Styrofoam box planter or low fat chook food?

If you are like me and have run out of plant-able garden space here is another "up-cycling" suggestion.
 

 

 

I found this styro-foam box  literally by the side of the road two streets away in a council hard rubbish collection. I liked the size of it – good depth – so I decided to see if I could re-cycle it for seedling planting.

Introducing the chook that lays Blue Eggs

Dear Isabella, (Issy) our South American Araucana, is a funny chook, not just because of her crest obscuring her vision and so making it easy to sneak up on her, (handy when needing to administer medicines or weigh her) or the fact that her breed is the only chicken breed to lay a blue-green egg. (In some countries they are called "Easter Eggers"!).

No I think she is funny as firstly she loves her greens waaaaay more than the other chooks do.

How do I know this? 

She makes an excited chuckling sound in the back of her throat when she sees me carrying a bunch of greens. Then she tucks in like no-body's business, virtually  shoving the other chooks out of her way.

Confused about "Free Range"?

When you go to the supermarket it can be a real challenge to wade through all the different labelling. There are shelves upon shelves of eggs! I bumped into a gorgeous gal there the other week frowning a lot and asked if she was looking for true free range:  “Yeah - I don’t want the bullshit ones!”,  was her answer. Well – that sums it up for me! So I told her what I follow: Organic is definitely good if you can afford it as their requirements are strict and clear.

The short version of the story is to be absolutely sure your eggs are the kind of free range you would prefer to support. One way I have found is to look for these logos:

 

Producers bearing these logos have gone through really strict assessments to achieve this acknowledgement which is one of the reasons they are more expensive. If your 'free range' eggs are cheap, chances are they are not accredited. The longer version of the story has to do with producers "bending" the truth about their product being what most folk would call 'fair dinkum' free-range. The fact is  that the term “free range” gets bandied about almost as much as the terms “healthy” and “organic”. (I will have many posts on these latter topics also...)

Talk about “in the eye of the beholder!”.

In Australia the Free Range definition is encoded in the Animal Welfare Model Code of Practice, 2002 which states that birds should have access to an outdoor range. The code itself notes that the number of birds per hectare needs to be specified but as yet there is no specification about how much access   for how long or whether that outdoor range is bare dirt or edible pasture. The minimum stocking density is 1500 birds per hectare, though some producers opt for even lower density of 750 birds per hectare. The problem is, there is no maximum  so birds may have very differing conditions yet still be labelled free-range. The Australian Egg Corporation (AEC)  are reviewing this and were apparently at one point looking at having 20,000 birds per hectare endorsed. So far QLD is the only state to legislate that 1500 birds per hectare max is the standard  for product to be labelled as free range. Have I mentioned how much I love Queenslander's before? Yay the Sunshine State is all I can say!.

The welfare of the birds and the variables between free range, barn laid and cage in terms of bird health are complex. The AEC has produced an interesting document on their website which refutes claims that free range means happier birds. Free range birds are not as protected from predators and illness and pecking from other birds according to the publication. Here is a link so you can if interested explore this very explosive and emotional topic for yourself.
Your Eggs Your Choice

This site gives a good summary of the categories available and what they really mean in terms of the birds:  The Sustainable Org

One of the most trustworthy places to buy your eggs is

A fact about chickens you may not know...

Chickens need a certain amount of light to lay which is why in the shorter Winter days I will generally get less eggs.  This appears to be nature's way of giving the chicken's reproductive system a rest. A common commercial farm practice to ensure a year round supply of eggs is to provide artificial light sources to keep the girls laying.   This sadly means that after about two years their bodies seem give out and they develop reproductive disorders. This is why commercial farms 'move their battery hens on' at about 18 mths of age and often get "rescued" by backyard poultry keepers. .  

The photo above comes from a lady in the UK who was so concerned about the lack of feathers on the battery hens she "rescued"

Wicked Wicked Salted Caramels

For all the closet-sugar lovers out there who haven't quite yet kicked the habit here is THE most delicious and wicked caramel recipe evah. These are what I now default to when I want to indulge a sugar craving (Sorry Sarah W! ) If you are going to weaken, my motto is make it worth it! (But if you want some sugar free recipes I will be posting some of those too!)

At least with these I know exactly what is in them and if you decide you DO want to indulge, may I humbly suggest that these are THE best way to do it - that is, apart from Darren Purchese's (of The Sweet Studio in South Yarra) stunning caramel sauce which was my gift to all my friends last Christmas!)

( I am SUCH a nice friend :) ).

Enough description - a picture (and in this case a taste!) is worth a thousand words.

Sugar & Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins!

 

Well, I started making low sugar/sugar free stuff  for my darling two year old niece Lucinda Sue, and then realised it may not be such a bad idea to switch to these options for myself :)

Certainly I would not give a lot of the food I used to eat, (and still occasionally indulge in), to my niece, or in fact  my chooks, which tells me something about the quality of food I used to eat a lot more of : white bread, white rice, sugar sugar sugar!.

:(  It is a long road to a completely guilt free diet.

So onto this yummy recipe that I have to say I do enjoy :) despite the lack of sugar!

UPcycling!

This great new phrase in my lexicon was given to me by an ex-work colleague and I just love it! (thanks Stacy F! :)

UP-cycling means that our landfills are being deprived of a few more "things" that our throw away society discards so easily. I don't know about you but I just feel uncomfortable throwing away items that are in perfectly good 'nick' but have simply become a little life-worn or unfashionable. So most of these types of items go to charity or fall into the category of "a Fiona Project".

Latest is a pair of, (well sort of - they don't exactly match!), bedside tables that were plain brown when purchased second hand at an auction we attended to support a friend, and transformed into glam gold and bronze items as part of a Moroccan moment after a holiday there in 2002. But now they are going "shabby chic/French Provincial with a hint of Art Deco" in 2014!