Praying Mantis

That's one bug you want to attract and keep. They are a predator insect, and feed on moths, mosquitoes, flies, and crickets, among other things.

This particular individual decided to land on my seed catalog. Maybe it was hinting at something, or was learning to read... In any event, this was a pretty fun picture to take.

So, when you see a little fella like this in your garden, do not shoo it away or kill it. It might do your garden a favor by eating a few bugs here and there.

Khaki Campbell Ducklings

A bit of an update: they have grown and are becoming beautiful birds. I had to give away nine of them, but kept three ducks, a male and two females.



Chaki Campbell ducks

Here's new addition to the homestead: Khaki Campbell ducklings. This breed is supposed to be the best layer of all domestic ducks. But laying eggs is far down the road for them. For now they are just cute bundles of joy. In this video they are three days old.

Want free fertilizer?

Get some chickens!

Just thought I'd share...  :)

Germinating Bird Seed for the chooks

"Chooks", that's what they call chickens in Britain. I have some too, very young ones, only two weeks old. Exactly four Plymouth Rock females, four Red Star females from MyPetChicken.com and ten Buff Orpingtons of unknown gender incubated by me, so eighteen chooks all together.

Usually when I have young chickens I carry them by hand into the outdoor play area in the morning and then back again, by hand, into their brooder at night. But recently my work schedule changed where I have to leave early in the morning and come back home late at night. I did not want to deprive the chooks of needed vitamins and entertainment, so I came up with a plan that I would grow greenery for them in a container. The plan worked very well. I got a six-pound bag of bird seed from Tractor Supply for about five dollars, so it's less than a dollar a pound, and seeded it liberally in a container. The germination of it was exceptional, very thick and lush greenery as a result. Chooks loved it!

The good thing about the bird seed is that it contains a few different types of grain: wheat, milo, millet and even sunflowers. There are other ingredients as well, but I threw away the package so cannot recall exactly. Some people like to juice germinated wheat, and that's a good healthy thing. The point is that you can get your grains for germination pretty cheap; bird seed is sold practically in every pet department at WalMart or your grocery store. And you can even grow this bird seed for the future seed if you let a few plants mature and go to seed. Way to go, I am pretty pleased with that project. 

Can you learn how to garden?

I used to belong to the "brown thumb" league. Seriously. Houseplants or outdoor plants that somehow ended up at my house were promptly killed. Not intentionally, but nevertheless. My first attempt at vegetable gardening happened about seven years ago when I purchased a tomato plant from Lowes. I had no idea how to do a vegetable garden, but the tomato was doing pretty darn good in a container, so I decided to give it some more "love" in a form of lawn fertilizer. Needless to say, it shriveled and died in a couple of days. This experience was a disappointment, but it did not stop me from trying further. I started buying bookshelves of books and trying different things with plants and seeds. Well, seven years later, I can proudly say that I grow more than half of our family's food from my not so large garden.

There is a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, but you have to go on a journey. Gardening is easy if you master a few tricks. I must confess that the most important thing about gardening is soil preparation. Granted, I am biased towards growing organic, so my soil preparation is a bit more labor intensive than non-organic gardening approach.

Once you have your garden beds ready, you need to learn about the seasons, or what can be grown at your location at what times. Then you have to plan your garden so you do not grow too much of one thing and too little of the other.

Do not get discouraged if your first crop fails, it can happen. When we first moved on our property almost two years ago I did not have the time to properly prepare the beds, so my first harvest was dismal. This was a fall harvest, but I spent the winter double-digging the beds and the following spring I had a boat load of tomatoes and squash. Step by step, it is a learned skill. I hope blogs like mine are an encouragement and help in your quest of becoming a gardener and providing some wonderful produce for your family.

My bookshelf has many gardening books, but if you are interested, the following three are my favorites, as in most entertaining and useful:

1. Vegetable Gardening in Florida

2. How to Grow More Vegetables and Fruits (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine

3. The New Self-Sufficient Gardener

Woodpecker at work

I caught this woodpecker on camera this morning. He looks like a well dressed gentleman in a black tuxedo and a little red hat. He sure is hardworking, just pecking away.

Click on the picture to enlarge.




Also, got him on a video: