The Quack Shack

[Canadian Wind]

Day 6 of leaving most eggs in the house. 2 nests of about 14 eggs each. No broody ducks. Incubator in the mail. If in the next couple of days we don't get any ducks to sit, we use the accumulated eggs for food and try in April with the incubator.

Awww, too bad you couldn't make it for the Easter Hatch-Along!

I'm hoping my incubator gets here before Friday

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Yes, I'm familiar with the forestry problem with currants ... I'm glad the ban is ending.

Apparently not everywhere. For the future, I am planning to grow cuttings from the Gooseberries and the Currants to sell them and i will have to ask the buyers in which county they live because two neighboring counties haven't heart the trees falling…

As to mildew resistant gooseberries, there are nowadays several and at least the Hinnomakis should for sure also be available in the US. Then you've got Captivator and Invicta which are also thornless for good measure.

You have no idea, how difficult it is to obtain gooseberries and currants! - Local nurseries - zilch and online very expensive if any available.

In general I find that for whichever kind of fruit bush or tree, there is often a distinct set of cultivars in English-speaking vs. Eu-Continental countries. But there are always also some "global" cultivars.

There are some peach trees that are field resistant to leaf curl and available in the US, such as for example Avalon pride or Frost. But as a lady once said at the former Gardenweb forums, "you know dear, peaches are just not that excited about life." I find this applies to the entire prunus family, especially because of monilia as you say. For us it's chiefly the sweet cherries that never miss an opportunity to develop problems.

The peach and the plum tree are not so sensitive to fungus, but their bark is covered in lichen, which makes them more susceptible for - almost everything. That fungus treatment contains Copper Nitrate which should at least limit the growth of the lichen somewhat.

However, apple trees should not be so problematic... You've got for example Enterprise and Goldrush (Co-op 38) which have almost plastic leaves, nothing touches them, and are also tasty and store very well. This is just 2 off the top of my head but there are many good robust cultivars.

The old apple-trees that we bought with the land no longer bear fruits, but they are scarred from fungus infections. The two new apple-trees i have planted are Cox-Orange, my favorite apple, but there simply are no fungus resistant Cox-Orange trees available. Nobody cares for that cultivar anymore. I had to jump through countless hoops to get these two trees, even drive to a "nursery" in Virginia. - Of course, all the branches that i had to cut off this spring have been turned into cuttings…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Unfortunately, that's not how scovy genetics work. A white Muscovy has two copies of the Pied gene. To show as Pied, they only need one as it's dominant. So, both male and female will give a Pied gene, and you will always always have white babies

Well, i need to keep my eyes and ears open then. Maybe some "wild" 'scovies decide to make my place their home. - As the now 30 Mallards did…

 

[Supercow]

Our Mr. Drake has finally figured out the concept of a pool today - after 2 months, and after 2 years of living without one in his original home.

He was super motivated because his favorite duck, who is not that happy about being favorite, kept escaping into the pool.

He's still quite clumsy, doesn't use the provided fruit tray steps, just kinda hauls himself in over the edge like climbing a fence... but he does get in

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Overall I believe that due to weather events becoming more and more forceful and unpredictable, from the standpoint of home-growing food one should a) diversify strongly to always have some crop regardless of that year's circumstances, and b) emphasize low-growing, quickly developing fruit such as most berries and especially same-year-growth-bearing ones (lots of raspberries are like that and some newer cultivars of blackberries). Also hazelnuts as hazel bushes will not get blown down in a storm due to general shape of the plant and the suppleness of the wood. Amaranth and sorghum for grain. "Weeds" for leaf vegetables. https://www.eattheweeds.com/ . Grow things that want to grow instead of fighting them and insisting on stuff that needs to be assisted to survive.

Three reasons why i have started to grow food for myself and the dux:

1. I just like to see things grow - including ducklings...
2. It saves some money, i haven't bought potatoes and onions in two years. Hopefully this year i can grow enough Kale/Cabbage to feed the dux through the next winter.
3. You can grow stuff that you cannot buy in stores - gooseberries...
4. Its good for the environment, each tomato or pepper i grow here won't need to be transported by plan, train of truck from somewhere else

Okay, that were four reasons, and i could go on, but y'all have a similar motivation i guess...

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

The stupid and ridiculous thing about this ban is that its preventing a native species to grow in favour of imported ones.

I know! And its not only one native species. They encouraged people to eradicate ribes-plants in the wild wherever they were found. There are some good videos on YuckTube and in one of them they claim that one of the native species has not been found for the last 30 years and was likely extinct.
I don't like pine-wood anyways, it smells intense due to the turpentine but won't last any longer when in contact with the ground. Its just fast growing and cheap...

 

[Supercow]

Apparently not everywhere. For the future, I am planning to grow cuttings from the Gooseberries and the Currants to sell them and i will have to ask the buyers in which county they live because two neighboring counties haven't heart the trees falling…

You have no idea, how difficult it is to obtain gooseberries and currants! - Local nurseries - zilch and online very expensive if any available.

The peach and the plum tree are not so sensitive to fungus, but their bark is covered in lichen, which makes them more susceptible for - almost everything. That fungus treatment contains Copper Nitrate which should at least limit the growth of the lichen somewhat.

The old apple-trees that we bought with the land no longer bear fruits, but they are scarred from fungus infections. The two new apple-trees i have planted are Cox-Orange, my favorite apple, but there simply are no fungus resistant Cox-Orange trees available. Nobody cares for that cultivar anymore. I had to jump through countless hoops to get these two trees, even drive to a "nursery" in Virginia. - Of course, all the branches that i had to cut off this spring have been turned into cuttings…

How about Alkmene as a modern alternative / successor to Cox's Orange? It is said to be quite disease resistant. We don't grow it yet as I haven't yet decided to assimilate another bit of the field into the orchard

https://www.orangepippintrees.com/trees/apple-trees/alkmene

About the expensive Ribes family plants -- even if the first one is expensive you then grow a horde of them out of that one... Raintree nursery?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Day 6 of leaving most eggs in the house. 2 nests of about 14 eggs each. No broody ducks. Incubator in the mail. If in the next couple of days we don't get any ducks to sit, we use the accumulated eggs for food and try in April with the incubator.

They are waiting for the incubator to arrive and then they will go broody.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Tried to get a nice photo of all my ducks in a row.. but the drake ranView attachment 3763723 the black bibbed ones are the new mummy hen and her two babiesView attachment 3763724 her name is Cleo. Was written on her auction card. I think Cleo may have got abit snappy with the previous owners parents and thats how she ended up at auction

Cleo looks somewhat like my Pinball Duck (Magpie). She also was a good mother...

 

[Canadian Wind]

I know! And its not only one native species. They encouraged people to eradicate ribes-plants in the wild wherever they were found. There are some good videos on YuckTube and in one of them they claim that one of the native species has not been found for the last 30 years and was likely extinct.
I don't like pine-wood anyways, it smells intense due to the turpentine but won't last any longer when in contact with the ground. Its just fast growing and cheap...

I'm happy I found gooseberries growing here on the property. I should try to gather some clippings this Spring and make a small area of just those.