***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[muesky]

For a natural wormer have you considered green black walnut husk extract?



The prettiest layers I can think of are NN! lol lol lol But that could just be me. lol

I did not think of black walnut husk extract.. Duh! Used it on my daughter when she was younger...
As for the NN, sorry just can not do the red skin showing thing...

Let me know if there is a swap started. I want to get a garden going so bad (esp. now that I will have the perfect fertilizer haha). Last year we put up a garden and it didn't get enough sun because of the trees in the back yard. Going to try a different location and see if it does any better this year. And try to keep the chickens from scratching in it... yah right.

I will, just trying to get time to finish getting the garden ready.. The addition has not had anything added to it so I am not sure if much will grow. That is where I am probably going to grow the soy beans..

 

[muesky]

So I am up much earlier then I wanted to be.. Cannot sleep and have only slppt 4 hours..

 

[Kyzmette]

So I am up much earlier then I wanted to be.. Cannot sleep and have only slppt 4 hours..

Ugh, hate those nights. And it doesn't help to TRY to go to sleep, so you just lay there, wide awake, or get up and putter around. I wish I could be one of those insomniacs who gets a million things done when I can't sleep, but I'm not. I'm more the type that lays there for hours thinking about how cold my toes are, but I won't get up and get another blanket because the rest of me is warm and it's cold outside the covers.

Oh, but I always end up faling back to sleep.... five minutes before the alarm goes off.

 

[cathiesue]

On sleep. Did you know that sleeping through the night is a recent phenomena? In the middle ages they had First Sleep and Second Sleep. Go to bed with the dying light for First Sleep. Wake up naturally in the night, engage in quiet activities like sewing or reading by low lights, or have sex. Go back to bed for a few hours and rise refreshed. I am not making this up. i promise! I have a painfully trivial mind.

 

[Poco Pollo]

For those of you who are gardening, what do you think about having food swapping? We are going to be planting a couple varieties of cucumbers, several varieties of tomatoes and peppers (to include an assorted selection of colored bell peppers, squash, zucchinis, carrots, onions, shallots, maybe potatoes and sweet potatoes.. The plan is to start a strawberry patch, and to plant blackberry, raspberry and blueberry bushes.. Of course they will not produce for several years.. This is the goal of course...

Oh and I have decided I would like to start up a small layer flock.. Of course I want some pretty birds but ones that are good layers.. Any suggestions??

My MIL is a member of a food coop in OKC. Local farmers are able to sell their products to the coop and members go to the distribution center to pick up their weekly or monthly order. MIL goes weekly. She gets meat, eggs, vegetables, and fruit. Prices are a little higher than wally world, but she doesn't have to stand in line, and the products are farm fresh. She leaves a basket and picks up the basket she left the week before. It works really well.

Were you thinking people would bring what they have to one central location for distribution? I would love to participate. Since I'm not going to be able to walk the Camino this summer, I am planning my garden and hope to have lots of "extra" for swapping.

My layer flock will consist of Ameraucanas, Sex links, NN, and Marans. Do consider the NN. They are hardy and their eggs are usually large.

 

[Cjarvis]

So I am looking at alternatives to using chemical wormers and antibiotics.. I found this article in a google search for organic farmers in Canada..
https://www.cog.ca/documents/Managing internal parasites in organic livestock.pdf
I think I am going to get a bag of granulated garlic to add to my birds food. With the garlic, DE and crushed peppers I am hoping to keep everyone worm free.. Also looking into finding a source for pyrethrum (derived from chrysanthemums) to add in extreme cases.. That is until I can get some plants established..

With the weather being so bad I am thinking I better wait for a few more weeks before I start some seedlings for the garden.. Since we are expanding the garden I need to decide all what I want to plant.. The soil still is not built up enough for corn but I am thinking we could grow soy. My goal for the garden is first food for Doc and I, family and friends, then chickens and if there is any left over trading for things we need..

For those of you who are gardening, what do you think about having food swapping? We are going to be planting a couple varieties of cucumbers, several varieties of tomatoes and peppers (to include an assorted selection of colored bell peppers, squash, zucchinis, carrots, onions, shallots, maybe potatoes and sweet potatoes.. The plan is to start a strawberry patch, and to plant blackberry, raspberry and blueberry bushes.. Of course they will not produce for several years.. This is the goal of course...

Rebecca,
I have some tobacco seed, fed in moderation the nicotine is a great parasite treatment. You can have some of the seed if you want it. I also have several large bags of garden seed, almost two pounds of cantelope, turnip, about 1/2 lb of assorted tomatoes, peas, beans, corn, squash, and many others. Let me know what you would like I probably have it along with some Yukon gold and sweet pot.

 

[mjgigax]

On sleep. Did you know that sleeping through the night is a recent phenomena? In the middle ages they had First Sleep and Second Sleep. Go to bed with the dying light for First Sleep. Wake up naturally in the night, engage in quiet activities like sewing or reading by low lights, or have sex. Go back to bed for a few hours and rise refreshed. I am not making this up. i promise! I have a painfully trivial mind.

Me too. Want to know about obscure 15 cen. Northern European Painters?
Chicken genetics seems to intimidate me though........

 

[mjgigax]

My layer flock will consist of Ameraucanas, Sex links, NN, and Marans. Do consider the NN. They are hardy and their eggs are usually large.

I would get some too - some have black necks.
What about RIR? This past Summer Jack's were "throwing eggs at him".

 

[Kyzmette]

A food swap sounds like a fabulous idea. To take this a step farther... there are a number of us who live to can. I make some pretty darned good jams and jellies (ask Dusti!), and a marinara that would curl your toes. The secret to good pickles, however, has thus far eluded me.

I'd be happy to turn somebody's extra produce into spreadable breakfast love. And if you're not interested in an immediate return... I've really been wanting to try my hand at homemade wine, but my fruit trees aren't producing enough right now. I'm hoping this will be a good year for the pear tree, and the peach tree put out a lot last year but the wasps did too, so I picked up mosquito netting. The apple, nectarine and plum trees are still new, though.

Here's a related question regarding wild blackberries. I remember picking them as a kid and coming home with buckets and buckets. Now I'm pretty sure I need a honeybee nucleus planted in my back acreage, because I so rarely see bees and the blackberries grow so sparsely. Are any of you having this problem? I'm planning on getting a nuc, just haven't gotten around to it yet. If you guys have this problem, do you have any harvesting strategies to maximize yield?

 

[Cjarvis]

We are on 12 acres here, there is at least two of that nearly covered in blackberries, we can still pick them by the gallon buckets nearly daily when they are in season. We do have a few wild hives in hollow trees on the property and adjoining, the bees have been here since I was a child although I have heard that many are loosing theirs in the area. In the event we quit seeing them, I would put some out myself.