Maine

[suzMEchicks]

Ahhh. I buy a big bag of parot treats for my chickens and they seem to love that. It has dried bananas, dried peppers, sunflower seeds, peanuts ,etc. i will get the BOSS . The oil will do them good. I have turned my mind to gardening too. There's one thing I did by accident last year that I plan to do next year. I planted three kinds of kale in a 4by 8 raised bed. Turned out to be more kale than I could eat in 3 years. But it also is my chix favorite food. I was still feeding it to them at the end of November because it's really hardy. The other thing they loved was my favorite annuals -nasturtiums. It was a really good year for them this past summer and since I covered them, I was feeding them that like salad into late fall. This year I have to rebuild most of my raised beds so it will be a lot of work but hopefully a chance to get things the way I want them, if you know what I mean. This is already a horribly long winter BUT I have noticed it is staying lighter a little longer and this trend is bound to continue!!!

 

[yankeehill]

http://honeybeenet.gsfc.nasa.gov/Honeybees/Forage.htm

This is a map of the US with a listing of what plants are great for honey bees. Just click on Maine and it will go to a page that lists plants (including trees) that our bees love. As much as people dislike dandelions they are one of the best early sources of nectar for bees. So the next time you think about getting rid of those yellow flowers think again. They are useful and much needed. Personally I have always like dandelions and never understood why people though of them as weeds.

Ah, yes, bees LOVE dandelions. I say let them grow! I love nothing more than a sea of green dotted with the yellow dandelions (now that's a warm thought for a cold night!)

NorthChicken, I was in Cross Lake at Christmas visiting my family. You have ALOT more snow up there than I've seen at Christmas in a while!

 

[yankeehill]

I think I've figured out why my hens aren't coming off their roosts, or out of the house much. The geese are bullying them. I suspected this, but tonight I saw it for sure. I added some fresh shavings, and the hens all flew down and started scratching (knowing I usually throw some oats down). The hens hadn't been down more than 2 minutes, and the geese headed in the coop. The hens immediately flew up to their roosts. I chased out the geese, and threw down some bread. The hens looked at it, but wouldn't come down. I put some cracked corn on top of their nest boxes, and boom, down they all came. I ended up putting cracked corn all along the inside studs and windowsills, basically any ledge the hens can reach. Then I sent hubby an email and told him what I had seen. I suggested we build a henwalk (like a catwalk!), but he came back with 'we'll split the coop in half. Darn geese! I love them, but I do NOT like that they are doing this to the hens. I sure hope that dividing the coop will help them. .

 

[lazy gardener]

Interesting, my girls wouldn't touch kale or nasturtiums. However, they were eating dried squash leaves like they were potato chips when I turned them loose in the garden. They also almost completely wiped out my crop of calendula seeds. I plan to grow comfrey, and lots of swiss chard and dry it for their winter eating pleasure. Next construction project will be a solar dryer. Any excess garden veggies, incluing those base ball bat zucchini will be chopped and dried for both kitchen and chicken use.

 

[NorthChicken]

NorthChicken, I was in Cross Lake at Christmas visiting my family. You have ALOT more snow up there than I've seen at Christmas in a while!

We have gotten a lot of snow so far! Think we had a storm every weekend for the past few weeks. I don't mind the snow, at least it helps insulate. Although it seems all I do lately is shovel!

 

[suzMEchicks]

Yes a lot of shoveling and roof raking!

 

[buckabucka]

School is on!

I'm willing to sacrifice my asparagus bed to the invasive weeds, because DH planted 250 plants up in the field! They get less attention, but no bindweed. The old asparagus patch is attached to our vegetable garden though, so I must keep attacking it from spreading. I haven't even tried to dig it up in the raspberries, but maybe with some digging and heavy mulch...

 

[yankeehill]

I had to google bindweed. It is pretty, but I can see how it can be a bother. http://blog.oregonlive.com/kympokorny/2008/09/bindweed.html

Here in Central Maine, my garden is FULL of Purselane. Silly me, I was pulling it out and tossing the to the side..well, don't you know, any plant you toss to the side will root where it lays. There is like no death for the thing! And the seeds are so tiny. But, we've decided to leave the purselane in the garden. I do pull the really big ones now and then, but only if I feel like it. It seems to choke out the other weeds, but not bother the garden plants. I read somewhere that it is loaded with Omega 3s, so we actually eat it. Kind of reminds me of sour grass. It is also considered a 'beneficial' weed, something about how it's roots pave the way for other roots to find water.

 

[Widget]

Australia sounds really nice right now. Temperatures in the triple digits in some places. Okay well maybe not so nice but perhaps for an hour or so? At least -5 here. Inside the house it is 52. Poor pellet stove on low just could not keep up with the outside temperature. While chilly it is tolerable. I had to shut it off so I can clean out the ashes. Should not take long before I can get the temperature closer to 60.

The birds are still huddled on the porch. Goats are in their shed and the horses are in their shelter. No one wants to be out and about today. Still some light snow falling but the wind is just brutal. Even my Pyr went out to do her business and came right back in. Normally she wants to stay outside. Think I will wait until this afternoon or even tomorrow before I play with the snow blower. I do not need to go anywhere and with the wind blowing the snow too I doubt I could clear the driveway anyway.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I didn't let the chickens or the goats out today, either. However, I did have to let the ducks out. They are acting mighty weird -- they'll walk a few feet and then all 3 will collapse and put their feet under their wings (I guess to warm them back up). Then repeat the process.

I thought it was supposed to stop snowing earlier, but I guess everyone will have to stay inside for the time being. Including me.