Sprouting Corn for the Ducks and Rabbits Part 1

 

    After doing much research, I have decided that I would rather sprout grains for the ducks than feed them prepared chicken feed. I will also give them prepared chicken feed, but I think it would be pretty cool to sprout corn or black oil sunflower seeds or really any grain, and be able to feed it to the ducks and rabbits. That being said, right now the ducks eat baby duck food, Water Hyacinth, and some leaves from Spanish Needle. Right now the rabbits eat Alfalfa pellets, water hyacinth, and plants from the yard primarily grasses and African Honeysuckle.

     There isn't that much information available about sprouting 🌽 for ducks. I chose corn because it was nine dollars for a fifty pound bag from the feed store. The black oil sunflower seeds are twenty dollars for a fifty pound bag. Or it may have been a forty pound bag. Much more expensive, but possibly more nutritious.

 

First overnight soak

   This particular brand had a lot of broken pieces of corn for a bag labeled whole corn. I may not get this brand again.

Turkey Anyone

 

     Not sure exactly what kind of bird this is, but I was surprised to find it near my place in West Florida, zone 8b, which is not very near any water sources. It was out after a rainstorm stalking through some yards occasionally pecking for bugs. Perhaps it's an escape, much as I lost some ducklings earlier in the year.

Isabella bunny

 

    Earlier this spring I decided that I missed having all the rabbits around to help me in the garden. Ok the adult rabbits didn't help me IN the garden, they helped me by creating small rabbits for the rabbit tractor. And they helped me by turning weeds into mulch and manure. But then the older rabbits passed away.

     Did you know rabbits live for 9 years or so? I didn't know that.

     I bought Isabella bunny from a young lady out in Weeks Wachee, off of craigslist. Now I just need a male rabbit. And then I can have baby rabbits in the tractor again.

     She has been transitioning well off of the commercial pellet she had previously been eating. I have her on the same diet as Princess, primarily alfalfa pellets, plants from the yard, and water hyacinth. They both have beautiful coats and clear eyes, seem to be a healthy weight. 

     And rabbits are by far, the best way to raise protein in suburban Florida.

Smartest Lizard on the Planet

 

     I bought a bee house from the local box store. I know, I know, I am such a sucker. It's made from bamboo pieces glued together and supposed to offer free rent for Mason bees. I have one Mason bee living in a hole in my rabbit roof, so I hung the bee house over there. One morning, while checking on the rabbits with my oldest son, we happened to see the smartest Lizard ever. He was hanging out and waiting for some kind of delicious morsel to appear, whether a bee or a spider I am unclear.

     I can't identify his species either. Other than the smartest Lizard species ever. Tiny alligators!

The Withlacoochee State Trail

       I have been hunting the entrances to the Withlacoochee State Trail. There is an entrance in Floral City on the north side of Orange Avenue. There is an entrance in Inverness in Liberty Park. There is an entrance in Hernando at highway 41 and East Norvell Bryant intersect. I still can't find where it is in my hometown Ridge Manor.

     Here is the official brochure.

Houseplants

      I never knew that there was quite a market for interesting but inherently useless houseplants. Maybe I am spoiled because I live in Florida and if I want a houseplant I can just dog something up from the yard and bring it in. Maybe I am in the wrong line of work.

Stuffed Onions with Italian Meat Sauce

 

     I love old recipes. It's not really because they are healthier, but usually they are healthier because they involved less processed ingredients. I love that most older recipes are simpler, with fewer ingredients and are usually cheaper and more easily acquired than a lot of modern recipes. I can't even watch cooking shows because as soon as the recipe calls for some expensive ingredient that I might have to go to a specialty store to get I look at the show like mystery horror fiction - fresh terragon? Pickled chives? Veal? Custard? Not going to happen.

     This recipe came out amazingly. I made the meat sauce the day of in the slow cooker, then baked the onions and meat sauce for about an hour in the oven. When I make it again I am going to supplement the hamburger with turkey burger, lowering the price without changing the flavor much, and baking the onion a little bit longer so it's more tender. But came out great for a first try.

Nailed it.

Water Hyacinth Recipe

      The hardest part about eating vegetables might be the texture. Or maybe because it's unusual, or not native to your culture. People question the safety of vegetables they have never heard of, as if it must be unsafe to eat if it's not available at the store, which is illogical. There are a great deal of vegetables we probably should be eating because they are sustainable and local, but aren't. Is that because big business controls everything?

This recipe is great with frozen broccoli if you have no mushrooms.

Water Hyacinth with Mushrooms and 🧄

A recipe by Chrissy.

-  4 cups water hyacinth, sliced into strips the size of green beans.

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 3 teaspoons olive oil or your favorite oil, sunflower is good but coconut is so so.

- 1 cup mushrooms, frozen is ok.

Put the oil and garlic into your favorite cast iron skillet and bring to medium heat, then add mushrooms and sliced water hyacinth. Cook until tender, about 20 minutes, stirring and turning often.

Duck Enclosure and Ducklings

 

     These pictures were taken when the ducks were about three weeks old. My daughter had put a branch in the duck ponds, so they could use it as a ladder, which they needed when they were smaller. Now that they are larger they have no trouble hopping in and out of the water.

One Strange Duck Predator

 

     Not sure what kind of snake this is, here in suburbia, not near any water. But it got itself stuck in the duck fencing, and ended up getting eaten by something, not the ducks.