New chicken keepers usually start with baby chicks in the spring. The excitement of the chicks growing into adults, then that first egg in late summer or early fall is undeniable. And the eggs keep coming all through that first winter, right into the following spring and summer.

But that next fall, all of sudden egg production drops and the hens stop laying eggs. What's up with that? They laid through their first winter.

Cast iron skillets have been around since the beginning of time. Well, not technically, but almost.  First used in China in the 6th centu...

Homemade cranberry sauce is so quick and easy to make yourself and so much more delicious than the canned version. My simple recipe calls ...

I've been making natural chicken coop cleaners for years using white vinegar  and even vodka . But this season, I decided to make a gin-...

If you raise chickens or buy eggs, you're going to end up with a cracked egg from time to time. I get asked on a pretty regular basis if...

Sangria is usually thought of as a summer sipper. It's simply wine with some fruit and fruit juices in it.  But add in some warming spic...

This rustic apple cake is a variation of a cake I made this past fall as my very first entry into a cooking contest! I didn't win the co...

During the entire twelve years that we lived in Virginia, I never made a pecan pie. Not a single one. Which is odd because the South is kn...

As some of you may know, last week I was a guest on the Thanksgiving episode of Martha Stewart's new TV show Martha Knows Best that ai...

This year I've been getting questions from lots of new chicken keepers asking how to get their chickens to lay their eggs in their nesti...

October 30th is National Candy Corn Day. Yup, the most-beloved (or most hated, depending on which side you're on) Halloween candy actu...

Since adding geese to our backyard, I've been getting lots of questions asking what backyard geese eat. Before we got our fi...

Your chickens will love these Energy Bites Snacks packed with protein, nutrients and other yummy ingredients chosen to help them through the...

Each spring I always buy a couple of packets of different varieties of nasturtium seeds and plant them in containers around the chicken...

As more and more people, in both rural and urban areas, are starting to raise chickens, I get asked more and more what my ...