Good Morning! <=2017

Post by **WLLady** » Fri Jul 15, 2016 7:51 pm

Hi everyone!

Finally back home. always nice to come home. don't get me wrong, it was absolutely gorgeous where we were visiting! and awesome to see folks there again, but nice to be off the road, and back to the chicken-dom and horse-dom! found out that driving is really doing in my back..hm....didn't drive all week and was doing much much better by yesterday. hm. oh well. gotta drive to get to work, so it is what it is. We painted, and painted...they're painting the house. all of it. so we got the "paint the windows and the removable screens" jobs. lots of picky detail work-along with cleaning windows and i weeded one of the flower beds outside-it was overrun with crown vetch. pretty, but smothering everything...it was actually hauling peonies and rose bushes to the ground! but it's looking fantastic. it's like a rainforest up there, lots of rain. when we called tonight to say we're in safe they were having yet another thunderstorm with hail and the whole bit!

got back here and the garden is BUSTING! tomatoes everywhere! and peas, and summer squash and lettuce, and sunflowers over 6 feet tall! the squash plants are almost up to my waist! they're HUGE! we must have had some rain (and we're running the sprinklers too). the corn (amazingly is still alive) grew over 2 feet during the week, it's about 5 feet tall now. my indian corn in the garden has tasselled...beans will be up very very soon! raspberries for dessert tonight. yum. and blackberries are just starting. yay! harvested the garlic before we went and it's absolutely wonderful. have a couple volunteer squash bushes to rip out, but i think i need chainmail for that...they're crosses between pumpkins and summer squash and they have spines! my cucumbers didn't make it though, sigh. so no cukes here this year. oh well. usually have one thing that doesn't like the weather.

now to decide if i work next week or stay home....hm. we had ordered a bin to come on monday, but they never confirmed, so doubt it's going to come...a big garbage bin, for the driveshed tear down. no point wasting holidays and doing nothing, but it's awfully tempting to just enjoy being home. trying to figure on putting new siding on the house, and thinking about redoing the kitchen and the shower in the downstairs bath....

good luck with the clean up www! had a thought-each person coming to the bbq takes one shovel load of garbage to your "will be hauled to the dump" think before the bbq starts LOL. many hands make light work! ;-P it's such a pretty place....hopefully it's not too horrible to clean up. unbelievable what people will do to a property isn't it? we FINALLY after about 8 years have this place ALMOST clean of the crap left behind...still finding the odd car part in the driveshed....
hope everyone had a great last week, i know we weren't on the forum that much, i have a TON of reading to do! LOL

Post by **WLLady** » Sat Jul 16, 2016 6:22 pm

just a reminder to everyone that voting for the picture of the month is open!!!!
http://www.poultrytalkontario.net/forum ... =79&t=1598
vote for your favourite, and in august it will replace the pen and ink well on the right side of the reply box!
All the photos are excellent this month! kudos to all that entered

Having a lazy day today. a little weeding, put up a fence to block the horses out of the run in so we can start tearing that down any time now. farm sitting. our one dog is hearing things and just randomly barking...interesting...old-timers i think
beautiful day out there! soon time for chores. Tomorrow 10 pullets are out the door to their new home, and my feed bill should reduce once again. Was a little horrified at the baby grasshoppers popping around the garden like popcorn this morning. sigh. it's going to be BAD soon! and had to drain both the horse troughs, the mosquito larvae were crazy....so they're drained and cleaned and refilled. fly sprayed the horses, and put fly sticky tape up in the barn..helps a lot. tomorrow is pen cleaning day for the turkeys i think...or maybe tonight after dinner. i like nice quiet weekends

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Sat Jul 16, 2016 11:08 pm

Wllady...Grasshoppers? So let me get this straight.....you keep poultry...and your garden is under attack by critters that are eaten by poultry. Hmmm? There's a solution there somewhere. Guinea fowl eat bugs and seeds (grain) but not veggies or fruits (they do eat some grass). With a bit of planning and thought (snow fence and clipped wings or pinioning...it works I kept guineas this way before) you should be able to figure something out...your household has the brainpower). I am not a gardener but I am thinking in three dimensions...fruit trees, geese, and chickens. And its all great in theory...

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Sat Jul 16, 2016 11:51 pm

And being the "PITA" that I am here's the practice.

A quote from "Bended Knee Vineyard" near Victoria Australia "The Roches say,We are committed to sustainable viticulture and aim to leave the planet in better shape than we found it. Ducks, guinea fowl and chooks are vineyard custodians, and all vine canopy management is done by hand, including pruning and picking. Although production is tiny, Bended Knee wines can be found at some of Melbournes best restaurants." (Chook = aussie term for chicken)
And this quote from " Silkwood Wines (and winery) has been owned by the Bowman family since 2004. The vineyard is patrolled by a large flock of guinea fowl, eliminating most insect pests and reducing the use of chemicals. (western australia)

And last and not least Jabulani winery (Richmond Ontario near Ottawa) which has guinea fowl in their vineyard. Guess who gave them that idea? (For bonus points guess which PITA left some young guineas in their empty chicken pen one afternoon (in 2011) when the boss wasn't around, much to the cluelessness of the workers on site. Google them and check the pics.) Tom is from South Africa, it sounds like home; Janet curses me... i wonder why?

Poultry aren't just tasty pets, they can do a job: put them to work!

Bayvistafarm · Post by **Bayvistafarm** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 8:02 am

lol. I got her into Guinea's..... and after a spell she promptly said NO MORE. She won't change her mind back, lol. You either love them, and put up with their bull.... or you say nope!

I myself love them. Sometimes I ask myself why.

ross · Post by **ross** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 8:27 am

I have close to 40 free roaming Banties here & man do they do a job on all bugs even in edge of forest . Most are pure Chanties or chanty cross . A lot quieter than Guinea fowl & I feel more fun to watch . Mine never get locked up come & go as please .luck

TomK · Post by **TomK** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 8:40 am

Let me get this straight...lol..you are advocating letting chickens into the garden?...seriously!!??...

ross · Post by **ross** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 9:07 am

My gardens are large pots . No problem . All depends on management style . Luck

Post by **Killerbunny** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 9:26 am

Like there's a choice anyway? Chickens always get into the gardens. Start a tiller see them run. Mums teach the babies at a very early stage about yummy gardens. I fence my corn until germination because it's treated and that's it.

Maximus · Post by **Maximus** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 9:31 am

ross wrote:QR_BBPOST I have close to 40 free roaming Banties here & man do they do a job on all bugs even in edge of forest . Most are pure Chanties or chanty cross . A lot quieter than Guinea fowl & I feel more fun to watch . Mine never get locked up come & go as please .luck

You mean not locked up in the coop at night? I know someone else who does that too and her losses aren't any more than those who do. Hmmm, interesting.