It’s that time of year when my business peaks, and I find myself working double time in the shop, leaving much less time for other pursuits.  Outside of work, once my family is fed and household responsibilities are attended to, I’ve been using almost all of my spare moments to work on my Christmas knitting projects.  I’m a bit worried I don’t have enough time to finish all the projects I was hoping to complete. The shot above is one of my projects, but I can’t show you the details because a few of the recipients have been known to read my blog.  The yarn I’m using is a wool/silk blend that was solar dyed by my friend Maggie last summer.  I know I’ve told you about her on numerous occasions, and this won’t be the last time.  In addition to dying, and spinning the most luscious yarns you’ll ever see, she also makes some cool dyed scarves and handkerchiefs which you can find at her Etsy store.  Below  is a big bowl of her handspun yarn that I’ve got on tap for more Christmas gifts.

My niece does not read the blog, so I can tell you the big ball of pink yarn is going to become a hat for young Emma. The blue in the foreground is going to become socks for yours truly.

I did manage to go out the winter tunnel today to pick some greens.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that instead of just holding steady, my garden has continued to GROW! I opened the plastic to find that some Calendula I had not pulled was blooming.  It was such a wonderful, welcome surprise, and has me contemplating flowers for next winter.

I will try to check in periodically over the next few weeks, but I won’t make any guarantees.  I have about 3 weeks of my busy season left at work, and then my brother and his family will be flying home from England to spend the holidays in my home.  I’m quite sure many of you are as busy (if not more so) as I am.  Try to remember to take a few moments to breath from time to time. None of our best laid plans are so important that we shouldn’t take a moment to set aside whatever we happen to be doing, and remember to give our kids, significant other, or cat a hug and a kiss.

I finally got around to experimenting with that wonderful Old Kentucky Tomme goat cheese I picked up on my vacation last month.  Just in case you don’t remember which cheese I’m talking about, it was this one.  I’ve been aging it in the cheese drawer I have in my basement refrigerator.  Yes, I have a whole drawer devoted to cheese! Doesn’t everyone?

Capriole Goat Farm suggested it with grilled apples and onions. I decided to take it a little further, and ended up with a Saturday afternoon lunch that officially made my comfort food list.  I’m not sure what type of cheese to recommend you try with this, since you probably won’t have access to Capriole cheeses.  If you’re fortunate enough to have an exceptional cheese counter, you could try to find some type of French tomme cheese, preferably goat.

First, I threw some onions into a pan with a little olive oil and softened them. Then I added some peeled, sliced apple and cooked the whole mess over medium heat until softened and golden. I had some slightly stale homemade honey wheat bread I had made a couple of days earlier, which is excellent for grilled sandwiches or toast.  I’m not kidding! Liberally buttered, stale homemade bread crisps up in the pan better than anything.

Grilled Goat Cheese Sandwich
Buttered slices of stale homemade bread
Genoa Salami
Grilled apple & onion
Capriole Old Kentucky Tomme goat cheese

Layer salami, apple & onion, and goat cheese on the buttered bread. Toast in a pan over medium heat until warmed through and the cheese begins to ooze.

It was good … REALLY good!  The tang of the salami, sweetness of the apple and onion, combined with the gooey, goaty goodness of the cheese were a perfect marriage of flavors.  I’ve still got some cheese left.  As soon as I get some more salami, I’m making it again.  And the next time I won’t forget the bottle of shiraz that’s sill lurking in my basement.

Yesterday my guys spent some time helping me get the garden ready for winter.  I cleaned up the raised bed that grew our tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers, and then sowed a winter cover crop of hairy vetch and winter rye in their place.  The cover crop will overwinter and resume growing in the spring, when I will turn it into the soil.  Tomatoes are heavy feeders, and it’s crucial to return nutrients to the soil at every opportunity.  While I was working on fall clean up, the guys erected a winter tunnel so we can continue to eat from our garden into the winter months.

The tunnel was constructed of reclaimed/recycled materials. The cattle panels (used for the structure of the tunnel) were my buck pens from the days when I kept a small dairy goat herd. We did purchase a $70 roll of 6 ml plastic, but there’s enough on the roll for the next 4 or 5 years.   The tunnel is crude and imperfect, as it was intended to be quick, temporary, and inexpensive.  It will be taken down in the spring, and then erected over a different raised bed next fall.  In the picture above you can see the cattle panels, anchored in place against the sides of the raised bed by wooden stakes driven into the ground.  As you can see, the cattle panels form a slightly wonky shaped dome.  Below, the bottom edge of the plastic is about to be rolled onto a piece of lumber and nailed against the side of the raised bed.

The excess plastic at the corners was rolled and secured with zip strips we had lying around the barn.

Our prevailing winds come from the northwest, so the south end of the tunnel will be used for entry and venting.  I didn’t have it set up yet, but the plastic on this end will be anchored by a board and a couple of cinder blocks.  During the winter I will remove the board and be able to  lift the flap of plastic enough to vent the tunnel on warm days.

Here’s a peek inside the tunnel.  At the front are a couple of different varieties of heirloom kale, Tuscan Lacinato and Winter Red Russian. Growing up the cattle panel on the right are Oregon Sugar Pod II snow peas.

I found this guy living in the peas, and there was another one living in the kale.

I’m growing two varieties of spinach, Monstrueux De Viroflay and Gigante Inverno.  I’ve overwintered the first variety before, and it performed beautifully.  The lettuce between the two spinach varieties is Tom Thumb, an heirloom loose head lettuce.  Planted elsewhere in the tunnel are arugula, carrots, parsley, and some stray volunteer dill plants.  My carrots are not as fully formed as I would have liked.  It’s the first time I’ve tried to overwinter carrots, and I learned that I need to plant them about 3 weeks earlier than I did.  I’m hoping the added warmth of the tunnel will help them grow a little more before the real cold weather arrives.  This is the first year I’ve tried a tunnel like this, and if all goes well, I’m hoping we will be able to stretch our greens into January or February.

I’ve got anther seasoning blend for you already.  It’s just that time of year.  Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been grabbing as much as possible from the herb garden before the first hard frost arrived.  A freeze was predicted last night, so about an hour before sunset I went out to the garden and picked the last of the green tomatoes. I also covered the peas, greens, and a few herbs with some sheets.  Sure enough, there was heavy frost on the ground this morning and the bird bath was covered with ice.

With a glut of freshly dried herbs and seeds, I decided to replenish one of my favorite spice blends for seasoning sweet potatoes and other winter root vegetables today.  I’m honestly not sure where I came up with this particular blend, but I’m glad I did. You can use pre-ground coriander and fennel, but I highly recommend using the whole spices and toasting and grinding them yourself.  Your taste buds will thank you.  I heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat and dry roast the coriander and fennel until the seeds begin to pop and smoke.  I always keep the pan moving, and remove the seeds to a big plate at the first sign of smoking.

Sweet Potato & Root Vegetable Seasoning
2 parts ground coriander seed
2 parts salt
1 part ground fennel seed
1 part crushed dried basil
1/2 part ground cayenne pepper

Blend together and store in a jar. Toss your favorite root vegetables with a little olive oil and this seasoning blend, and then roast in a hot oven.

My dad, brother-in-law and I hopped in the car bright and early last Saturday morning and drove up to Michigan beer country.  There are so many great breweries in Michigan that it was hard to choose. We decided that it would be best to limit our visit to 3 breweries, and it took us almost two weeks to completely make up our minds. The decision was for Bell’s Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo, The Livery in Benton Harbor, and Greenbush Brewing in Sawyer.  Bell’s was open the earliest, so it was our first stop. I made one big mistake on this trip. I was so focused on beer tasting that I completely forgot to take pictures of the beer!  I plan to do better on my next brewery trip.

Bell’s Eccentric Cafe was spacious, open, and relaxed.  There were neat old beer ads on the walls, and wooden African masks, which we thought was a weird combination.  I love this old beer blurb I found outside the restrooms.  There was much more text below this, but it wasn’t possible to get a picture where all of the text would be visible. I was able to find the entire text on Google Books.  This appeared on page 81 of the  September 8, 1941 issue of Life magazine.  It’s an absolute hoot, and worth the read.

Our bartender was courteous, and helpful, and I had a little fun chatting to an old local who hit on me, in a tasteful old geezer sort of way.  We opted for tasting flights on this trip, so we would be able to sample a wide variety while maintaining both our palates and our wits.  We also ate food through the whole trip, and all three of us were well under the legal limit for driving (so no comments about drunk driving.  I don’t roll that way, and neither does my BIL or my dad).

I’m really kicking myself about not taking beer pictures.  You should have seen the cool tasting trays in this place.  They were wooden platters in the shape of Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas. The trays had numbered round indentations which held six 4 ounce glasses. We chose  Quinannan Falls Special Lager, Rye Stout, Java Stout, Lager of the Lakes, Oktoberfest, and Best Brown Ale.  All were excellent.  I don’t think Bell’s makes a bad beer.  My favorite of the six was the Java Stout. I rated it 4.2 at Ratebeer.com and my tasting notes are: Coffee, smoke, and chocolate aroma. Black with a minimal creamy brown head. Dark roasted coffee, smoked meat, cream, chocolate, ash flavor. Smooth, creamy full body. Really great stout.

Since we had a good breakfast on the way up, we took our time with the tasting, ate some bar nuts, and then walked around the corner to Bell’s General Store. Not only did the store stock Bell’s gear and beer, but they also offered a huge selection of homebrew supplies. I was amazed at the variety of hops and yeasts, and a store employee told me it was just a small sampling of what’s available in the beer world.  I bought a Bell’s beer glass and a few beers for some friends and then we headed out for The Livery.

The Livery is located in an old brick building. The neighborhood is full of empty buildings, and you can see that the recession has not been kind to this town.

The brewpub was located in the basement of the building, and I wasn’t expecting the run down old VFW feel when we walked in.  Despite the dimly lit, run down feel of the place, the atmosphere was laid back and comfortable.  We ordered a hummus plate and a pizza to eat before we got too far into our beer tasting. We spent quite a bit of time at this location, trying about 12 different brews. The hummus was really great.  The pizza was ok, but was made with a premade crust.  Our beer selections: Lawnmower Lager, Red Canoe, Maillot Jaune (Biere de Garde), Malcolm’s Best Bitter, Raspberry Wheat, Steep Canyon Lager, Old Cedar English Strong Ale, Mandeau Man Ruby Red, Steel Wheels Oat Stout, Guide, McGilligans IPA, and Anniversary Ale (6th – Bourbon Barrel Imperial Brown Rye). Generally speaking, their beers are solid, and some exceptional. My favorite was the Steel Wheels Oat Stout with a rating of 4.2. Tasting notes:  Toasty malt, chocolate, coffee, ash aroma. Black, thick creamy head (like an espresso crema) that sticks to the glass. Chocolate, coffee, smoke, raisin, charcoal ash flavor. Medium to full body. At this point I remembered I hadn’t been taking pictures, so I snapped our empty glasses.  A friend, who had been following our shenanigans on facebook, “yelled” at me for uploading a picture of empty glasses.  I believer her exact words were, ” You’re supposed to take the picture before…”

After leisurely finishing our pizza and hummus we headed off to Greenbush Brewing.  Forgive me ahead of time, but this brewery was not the most positive experience for me, so you’re going to get some negativity.

We walked in and the place was LOUD.  The music was cranked, and the place was over capacity.  A sign on the wall indicated a capacity of 32, but I counted 40+.  Service was non-existent, the place was chaotic, and customers were confused about how to order.  My brother-in-law got a bartender’s attention, who then tossed him a piece of paper and a pen telling him to write down our selections, and to bring it back.  I took the paper back up to the bar, and both bartenders completely ignored me while waiting on people who had come in behind me.  I finally had to get snippy to get served.  Not cool at all.  This is a new brewery, and they need to expand the premises and work on their service.  Food is minimal, there is no formal menu, and if you want it you’re going to have to ask for it because they don’t offer.

If it weren’t for the way noise bounced around the place, the open room and glass that allowed you to see the actual brewing operation  was cool.

Our selections were: Undertow Autumn Ale, trAKtoR Golden Ale, Distorter Robust Porter, Anger Black IPA, Terminator X, pHarmacy, Jackal Bocktoberfest, and Closure. We all agreed that the beers were good, but nothing struck us as being exceptional. My dad and I kept tasting the same overly sweet malt flavor in several of the beers we tried. The highest rating I gave at Greenbush was for the Distorter Robust Porter at 3.5. Notes: Chocolate, roasted malt aroma. Dark brown with a small tan ring. Dark roasted malt and peat flavor. Dry bitter finish. Medium body.

Maybe it’s because the three of us are no longer what you would call young, but we found the attempt to be hip with the names of the beer, and the beer descriptions that were more marketing than helpfully descriptive to be a little irritating.  When you’re trying that hard to be hip, you’re not.

Negativity aside, we visited the place, checked it out and got some ratings under our belt.  Now we knew what the place was about, and we headed homeward.  Once we reached home territory we decided it was time for more food, so we hit our local brewpub, Mad Anthony’s Lake City Tap House.  We were done with beer for the day, and just wanted food. This place has great food, and we decided to share appetizers: Hot wings, Gorgonzola fries, and Wisconsin cheese curds. We went home happy, sober, and full.  We ended our evening by sitting around a fire in my parents’ back yard.  It was one of the best weeks I’ve had off work in quite some time.

Have you missed me? Nope, probably not, but I won’t hold it against you!  I took some time off work so my mom and I could go visit my sister in southern Indiana, and visit a few places I’ve been intending to visit for the last few years. Owning a family run business, if the family wants to do anything together, I have to close up shop entirely to make it possible. I’m going to break this into two parts, and try not to get too detailed … just general impressions.

My mom and I arrived at my sister’s house in the late afternoon.  This is the first time I’ve visited my sister since she and her family moved back to the states from Germany, so I got the grand tour of her new home.  As soon as my brother-in-law got home from work we headed out to the New Albanian Brewery for some of the best pizza in southern Indiana, and of course, beer! I had their Keller Pils, a German style pilsner,  with my meal.  The place wasn’t busy, and our waitress was excellent. We had asked her several questions about some of the beers, and I think she realized she a couple of beer geeks on her hands.  Without asking us (and free of charge), she brought out a tasting flight of 6 for my brother-in-law and I to try.  Guess who earned a really big fat tip?  I was so focused on food and beer that I forgot to grab my camera on my way out the door. I plan to make this a regular stop whenever I visit my sister, so I’ll have plenty of opportunities to snap some shots. Of course I had to buy some beer for friends since this brewery doesn’t bottle for distribution.

The next morning we headed out to visit Stream Cliff Herb Farm & Winery. I enjoyed the visit, but it had its pros and cons.  We stopped in the wine tasting room first to sample a few wines.  These three vintages found their way home with me.

Prancing horse is a sweet cranberry wine which I plan to use in a mulled wine recipe at Christmas time.  Horsefeathers is a crisp, dry Sauvignon blanc which will probably be the bottle that sits on my counter (and disappears) the next time I make risotto.  Thunder Hoof is a dry Shiraz,  ripe and rich on the palate with plum and wood. I might go back for more of that Shiraz some day.

Stream Cliff calls itself historic, and boasts to be Indiana’s oldest herb farm. I found myself very disappointed with the herb gardens.  I went expecting to be presented with culinary, medicinal, tea, and dyer’s herbs.  What I got were several pretty ornamental perennial gardens laid out in quilt patterns with herbs thrown in here an there.  I consider myself a folk herbalist, and I approach herbs as useful plants for food, medicine, and comfort. I expected a historic farm to present me with gardens that would exemplify herbal traditions.

The Twigs & Sprigs Tearoom was a wonderful place to have lunch with my mom and sister.  It definitely had a feminine appeal, and we didn’t see many men in attendance. We had our lunch outside on the covered porch where all the tables were covered with different linens that could have passed for vintage patterns. The food was outstanding and well seasoned with herbs.  I had a lemon verbena lemonade, and an open-faced sandwich made with  focaccia spread with pesto, topped with fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil, and liberally drizzled with olive oil.  When I go back for that Shiraz, I’ll eat lunch again, but skip the herb gardens.

The following day we visited Capriole Goat Farm.  I’ve been wanting to try their cheese for many years, and knew they were located in southern Indiana.  The big surprise was discovering the farm was only 3 miles from my sister’s house. I would have liked to take pictures in the dairy, but when I asked if I could take a few shots, I was asked not to do so. The dairy’s cheeses are highly awarded and world-renowned. They have trade secrets they are very careful to protect.  However, I was allowed to take some pictures of the cheeses in the tasting room (which had horrible fluorescent lighting) and of the goats on the farm.

First up is the Wabash Cannonball, a hand formed boulet of creamy surface ripened  chevre with an ash layer. Tasted by itself it was darn strong flavored cheese, but I’d really like to try it again when I can get my hands on some fresh figs.

Next up is  Mont St. Francis, a pungent aged raw milk cheese. Again, tasted by itself … really strong. One of the suggested pairings was pickles and ESB, which I’m game to try at a later date.

Here we have Old Kentucky Tomme, another aged raw milk cheese, which I purchased to take home. In the tasting room it reminded me a little of a young goaty flavored brie.  I haven’t got into this one yet, but my plan is to try it with one of the suggested pairings of grilled apples and onions, and possibly the Thunder Hoof Shiraz I picked up at the herb farm.

Lastly, O’Bannon, my favorite of them all. This cheese is wrapped in chestnut leaves soaked in Woodford Reserve Bourbon, and has a wonderful complex fresh, tangy, salty, slightly boozy flavor. Normally, I’m not a bourbon fan – I’m more of an Irish Whiskey kind of gal – but this stuff is fantastic!  I took some home with me. I’ve been eating it on toast for breakfast. I love the flavor so much I don’t want anything to compete with it. I plan to ask my sister to bring another one of these up to me the next time she visits. I want to try  it grilled in the leaf wrapper served with crostini. I’m salivating just thinking about it!

Responsible for these wonderful goat cheeses, is a herd of 500 dairy goats. I was very impressed with the health and care of these animals.  Having raised dairy goats myself, as well as making a not-too-shabby chevre, I understand that high quality milk from healthy, well cared for animals is of the utmost importance. The barns were large and spacious, impeccably clean for a space where goats can walk around and poop anywhere they please.  These two little girls look about the right size to have been born just this past spring.

Despite the huge pastures just outside the barn, the whole herd felt the need to crow inside the barns to watch the three strange ladies with cameras. Typical nosy goat behavior.

Part 2 – up to Michigan beer country with my dad and brother-in-law coming as soon as I get it written up.

Today is my day off and I’m using the time for some kitchen prep work which will make the next week run smoothly. I was planning to send my son to school with a homemade taco salad in his lunchbox tomorrow.  I was out of the seasoning mix I use for any of my Tex-Mex dishes (chili, fajitas, tacos, etc).  I’ll have to remember to write a little about our adventures in packed lunches at some later time. For those of you struggling to keep  your children’s lunch menu interesting, I should share some of our packed lunch menus.

Unlike many of the taco seasoning recipes floating around on the web, you will notice that my recipe lacks onion and garlic powder.  I like to use fresh garlic and onion when I cook up my chili or taco meat, so it’s not necessary in my spice blend.  Once I’ve cooked up my ground beef and added my spice mix, I add two or three tablespoons of flour to the meat and cook it for another minute.  I then add a little water and simmer to create slightly saucy meat mixture.  I finish the whole thing off with a few squeezes of fresh lime juice to brighten up the flavor and give it a little extra zing.

I try to use as many whole spices, and herbs that I grow myself in my kitchen. The flavor of freshly toasted and crushed herbs and spices is far superior to the stale pre-ground seasonings found in the grocery store aisles.  In this particular spice blend I use oregano from my herb garden, and whole cumin seed that I toast in a cast iron skillet (until the seeds start to pop and  smoke slightly) and grind with a mortar and pestle.  If you haven’t figured it out by now, I like to do everything the hard way. The chili powder used is a matter of personal taste.  I use a mild chili powder because my husband can’t handle spicy food.  If I had my way I’d be using a wonderful rich, smoky chipotle powder that lurks in the back of my spice cupboard.

All Purpose Tex-Mex Spice Blend
8 Tablespoons chili powder
4 Tablespoons toasted cumin seed powder
1 Tablespoon good quality Hungarian paprika
1 Tablespoon crushed oregano leaves
1 Tablespoon kosher salt

Blend all spices together and store in a jar.  I recently began using Weck canning jars, which are so popular in Germany and Europe.  These 1/5 l deco jars stack perfectly in my spice cupboard.

I found my inspiration for this jam earlier last week on the Grow It Cook It Can It blog. Of course I couldn’t leave it alone, and had to play around with the idea until I created something that was mine. I like to make old-fashioned cooked jams, so I almost always remove the pectin from a recipe.  I also prefer to use honey in place of sugar. Also, last year’s experiment with Salted Butterscotch Peach jam taught me that a bit of salt has it’s place in jam.

There’s no way I can top my inspiring blogger’s post on her jam, and the wonderful poem by William Carlos Williams , so I’m not even going to try.

When I give some of the measurements, notice that I indicate amounts “up to”.  The amount of honey, lemon juice, and spices will depend on the ripeness, sweetness, and acidity of the plums.  These factors can vary quite a bit, so I always taste as I go. My plums were perfectly ripe and very sweet.  I used only 1 cup of honey and the juice of 1/2 a lemon.  Also, I found that only 1/2 ounce of the chocolate gave me  what I wanted without overwhelming the flavor of the plums.  If you’ve never cooked with cardamom, let me warn you that a little can go a very long way.  If you’re using store-bought ground cardamom, you’ll probably end up using a whole 1/4 teaspoon.  If you split the pods and grind the seeds like I do, then you’ll need less. One last note, because this is a cooked jam, the volume will reduce by almost half … another reason it’s important to go easy on the spices, taste as you go, and adjust at the end of the cooking (if needed).

Chocolate Cardamom Plum Jam
3 pounds skinned, chopped plums (approximately 6 cups)
1 to 1 1/2 cup local raw honey
Up to 1/4 cup lemon juice
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 to 1 ounce grated, good quality 100% cacao baking chocolate
Salt to taste (optional)

To make skinning plums easy, drop them in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, and then remove to ice water.

Place plums in a wide shallow pan over medium heat.  Add honey, lemon juice, and cardamom. Once the mixture reaches a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, or until the plums reach the desired jam like consistency. Add grated chocolate and stir to incorporate.  Add salt to taste.

If you would like to can the jam, prepare jars and lids according to standard canning practices. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.

The siren’s call of my knitting needles finally managed to drown out the call of my kitchen.  So many things are calling me these days, it’s a wonder I can hear myself think!

I will finish this pair of socks before I start anything new! This is the very first pair of socks I started to knit … almost two years ago!  The project is on itsy bitsy, teensy, tiny, dinky little size 1 needles.  Anyone who knits on size 0 needles is insane.  I learned what I needed when I first started them, got bored, switched to a different pair of socks using thicker yarn and larger needles.  Then … last winter I decided to unravel the original sock, and start over.  My knitting had improved ten fold, and I saw mistakes I didn’t like.  I managed to get this far (see picture above) before my spring garden started screaming at me to come play.

I spent a good part of my day completing dozens of little tasks that have been piling up around the house. Things like finishing sweeping up the empty jar I broke in the basement two weeks ago, balancing my checkbook, folding the sheets I washed three days ago, putting away the pile that’s been accumulating on the kitchen table, emptying the fridge of a couple of noxious containers, digging a hairball out of the shower drain, and other such nonsense.  My plan was to make and can a batch of chunky applesauce this afternoon, as well as another batch of plum jam.  However, my knitting needles were complaining so loudly I could no longer ignore them.

It’s been a great weekend for getting some things done around our place.  I finally got caught up on my canning, and have been able to attend to some other projects.  I’ve been meaning to get the chicken coop cleaned out, and this morning was perfect for the job.

Once I got the old straw and chicken poop shoveled out, I sprinkled a layer of diatomaceous earth on the floor before putting down a new layer of straw.  Diatomaceous earth is a natural method of controlling fleas, mites, ticks, digestive parasites, and any other insect pests.  Diatomaceaous earth is the fossilized remains of Diatoms, microscopic one celled algae, which acts like little razors on the exoskeleton of insects, slicing and drying them out. A perfect, natural means of keeping your flock healthy.

My husband completed some finishing touches to the coop to get it ready for winter.  The electrical wiring in the coop was pretty old, so he rewired it to be sure it would be safe to run the heated base for the chicken waterer. With the wiring completed, he was able to finish insulating the walls and ceiling.  He also hung a light fixture.  I put full spectrum bulbs in the fixture, and it’s on a timer set to turn on early in the morning and then turn off a few hours later when the sun is finally up.  Giving the girls 14-16 hours of light a day will ensure regular egg production during the winter months.   It’s important to have the timer set to be on in the morning hours, rather than evening, so the chickens won’t find themselves stranded on the ground at night when the lights go off.  As the light fades in the evening, it’s a chicken’s natural instinct to find a roost up off the ground, safe from predators, before it gets dark.

The girls seem content with their digs.