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Posts tagged ‘Gardening’

Mar 31

9 Comments

My Newest Venture: BATS

My NEW Bat House

I went to a bat talk last week, given by Bats Northwest member Barbara Ogaard, and now I REALLY want bats in my garden. I even got a bat house.

Some local bats I can attract are hoary bats, yuma myotis, keen’s myotis, big brown bat, silver-haired bat, little brown bat, california myotis and long-eared myotis. These guys will range from 2-4 inches long with a 9-16 inch wingspan. They’re teeny tiny. Read more

Feb 12

7 Comments

Book Review: Free-Range Chicken Gardens — CLUCK HERE TO WIN

Since some of you are chicken people and/or almost chicken people I thought I’d pass along this amazing new book ‘Free-Range Chicken Gardens.’

I should start by letting you know that I am actually in the book (pages 27, 51 upper left, 112, 114-117) – not that I’m keep track or anything. But, that’s not why I think it’s amazing. I like to joke that I wish I had this book when I first got chickens – but then I wouldn’t be in it.

I think this book is amazing because it covers everything I’ve had questions on since I’ve had chickens – in an easy to read format.

  • How to incorporate new chickens to the flock
  • Chicken friendly plants (there’s a plant list)
  • Plants poisonous to chickens (another list)
  • Predators
  • Coop design and amenities
  • Why is my sweet hen growling at me (broody)

And because I still have questions. She also talks about chicken breeds, chicken habitat, plans for coop/yard layout, keeping your chickens safe, how to protect your plants, diseases, and more. There are also examples or bios of people who free-range chickens in their gardens.

Plus, it’s important to me that a book be easy to read. I tend to flip through books more than read them straight through. That being said, I love the layout of this book. The headers and topic headings are easy to spot if you want to read through a specific topic. Overall, it’s full of the information I need while including plenty of chicken/garden pictures and visuals.

Disclaimer: I did get a copy of the book to review. Before that, I already purchased a copy of the book for myself and my besty Keri who has chickens. I’ll simply give one to my mom. Plus, I already mentioned that I’m in the book. Oh, and since meeting Jessi (when she came to take pictures of my chickens and garden), I’ve come to consider her a good friend. She’s the real deal.

Update: This contest is over. This means you need to go out and buy the book now!

Oct 17

4 Comments

My Garden Idea Board – Pinterest

Have you heard of Pinterest? I love it. It allows you to ‘pin’ (aka save) pictures onto bulletin boards. I used to do this the old fashioned way by clipping pictures from magazines and taping to a scrapbook. I’ve even found some of my old clipped pictures on Pinterest.

Anyway, it’s great for creating idea boards. Plus, it links to the sites that originally posted the picture and a lot of times there are instructions to go along with the picture – like the cement bowl pictured below.

If you’re not on Pinterest and you’re interested in joining, let me know and I’ll send you an invite. After all, you need to be invited to join – it’s exclusive. ;)

Here’s a link to my jardin (garden) board pictured below: http://pinterest.com/myrubberboots/jardin/