Letters To The Editor

Storing Room Temperature Eggs For 6 Months?

I was told by a gentleman nearby that raises chickens and sells his fresh eggs that if you coat the eggs in oil they will keep without refrigeration for near to a year, though he does advise to actually use them within 6 months. He says that’s how eggs were kept before refrigerators.

(Editor’s note: Learn more about how to do this here.)

Sandy

**********

I found this article fascinating. I am posting from Cape Town, South Africa. The only snow we see during winter, is on the high mountain peaks. We have a Mediterranean climate in the Western Cape. Rain in winter, no, or very little rain in summer. The rest of South Africa is the exact opposite. The only preparation we have to do is clean out the leaves out of the gutters, and check the rain water tanks integrity. For me it was an absolute eye opener, to realize how much work was involved to prepare for a winter with snow.

Steve

**********

Editor’s note: Read the story referenced, “Getting The Most Out Of Your Firewood,” here.

This is our first year in Alaska where we’re using our wood stove as our primary heat source. It hasn’t gotten really cold yet, but so far we’re really enjoying the quiet crackling of a warm fire over the constant noise of our far more expensive pellet stove.

The pellet stove worked great last year, but it is very noisy. The woodstove obviously requires more attention and of course, there is the matter of cut/haul/maul/haul/stack etc. We’re looking at all of the work involved as our own personal workout with nothing but the great outdoors for entertainment.

I’d like to add one more plus here as I’m using the top of the wood stove to dry squash/pumpkin seeds for eating, bones for making bone meal to use in making dog treats and banana peels for making tea and adding to bread as they’re an excellent source of potassium. It also keeps my kettle warm so hot chocolate is quick and easy.

One note: We started out with a 6 lb. wood handled maul and we managed to “break its neck” as we “learned” about mauling wood. We’ve now moved on to a fiberglass handle with an 8 lb. head. It’s much quicker with the extra 2 lbs., but we needed to work up to swinging that weight anyway. The one concern with the fiberglass handle is that we have to keep it in the house so it won’t shatter.

Sue