ragdall
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2018
Jun 11, 2018 8:27:10 GMT
Post by ragdall on Jun 11, 2018 8:27:10 GMT
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2018
Jul 8, 2018 7:10:28 GMT
Post by meganl on Jul 8, 2018 7:10:28 GMT
Had to check this wasn't Maeve and her chooks It is great to spend time with family
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maeve
Member
Posts: 1,153
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2018
Jul 8, 2018 18:12:58 GMT
Post by maeve on Jul 8, 2018 18:12:58 GMT
Welcome back, Megan.
Lovely photos, rags. I'm down to just 2 little bantam hens, both broody without a fertile egg in sight.
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ragdall
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2018
Jul 17, 2018 22:46:55 GMT
Post by ragdall on Jul 17, 2018 22:46:55 GMT
Megan, Thanks for checking.
Poor little hens, Maeve. Are you considering getting a rooster to solve the lack of fertilized eggs?
My son and his family have plans to raise chickens and sell eggs. The 22 they have now are all named pets who follow the family everywhere. I'm wondering how the children will react when most of the roosters begin to disappear and chicken becomes a frequent menu item? The 17 year old might remember that the family's first attempt at chicken farming didn't end well, but the three little ones are new to it. I'm worried for the 7 year old. He has a very gentle spirit that even wild birds recognize and feel safe around him. I would hate for that to be damaged.
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maeve
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Posts: 1,153
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2018
Jul 18, 2018 23:07:04 GMT
Post by maeve on Jul 18, 2018 23:07:04 GMT
No more roosters here, at least for a while. The racket was driving even the hens nuts! I'll watch for some fertilized bantam eggs- perhaps the so-called Vikings, a landrace from Iceland, would be good. We don't eat our chickens. My husband had too much experience with butchering as a child and I'd rather consider them staff in charge of eating insects, fertilizing gardens, and providing eggs for our nourishment. Some of them are my friends. Your gentle 7 year old may need help to understand that all creatures need to eat. Chickens eat plants, insects, slugs and snails, even frogs, snakes and mice. Sometimes people eat chickens and eggs. What matters most is whether the chickens are treated with care and respect while alive and as they are processed for food. Home raised chickens with proper care have much happier and healthier lives than factory chickens even when they are also food...and I wouldn't name any animal I planned to eat.
We potted up good plants we bought at a nursery's moving sale today, including lemon verbena, an olive, rosemary, bay,and some orchids...for us. Tomorrow I visit with my mother and do laundry in town, then divide up hostas and daylilies & pot 'em all up.
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ragdall
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Posts: 1,684
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2018
Nov 28, 2018 12:05:08 GMT
Post by ragdall on Nov 28, 2018 12:05:08 GMT
Hello Maeve, I've missed noticing your reply in this topic. It was a long time ago.
Have you sold some of the plants you potted?
You and my son share the same philosophy about treating the chickens (and all animals) with care and respect. He's tried to help the children understand that although some of the chickens will have shorter lives than others, they will all have "happy" lives and their demise will be as caring as possible.
When they got the 22 small chicks, they couldn't tell which were males and which were females, all were named.
As I feared, the first rooster "cull" did not go well for the seven year old, but he recovered. He still takes care of all his birds, but now is focusing his affection more on the hens who will be kept for laying eggs. I gather that the second rooster cull went better.
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maeve
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Posts: 1,153
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2018
Nov 28, 2018 16:13:05 GMT
Post by maeve on Nov 28, 2018 16:13:05 GMT
Hi, rags!
I sold quite a few, but still have many daylilies I have yet to pot... insufficient time left after family needs were met. They'll sit out the winter snuggled together in their clumps, and they'll be potted up to sell in the spring. Thanks for asking. I didn't even have time to plant the bulbs I'd saved nor new ones bought this autumn. They'll have to be potted and chilled as appropriately as possible, for spring planting.
I very much miss the good spring/summer/autumn weather, when I could sit out under the grape arbor to work on plants and especially to keep my reawakened journal. There's nowhere inside where I can write without interruption. Sigh.
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ragdall
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Posts: 1,684
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2018
Dec 5, 2018 3:27:36 GMT
Post by ragdall on Dec 5, 2018 3:27:36 GMT
Well done selling the plants. We always seem to have more things on the list than there is time to do. I'm sorry that there isn't a place where you can write indoors uninterrupted. Maybe you will be able to work something out? You're very good at problem solving.
Your mention of bulbs reminded me that I have a small number of bulbs in a pail in the storage area under my deck. They came out from flower beds when I was digging to plant geraniums. I'm wondering if it will be possible to dig a hole or two and plant them, tomorrow. It's -9 C. The soil along the back of the house might be a little warmer from heat transferring through the concrete foundation? I hope I can remember to try. I don't have any place suitable for keeping them in pots until spring. Inside is heated, outside will likely be -30C at some point during the winter.
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maeve
Member
Posts: 1,153
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2018
Dec 5, 2018 20:17:28 GMT
Post by maeve on Dec 5, 2018 20:17:28 GMT
You can plant bulbs as long as the soil is dig-able. Our first winter here the ground was frozen solid. I was desperate and determined to do something kind for the abused land, so took my little kindling hatchet that was my dad's, broke out chunks of frozen soil/leaves, threw in the tulips and daffodils, then filled in the holes with frozen cow bedding and manure from the pitiful tiny cow-and-chicken shed, leaves, and bark. When I could afford a bag of compost and bark, I added it on top.
They bloomed for years. It doesn't hurt to try!
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ragdall
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Posts: 1,684
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2018
Dec 6, 2018 13:12:13 GMT
Post by ragdall on Dec 6, 2018 13:12:13 GMT
Thank you, I will try to dig. I've broken through frozen crust before to plant bulbs. I didn't get out there yet. I spend too much daylight trying to sleep.
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ragdall
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Posts: 1,684
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2018
Dec 10, 2018 15:28:53 GMT
Post by ragdall on Dec 10, 2018 15:28:53 GMT
I did get out the day after my previous post to putter a little in the yard. I had no trouble cutting through the two inches of frozen cultivated soil, beside the house foundation. It hadn't frozen below that crust. The half dozen bulbs are in the ground now. I'm looking forward to seeing how many will sprout in April.
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maeve
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Posts: 1,153
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2018
Dec 10, 2018 21:21:05 GMT
Post by maeve on Dec 10, 2018 21:21:05 GMT
Hurrah!
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2018
Dec 11, 2018 2:38:19 GMT
Post by sandrainsydney on Dec 11, 2018 2:38:19 GMT
so now we wait for the first post for 2019! but in the meantime, here is my latest - my lovely but elderly hoya which came out of my parent's garden in 1978 when they left Sydney - one it used to be covered (slight exaggeration) with blooms, today I have 3 - one new, 1 almost open & 1 dead! first pic buds 22 Nov, second buds open 2nd Dec, third today newest at left & dead one at right The worm is a water indicator!
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maeve
Member
Posts: 1,153
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2018
Dec 11, 2018 15:09:15 GMT
Post by maeve on Dec 11, 2018 15:09:15 GMT
How pretty, Sandra! I have a new pot of hoya, started from a few of the trmmimngs when a neighbor begged me to repot hers. It's too soon for blossoms, so I will enjoy your photos in the meantime!
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2018
Dec 13, 2018 21:46:17 GMT
Post by sandrainsydney on Dec 13, 2018 21:46:17 GMT
I was visiting a friend yesterday with an amazing cottage garden. One of her hoyas had a sparse collection of leaves & one beautiful big flower, the other had lots of leaves but no flowers, but her back garden suffered while next door was rebuilding their house - concrete dust destroyed her side garden.
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