Just Say Yes to Rugs

Do you have an old rug to dispose of? Old rugs can be very useful around the farm and garden. Not only can you save yourself the cost of disposal, you can save money on materials that you otherwise would have to buy. Some uses of old rugs include:

Winter Garden Cover

Lay your old rugs over your garden in the winter. This will kill all the grass and weeds so you can start in the spring without having to deal with a bunch of sod. Also, if you want to go fishing, when you lift up the rug you may find a good amount of earthworms!

Pond Liner

Dig your hole for your pond. When you are through, line the hole with the old rug. This will protect your plastic that you put over this from getting punctured by an unseen rock or root.

Shed Roofing

Put the old rug (upside down) over the plywood on the roof of your old shed. Then make it waterproof by painting it with old paint or asphalt emulsion roof coating or asphalt roof coating. Or just build a frame for the roof of your shed or pen and use the rug as the roof itself. Don’t forget to put it on upside down and paint it.

I Hate Weeding: Part 1--The Cardboard Garden

If you're like me you don't enjoy weeding. Unfortunately my kids don't really enjoy weeding either. One solution I have found that seems to work well is to lay down cardboard and plant the plants in holes in the cardboard. This has worked well for planting small seedling trees in rows. The seedlings when crowded by weeds can be pulled up by weeding, so to have a system to protect them from weeds is very helpful. This system should work good for vegetable gardens also.

Step 1: Prepare the Soil
Work up the soil and add any fertilizer you wish.

Step 2: Lay down the Cardboard
Whether you get your cardboard from boxes that you break down or another source, lay them down as flat as possible.

Step 3: Cut Holes in the Cardboard
Cut holes in the cardboard for the appropriate size of the things you are planting. If seed, then a puncture with a metal bar is probably sufficient. If plug starts, then you will need a little bigger hole. Try to make the holes as small as possible. You don't want to leave any room for weeds to grow!

The cardboard will help the soil retain moisture and also water will soak through it when you water your plants as well as penetrate through the holes.

So when you're thinking of disposing of that large appliance box you may want to lay it down as one of the rows in your garden.

Crows: The Ugly, the Bad, and the Good

The Ugly

I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but let’s face it crows and ravens are not the most beautiful birds in the world and their noise is absolutely raucous. Their deep black shiny feathers are kind of pretty but their gnarly beaks firmly put them in the ugly category.

 

The Bad

We like to feed our chickens, ducks, and goats old bread but invariably this attracts crows. Sometimes they fill the treetops with their cacophony. This can cause a little friction with the neighbors. Besides the noise one of these huge birds can pick up an old bagel and drop it in their yard. Then their beloved dog promptly picks it up and scarfs it down. Not long afterward said beloved dog barfs it out, not exactly causing feelings of endearment to one’s neighbors.

We have also at times let mother hens raise their own chicks. They are so cute walking around the pasture with their mothers. However, we at times have seen crows in their vicinity and then all of the sudden after the activity, behold, no more chicks. We have lost several chicks and ducklings before figuring out what happened.

Well, before you get out your shotgun or .22 rifle think about this. First of all, where are those bullets going to fall if you miss. Although it is a rare occurrence people occasionally DO get hit by stray bullets. Also consider this…

 

The Good

On a few occasions we have lost birds to hawks. Hawks can be devastating to a free ranging poultry flock. But often I have noticed hawks hovering up above the farm being systematically dive-bombed and harassed by crows. We have had very few losses to hawks.

We now do not let mothers raise chicks on their own unless it is in a caged area. We put the chicks in brooders after they are hatched by their mothers usually.

 

Conclusion:

We try to discourage too much crow activity but not to the point where it is taking up too much of our time, only when it is convenient. I don’t want them to drive us to become “raven” maniacs.