The fresh eggs are fine; as long as no one steals them from you. Fresh milk is fine, as well. You have to pasteurize it yourself; otherwise enjoy a glass of raw milk. If you know how, you can make home made cheese--"queso blanco" it's the plain, soft, white cheese you make using a cheese cloth. My cheese cloth made it here.
My instruction notebook helps me a lot.
I have directions and recipes.
Due to lack of refrigeration, when I'm sick once a month I trade my fresh, perishable foods for non-perishable foods. Or at least I try.
•person A will trade pasta for fresh eggs.
•person B will trade carrots for fresh eggs.
•person C will trade rice for fresh eggs.
•person D will trade one light menial labor job for fresh eggs.
•person E will trade beans for fresh eggs.
•person F will trade kale for fresh eggs.
•person G will trade fresh milk at a later date for fresh eggs today.
•person H will actually trade me dehydrated meats for fresh eggs.
Now that might sound strange, but it's a reality. Not everyone got chickens for homesteading. But they were able to get jerky. They just want to trade jerky for fresh eggs. I save the jerky for a rainy day. They get to bake fresh bread or tortillas.
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This month, person A gave me a set amount of pasta for two eggs. We haggled on the price. One egg, two eggs or three eggs. I reminded person A, "I only have up to two eggs to trade with". A needed the protein for his child. That's fine I need the grains for my diet. I'm not giving away my eggs. I got a mix of elbow pasta and shells. They weren't pre-wrapped. I had to bag them myself. That's what led to a lower price for A.
Person B had a small bunch of carrots. I asked B if they planned to dehydrate their crops this year. They do plan to. I asked that I be remembered in the dehydration for trade next time. We would discuss the price next time. The amount of carrots B gave was worth one egg, in my opinion. We haggled for a bit. I said I wanted a bigger amount of carrots next time to earn two eggs from me. B had had some other vegetables on hand. I was offered a small amount of squash to go with it. I took it. I'm glad too. Nice change in diet.
Person C had 4 oz of rice to haggle with. Really. C haggled for the best price. I lost a bit on this one. The rice was still in it's original packaging from the store C was picked up from. I couldn't resist. One of those travel size packages for camping!
Person D brought me water and treated it here on my property.
Person E brought me black beans this month. Last month it was lentils. The month before that E brought me mixed beans!
Person F brought me kale. It was a nice big head of kale. Next month it'll be spinach.
Person G picked up the eggs and left me my claim for a future pick up of fresh milk.
Person H brought me a pre-packaged, dehydrated jerky. That was my requirement. It had to be store bought. One egg is one strip. That one strip has to be a certain size. If not it's two strips per egg.
What will I do when my hen starts brooding?
