk once the Modge Podge dries.  Just dab and then smooth the caulk and it will dry nearly invisible and the hole will disappear.

When the eggs are completely dry, arrange them in a pretty basket with a vintage tea towel and let the nesting begin!

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This original craft project is shared here: Not Just a Housewife, Carolyn's Homework, Free Pretty Things, Savvy Southern Style, Lavender Garden Cottage, Katherine's Corner, Your Sunday Best, Funky Junk Interiors , Thrifty Decor Chick, DIY Showoff, Homemaker on a Dime, It's so Very Cheri, Repurpose my Life, Crafty Moms Share, Keep Calm and Link Up, Impatiently Crafty, The Pinspiration Project, Welcome Home Wednesdays

Make your own Apple Cider Vinegar

Did you know that you can make your own apple cider vinegar with just some apple peels and cores and water...and a bit of patience?  I didn't know either until I started doing a bit of research.

We use lots of apple cider vinegar on our farm for its wide array of health benefits for us and for our chickens.  I consider it one of the 'Holistic Trinity' of chicken keeping and vital to my and my husband's health, as well as a key ingredient in any good Pie Crust!  [As the vinegar evaporates during baking it pushes the layers of crust apart to result in a super flaky crust]

Adding apple cider vinegar  to our chickens' water a few times a week not only makes the water more appealing to them, it also keeps the waterers cleaner and controls the bacteria both in the water and in the hens' digestive system. The vinegar boosts good bacteria and is thought to also even combat coccidia, which is present in most chicken runs, no matter how fastidiously they are cleaned.  [Read here for more on how we use ACV with our chickens...]

Apple cider vinegar with the 'mother' in it, such as Bragg's, is raw and unpasteurized and has the most benefits. The mother is basically a yeast/live bacteria natural concoction that helps balance bacteria in the intestines of humans AND chickens.  However, it's not cheap and we go through quite a lot of it, so I started researching how to make my own. 

There are tons of blog posts and articles about making your own apple cider vinegar.  I looked for the cheapest, easiest way I could find that seemed to yield good results on a consistent basis.  Mother Earth News published an article that was the most straightforward of any I read and sure enough, it's not only easy, but you only need apples and water (sugar is optional, although the fruit sugars will suffice)....and some canning jars and cheesecloth.  No special kits or ingredients.  

So the next time you bake an apple pie, save the peels and cores and make a batch of apple cider vinegar for yourself.




Here's how to do it:

Wash, peel and core 5-10 (preferably organic) apples.  Another nice thing is that there's no set amount, you can make as much or as little as you want.  

Place the peels and cores in a large glass or stoneware bowl and cover with water by an inch or so.  (Optional to help the fermentation/yeast process work faster - add 1/4 Cup of sugar for each quart of water you used and stir to mix thoroughly.)

Cover the bowl with a heavy plate. The apple scraps need to be completely submersed in the water.   Cover the whole thing with a clean kitchen towel and let sit for a week in a cool dark location.  Between 65-85 degrees is a good fermentation temperature range, and be sure to keep it in a dark place, because UV light destroys the fermentation process.

The mixture will begin to bubble and foam as yeast forms.  That's normal and in fact by Day 3, I had bubbling!  

When the week is up, spoon off any black mold that has grown.  That's also okay and will occur if the mixture isn't kept cool enough, but if you keep the bowl in a cool spot you shouldn't have any mold.

Strain out the apple solids and pour the liquid into sterilized canning jars, leaving about an inch of head room and discard the  solids.  Cover each canning jar with a square of doubled cheesecloth and screw just the ring part of the top on.   (Hang onto the flat parts of the lids, you'll need them later)  This allows the yeast to 'breathe' and prevents the metal from corroding.

Store the jars on a shelf in your pantry and wait about six weeks.  A film should start forming on the top. The is the 'mother'.  You can open up the jars and stir or swirl them so the mother settles on the bottom and more will grow on top.  (This photo shows how it should look after about two weeks)

Here's how it looks at just about a month.  Definite 'mother' growing on top there!






















At about a month, the liquid is cloudy but still fairly light without a distinct 'vinegar' smell.

At a month, the color has deepened and there is some residue settling on the bottom.

After six weeks, replace the cheesecloth with the flat part of the lid and screw the ring back on.  There is a distinct 'vinegar' smell now and jellyfish-like masses floating in the jar.

Stored in a cool, dark place, the apple cider vinegar will last indefinitely.  By this point the yeast will have eaten all the available sugars and you will be left with a 'shelf-stable' vinegar.  The flavor will develop and evolve over time.

Note: If you save some of the mother from each batch and add it to the next batch, the vinegar will be finished more quickly.  It's been hard waiting the six weeks for my first batch, but I have several batches started now that will finish at the end of consecutive weeks, so I will always have a batch of homemade apple cider vinegar ready going forward.

Sources:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/homemade-vinegar-zmaz71ndzgoe.aspx
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-12/making-vinegar-home

http://cubitsorganics.com/2012/02/scrappy-apple-cider-vinegar-from-scratch/

http://asonomagarden.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/how-to-make-apple-vinegar-so-very-easy/

http://www.17apart.com/2011/10/how-to-make-apple-vinegar-from-scraps.html

http://hipgirlshome.com/blog/2011/11/15/homemade-apple-scrap-vinegar.html

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A Week in Farm Photos - Sept 16th - 22nd

Shhh.....listen to this week's photos, I hope each one 'speaks' to you!

Please join us on Facebook so you don't miss any of our beautiful photos we post there on Fresh Eggs Daily and Ducks Too.

This photo collection is shared at A Rural Journal and Blog Paws Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop