Just Ask..............

How many times do you do this? You see, pass, think of something that you could really use that either appears to be being thrown out or will probably be discarded but you don't stop and ask. We all do it. Why is it so hard to stop and ask? The worst that can happen is they say no. All you have lost is a few minutes of your time.

Symbiosis around the homestead....... part 1

Websters dictionary defines symbiosis as, "the living together in more or less intimate association or close union of two dissimilar organisms, a cooperative relationship." We are finding that the more symbiotic relationships that we can build between the different components of our homestead the more harmony we have, the healthier the livestock/garden/system is and the more money we save.

As I loaded old hay in the back of the truck this week I started thinking about all the ways we are integrating and building symbiotic relationships and thought "what a great idea for a blog series" so here we are.

Our first hatch of the spring.... Ducklings!

We started raising Pekin ducks last year with the purchase of 11 ducklings. We are blessed with 5 ladies who lay eggs daily so we decided to hatch some out. Our first batch started hatching last weekend, what fun!

As The Garden Grows ....... 2/17/2014

So much to catch up on! Despite some pretty cold weather (for north Florida) the garden is doing really well! With the addition of two 4 foot by 12 foot beds made from tin roofing we are up to a total of eight 4 foot by 12 foot beds giving us 384 sq feet of intensive gardening space in the big beds. We added 5 smaller beds ranging from aprox 2x2 to 3x2 plus 7 24 gallon pots. Plus two large  herb beds. Our current estimated total garden space is 500 square feet of intensive garden capacity.

Captain.... there be duck eggs here!

Sorry, bad Star Trek reference.............

So last year we bought an incubator and hatched chicks from our Delawares, gooslings from our Buff geese and some turkey eggs from a fiend. I was HOOKED!

Last year I purchased 11 Pekin ducklings with the intention of keeping a few breeders and harvesting the rest. Fast forward almost a year and the ducks are laying eggs and we are seeing mating behavior. Last week we started saving duck eggs.

Doesn't everyone butcher roosters when school is cancelled?

Happiness is finding out your peds class is cancelled on a day it is sunny and warm enough to butcher those extra roosters that really need to be relocated to the freezer. I am in my last semester of RN school and homesteading tends to take a back seat to school these days. Having a whole day to devote to the farm is extra special.

**** Advance warning, there are actual butchering day photos to follow. If this bothers you hit the back arrow now.......

Before pictures..... AKA the cute and fuzzy side of rabbit farming........

These are our current cuties. There is just something adorable and sumo wrestleresk about fat baby bunnies. These three are extra special because they are the last litter from Blossom one of our two founding does. The other founding doe and our founding buck were retired a week ago and after this litter is weened Blossom will retire as well.