Posted on 02/04/2023 6:17:08 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
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My saved copy of that HTML file is correct. Pasted it in and it works. Humm. Probably that Chinese Balloon! :)
Progress! And a nice fat paycheck is always a bonus! :)
I use timers, too. Helps a LOT! :)
I knew you’d MacGyver something that would work just fine. ;)
I’ve sold a ton of those little ‘grow houses’ through the years. I used one on my kitchen porch for starting cold-hardy things and hardening off others before we built the greenhouse. They’re handy!
(I do not suggest and know you will not use one of those cheapo sawdust repairs from the 1940s that some use to get your junk car one extra month of life before you drop it off at the scrap metal yard!)
A well-behaved rooster is on my wishlist for when I’m able to expand my flock. Temperament is at least partly genetic, and I want “well-behaved” genes in all my birds!
In my first batch of chicks, there were two that I was absolutely certain were roosters. I believed it right up until they both laid an egg while I was watching. I still have one of them, and she’s the friendliest chicken you could ever meet, as long as she knows you.
One time I went out to check their dishes while wearing something drastically different from what they’d ever seen me wear. And I was distracted enough I didn’t talk at them as I approached. Next thing I know, there’s a feathered missile hitting me claws-first in the back of the shoulder! My favorite little hen, who learned to fly at 2 weeks old just so she could sit in my hand and get cuddles, had launched herself at this strange person in order to protect the flock!
She got extra treats that day, and I learned never to open the coop without talking to them first :)
That’s the kind of bird I want more of.
I’ve been on chicken duty for my SIL since Friday evening. I always talk to “the girls” when I visit. The last 2 times I’ve opened the little door at the back of the coop to collect eggs just on the other side, two of the hens have hopped up on the edges of the nesting boxes. I have been stroking their feathers & talking to them & they seem to enjoy it. :-)
No sawdust in my radiator. I’ll take it back to the radiator shop and ask them to fix it again.
If they can’t fix it I’ll have to buy a shiny new one.
Stopped by Menard’s and grabbed some 1020 trays and square jiffy pots that fit to be the equivalent of 50 cell trays. Potting up from 72 cell trays was a pain. I’d rather go straight into the ground. Grabbed one humidity dome, a bag of Burpee organic seed starting mix and some 20-20-20 fertilizer.
As soon as I find my missing 1020 tray, 72 cell tray and dome, I’ll have the full 8 tray setups. If I never find it, I’ll roll with seven.
Still need more heat mats. I’m thinking with four shelves of two trays each, I can probably get by with a total of four mats, two for each bottom shelf or one for shelf 1 and one for shelf 3 and close the tent up at night if it’s cold.
For that matter, I could probably get by with just the two for germination purposes and do that on the bottom shelf. Close it on cold nights. Heat rises.
Got cheapo trays. I was going to order from the web some heavy duty trays and jiffy pellets that come in sheets for 1020 trays ... but there’s so many little things I want but there’s a few big things I need and a buddy to pay back so for one more year, I’m going as cheap as I can for seed/plant starting.
Couple more months and I’ll be caught up and have more spending money.
It was 66 F here today. You and Pollard probably had that too! I went out and worked up some spots and tamped them out a bit, then I sprinkled some lettuce seeds on the and worked them around a bit and watered them. We'll see what happens between now and April! Cabbages are still growing. Maybe a picture next week.
“...but there’s so many little things I want but there’s a few big things I need and a buddy to pay back so for one more year, I’m going as cheap as I can for seed/plant starting.”
Re: Heat Mats.
Two thoughts: If you have access to any electric blankets, you can use those, making SURE that they are covered in plastic so no water gets on them. They almost always have a plastic liner in them anyway but, Safety First!
Secondly, the top of an older-model refrigerator or stand-up freezer loses a good amount of heat; I’ve propagated seeds on the tops of those older appliances back when I had them.
Also - toilet paper rolls, cut in half, make great starting pots in a tray when filled with seed starting mix. I’ve got a stash right now. ;) 72 fit in a standard tray. I’ll do a flat of Marigolds that way. I tuck those useful and beautiful plants in everywhere in the garden beds. Great Bad Bug repellents. And bunnies and squirrels. :)
I’ve thought about buying some electric blankets until I saw the prices these days.
I’ve got two grocery bags full of paper towel cardboard centers but I have the same issue with them as I do with cell trays that have round cells. Round peg in square hole or many round pegs in rectangular hole. My mechanic brain sees all the waste in cubic inches. LOL
Couple of heat mats is the only thing left for seed starting and I had a decent paycheck so I’ll just grab two of them.
Got a question. We lived off grid for 5 years so we got used to instant coffee. Since the new job, I bought a coffee from the store and that was all she wrote. I had to have real coffee so I got a coffee maker. Now I have leftover grinds and filters. All I know is they’re good for the compost pile but know nothing more than that like why.
So what are the uses for coffee grinds in the garden or compost pile?
Back when I raised hens for (little to no) profit, and I had electricity to the coop, I kept a cheap radio out there dialed to AM Talk Radio.
They heard human voices all day, and it also kept predators at bay. The first raccoon attack I had was when I had to have the power disconnected as the guys that planted the crops all around me kept snagging that wire on their ever increasingly LARGE machinery and it was worth it not to have anyone ‘fried’ on my property.
I don’t know if they’ve done any ‘studies’ but it seemed to work for me. I usually had 50 hens at a time. They were calm and friendly. I don’t remember any chicken attacks, other than when ‘Lacy’ (Barred Rock) thought my earring was a bug as I was holding her, so she pecked me. ;)
I just throw mine in the compost pile with everything else, but I’ve read that you can put the grounds directly on anything that likes it a little acidic.
They count as ‘browns’ versus ‘greens’ in the compost pile.
I’ve never applied them directly, but supposedly Geraniums love coffee grounds, as do Roses and a bunch of other veggies:
https://www.growertoday.com/list-of-vegetables-that-like-coffee-grounds/
Flatten the tube, open back up, turn, and flatten again. If you put the creases in the right places, the result is a square tube instead of a cylinder.
When I raised some extra hens as meat birds, there were some that were mean enough to draw blood. They were raised the same way as the friendly ones.
With my friendly birds, I had one try to remove a large freckle from my leg. And I learned not to smile at them after eating in case there was something in my teeth, that was a painful lesson!
Link to purchase here -
https://www.amazon.com/ILGL-Strawberry-Supports-Strawberry-Planting/dp/B088FV6DYD?&linkCode=sl1&tag=smaschhou-20&linkId=e09cc446fe9f35d2f340a05cbb39094f&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&fbclid=IwAR0eEstvnLN28cKrPYLjeQ40BFMgdkkf5TFpnyIWmb-TKa1ZKGD-7fsQLkI
Will have to paste link
Mike Adams (Health Ranger) tested chicken feeds in his certified lab, after the reports of chickens not laying when fed Tractor Supply feed.
I just saw this on his GETTR account posted 4 hours ago;
We can CONFIRM now that Tractor Supply’s brand of chicken feed, Producer’s Pride 16% Layer Feed Mini Pellets, contains about TWICE the glyphosate of any other brand we tested. The next highest brand was Purina Layena Layer Crumbles. But the Tractor Supply brand had twice the level. We will release actual numbers this week, in a video. Watch for details at NaturalNews.com and my daily podcast at Brighteon.com, HR Report channel, which is: https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrrepo...
Tractor Supply actually sells several varieties of poultry feed: you can buy it as crumbles, pellets and/or seeds and grains.
The Producer’s Pride 16% layer feed mini pellets or crumbles is their cheapest at $14.99 for a 40 pound bag.
There is also a Producer’s Pride Cracked Corn at the same price but sells at a 50 pound bag.
Did Adams test all the varieties of Producer’s Pride or only the 16% mini pellets? Did he find the same results for 16% crumbles?
They also sell OTHER kinds of Producer’s Pride, as well as the brands Cluck & Co, Dumor, NaturesBest, NatureWise, Nutrena, Purina (Layena) and more.
You said he found the next highest level in Purina so can I assume he tested all of the various feeds they sell?
Nutrena Egg Producer Pellet Chicken Feed, 50 lb, sells at $17.99. Almost as cheap as PP Egg Layers 16% but won’t make your hens stop laying.
The reason I’m making this effort is because Tractor Supply is one of my favorite stores and I hate to see them put themselves in jeopardy. They need to fess up, fix the problem and make amends.
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