herb garden

here is what i am working right now.

im creating alot of interest with the tea mixes that i have been putting together.
so i know that next year i need at least 3 times the herbs i had left over this year.

so i am creating garden beds at two friends houses [thank the goddess for good friends!!!!]

they are lasagna mulch beds.

seaweed
cardboard
seaweed
hay
maple leaves
reused grower dirt
sowed rye and veg[on the edges]
and then a thin layer of maple leaves that are more decomposted to deter them beautiful birdies from eating my seed.



 

Garden 1 - this is the garlic planted already. the area behind is what i am transforming

in this garden i lay carpet down on the seaweed before the cardboard beacause there is a ton of salal that grows here.

Garden 2 - this one is almost done! just have to sow the rye and away we go!!!

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

today

more seaweed today
the snow melted for the most part last night beacuse of the rain.
steve came and got the seaweed with me today.
that felt really nice,.
getting tired of doing all of these projects by myself.

spread out seaweed, layer of cardboard, and then went back for another round.
but now i think i need to nap.
:)


Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

its 9pm

its 9pm and we hear a squawk.
steve says "hey baby, i think you are getting a chicken."
i say "oh fuck"
and jump up cos i know they arent laying at this hour and so i go to check

sure enough cant find the black lady anywhere.
finally spott her as she gurgles a last breath.
damb minks!!!!
we've been fine till now
damb minks!
she was the heritage hen too!
a black apaloosa!
damb minks.
and its so late and i cant fathom waiting an hour mnimum for water to boil.
so i gut and skin her.
and inside....i find AN EGG!!!
wow. crazy!

damb mink!


Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

herb beds

creting herbs bed for the spring :)

freakin exciting :)

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

dirt

so not enough people read this blog to give me advice. DAMMIT!

i want to add, grow show dirt to my lasagana mulch beds. not sure whre to add it?
on topp to sew rye into?
that sounds ok but i am out of presious compost to mix it with

not even sure if it has a place in this new age.
just an old habit of collecting soil.

help!

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

part twoSurvival Skills with Russ - How to Butcher a Chicken pt 2

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

Survival Skills with Russ - How to Butcher a Chicken pt 1 (kill, pluck, ...

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

Duck Naked Plucker

This one i like.

seems i could adapt somestuff i have a t home for this.

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

Janet's Whizbang Chicken Plucker In Action!

Be warned.

i find this clip gut renching. or heart renchin.

not my favorite.

doesnt seem very respectfull of the animals carcas.

also dont you think itd be all fuckin bruised?

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

Not my Chicken Plucker

So here are some videos i was watchen today.

trying to figure out how to pluck older ducks.

Oh yes.
must also kill a chicken walk a dog and go to taichi.
Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

today

heading out to collect stuff today.
seaweed,
cardboard,
 hay,
leaves.
YAY MULCH BEDS!
Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

high water table

looking at property.
this place has a high water table which is awesome cos i wont have a problem filling ponds and the wet land will be AWESOME!.
but it causes some problems when it comes to drainage in the winter.
but i dont want to direct it all off the property i need to store it and at the same time build beds high enough to keep plants alive in the flood.

any ideas?

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

what i did todya

SO today i started building beds for herbs that i need to have growing next year.

looks like i will be spending next year without a home again. so i am building up some beds at friends places and hoping that i can split my energy productivly.

After working on this one bed for a couple hrs building up a lasagna mulch i realized that it had been good soil and i probably could have just sowed a bunch of vetch pea etc and it would have been a great bed for planting.

WHAT was i thinking!

oh well.
now at least i know i wont have a problem with weeds and itll be full of great dirt for the spring.

but still. kind of a waste of energy.

especially since im gunna have to build up mulch beds around the whole back of the garden to keep the salal and the vines back .


but it was fun.

i cant wait to keep working.

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

NEW LINKS!!!!

CHeck out h the links page for more videos and good links

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

Sexing ducklings

SO i need to put up a breeding pair for sale, and slaughter anther duckling or find him a home too.
but i wnat to make sure i am being honest in my sales.
so here are the pages i read today.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2061032_sex-ducks.html

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=181147 [ps. this is a great forum to join! very helpful people]

http://www.muscovyduckcentral.com/gender.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_5869698_tell-female-muscovy-duck-apart.html


heres my attempt....dont laugh :)
its long and kinda redundant but i wanted to post it anywasy

will have to add it latter.
my comp is a BIATCH!

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

weeding vs, mulch planting

So as you can see in the photo i fixed up my little herb bed for the winter. put in a bunch of kale and parlsey plants. harvested the carrits and lettuce. And cut all the duck food for the ducks.
so technicly i didnt 'weed' i just chopped for the bird food.
but now i am questioning such drastic mesures.

[will add photo later, comp is acting ip :)]


i suppose i am still in the transition of visual esthetics as well as trying to figure out how to harvest in the beautiful caos of a wild garden. i wish i had taken the extra time to cut around the lettuce instead of harvesting it wall because it would have created more cover for the dirt for water, heat and pest sake.
Because now after learning what i have learnt this astheticlly beautiful garden bed looks dead to me.
BUT i did sow winter onions and kale and pocchoy and vech and winter pea, and i know they will come out in a day or two.
i also planted 2 of my new comfrey babies in there to mix it up a bit.
i just hope its enough.
and i would have just done a chop and drop but the birds need the food.
hmmm. confusing,


 Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

How to sex ducklings

SO this is always a topic of contraversy!
Every one has their own theroys.
mine are based on personall experiance drastic assumption and individual duckling attitude.

I think that the boys are the ones who dont like standing for too long.
if you watch your ducklings form week 3 on ward you may notice that some ducks run and flop and run and flop. eat sitting down, seem like they are too big for their legs to hols the ,
i think these are the males
i also think that the makes are more pushy up until 6 weeks and more cocky and less afriad of the human hand.
after 6 weeks they move over and let the ladies take the lead.

I also think the ladies are small and much more timid up until 6/7 weeks.

then once they are tha age its easier to tekl because of the shapes of their nose ridge and the males always have a few more ducklings fluff bits let on their head.

anyway.
thats my two sense :)
let me know what you think .

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

Ceder TRees

SO heres what i did yesterday.
the buckets  are half straw about 2 inches of regular ditrt, some cardboard and then dirt i dug up form around a huge ceder in the yard.
now i just gotta keep em wet :)

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!

new duckliings

WOw!
so i got some new ducklings.
they are amazing. i got them a couple weeks ago and they are sprouting wings!
the are 4 weeks youinger than my white muscovies.
but they were brown!
with a little bit of yellow on them.
here a more recent photo

DAMB CUTE RIGHT!

they are also muscovys but the end up being this geourgous black coulour with green and purple hews all over.

The plan is to keep the male from this new flock and the females from the old flock and try to breed the white out of them

heres a close up pf the tail feathers. you can see the geourgeousness of what they will one day be :)

also if anyone wants to buys a breeding trio ill have 2 ladies and a male for sale by midwinter :)

Keep dreaming! the more you dream the more reality has to offer you!