Hey there Feisty Farm Followers:
My husband and i are out of town for two weeks on a much needed vacation to my home state; Maine! We've been looking forward to it for a long time, and hope you will forgive us for the break. Ill hopefully have lots of photos of our garden (a lot happens in two weeks!) Some baby chick shots (i have a broody hen!) and maybe some fuzzy goats (heck yes we will). We've left everyone in the capable hands of Alex (the local kid) and our neighbors, Carinya Farm folks.
Cant wait to get back to ya! Have a wonderful two weeks!
Julie
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
A Book, A friend, Happiness
Dear Readers,
There will be hard to handle things in your life. Some you will take a long time and eventually heal from, others require a licensed physician or a stay in the mental ward. I have a "prescription" (discliamer: for all you nincompoops out there, i am not claiming to cure anything- this is advice....look it up.) for you. All of us have that one person we can talk to about any old thing, or sit in their presence and they know you will strangle them if they ask about it, so they kindly ignore it with you. If you have one of these or 50, you are a lucky person! Hang on to em! They are worth more than all the nice things in the world. Better than a day in the garden!
The prescription i speak of is as follows. Grab up that person who knows your soul, snuggle them close and spend the day with them. Then, that night, when the difficult things sit on the end of your bed and stare at you, go to your bookcase and grab up your favorite book and read until your eyes close. It confuses the hard to handle thing at the end of your bed and it forgets to sleep next to you. The next morning, Dr. Farmtress recommends that you go someplace quiet, where the wind blows, and the sky is blue, (even if its a painting in your living room, or a screen saver on your computer, and let the thing that is bothering you speak deeply to you. It obviously has a lot to say, and your heart needs to be unoccupied in order to hear it. Once you've given it the floor, soak it up. Im not saying all this will make the whole thing easier, but the difficult thing will have exhausted itself, so it wont be hopping up in the middle of day-to-day life to bother you. No one likes bursting into tears at the checkout of CVS, and frankly, no one knows what to say to you. Also, you probably avoid being referred to the Domestic Violence shelter (especially if youre naturally clumsy and have random bruises on your arms from accidentally hugging a bookcase). You can also listen to terribly sad music, but diffucult things rather like sad music and it may just encourage them to stay around.
Difficult things dont simply go away, dear readers, instead they must be trained to keep quiet in public places and wait for your full attention. They also dont like to be stuffed down in the bottom of your pocketbook. SO deal with them! Im telling you from experience. Dear Reader, if you ever have anything you need to talk about, talk about it.
Now about that book thing: I've recently been directed to a book called "Ishmael", written by Daniel Quinn. I dont know what its about yet, but since im reading it, i will tell you more about it once im done. Hold me to it!
In other news: Kitten Watch 2013.
We have hit 3 weeks people! Actually, four weeks on thursday! The kittens' eyes are open, momma kitty is teaching them to fight/play and they are all over the dang place! They also have cold little paw pads and like to rest them on your feet when youre not looking! Yikes! Brrr. Adorable and another week closer to being adoptable! Ill post pictures soon.
Well, im off to meet one of those precious people very soon! Adieu!
There will be hard to handle things in your life. Some you will take a long time and eventually heal from, others require a licensed physician or a stay in the mental ward. I have a "prescription" (discliamer: for all you nincompoops out there, i am not claiming to cure anything- this is advice....look it up.) for you. All of us have that one person we can talk to about any old thing, or sit in their presence and they know you will strangle them if they ask about it, so they kindly ignore it with you. If you have one of these or 50, you are a lucky person! Hang on to em! They are worth more than all the nice things in the world. Better than a day in the garden!
The prescription i speak of is as follows. Grab up that person who knows your soul, snuggle them close and spend the day with them. Then, that night, when the difficult things sit on the end of your bed and stare at you, go to your bookcase and grab up your favorite book and read until your eyes close. It confuses the hard to handle thing at the end of your bed and it forgets to sleep next to you. The next morning, Dr. Farmtress recommends that you go someplace quiet, where the wind blows, and the sky is blue, (even if its a painting in your living room, or a screen saver on your computer, and let the thing that is bothering you speak deeply to you. It obviously has a lot to say, and your heart needs to be unoccupied in order to hear it. Once you've given it the floor, soak it up. Im not saying all this will make the whole thing easier, but the difficult thing will have exhausted itself, so it wont be hopping up in the middle of day-to-day life to bother you. No one likes bursting into tears at the checkout of CVS, and frankly, no one knows what to say to you. Also, you probably avoid being referred to the Domestic Violence shelter (especially if youre naturally clumsy and have random bruises on your arms from accidentally hugging a bookcase). You can also listen to terribly sad music, but diffucult things rather like sad music and it may just encourage them to stay around.
Difficult things dont simply go away, dear readers, instead they must be trained to keep quiet in public places and wait for your full attention. They also dont like to be stuffed down in the bottom of your pocketbook. SO deal with them! Im telling you from experience. Dear Reader, if you ever have anything you need to talk about, talk about it.
Now about that book thing: I've recently been directed to a book called "Ishmael", written by Daniel Quinn. I dont know what its about yet, but since im reading it, i will tell you more about it once im done. Hold me to it!
In other news: Kitten Watch 2013.
We have hit 3 weeks people! Actually, four weeks on thursday! The kittens' eyes are open, momma kitty is teaching them to fight/play and they are all over the dang place! They also have cold little paw pads and like to rest them on your feet when youre not looking! Yikes! Brrr. Adorable and another week closer to being adoptable! Ill post pictures soon.
Well, im off to meet one of those precious people very soon! Adieu!
Friday, May 10, 2013
Homesteading Rabbit Food
SO after we got our Angora rabbit (to add to the fiber-making/farming that we are doing) i thought about all the junk that is put into animal food. A lot of times, we basically feed them waste products without even realizing it! Gross- also, it can't be contributing to their quality of life. I mean, its bad enough they live in a cage. (I already begged my husband to be allowed to house break the bunny, he said, "heck no!") So i am drawing up plans to make a nice hutch thing but that is a post for another day.
Back to the rabbit food: I spent the day after i got the rabbit looking online for feeding alternatives. Angoras are rather big bunnies but if there are wild rabbits and they thrive, i can probably scrounge up something for Mopsy too. I do have a bag of organic pellets from Purina, called their "garden blend" and it has all sorts of dried things, sunflower seeds, and grasses along with the pellets, but still- not awesome.
While searching through the interwebs for rabbit info, i found several very comprehensive lists of things that can be found either at the grocery store, in your poorly weeded lawn (or mine), or farmers market. I've been using my food dehydrator to put a lot of it away for the winter, when everything will die off. It hasn't been too labor intensive yet, because a lot of this stuff is just around my yard, so about once a week i've been taking out a basket to collect the leaves and plants.
I found a great and fully comprehensive, alphabetical list of plants that are poisonous to rabbits, I found that hay is an important item to have available to your rabbit, especially Angoras because it helps keep them from getting hairballs. Rabbits can't puke it up, so blockages can be lethal. However, you don't want to feed a lot of Alfalfa hay, because it is classified as a legume, and is too high in calories. Orchard hay, brome, and timothy hay are great choices. (I give mopsy a handfull from the cow and goat hay every day and she really enjoys that.
SO that should be the main portion of their diet. The next largest part of their diet needs to be leafy greens. Pretty much if a horse can eat it, bunny-pants can. (That is: if you have a horse. If not, ill include a list.)
This webpage has a TON of info about amounts and types of feed, as well as how best to provide for your little bunny friend: Its called the House Rabbit Society and can pretty much tell you anything you ever wondered about rabbits: http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html
This site has a long long list of plants that are poisonous to rabbits, many of them can be found around your home, so caution and knowledge are power. http://www.adoptarabbit.com/articles/toxic.html
So far, what i have collected are rose petals, grasses with seed heads, dandelion greens and plantain (not the banana-like fruit, but the grassy-weed thing you find in your yard. Google it. I recently read that pumpkin seeds are a natural wormer as well.
I've found that a lot of European people are big rabbit owners. A lot of the forums and sites I have found are based out of there.
Basically, what I am getting at with this post is that store generated rabbit food is not the best option for your pet- it will take a little extra effort but your rabbit will thank you. Since i have started providing plant based food, my rabbit will leave her pellets and wait until i bring her the "good stuff" so you will see the difference quite quickly. It really is the best choice. However, I am NOT saying it's the only choice- do what you feel is best, but a little research never hurt. This site has an article about testing rabbit feed at a ranch: http://www.raising-rabbits.com/rabbit-food.html
Here is that great page i found that lists veggies your rabbit can eat: http://www.saveafluff.co.uk/rabbit-info/safe-foods-for-rabbits
Also, here is the one about what plants are poisonous, and this was my favorite list i found, alphabetical order and what-not: http://www.3bunnies.org/poisonous_plants.htm
So i hope this is helpful, and here is a photo of Mopsy eating REAL food :)
Back to the rabbit food: I spent the day after i got the rabbit looking online for feeding alternatives. Angoras are rather big bunnies but if there are wild rabbits and they thrive, i can probably scrounge up something for Mopsy too. I do have a bag of organic pellets from Purina, called their "garden blend" and it has all sorts of dried things, sunflower seeds, and grasses along with the pellets, but still- not awesome.
While searching through the interwebs for rabbit info, i found several very comprehensive lists of things that can be found either at the grocery store, in your poorly weeded lawn (or mine), or farmers market. I've been using my food dehydrator to put a lot of it away for the winter, when everything will die off. It hasn't been too labor intensive yet, because a lot of this stuff is just around my yard, so about once a week i've been taking out a basket to collect the leaves and plants.
I found a great and fully comprehensive, alphabetical list of plants that are poisonous to rabbits, I found that hay is an important item to have available to your rabbit, especially Angoras because it helps keep them from getting hairballs. Rabbits can't puke it up, so blockages can be lethal. However, you don't want to feed a lot of Alfalfa hay, because it is classified as a legume, and is too high in calories. Orchard hay, brome, and timothy hay are great choices. (I give mopsy a handfull from the cow and goat hay every day and she really enjoys that.
SO that should be the main portion of their diet. The next largest part of their diet needs to be leafy greens. Pretty much if a horse can eat it, bunny-pants can. (That is: if you have a horse. If not, ill include a list.)
This webpage has a TON of info about amounts and types of feed, as well as how best to provide for your little bunny friend: Its called the House Rabbit Society and can pretty much tell you anything you ever wondered about rabbits: http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html
This site has a long long list of plants that are poisonous to rabbits, many of them can be found around your home, so caution and knowledge are power. http://www.adoptarabbit.com/articles/toxic.html
So far, what i have collected are rose petals, grasses with seed heads, dandelion greens and plantain (not the banana-like fruit, but the grassy-weed thing you find in your yard. Google it. I recently read that pumpkin seeds are a natural wormer as well.
I've found that a lot of European people are big rabbit owners. A lot of the forums and sites I have found are based out of there.
Basically, what I am getting at with this post is that store generated rabbit food is not the best option for your pet- it will take a little extra effort but your rabbit will thank you. Since i have started providing plant based food, my rabbit will leave her pellets and wait until i bring her the "good stuff" so you will see the difference quite quickly. It really is the best choice. However, I am NOT saying it's the only choice- do what you feel is best, but a little research never hurt. This site has an article about testing rabbit feed at a ranch: http://www.raising-rabbits.com/rabbit-food.html
Here is that great page i found that lists veggies your rabbit can eat: http://www.saveafluff.co.uk/rabbit-info/safe-foods-for-rabbits
Also, here is the one about what plants are poisonous, and this was my favorite list i found, alphabetical order and what-not: http://www.3bunnies.org/poisonous_plants.htm
So i hope this is helpful, and here is a photo of Mopsy eating REAL food :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)