I'm not exactly sure why this year I have been hit with a bad case of either cabin fever or spring fever...maybe I'm afflicted with both! This was the view out my window yesterday and it just seemed beautiful and depressing all at the same time. The day before I was looking at one of our gardens thinking maybe I'll start digging it up and get ready to plant some spinach and arugula in it next week but now once again it's buried under the snow. Alas, life in North Idaho where the news of Global Warming just hasn't arrived yet.
But I am being proactive in battling this depression by defrosting a fresh ham which I will start to cure in a week. This way it should be done for Easter. I will share with you how I do it as soon as I start curing it.
Also, this evening, I am going to set 14 fertile eggs from my French Black Copper Marans flock into my trusty incubator. These eggs are from my new generation of birds that started laying late last summer. This breed of chickens lay a beautiful dark brown egg that is darkest at the beginning of their laying cycle.
So, in a little over two weeks I should have a lovely ham for Easter Sunday and in three weeks a batch of chicks. I will keep you all posted.
So, in a little over two weeks I should have a lovely ham for Easter Sunday and in three weeks a batch of chicks. I will keep you all posted.
I will be watching to hear how you cure your ham. I will have hams of my own to cure this fall. Your marans eggs look great. I had cuckoo marans but they were the awfullest chickens I ever had. They were flighty (and I mean throw themselves at the chain link EVERY time I went to feed them even though I hatched them and cared for them myself always), and terrible egg eaters. I had wanted them for a long time and then gave them all away just to get rid of them. Anyway, I have heard it might just have been the line of marans I got and not all of them are that way.
ReplyDeleteHi Becky,
ReplyDeleteThis will be the fourth ham I have cured and smoked and I am still learning what works best: Adjusting salt levels and cure time, etc.
I have to agree that my BC Marans are a bit more flighty than my other brown egg layers. Now my cuckoo marans were more very gentle and laid back than my BC marans so it probably is just line.
I got my BC marans from a private breeder and my cuckoos came from Meyer Hatchery.
Carolyn