They're Just Ducky!

Now that the ducks are out of quarantine and in the animal yard, they have access to the stream that runs across the back of my lot.  I've enjoyed watching them work their way up and down, sticking their bills and sometimes their heads deep into the water looking for good stuff.

Since the stream is not that deep, I wanted to give them a way to submerge themselves if they have the need, so Nate rigged up this fabulous duck pond off the back of the chicken coop  The pond will be fed with water from a rain barrel.  I designed it so the overflow from the rain barrel will fill the pond and then I can save the collected water for periods when it doesn't rain.

Before:

 

 

 

After:



 

We had some rain a few days ago, but not enough to fill the pond itself or the rain barrel, so I'm still waiting on the opportunity to dunk the ducks and let them know it's there.  Hopefully they will take to it like a duck to water.  Ha, ha!  I couldn't resist.

I'm looking forward to spring and the first clutch of duck eggs and potential ducklings.

Happy homesteading,

Candace   

Chirp Chirp, not Quack Quack

Be afraid!  Be very afraid!  I'm burning up the blog world with two posts in a month!  Ha, ha!

We've introduced Muscovy ducks to the homestead.  I first learned about this breed of duck at a friend's farm a month or so ago, and then crossed paths with them again at another friend's farm.  Both of these experiences put a nugget of interest in my brain, and as luck would have it, I came across some for sale this weekend at a local livestock event in the colorings I wanted.

Here and here are a few articles on the breed that touch on all the reasons I find them suitable for my backyard homestead.

They are considered quackless.  They do make a chirp-type noise that is very quiet.  Sometimes it sounds to me like water dripping into a pool.  My chickens are loud enough, so I didn't want to add more noise coming from my backyard.

They don't need a pond to flourish.  I have some ideas to incorporate some type of landscaping pond in the glorified ditch/creek bed that runs at the back of my lot.  In the meantime I'm going to rustle up a kiddie pool to keep them happy. 

They tend to be very broody and are good at hatching their own eggs.  I like for nature to takes its own course, and less involvement required of me is just peachy!

Their meat is said to be very much like beef, very lean and non-greasy.  They are not the breed to have for rendering duck fat, but I have read you can render a small amount of fat from them.  I love adding another meat dimension to the homestead. 

They are good foragers and excellent at bug control, particularly mosquitoes, which is also hunky dory by me.  We have a terrible time with mosquitoes, so I hope they can help control our mosquito population next year.          

They don't require care much different than a chicken, so I feel like I can incorporate them into the flow of things without too many changes to our routine.  Though in my observations this weekend they are unlike chickens in that I notice they move as one.  Whenever I would approach the run they would move away from me in one unit, very unlike chickens who would have scattered, every chicken for itself.

One of the features that attracted me to these particular ducks at the event was the coloring.  I love the fawn and chocolate colors!

  













Anyone out there have experiences with this breed that you would like to share?

Happy homesteading,

Candace

Operation Chicken Feed

I would love to say everything I eat is whole and unprocessed, but working full-time causes me to live in the real world.  So, I'm a label reader.  These days you have to be.  There are many hidden gmo-derived "natural" ingredients out there, citric acid, xantham gum and even Vitamin C, to name a few.  So, if I'm reading the labels of my food so thoroughly, why shouldn't I read the labels of my animal feed?  As my concern over GMOs has grown, so has my concern over the corn I was feeding my chickens and the alfalfa I was feeding my rabbits.  After all, we eat the eggs from the chickens and sometimes the chickens themselves, and we definitely eat the rabbits.  If I will put a package back on the shelf because it has soy lecithin in it, how can I justify feeding my animals feed laced with GMO products?

In my research I found this website, which is a fabulous resource for formulating your own chicken feed.  However, the problem for me is finding all of the different ingredients used in a particular recipe and at a reasonable price.  When you can't find all of the ingredients, you start to mess with the protein content and you then need to know how to formulate your protein based on the ingredients to which you have access.  Using the list of grains I could get locally and this website as a general source of protein content, I turned to one of the best homesteading blogs around, Five Acres and a Dream, for Leigh's explanation of the Pearson's Square Protein Calculator.  Right now I have access to whole oats, barley, wheat, flax seeds, black oil sunflower seeds and millet.  With all of these ingredients, how did I use the Pearson's Square, which only calculates the protein for two ingredients?  Well, I actually did not use the square itself.  I basically used Leigh's Step 2 to formulate my feed.  My formulation is totally an experiment and would not be appropriate for every flock.  They've been eating it for almost two months now, and so far so good.   

I was shooting for 16% protein in whole parts to make it easy to measure and mix.

Step 2 from Leigh's post:

     % of ingredient x its % protein
  + % of ingredient x its % protein
     % crude protein in grain mix  

My formulation:

Wheat       .30 x 13% = 3.9
Oats          .30 x 14% = 4.2
Barley       .15 x 12% = 1.8
Millet        .10 x 11% = 1.1
BOSS        .10 x 16% = 1.6
Flax Seed  .10 x 36% = 3.6
Total % of crude protein:  16.2

I do add mineralized salt and DE to the mix but I really just eyeball these two ingredients.  They also have free access to oyster shells and I know they pick up plenty of grit while they are out foraging.  I have plans to add brewer's yeast and kelp to my mix soon,  and once I add the brewer's yeast and kelp, I will reformulate based on this method. 

I really like to think of the feed as a supplement to the other ways in which the flock gets fed.  I depend on them being able to forage for some of their food, both for economy and for their overall health.  Even living in a neighborhood, my chickens have a pretty good free-range area.  In addition to a large area in my back yard, they have access to the back side of my neighbor's yard, which is approximately 1/4 acre of jungle.  He doesn't care that they are back there, and they love it because there is plenty of overhead coverage to protect them from hawks and it's a treasure trove of bugs and other goodies.  I recently started raising meal worms, but because I'm building up my population, they only get meal worms as a treat.  They also spend time scratching through the compost beneath my rabbit cages.  They get plenty of garden cast-offs, and they pick through the throw-away organic produce I get from my nearby natural grocery store.  In the garden this year, I experimented with growing field peas, which the chickens love and are an excellent protein source.  They did well so I'm hoping to expand and grow more next year. 

I know the combination of all of these feed sources contribute to happy healthy chickens.

Foraging Jungle Birds

Happy homesteading,


Candace                            

Falling in Love Again

I've fallen in love with my farm again.  It's the "get excited when you first meet" kind of love, giddy with excitement and potential.  I always feel the "this is my farm and I'm so proud of it" comfort love, but like all relationships, sometimes you need a jump start to get the giddy love going again, and we have had such a dreary rainy summer that the giddy was running on empty.

I was born to be outside, and I haven't gotten much outside time this summer.  I know this about myself, and I'm happiest when I'm outside whether it's being productive or just sitting on my deck watching chicken TV.  Add to my lack of sufficient outside time a dismal garden because of lack of sunshine and torrential rain, 3 inches of mud in the animal yard for three months straight, the chicken run flooding from one massive rain storm with a mama and 4 chicks in the thick of it trying not to drown.  Things like this can test your commitment to your passion but it can't break it.  Do you know why? 

Because here comes fall with her crisp mosquito-less lower-humidity air.  I've been working to get the summer garden cleaned up and doing some planning for my fall garden.  I'm craving some greens:  kale, collards, mustard, cabbage, lettuces, all of them.  Bring them on.  Bring on the fall/winter projects too, more beds, a better irrigation system that utilizes rain barrels, expanded fencing.

I've renewed my vows; my commitment is solid; my love is giddy.

Happy homesteading,

Candace           

It's Raining Men, Cats, Dogs, Buckets, and Frogs

And the gully washers just keep coming.  It has rained every day for the last month, and not light showers, but heavy rain.  I sink ankle deep in my animal yard, and my tomatoes are splitting and rotting on the vine.  The next ten days are forecast for 30-60% chance of more rain.  Can you tell I'm over the rain?  I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO over the rain!

Okay, enough venting.  What have I been doing during all of this rain?  Well, I've been canning a little bit, and I decided to finally get my Etsy shop going.  It's a mixture of vintage and handmade items, and it is giving me a creative outlet and a purpose for my collection of vintage and reclaimed buttons and eventually my collection of felted wool sweaters.  As far as handmade, I've started with button rings, and I've already sold two, so I'm happy about that.  I have a few more ready to list, which I hope to get done at some point this week.

If you are on Etsy, I hope you will add Bottle Tree Farm as one of your Favorite shops, visit often as I add more items, and maybe even buy something that strikes your fancy for you or someone you know.

Here is one of the button rings I listed.

Stacked Vintage/Reclaimed Button Ring with Iridescent Blue Button

Even though this only has already sold, I wanted to share it because I think it turned out really cute.  You have to scroll down the page past all of the current listings to see it.

Stacked Vintage/Reclaimed Button Ring with Yellow Flower Button

Stay dry and happy shopping,

Candace

A Backyard Garden Tour

Hey, folks!  I thought I would break down a garden tour into my front and back yards.  Since I took down all of those trees, the backyard is now getting pretty good sun, and I'm seeing the benefits like I've never seen before.  This past week, we have been drenched with rain, and this farmgirl is not complaining.  Though it does make the animal yard look like a monster truck's dream.

My cilantro and dill are going to seed as is my lettuce, so bye bye cool weather crops.  But, we've had a cooler spring than normal and for the first time I've been able to enjoy a salad with my own lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.  Normally my lettuce has bolted in the heat by the time the tomatoes and cucumbers are coming in.  I could probably do a better job keeping my lettuce around longer each year, but I can only do so much with the time I have.  Anyway, I'm just starting to pick cucumbers, grape tomatoes, green beans, a few blueberries and blackberries here and there, and of course, summer herbs like basil.  Everything is building up to what looks like a productive year.  Preserving season is upon me, and I really need to get myself organized and ready for it.

My back garden consists of Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkins, Waltham Butternut Squash, a variety of heirloom tomatoes (Black Cherry, Black Plum, Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, Hillbilly, Yellow Gooseberry), Cherokee Trail of Tears Pole Beans, Yellow Midget Watermelon, Zucchino Rampicante Squash, Oaxacan Green Dent Corn, Rattlesnake Pole Beans, Japanese Pickling Cucumbers, Delikatesse Cucumbers, Purple Hull Pinkeye Cowpeas, Red Onions, Buran Bell Peppers, Red Marconi Bell Peppers, Purple Jalapenos, Craig's Giant Jalapenos, Beauregard Sweet Potatoes, and Yukon Gold Potatoes.  

A few lessons learned already are: 

Squash Vine Borers love pumpkins.  I don't plant summer squash because I have a long standing battle with the vine borers.  However, when I decided to try pumpkins for the first time this year, I didn't realize they were suseptible to vine borer damage.  One thing I've noticed though is that the pumpkins are very prolific rooters, so even though the older parts of the vines are getting hit hard by the borers, the vines are rooting themselves as such a pace that I hope they can stay ahead of the vine borers.  I've been killing quite a few squash bugs too, but at least they are easy to catch and dispatch. 

I decided to try a different jalapeno variety this year, and I'm already regretting it.  I don't like the Purple Jalapenos.  They are too thin walled.  I used up the rest of my Craig's Giant seeds this year, so next year, I may go back to them. 

I am attempting the three sisters, but one of the sisters left the party early.  She got jealous because her other two sisters were taking all of the limelight, I mean sunlight and space.  I planted ------- Green Dent Corn with the Waltham Butternut Squash and the Rattlesnake Pole Beans.  The corn is coming along and the pole beans are climbing their way up the corn.  The beans don't look like they will be as prolific as my trellised pole beans.  They aren't in a raised bed like the trellised ones, and are really struggling with all of the clay we have in the ground.  Regardless of the outcome, I love to experiment to see how much and what I can grow in my small space.  Live and learn. 

Now, for the main event, pictures.  Enjoy!

Happy homesteading,

Candace

Trellises, Trellises, I Need More Trellises!

As my garden grows, so does my need for trellises.  I only have so much ground space so going vertical as much as possible is the best solution for me.

Over the years I've amassed quite a collection of old windows.  My original intent was to have Nate build me a window greenhouse out of them, but as time passed, it just didn't happen.  Nate finally got so tired of my begging for a window greenhouse that he said he would just buy me one.  Okay, I didn't get the window greenhouse I dreamed of, but I did get a greenhouse.  I choose my battles, and he does so many projects for me anyway, that I can't complain if he doesn't really want to build me a window greenhouse. 

The fallout is that I now have a large collection of windows without a purpose.  I'm not naming any names, but someone says this to me from time to time:  "Either do something with these windows or get rid of them."  "Either do something with these windows or get rid of them."  "Either do something with these windows or get rid of them."  Okay, okay!

Recently I was contemplating the windows and better use of the vertical space along my privacy fence when an idea popped in my head.  Why not use them to make a trellis?  So, after more sanding and painting than I really ever care to do again in the near future, stapling 2x4 hardware cloth to the back and having them mounted to the fence with 10" lengths of scrap 2x4s, I have this lovely window trellis.  I realized after they were hung that I probably should have given myself more space between them to reach behind the middle ones, but I wasn't about to request that they be taken down and rehung.  I'll see how they work this year and possibly separate them a little more next year.  I managed to use six of my windows, and I have room for two more trellises like this along the fence, meaning 12 more windows can eventually be taken from the stash.  I'm not naming any names, but he will be very happy I'm chipping away at my collection!

Happy homesteading,

Candace