Companion Planting

Golden Harvest Organics
Companion Planting--The Natural Way to Gardening
Rodale's Organic Gardening
Ed Hume Seeds
No Dig Vegetable Garden
MSU Problem Solvers-Companion Planting

Pastured Chicken

As noted, (Check out these chicks!)we bought Rock Cornish cross chicks for the freezer a couple of weeks ago. It has been four years since we bought chicks, but I think that this will become a new annual tradition for us. We are going to need another freezer, but each spring we can raise enough meat birds to get us through one year.

I have found that the price of chick starter/grower feed has gone up at least 50% and even 100% since four years ago. Right now that seems like our only option. What we are using is Purina non-medicated chick starter/grower and paid $18 for a 40 pound bag at one place, but have since found another place that charges $13. I have not done the math since the chicks are not yet ready to butcher, but considering how much these birds eat, it seems like I am going to need to look for another way to feed them. Ideally, I should have a portable brooder that I can move daily onto fresh green grass. This would be the healthiest option for the birds and also for us. They will still need more according to what information I have found so far. Here is a website on chicken feed which looks like it has some good information, but I have not yet had the time to read it thoroughly.

It will be easy to graze the goslings as the adult geese should protect them, but the chicks will need some more protection. That is where the portable chicken tractor will come in...I will think about electric fencing too, but that will not address our main concern around here which is winged predators.

Giant June-bearing Strawberries from Gurney's

Well, I ended up buying strawberries this year afterall. I was planning on adding a strawberry patch, but had wanted to take the time to prep the bed properly. That probably would have been the better thing to do, but when I saw these, I just had to jump on the chance...for the LOVE of strawberries! Gurney's claims that these
'giant' June-bearing strawberries might grow as large as peaches in my garden.

The bare roots came in the mail yesterday and look really nice--thick, long and healthy looking. Now I have to hurry up and figure out where I am going to put the bed. The place I was thinking of gets some afternoon shade, which is not ideal. Think, think, think!

Update, 2 April 2009: Held the strawberry plants in the fridge until today. Probably too long, but they still look fine. I had finally decided on the only reasonable place; the south side of my fenced in garden. I don't have anywhere else where the ground is even remotely ready for strawberries, and this may not be ideal as there were tomatoes nearby last year...not exactly in this same section, but close enough. My tomatoes never had any wilt that I am aware of, so perhaps the strawberries will be OK.

I was able to get them heeled in before the afternoon thunderstorm hit. Had to get it done, as it may be a few days before the ground is dry enough to work again.

Growing StrawberriesU of I Extension
Growing StrawberriesPurdue
Tips for Growing Strawberries-Horticulture Magazine
Midwest Small Fruit Pest Management Handbook
Growing Fresh Strawberries in the Home Garden

Clover Field Meats

Today, I am very happy to say, we discovered Clover Field Meats just south of Marshall on IL Highway 1 , not so very far from us. We chatted with the very congenial owners for awhile and it looks like we may have found a very good source for beef and pork. Although the meat is hormone and antibiotic free and pasture raised, they are still fed corn for the marbling. Hey, we are taking steps and this is a major step in the right direction. Just like the organic milk that I buy from the store is not my absolute ideal with the corn fed dairy cows, this is OK. I still feel good in taking this route. Also the owner seemed very open to talk to us about raising a beef for us and keeping it from any grain! Win-win. His overhead for that beef would be reduced and that equals more profit for him and we would get our corn-less beef. (smile)

Please do go and check them out if you are looking to upgrade your beef and pork. Another plus is that it is local and sustainable. You can rest assured that this meat was not shipped from Argentina or even from 1500 miles away in the USA. It's a very good thing.

Change, Change, Change

I have been thinking about either cutting way back, or stopping altogether my consumption of milk and coffee. These are two things that a) we spend alot of money on, b) are not necessarily good for our health and c) there is no way we are going to 'grow' or 'raise' ourselves.

Allright...I confess: we are serious Starbucks fans. It is like an addiction. Everytime we go into town for any reason, or hit the road, we must grab that almost $2 cuppa Joe (fortunately we gave up the fancy dancy Mochas, Lattes, Cappucinos a long time ago). We even broke down recently and purchased their new Gold Card for $25. This gives us a ten percent discount with every purchase and there are freebies occasionally for cardholders. Believe me, at our current rate, we will get our money's worth out of the price of the card. If I quit Starbucks altogether, what I might miss most of all is the free used coffee grounds that we always grab on our way out the door. Or my garden will. Just ingenious, whoever thought of that idea...having the customers happily haul all of your coffee ground waste for you! I hope that guy got a huge bonus from corporate ; )

As far as the milk...I have been buying Organic for about a year. This makes the cost of drinking milk significantly higher. I have still not been happy with the fact that Organic Dairy Cows are fed corn. My ideal dairy cow would live only on organic pasture grass... I figured organic corn-fed dairy cows without added hormones or antibiotics is better than no milk at all.
However, there is much research that testifies to the fact that bovine milk or any other kind of milk is unnecessary even harmful to adult humans or any other adult mammals. I quit eating breakfast cereal a long time ago. Cold cereal is really not yummy without real milk...so what would I be missing? I enjoy a glass of milk every couple of days, or now and then a mug of hot cocoa (I use Hershey's plain, unsweetened cocoa). May not be so difficult if I still allow it as a rare indulgence.

Now if only I could have some of that Horchata like I had in Korea instead. Hard to believe...best Horchata that I've ever had was at a Mexican restaurant in Seoul while visiting brother. There were, in fact, several 'best-I've-ever-tried' at restaurants in Korea. Hmmm...

Seed Starting Tips

Amishland Seeds
Heirloom Tomatoes
Seed Starting BasicsMother Earth News article
Grow it! (a Mother Earth News blog)

Small Fruit in My Garden

I now have several different small fruits in my garden, so in keeping with my purpose of this blog I will post some applicable links here as I find them.

I have Latham and Heritage red raspberries and an unknown black raspberry. This site from the University of Illinois Extension on the care of raspberries is helpful.

Recently purchased were Doyle's Thornless Blackberries. They have not been planted yet, but are sitting in the cold foyer waiting for spring. These will need a wire trellis in a good sunny location.

Two articles from Dave's Garden:

Time to Tame the Raspberry Jungle

Okay, so you have raspberries, blackberries or other brambles… How do you control them? With a Bramble Trellis!

There was an unknown grape vine here on the property. It was a young start and was easy to move to our preferred spot next to the chicken run a couple of years ago. It did fruit last year, so we do know that it is a red grape with seeds. I am not real fond of them for fresh eating, but the chickens love them! I need to build a trellis for the vine this year.

We also need strawberries. There is so much work to do outside, that it may be awhile before I have a good permanent site prepared for a strawberry bed. The grubs are really bad, so I should put grub control on my list of things that I must handle this year! The plan is to apply beneficial nematodes and Milky Spore.

Midwest Small Fruit Pest Management Handbook