Baby Chick Playground

Baby chick playground

A simple, movable baby chick playground furnished with logs, branches, a nest box, food, and water provides great stimulation for growing chicks. I explain how we made ours, but you might fashion something similar from materials you have on hand.

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How to Make Maple Syrup II: Boiling, filtering, canning, color, and flavor

How to make maple syrup. Two jars of maple syrup from our backyard.

Maple sugaring is a wonderful family activity! In Part II of How to Make Maple Syrup, I cover boiling off indoors vs. outdoors, show our own evaporator, and discuss filtering, canning, color, and flavor.

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How to Make Maple Syrup I: Choosing Trees and Getting Sap

Sugar maple leaves and maple syrup

Learning how to make maple syrup is a great project for the family. This first part covers choosing the trees, placing the taps, and collecting sap. A subsequent post will cover boiling it off to produce delicious syrup.

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Nut Butter Ice Cream Bases: Easy and Delicious!

Mocha hazelnut butter ice cream with dark chocolate chips

Easy, no-cook nut butter, and chocolate nut butter, ice cream bases, let you plug in your choice of nut or seed butter, for perfect results every time. Works well with fresh or processed, salted or unsalted, and sweetened or unsweetened nut butter.

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Cajeta Ice Cream with Milk Chocolate Chunks and Pecans

Cajeta ice cream with milk chocolate chunks and pecans

Cajeta is made by boiling down sweetened goat or cow milk, until the sugars caramelize. I use it as a base for an exceptionally smooth, caramel ice cream, and add pecans and soft milk chocolate chunks, for a scrumptious dessert reminiscent of caramel pecan turtles.

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How to Set up a Camera Trap

Bobcat photographed by wildlife camera in central MA

Camera traps can help you identify lurking predators, plan hunting expeditions, and learn about wildlife behavior. Here are the basics of setting it up: where, when, how, and the great bait debate.

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Goat Milk Ice Cream Bases

Vanilla goat milk ice cream, custard style, and made with no cow milk.

Enjoy these recipes for vanilla and chocolate goat milk ice cream on their own, or mix in your favorite nuts, cookies, or candies to create your own flavors. These are custard style recipes that call for no cow milk products.

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