Giveaway!!

Acreage Magazine is giving away five copies of How to Raise Rabbits! Check out this link for info on entering to win:

http://www.acreagelife.com/giveaway.cfm

Good luck and have fun! :-)

The latest "buzz"

The new bee hives are being painted this weekend, getting ready to add them to the others we already have in the orchard. They are really pretty hives complete with copper roofs, they look like old time English Garden hives. Besides being a "super" home for bees, they'll make great photo props this summer. These hives came from Brushy Mountain....I love them!

Excerpt from "How To Raise Rabbits"

Check out the Spring 2009 issue of Out Here magazine, as there is a review of Samantha and Dan's new book, "How To Raise Rabbits" in it. Also, there's an excerpt from the book on Out Here's website: http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/WcmDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10551&catalogId=10001&contentName=/tractorsupply/magazine/current/spring_09_how_to_raise_rabbits

if you'd like to take a look!

We're so pleased to announce the latest book by Samantha Johnson and Dan Johnson......"How To Raise Rabbits" published by Voyageur Press. "How To Raise Rabbits" is 192 pages with over 200 full-color photographs, and covers a wealth of topics, including:

• Establishing your rabbitry


• Housing your rabbits, including cages, hutches, equipment, and a special section on colony raising


• Health care and feeding


• Breeds and colors


• Selecting foundation stock


• Raising rabbits for meat, fur, or fancy, along with special coverage on selling pet rabbits, breeding stock, and show rabbits


• Managing your rabbitry; record-keeping, marketing, promotion


• Breeding and kindling


• Showing

How to Raise Rabbits is available at bookstores nationwide, as well as at TSC (Tractor Supply Company) stores. The book is also available online from Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble---click here to view the book at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/How-Raise-Rabbits-Raise/dp/0760334803/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237090203&sr=8-2

Thanks for looking!

Coyotes 'N Cobs

This morning there was a big coyote in the pasture. . . Our Welsh Cob stallion, Orion, and I saw it at the same time. Orion lifted his head up and it seemed as though he made an instantaneous decision to rid his pasture of that unwelcome visitor, so he took off at a gallop heading directly for the unsuspecting coyote with a determined look in his eye. For those of you who own Cobs, you know that the sound of one galloping towards you definitely makes you look up to see what's coming. . . and when that coyote looked up, he nearly jumped out of his skin trying to make a hasty retreat out of the field. The poor coyote was running as fast as he could, all the while looking over his shoulder with terror as the big dark galloping thing was nearly upon him. The coyote was able to make a quick exit just in time to miss being made into something very flat. You could just see the look of pride on Orion's face as he strutted back and forth along the fenceline, his breath pouring from his nostrils, just daring his furry foe to come back. He shook his head the way Welsh do and seemed quite satisfied with his heroic actions. I feel really safe having a Cob in charge.

Thoughts of Spring . . .

They say that this past Friday was the first day of spring, but you wouldn't know it from looking at our weather. Today is chilly and damp, we had snow night Friday night and though most of it melted off Saturday, it still doesn't look like spring. However having said that, we did see the first Robins return on Friday along with the Cedar Waxwings. Both species love the flowering crab trees in front of the house and were busy eating the last of the fruits that hung on the trees over the winter.

We're seeing lots of coyotes crusing around the farm and the deer are frequent visitors as well. It's the time of year when we are able to get out in the fields a little bit and check out how things are looking and to make sure all the fencing is in good repair. I want to put up several more bluebird houses this spring, as the ones we placed last spring were well used throughout the season by both the bluebirds and the tree swallows. Oh, did those tree swallows work hard on their nest building... back and forth the female would go, finding just the right bits of straw and grass to place in the box. Mr. Tree Swallow was mostly in a supervisory position, sitting near the box but not doing much else. Perhaps he was guarding it, or perhaps he was just a tad on the lazy side. Only Mrs. Tree Swallow knows for sure and she was too busy to care. I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes this year.

We have big plans for the garden this year and can't wait to get started. Seeds have been ordered and have begun to arrive and the heirloom seedlings and onion plants should be here around the end of May, just in time for planting. We hope to completely fence in the orchard this year to discourage the visits from the deer who enjoy nibbling on the young trees.

There's so much to do in the spring and the days go by so fast, I want to savor each one and accomplish as much as possible, making each day productive and satisfying.

-Polly

Garden Update-- 9/23/08

Although the calendar says that autumn has officially arrived, we are still enjoying the produce from our garden. The latest excitement? Purple carrots! This was our first experiment with planting the "Dragon" variety of heirloom carrots, and we were really pleased with how well they grew and how tasty they were, too. :-) Suffice to say that even though some of us are not carrot-lovers, we had no difficulty in polishing off an entire bowl's worth.

In tomato-land, the Green Zebras have done very well (see photo), but we're also enjoying many of the other varieties as well. We made up a salad on Saturday night that included Cherokee Purple, Stupice, Trophy, Amish Paste, Green Zebra, Beam's Yellow Pear, and also Juliet.

Now we're moving into the orchard to begin harvesting this year's apple crop-- more updates and photos soon!