Hernando County to finally allow chickens in backyards
In an amazing victory for personal liberty the other day, commissioners voted unanimously to allow backyard chickens in residential areas of Hernando County. Areas which have additional zoning restrictions such as named or incorporated areas with HOA's still have their own problems.There is going to be some time taken to decide how many chickens and where coops can be located. I'm unclear on exactly who is deciding these issues, also it brings up more questions like chicken culling on your own property. Cleanliness. Size of fencing. Proximity to easements. Animal control.
So when can I get my duck? :)
Preparing to Raise Rabbits in Florida
As we try to move toward a more sustainable urban landscape, we will be putting rabbits in the backyard. We decided to try rabbits because fowl are illegal in this suburb. There are a lot of great reasons to raise rabbits though, and a huge one is that eat leafy stuff that we cannot, and turn that leafy waste into very usable fertilizer.
Not a lot of information can be found about heat stress in rabbits, but the conventional wisdom says that too much heat decreases their productivity and can lead to dying off. We may have to implement a rabbit free summer zone if the heat is too much for them.
Rabbits need protection from the sun and rain, and should not be allowed to stand on wastes.
Traditionally rabbits should be given five square feet of cage space. We have turned some sturdy, large dog crates into rabbit cages by lining the floors with a mesh that should provide adequate drainage and feet protection. Chicken wire is not recommended for rabbit cages due to the larger size and feet damage issues, and that rabbits have been known to escape through it. Our cages are tied down to concrete block, for now, and secured with locks to prevent theft (after the break-in a few years ago, I'm not taking any chances).
At about 5-6 months old the doe can be bred. Conventional rabbit raising call for putting the doe in the bucks cage and then watch the first mating to be assured everything is going well, then afterward to return the does to her pen for an hour. Then let them be together again for another round. This is to ensure ejaculate quality and to prevent territorial fighting.
Palpate the does 14 days after breeding to check for pregnancy. At 28 days after breeding, provide a nesting box for the little mama. 20” long x 11” wide x 10” high. Wean the kits at 6 weeks old and separate them from their mother. She can be re-bred at this time. At 10 weeks they should be fryer sized, and a few more weeks longer and they should roaster sized, which is not quite full-grown.
Rabbits need a diet with about 15% protein for adequate growth and to avoid problems during gestation and lactation. Full grown adult rabbits need only about 13% protein. Most pellets provide about 13-18% protein. Rabbits also need long fiber, which is not adequately supplied in pellet form but is provided with the addition of regular grass, which most breeders recommend at about 2 cups per 5 pounds of rabbit per day. Beyond fiber, protein, and vitamins, rabbits do not need the addition of grains or fruits or vegetables, though these are okay to give in small quantities.
The rabbit manure, which looks like little round pods, is pH neutral and can be applied directly to the garden or mixed into a manure tea. Some raisers use it for vermicomposting.
Not a lot of information can be found about heat stress in rabbits, but the conventional wisdom says that too much heat decreases their productivity and can lead to dying off. We may have to implement a rabbit free summer zone if the heat is too much for them.
Rabbits need protection from the sun and rain, and should not be allowed to stand on wastes.
At about 5-6 months old the doe can be bred. Conventional rabbit raising call for putting the doe in the bucks cage and then watch the first mating to be assured everything is going well, then afterward to return the does to her pen for an hour. Then let them be together again for another round. This is to ensure ejaculate quality and to prevent territorial fighting.
Palpate the does 14 days after breeding to check for pregnancy. At 28 days after breeding, provide a nesting box for the little mama. 20” long x 11” wide x 10” high. Wean the kits at 6 weeks old and separate them from their mother. She can be re-bred at this time. At 10 weeks they should be fryer sized, and a few more weeks longer and they should roaster sized, which is not quite full-grown.
Rabbits need a diet with about 15% protein for adequate growth and to avoid problems during gestation and lactation. Full grown adult rabbits need only about 13% protein. Most pellets provide about 13-18% protein. Rabbits also need long fiber, which is not adequately supplied in pellet form but is provided with the addition of regular grass, which most breeders recommend at about 2 cups per 5 pounds of rabbit per day. Beyond fiber, protein, and vitamins, rabbits do not need the addition of grains or fruits or vegetables, though these are okay to give in small quantities.
The rabbit manure, which looks like little round pods, is pH neutral and can be applied directly to the garden or mixed into a manure tea. Some raisers use it for vermicomposting.
Greening the Suburb
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| Bean seedlings surrounding an Agave near sidewalk in suburban garden. |
I live in a food desert, and you probably do too. What would happen if there was no food at the grocery store, or if there was no grocery store? How long would it take for your family to be hungry? What would happen if Florida was cut off from the rest of the USA? How long would it take our population to feed itself, if we even could?
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| With the beans harvested, nothin' but Sorghum growin' on. |
There are ways to do this sustainably without draining the aquifers and the taxpayers. But it has to start with one person at a time. Perhaps with your very own Victory Garden.
Bidens alba, From Worthless to Wonderful
Uses : Wildlife, Forage, Xeriscaping, Edible, Medicinal. Native to : Unknown, found throughout the tropics and subtropics.
It wasn't very long ago that I used to detest this very prolific weed. It is a plant sexaholic, constantly spreading its genetic information all over my grass. I'm not a huge fan of grass, but I'm also not a fan of the place looking untidy, which is what Beggarticks does for you. It's a perennial that freezes to the ground every year and will spring up from its roots to shower your lawn, your neighbor's lawn, and the family down the street's lawn with seeds.
In the past I removed this plant with impunity. It has a tiny shallow root system which makes it easy to pull out. Once removed, I hoped that a more beautiful or useful plant would find its way into that empty space, and within two seasons was somewhat successful. Four O' Clocks found their way into the entire front yard, covering the place with pink fragrance. But how I wish I had known that Spanish Needle would have been better to leave in place...
Why the change of mind, you ask? This weedy herb is a favorite of butterflies and bees, but more importantly, rabbits love it. They eat Beggarticks before they eat the grass mixture, long before they go for the boring pellets. And if a plant is useful and invasive, please invade!
It's edible by humans, too. Eat the leaves raw or cook away, and you'll have a nice green for the dinner table. Or add to smoothies, as I do.
Medicinally it, and its cousin Bidens pilosa, are used in Peru to reduce inflammation and protect the liver. A study done in 2011 confirmed the hepatoprotective effects of Bidens pilosa in mice.
A study done in 2011 in South Africa states that the crude protein content for Bidens pilosa is 19%, making it an excellent herb for growing rabbits to nosh on. It is also high in vitamins and antioxidants. They recommend it be eaten more and used more medicinally by humans.
These plants were sustainably harvested early in the morning from above a storm water drain down the street. A lot of organic matter catches near the drains, and people tend not to try to hard to mow down into the mouth of the drain. Sustainable harvest implies that most of the plants were left to reproduce, and only a small fraction were taken. The whole time I was convinced someone was going to yell at me or at least question why I was carrying around weeds, but thankfully, I escaped un-reprimanded.
It wasn't very long ago that I used to detest this very prolific weed. It is a plant sexaholic, constantly spreading its genetic information all over my grass. I'm not a huge fan of grass, but I'm also not a fan of the place looking untidy, which is what Beggarticks does for you. It's a perennial that freezes to the ground every year and will spring up from its roots to shower your lawn, your neighbor's lawn, and the family down the street's lawn with seeds.In the past I removed this plant with impunity. It has a tiny shallow root system which makes it easy to pull out. Once removed, I hoped that a more beautiful or useful plant would find its way into that empty space, and within two seasons was somewhat successful. Four O' Clocks found their way into the entire front yard, covering the place with pink fragrance. But how I wish I had known that Spanish Needle would have been better to leave in place...
Why the change of mind, you ask? This weedy herb is a favorite of butterflies and bees, but more importantly, rabbits love it. They eat Beggarticks before they eat the grass mixture, long before they go for the boring pellets. And if a plant is useful and invasive, please invade!
It's edible by humans, too. Eat the leaves raw or cook away, and you'll have a nice green for the dinner table. Or add to smoothies, as I do.
Medicinally it, and its cousin Bidens pilosa, are used in Peru to reduce inflammation and protect the liver. A study done in 2011 confirmed the hepatoprotective effects of Bidens pilosa in mice.
A study done in 2011 in South Africa states that the crude protein content for Bidens pilosa is 19%, making it an excellent herb for growing rabbits to nosh on. It is also high in vitamins and antioxidants. They recommend it be eaten more and used more medicinally by humans.
These plants were sustainably harvested early in the morning from above a storm water drain down the street. A lot of organic matter catches near the drains, and people tend not to try to hard to mow down into the mouth of the drain. Sustainable harvest implies that most of the plants were left to reproduce, and only a small fraction were taken. The whole time I was convinced someone was going to yell at me or at least question why I was carrying around weeds, but thankfully, I escaped un-reprimanded.
Harvesting Turtle
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| Gopher Tortoise, illegal to capture except by special permit, common is sandy long-leaf pine savannas, spend most of their time in long, deep burrows which provide habitat for other creatures and enable them to thermoregulate and avoid forest fires. |
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) closely regulates the types and number of turtles that can be harvested from the wild for different purposes, including personal use (i.e. eating) or raising on your own land for later personal use. It is illegal to sell turtles taken from the wild in Florida, and that rule may apply to their meat as well so do be careful.
"Freshwater turtles can only be taken by hand, dip net, minnow seine or baited hook. Most freshwater turtles may be taken year-round. Taking turtles with bucket traps, snares, or shooting with firearms is prohibited. Softshell turtles may not be taken from the wild from May 1 to July 31. In addition, collecting of freshwater turtle eggs is prohibited.
Some turtle farms depend on collection of wild freshwater turtles. With the new rule, certified turtle aquaculture facilities, under a tightly controlled permitting system, will be allowed to collect turtles to establish reproduction in captivity so that farms can become self-sustaining to lessen their dependence on collection of turtles from the wild.
Possession limits for the following turtle species and their eggs are as follows:
- Loggerhead musk turtles - two
- Box turtles - two
- Escambia map turtles - two
- Diamondback terrapins - two"
Information on sea turtle harvesting is not listed on the FWC official site, which leads me to believe that it is illegal in Florida waters. Interestingly, Gator-Woman claims that the largest threat to Florida's indigenous turtle population is that Chinese, a blatantly racist remark. She claims their love of turtle is skyrocketing the price of domestic turtle meat.
Once you acquire the turtle you can butcher immediately, or some would recommend storing the captive turtle securely in clean water for a day or more, providing feed for the turtle as well. This is to lessen the supposed "muddy" flavor of the meat.
The proper way to clean a carcass would involve enticing the turtle to bite a stick, then pulling its neck out as far as possible before slicing through as quickly and close to the base as possible, then hang by the tail to drain the blood. Next slice off the legs, tail, and shoulders for the meat. Remove the head from the neck and use the neck meat as well. Some open the shell to remove the fatty lining near the vertebra, or strap, as it is sometimes called. Frequently that step is omitted as opening the shell may not always be worth the mess or hassle. Care should be taken to avoid reflexive movement of jaws and legs which persist long after the turtle is decapitated.
Most recipes for preparing turtle meat call for creating a soup, stew, or possible deep-frying. Some cook with the bones, some remove the bones before cooking.
Black (Turtle) Bean and Rice Soup with Lime and Cilantro
This is a simple Latin American soup made with readily available ingredients that store well for the long term. Black beans and cilantro can be grown fresh in your garden, and limes may be grown. Lemon could be substituted, and Meyer Lemon is a variety that can handle the temperatures in central Florida very well. Or what about sour orange? or unripe tangerines?
If you are cooking the beans from dried stores, about half a cup of dried beans is all this recipe calls for, give or take a few.
Black Bean and Rice Soup with Lime and Cilantro(makes 6 servings, can be doubled for larger Crockpot or stovetop cooking, recipe created by Kalyn)
Ingredients:
2 cans black beans with liquid
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth
(use 2 cups for stovetop cooking)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp. minced garlic (or more)
1 T ground cumin
1 T dried oregano
1 1/4 tsp. ground chile powder
1/4 cup white long-grain rice (not more!)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (2 limes)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or more)
Instructions:
If you are cooking the beans from dried stores, about half a cup of dried beans is all this recipe calls for, give or take a few.
Black Bean and Rice Soup with Lime and Cilantro(makes 6 servings, can be doubled for larger Crockpot or stovetop cooking, recipe created by Kalyn)
Ingredients:
2 cans black beans with liquid
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth
(use 2 cups for stovetop cooking)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp. minced garlic (or more)
1 T ground cumin
1 T dried oregano
1 1/4 tsp. ground chile powder
1/4 cup white long-grain rice (not more!)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (2 limes)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or more)
Instructions:
In small Crockpot or 3 quart sauce pan, combine beans, tomatoes, chicken stock, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, Ancho chile powder and Chipotle chile powder. Cook on low for 6-8 hours in Crockpot or 1-2 hours on stove, until tomatoes are disintegrating and beans are starting to fall apart. On stovetop, you might need to add a little water during the cooking time.
When soup has reached the consistency you want, raise heat slightly or turn Crockpot to high. Add 1/4 cup rice and cook until rice is done, about 30 minutes for either Crockpot or stove.
Lower heat again, add fresh lime juice and cilantro and cook 5 minutes. Serve hot, with additional fresh lime pieces for each person to squeeze into soup.
When soup has reached the consistency you want, raise heat slightly or turn Crockpot to high. Add 1/4 cup rice and cook until rice is done, about 30 minutes for either Crockpot or stove.
Lower heat again, add fresh lime juice and cilantro and cook 5 minutes. Serve hot, with additional fresh lime pieces for each person to squeeze into soup.
Simple Cooking at Home
Our world has changed a great deal since Ms. Givens wrote that anti-feminist statement in the 1940s. Since then we've seen the rise of our great economy. Oil, plastics, refrigeration, transportation, and feminism leading to a changing workforce have modified our way of life. Many a young and old person no longer have the skills or desire to cook at home."Each woman should feel herself to be a hostess to her family. This is the grand climax of a procession of achievements. A woman who is a good planner, a wise purchaser, an excellent cook and a gracious hostess to her family is truly a MASTER HOME BUILDER."
-Meta Given, The Modern Family Cook Book, 1942.
I think the best reason for cooking at all is so that you can control exactly what goes in to your own food. In the world of peanut, gluten, and iodine allergies this is important, but also from the chemical and preservative perspective as well. You can actively control how much sodium, fat, and oil goes in the meals. You can actively exclude high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, MSG, sorbitol/xylitol, and other irritants. You can choose between organic or genetically modified, a choice somewhat lacking in most restaurants. Local versus imported. Food colored or irradiated. Fresh or canned or frozen.
My mother likes to cook at home to save money, but she also likes all of her recipes to be easy to make, so she tends to have a handful of raw ingredients and some pre-made ingredients in her recipes. Pancakes from mixes. Pies from canned, pre-sugared filling. Corned beef and cabbage made with canned meat. Store-bought ice cream.
I don't necessarily disagree with her philosophy in that it works for her and she likes doing things that way. It looks to me to be a generational issue, as lots of young women returned to the workforce they wanted to have their boxed cake batter and eat it too. I just think its a bit of a consumerist mindset, or lack of mindset, to think we need to have pancake batter to make pancakes is just silly. (Make babies and go shopping!)
It has been proven the nutritional content of every food declines with time and processing, except in the special case of fermenting. Freezing, canning, cooking, storing, dehydrating; all suffer some loss of quality over fresh.
The solution of the perpetual question of what are we to eat is simple. It's all about pairing foods to create a balance, then sprinkle a little bit of your preferences on top. Eat a variety of foods every day, it doesnt have to be expensive if you're careful.
Beans pair with grains, whole are more beneficial than processed.
Meat pairs with vegetables.
Dairy pair with grains.
Fruit in moderation.
It is almost always cheaper to buy unprocessed simple ingredients, like sugar and flour, in bulk.
Four o'Clocks, Mirabilis jalapa
Although it may be called 4 o'Clock because it is said to bloom in the afternoon at that time, it blooms in the early morning and closes its' flowers in the heat of the afternoon. 4 o'Clocks are perennials that freeze to the ground every year here in West Florida, then in the spring new vigorous plants emerge from tubers underground.
They grow well in poor soil but appreciate the protection of shade during the dry season. They do very well in shade, but can tolerate full sun with plenty of water.
The fragrant little flowers bloom for months, and make tiny black seeds that may reseed in other parts of the garden. People have used the flowers as an edible crimson food coloring for cakes and jellies.
The tender young leaves can be eaten as cooked greens.
The root was used as a treatment for dropsy (CHF) and as some kind of hallucinogen.
Not a lot of information can be found on whether 4 o'Clocks can be used as a fodder source.
Sweet Potato
Uses : Edible, Forage, Xeriscaping, Polyculture. Native to : Central South America
I find that the sweet potato has a lot more to offer southerners than the white potato. White potatoes have been hybridized over centuries to be able to produce a great deal of starch in a short growing season. White potatoes grow very well in the North, but in the South, the sweet potato is king. Sweet potatoes require longer seasons but are able to thrive in the additional heat and humidity that white potatoes as we know them cannot. Known to be a super-food, it is an important source of Vitamin A (carotene) and other B vitamins.
Sweet potatoes are a staple of permaculture in the South, nothing screams ease of growth and abundance like the big orange spud. The potato itself is edible after cooking, and lower in carbohydrates but with plenty of vitamins and starches than white potatoes. The vines can be used as a fodder for livestock or cooked as a green for your table.A study done in 2004 in Vietnam shows the crude protein content for sweet potato leaves to be between 25 - 30%, much higher than most other greens. It suggests that sweet potato leaves be included into the diets of animals as an important additional protein source.
Due to soil-borne plant diseases, it is recommended by IFAS not to plant sweet potatoes in the same place in consecutive years. Sweet potatoes are perennials if you neglect them, just be aware of the possibly of blights.
My vines tend to sprawl all over the ground rather than bother with climbing. Maybe they are just a lazy variety. For that reason they are a great ground cover, an erosion prevention tool rather than a plant to be used in a plant guild like the three sister's garden.
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