I have an Early New Years Resolution: that not even ONE bag of leaves or clippings leaves my yard in a rubbish bin! All will be composted or left in flower beds as mulch.
It's nice to have a goal. But can I achieve it? For gosh sakes, we have 14++ trees not counting large bushes on only 1/3 acre. So far, I have only let the really bad things leave my yard in a trash bag. These include: pyracantha stems (huge thorns, lots of 'em) and tomato plants.
Why the dead tomato plants thrown out? Because I have always heard that you don't want to use something as mulch that you could use to kill insects with. And yes, you can actually make an insecticide from pureed tomato leaves and stems. They can also carry "black spot," a problem that I have never had until this year. Another post on controlling that some other time. Another reason is that livestock should not eat nightshades (tomatoes are a member of this group of produce), including chickens & rabbits. So I throw 'em away.
We are also preparing for the ARBA/4-H Youth Rabbit Show this weekend at Cold Springs. This is our FIRST ever rabbit show. We are entering Pumpkin (senior doe; fawn French angora) and Winchester (junior buck self-blue French angora). Evan is going to do showmanship with Winchester and has been practicing a script, as well as doing all sorts of things with a rabbit while speaking clearly and making eye contact with a judge. Go Evan! I am so proud of him! He really had it down pat last night.
And a final note. If you are ever thinking about a chicken coop in your yard, take into careful consideration whether to roof it or not. It is costly to roof, but.....as you can see, our chickens are warm and dry today. I feel good knowing they are not too cold or wet, or forced into the coop to keep warm instead of their run. So I can highly recommend a roof, or at least a large roofed area in which they can roam inside the run when it is cold.
No comments:
Post a Comment