If you are interested in raising chicken in your backyard in an urban setting you must first find out if you are able to do so under the current laws of your city, county and state. Once you have determined that you are legally able to have chickens in your backyard or current setting, it’s good to check with your neighbors to make sure they are on board. Letting them know you are willing to share a few eggs from time to time can go a long way on getting them on your side. Also know that you don’t have to have roosters in order for your hens to lay eggs. I would invest in a few things before making the final decision such as a good book on general practices for raising birds for meat, eggs or both as well as blueprints or plans for various chicken coops so you can get an idea of the space you need and the design that you like.

There is a lot of information on the internet and in books so you won’t ever feel you are doing it alone. Another great source is forums on raising chickens. You will discover what it takes to raise the birds organically and determine if you are ready for that challenge. You will also find out if you have the room to “free range” your chickens and all that entails. However, what you will know in the end is where your chickens come from, how they have been fed and that they were treated well by you and your family. You will have better health because of it and will be able to teach your children valuable lessons from where their food comes from to appreciating all life.

Have a great experience and let us know how your chicken raising experiences go.

Herbs are a great way to enjoy the freshness of homegrown goodness during the winter. Herb gardens are typically smaller, and can be kept easily indoors. You can enjoy herbs fresh, or added to your favorite dishes like casseroles and pasta meals. Indoor gardening, if you have the room, is a great way to continue enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables. While you may not be able to grow fresh corn, you can grow smaller plants like hot peppers and tomatoes in upside down plant growers. Make sure you have enough room and light to properly nourish these types of growers. Don’t forget all your canned and vegetables and fruits that you prepared over the season, and enjoy these for a fresh taste of summer when you need it most. Winter is long and often dreary, so brighten it up with fresh vegetables that are homegrown.

If you grew an abundance of vegetables this year, you likely took advantage of canning in order to preserve many of these items for use all year long. Canned tomatoes, pickles, preserves and other homegrown items make great gift ideas for the holiday season. Similarly, if you grew a bountiful herb garden, dry these herbs to give away, crush them into pretty glass containers, or even place them in oil in large glass vases for display. You can preserve many plants in your garden by trimming them, potting them, and growing them indoors. Consider giving smaller versions of your favorite garden plants as gifts. Your friends and family will appreciate your garden as much as you do when you give them fresh and homemade items you grew and prepared yourself. Spread your love of gardening to those closest to you with these great gardening items for gift giving.

Don’t throw out your pumpkin seeds when you carve your jack-o-lanterns. Save the seeds, lightly season them to your liking, and roast them for 15-20 minutes for a healthy fall snack. Pumpkins can be roasted, baked, or pureed to make wonderful, tasty and healthy dishes like soup, pie, and even stir-fry. Think outside the box to create healthy meals out of in-season pumpkins. Apples are great for you, but can also make tasty Halloween treats, with less sugar than the more processed brands of candy. Candy half of an apple with organic caramel for a sweet treat with fewer calories, or make a simple apple bake with brown sugar. Plan ahead, and look to more natural sources from your garden for your sweet Halloween eats this year.

Beets are deep colored root vegetables that are great in salads and stir-fry, as well as pickled. Beets are high in folate and Vitamin C, making them a great choice for a healthy diet. Also in season during early fall is cauliflower. Cauliflower has a bad reputation because of its strong smell, but is great roasted and served over pasta, or breaded and fried! Cauliflower is also a great source of folate and Vitamin C, as well as fiber. Apples and pears are great fall harvests, and great fruits to bake with. Both are great raw, and both are known for their abundance of fiber and Vitamin C. Don’t forget the pumpkin! Pumpkin can also be roasted and served for a great source of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Take care to feed your family the best nutrition this fall season. As the colder months approach, cook warm and hearty meals with these great fall fruits and vegetables.

Today is a dark cold day in January when it’s hard to stay warm. Soup will taste good for the evening meal. I decided to make some ham and white bean soup. Some people call it Senate Bean Soup. I think it must be real American food. I went about the task of peeling onions. Onion in English, the Spanish word for onion is cebolla. It was just a plain, ordinary yellow cooking onion. When I peeled it, that onion was purple! That sent my mind thinking.

How long have people been eating onions? Where did they come from? Well it turns out, we have been eating onions since 3500BC and onions grow wild all over ever continent. (I have eaten wild onions as a college student and willed them dead, as grounds maintenance professional.) Jewels to one are weeds to another.

The beauty of the onion is that it does not spoil in winter. It transports well and moved all over the world with humans. Onions went from Egypt to Greece, Italy, even to the New World with the Pilgrims. Onions mean that much to people. At the heart of all full- bodied recipes is the onion. They are bound to humans by flavor, texture, and tears. The dinner table would be a bland place without them.

If it makes you a little bit uneasy that one of your favorite foods comes from an animal that may also save your life one day, it’s totally understandable. Pigs are more than a food source, but they are a food source and as long as they are treated with grace and dignity it’s okay that they are food. However, we also need to realize that pigs are also really very smart and are self-aware just like monkeys, dolphins and elephants. Maybe if they painted pictures and were in zoos they would get a little bit more respect. Until that time comes, just remember the next time you order a pork chop to honor the pig that gave its life for you.

Using a mandoline is much easier than hand slicing and just as easy as using anything else on the market. Most of them come with a few different slicing attachments for wedge cuts and crinkle cuts for potatoes and raw cucumbers or zucchini. You will now be able to spend most of your time actually cooking and not slicing. I love this because I like to cook but I do not like to prep or clean. I am open to any short cut or time saver that I can get in the kitchen and the mandoline has been one of the best I have ever used.

I had worked in a company that made security cages out of aluminum and one of the things we did was built the jigs to create the right bends in the material. So I measured the space and designed the pot rack on paper, built the jigs, drilled the desired holes where I wanted them, took a round file and cleaned the holes up and made them smooth before I bent the aluminum strip to form the design I had decided on. I joined the two ends together with a couple of simple small bolts, nuts and washers. I hung the rack from the ceiling with nice chain and the pots and pans with s-hooks. What I built for less than $50.00 was going for $350 or more at cooking stores. Simple, easy and done.

You might think I am just used to a lot of caffeine from colas or tea everyday but outside of coffee, all I drink is water. Now my wife can drink coffee in the morning okay but she cannot drink it in the evening or she will be up all night. Yet her knowing this does not stop her from time to time when she is in the mood for a cup of java. Even the decaffeinated coffees have enough caffeine in them that she will be awake. I find that crazy but people will do some crazy things all for the love of coffee!