A Few Bee Friendly Plants

This is not mine, I found it online but it has a easy to look at chart for anyone who's looking to do spring planting and needs plant ideas.  For bees always make sure your plants are from organic sources (organic seeds or organic green houses.)  Non-organic plants have been sprayed with chemicals as they were grown in green houses and those chemicals can hurt the bees.  Even if you live in a city and only have a tiny window garden you can still help out and put in a plant or two, the bees will thank you.

 

Side note: Poppy are listed here as Annuals, but they do come back every year from their root base as well as from the seeds they spread around.

Happy New Year's

This is a minor change of pace, but happy New Year's everyone.

Here's to achieving our dreams in the new year (and doing our dreaming with our eyes open.)

Rouen Pekin mix Ducky Pictures

Slightly late putting these up, but I did promise them so here they are.

These are my Pekin/Rouen mix duckies. 

Blow pictured is my baby who didn't finish feathering out yet, with one of the 5 month old ones.  She's about two months younger then the other two ducks in the photo.

Below are taken several months later, everyone is feathered out and starting to look like adults.

 

 

It turned out I hatched out three black and white mixed duckies, two girls and one drake luckily. On my drake he has the green head of the Rouen and looks stunning in the sunlight.  One other one is a mix as well but she just has a cute little band around her neck as if she's wearing a choker. I'm going to keep the drake with his sisters and half sisters and see what interesting color combinations I get in the spring. (And yes this is okay to do, it's called line breeding, only this group will be bred together and there is an unrelated drake in their pen as well.  Their parents are all unrelated as well so genetically there should be no issues.)

Lets Build a Bee Bed (garden) Part 1

So I was thinking about it last night after my other post and I thought maybe it would be a fun and good idea to do a few blog posts about putting in a bee garden.  Some people when they put in flowers for bees put in ones bees don't like or have issues getting food from, I figured why not do a series of posts that go into a nice healthy, happy bee garden.  This will include steps from going to nothing to putting in plants and will include bee friendly plants.  This is also going to be an eatable garden, meaning everything in it will be safe to eat (who knows, some stuff may surprise you.)

Now this bed is going to be as organic as possible.  I'm not going to say 100% organic but it will be as close as possible.

First off lets find a place for your bed.  Walk around your yard and pick a spot that you wouldn't mind digging up and putting in some flowers/herbs.  It can be as close to your house or as far away as possible (just keep in mind it will draw bees so if your allergic away from your house may be a good idea.)  When picking your spot be sure to look up and see what trees are over head.  We're in the fall now so keep in mind come spring if there are trees over head they will make an area that looks sunny now into a shady spot.  For the bed we're putting in now full sun to partial shade is idea.  Pick a spot that gets a few hours of sun a day.  Ideally for this bed your spot should be 5 foot by 5 foot to 8 foot by 8 foot (mine is 8 foot by 10 foot.)

Once you have your spot picked out we're going to start building the bed.  No digging is required right now so don't worry about that.  We're going to use composting to make dirt.  If you have newspapers or old cardboard boxes take them and spread them around on the ground where your bed will be.  You can also use old pizza boxes for this layer.  All of the grass or dirt in your new bed should be covered by paper/card board.  This is important, do not use any paper or cardboard that is coated with the shiny paint or is shiny paper.  This is bad for the soil and the worms that will make their home in your future garden.  Stick to non coated, not shiny materials. 

Once you get this layer down add your garden bed walls.  This can be anything from wood (make sure it's not treated) to bricks, rocks, I use fencing on some of mine because of my birds.  I also use old wood to line the inner wall of my beds and bricks on the outside.  Build your wall to whatever height you want.

Now that the walls are done we're ready to start filling it in with composable materials, chances are you already have a great start to your bed in your house right now.  If you drink tea or coffee start saving your leaves, bags, grounds, and filters.  Worms love all of this and it makes great soil.  Egg shells are also loved in soil, as are left overs from veggies, fruits, sea food.  All of this can be saved in a plastic ice cream bucket and if it's dumped daily it doesn't make any smells.  So what else can be dumped in there since we have so much to fill up before spring?  Well most people know the common things, leaves chopped up, grass clippings, general outdoor mulch.  You can also add things like shavings from rabbits if you clean their pens or other pets like that, mice, birds; do not use cat, dog, or any other carnivore's droppings, they can contain pathogens and since we're going to be snacking on our bed with the bees we don't want that in there.  Okay so what else?  Any kitchen left overs are great for it as long as it's not meat or blood.  You'll hear people disagree on this, but using meat/blood in a compost bed can draw in scavengers such as racoons, skunks, possums or even outdoor cats that may dig up the beds.  Other odd things? People hair, as long as it's not treated, sweepings from the floor as long as you don't use flea powder or pesticides, the same as pet hair not treated, coffee carriers you get from fast food places (as long as their not shiny), news papers ripped up or shredded can be added as well to this layer.  The key will be to have a mixture of stuff in there, so it will break down nicely and provide our herbs with food when we put them in.

A few hints for finding biodegradable matter, if you live near coffee shops you can ask them for their coffee grounds.  I know some people give them a bucket to dump them in and collect them daily.  If you live in a town that collects leaves you can ask the town if you can have some of the chopped up leaves. If you don't get newspapers you can ask your local recycling center for a bundle or two.  And don't forget about asking your friends for their composable stuff!

A minor side note, while doing this don't use herbicide around the bed or on your property.  If you need to kill weeds that can't be killed by pulling or smothering with mulch make a white vinegar and water spray solution and cover the offending weeds with that.  Its safer for the bees.

A few things about Feverfew

I keep seeing Feverfew being listed as a 'miracle herb' on a few sites around for things like headaches and migraines.

Now I will be honest, first off I've never used Feverfew, but there is a reason for this that I'm going to get into and it's the same reason everyone should first do their own research into any herbal supplement they want to take.  I've been researching herbs for several years, so while I'm not all knowing, I do try to keep myself educated about them.  Any time someone mentions something that works for xyz condition I look into everything about it, it's uses, how to grow it, how to harvest it, how to use it, and most importantly it's side effects.

Back to the Feverfew now, Feverfew is great for headaches and migraines.  It works by increasing blood flow by opening blood vessels.  There are other herbs that work well as well, and I'll get into them in a minute.  Like most other herbs Feverfew does have other uses, but mostly it will come up as a headache medication.

Now here's the important part, Feverfew's side effects.  It can cause miscarriages among pregnant women.  It can cause problems if you are trying to conceive as well.  If you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant avoid this herb.

For those who cannot take Feverfew other herbs do work just as well, peppermint taken as a tea can help prevent or relieve pain from migraines, as an added bonus it also helps settle upset stomachs that may result from migraines.  Other mint teas also help, but to a lesser degree (I use mint teas myself personally.)  I've heard catnip teas work as well, but I've never tried them myself.

Also if you are looking into a 'bee garden' avoid using this plant.  Bees hate the smell of the flowers and will avoid the beds at all cost. (In one book I own it actually recommends carrying some Feverfew in your pocket if you want bees to stay away from you.)  On the other hand if you want to plant something that will keep bees away then this is the herb for you.

Tiny Side Post

This really isn't farm related, but it also is.

I set up an ebay account and am selling some farm related goods on it (herbs, jams) and some not farm related stuff.  Next summer the ebay account will be used to sell honey and other yummies.

The link can be found here.

I'll be doing a few gift baskets for the holidays on it as well with jams, jellies, butters, things like that.  If your interested in farm yummies just keep an eye on there, I don't have a set pattern for when I list so it's random.

The Myth of 'Vegetarian Chicken Eggs'

I'm sure almost anyone who's seen them in the store has seen eggs marked as 'vegetarian'.  Now they may be chickens that are fed nothing but veggies, but I doubt it.  More true to what they are is the 'Free-Range Vegetarian' tags on them, or at least the free range part.  Chickens eat meat, naturally, in the wild they do.  The pet chickens people have now a days eat meat still, my own birds have gone after snakes, mice, moles, small things like that they can get to.  This is their choice as they free range and have 8 acres of land to roam on and eat all the grass they like.  Every chicken owner will also agree their birds eat bugs; if they can get outside or if the bugs get in to the coop they'll eat them.

Why do I mention this?  Because if you have a chicken that free ranges you will not stop them from going after bugs, or anything else they find tasty outside.  Chickens can and will chase a bug at top speed across the ground till they catch it or the bug flies where they can't get.  The minute that chicken eats that bug, that baby snake, anything like that it's not a vegetarian anymore, and no amount of talking to with a chicken will convince it not to eat something that's yummy (trust me I've tried.)  So basically, if they free range, they are not vegetarian.

So what then if it just says 'vegetarian'?  You have one very sick group of chickens if they're forced to be vegetarians.  Chickens need protein to grow feathers, lay eggs, and be healthy chickens.  Without a good source they can't do any of that, and if allowed chickens will start plucking one another's feathers and eating them to get protein, they can and will also attack, kill, and eat the weaker members of the flock.  I am serious, this does happen, this is why most egg production chickens in plants have their beaks clipped. (I'm not going to get into how hens are treated in plants, you can google that if you want to.)

Basically you can't have real vegetarian chickens laying eggs, it simply wont happen.  It's a good advertising ploy, but the reality is these eggs are not vegetarian. 

Save yourself the money, get free range eggs.  Or better yet get eggs from your local farmers markets.  Most of the farmers there love their birds, and they probably treat them like pets.  Sure the eggs may not be super pretty super market ones and they probably cost more but I can guarantee you the hens are happier and healthier then the ones that lay the store ones. (And remember what I've mentioned before, the healthier the hen, the healthier the egg.)