The ducklings are doing well, on day seven. Here is a current photo, with “Whitey” front and center as usual. The big guy does always seem to be the most bold, and I don’t think it’s just because he’s the only one we can pick out. I’ve thought about giving them colored bands, just so we can keep track of who’s who, but maybe it’s just as well that we don’t single any out, since one day some will be dinner and all…
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| Ducklings Day Seven |
Seedlings: The indoor seedlings are doing well! This week I transplanted all the peppers and tomatoes from the MINI blocks into their MAXI blocks, and they’re taking off. A few more seeds were sown for basil & other herbs and some marigolds. The beets I’d started were transplanted to the cold frame about 2.5 weeks after sowing inside. This is one of the things “not recommended” to start indoors, but as with many things, in the blocks I’ve found it’s fine to give them a quick start inside and saves time and wondering which or how many will germinate.
Ducks: Our order was delayed due to high volume of orders, and we weren’t able to get the ducklings the first week of April as we’d hoped. We’ll be getting the duckling delivery the first week of June. We’re really looking forward to getting the little buggers. We’ll have plenty of time to focus on the garden and other things before we get the ducks, and it’ll be warmer more consistently later on, so they may be able to get outside in less time after we get them.
Grass: We decided to try planting some grass seed in the area where the ducks will live and forage, in hopes it will be better for them. One advantage in the delay of the ducks is that it may have more time to get established and growing before they to out there. Tim cleared the area, broke up the soil a bit and planted the seed yesterday.
Rain: It finally RAINED! It has been so very, very dry this winter, it was exciting to hear some thunder, see some lightening, and later hear rain on the roof during the night. Not a lot, but it’s something!
After tons of research, we’ve decided on DUCKS. Not only that, we’ve decided on a breed. We’ll be looking for Welsh Harlequins. They should be good layers, and are considered “rare”, so by raising these we will help prolong the breed.
We’re making all kinds of plans: how many, when to get them, how to house them, etc. Like we need something else to do! It’ll be fun, a new adventure. We’re planning on making a “duck tractor” or portable pen/house, so we can move them from place to place, letting them forage in the garden when not planted or when plants are established, to eat weeds and unwanted insects.
We are thinking about getting chickens or ducks, for eggs and/or meat. We are still only thinking, and plotting out how we will do this, where they will be, and whether we want one more thing to tie us down. If we do it, we will build some kind of moveable coop that can be moved around to different areas, so they can dig up the weeds and eat snails & grubs, one area at a time, and deposit their manure for us. We might design something that would fit over most of our beds, so we can move it from bed to bed during the winter, and leave it on vacant beds in the summer. Or, we can put them in the weedy area that isn’t planted. We are finding a few plans in different books, and looking for more books and information.