Buttercup and her son Basil were enlisted to help my husband tame his vegetable garden.
This has been a very cold and wet spring. Combined with my husband's work schedule and many weekend obligations away from home, time in the vegetable garden has been scarce.Which means the grass and weeds are thriving. My husband loves his vegetable garden though and has a lot more planting to do but the back half of the garden was thick with grass.
I reminded him we have grass eaters living here , lots of them. So he put temporary fencing between the planted vegetable beds and the out of control grass, then we put mother and son Jacob sheep (Buttercup & Basil ) in the back half of the garden where they filled up on the grass, and fertilized the garden too!
I also put 2 little chicken tractors in the garden . Each chicken tractor has 1 rooster in it and I move them daily. The roosters scratch up the earth as they eat the bugs and grass under them. They also take a lot of time to crow at each other and fertilize the garden.
Another view of the bi-sected garden with sheep and chickens at work.The area behind the vegetable garden is a wetland that divides our property from my husband's youngest sister and her husband's home and property. The duck pen is the red-roofed structure. The ducks pen themselves up in the evening where I usually remember to close the door to protect them from night predators. So far this year we have not lost any of our ducks to coyotes, raccoons, dogs, etc. A first for us. I recommend penning your ducks and other poultry around here if you intend to keep them alive.
My husband's Hosta bed. This bed is the temporary home for the Hostas until we find new places to plant them.Kind of a Hosta foster home.The Hosta Fosta home is in the vegetable garden too, all the little Hostas waiting for a home. Maybe with better weather and a bit more time, plus the enlisted help around here, we can get on with a more successful and productive garden before our winter/spring and winter/summer turn into winter/fall~
Buttercup and her son Basil were enlisted to help my husband tame his vegetable garden.
This has been a very cold and wet spring. Combined with my husband's work schedule and many weekend obligations away from home, time in the vegetable garden has been scarce.Which means the grass and weeds are thriving. My husband loves his vegetable garden though and has a lot more planting to do but the back half of the garden was thick with grass.
I reminded him we have grass eaters living here , lots of them. So he put temporary fencing between the planted vegetable beds and the out of control grass, then we put mother and son Jacob sheep (Buttercup & Basil ) in the back half of the garden where they filled up on the grass, and fertilized the garden too!
I also put 2 little chicken tractors in the garden . Each chicken tractor has 1 rooster in it and I move them daily. The roosters scratch up the earth as they eat the bugs and grass under them. They also take a lot of time to crow at each other and fertilize the garden.
Another view of the bi-sected garden with sheep and chickens at work.The area behind the vegetable garden is a wetland that divides our property from my husband's youngest sister and her husband's home and property. The duck pen is the red-roofed structure. The ducks pen themselves up in the evening where I usually remember to close the door to protect them from night predators. So far this year we have not lost any of our ducks to coyotes, raccoons, dogs, etc. A first for us. I recommend penning your ducks and other poultry around here if you intend to keep them alive.
My husband's Hosta bed. This bed is the temporary home for the Hostas until we find new places to plant them.Kind of a Hosta foster home.The Hosta Fosta home is in the vegetable garden too, all the little Hostas waiting for a home. Maybe with better weather and a bit more time, plus the enlisted help around here, we can get on with a more successful and productive garden before our winter/spring and winter/summer turn into winter/fall~
15 comments:
That' some of the best garden help I have ever seen.
good garden help - love the Hosta Fostas - perhaps some can be potted up and sold when Vicktory farms gets opened to sell to public?
Your garden workers look like they are thoroughly enjoying themselves! I think I remember from previous posts that your husband often is chef to many dinner guests and likes to use fresh ingredients from his garden. I hope you will get the time and weather needed to have a great garden again this year. I love the hosta fosta!
I love hosta..it happens to be something I have been successful at keeping alive.
Blessings,
andrea
What's the old saying 'killing two birds with one stone'...... I'd say you all have a very good solution......and your accomplishing a lot of good for animals and garden.
Happy Gardening!....
Susie, and all they need in payment is grass!
LindaSue, we have sold some at the Saturday markets and also given away quite a few Hostas. We have almost run out of shady places for them unless we want to start lining the woods with them.
Mildred, My husband does indeed grow a lot of the veggies for us and the many varieties of lettuces make for very good salads when he prepares meals for us and company. He has planted peas and lettuces and the strawberries are coming along ....
Andrea, the hostas are so pretty in a shady or mostly shady garden, aren't they? Ours bloom profusely too, do yours?
Dolores, very appropriate words!
What a healthful and helpful thing for Buttercup and Basil to partake in.
Love your hosta's, Kathy.
Have a beautiful weekend.
P.S. I did get my blog roll back up on the blog. It needs some major updating. In time, I'll get there. :)
What a healthful and helpful thing for Buttercup and Basil to partake in.
Love your hosta's, Kathy.
Have a beautiful weekend.
P.S. I did get my blog roll back up on the blog. It needs some major updating. In time, I'll get there. :)
That's the way! Make them critters earn their keep:) Yall stay so busy! I have a small patio herb and tomato garden this year. I love hostas! If I lived a little closer, I'd offer to give some of those a home:)
Debbie
Mary, Buttercup especially enjoyed and benefited from the grass because she originally came from the lush pastures of an Oregon farm. I do wish I had pastures to feed my sheep all summer, but unless we move or my husband gives up the lawns, gardens,and under the orchard space, I am going to have to keep on buying alfalfa and cutting by hand the grass I feed them.
Debbie, and we would give you plenty of Hostas needing homes!They're just a lookin' for a home~
LOL! I guess I could use some goats and a rooster or two.
That is a good idea...they are so useful and bless us so much! Your garden is very beautiful! Come say hi :D
What a marvelous life! Make me sigh ...how clever to use the animals and roosters to help with the gardening. Yes, I remember penning up the chickens etc. at night...year ago.
I loved this post...LOVED it!!
Hugs,
Mona
Leedra, you can always use hens, no crowing and you get eggs too!
Julie, thank-you. The garden and the weeds are growing gang-busters because of then bounty of rain, gotta keep up with them somehow!
Wspr Sweetly of Cottages, thank-you! Don't s'pose your lovely cottage in the city could use some chickens?A sheep?
We've had so much rain here lately that everything is very lush and green (including the weeds, of course! HA!) You are lucky to have such good helpers. :D
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