Backyard Ramblings: Future and Current Plans

Wow, so I'm not really the greatest at posting here, and I do apologize for that.  Anyways, for the longest time we (the Fiance and I) have been wanting to become more and more self sufficient when it comes to our food and well being.  With all of the terrible things being pumped and done to commercial foods, we want to try to do what we can to rely less and less on it.  This would involve growing and preserving our own plant foods, as well as raising our own meats.  Sadly, living in pretty crowded suburban area will limit our options of what we can do.

Each year since we bought the house, I've been maintaining an organic vegetable garden, and slowly building a separate area in the yard just for that.  Right now I have two 10x10 raised planter beds built, with one still in need of dirt.  In the other I've planted some tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, and snow peas. 

The plans for this year is to get my greenhouse and berry patch started.  The house came with some hoop type greenhouse structures, of which the previous owners were using to store random junk in.  It took a lot of work to clean them out and take them down, but now that a good deal of the yard is cleaned up, we can resurrect part of one to be used for my veggies.  The greenhouse will be great for growing seedlings during times when the outside weather would still be too cold for them to plant.  The berry patch will be it's own raised bed of raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and gooseberries.  With these I can make some jams and preserves, using the gooseberries as a natural source of pectin.

Plans have been going slowly with all of the rain we've been having lately, the plants are loving it so I don't mind too much.  Though with all this rain comes lack of mowing, and a yard that looks more like a meadow.

Love the yellow flowers

I've never been one of those grass purists, and actually love seeing other plants intermingled with the blades of grass.  There's just something beautiful with the broken up texture of various leaf shapes and added colors of low growing flowers.  The only fertilizer our yard gets is whatever the chickens leave behind.

With all this extra growth comes food for our new additions.  As I mentioned earlier, it wasn't just commercial edible plants that we wanted to rely less on.  With the way our town codes work, we were very limited when it comes to raising our own meat.  With a chicken limit of 6 with no roosters, and the only "big" livestock allowed are 2 goats (if I can get the permits), I had very limited options.  However, there is one animal that is not only very healthy to eat but also not considered livestock.  Enter the rabbit.

Sure these guys are cute, but their meat is also some of the most nutritious meat you can eat.  Lower in cholesterol, calories, and fat than other meats, as well as being higher in protein and more sanitary due to the way they are kept.  They are all white meat, and can be used as a substitute to chicken and pork.  Rabbits also provide other, non-edible benefits with poop that plants love and pelts to sell or make things with. 

After spending a great amount of time researching and learning as much as I can about meat rabbit production, it was time to take the plunge.  The biggest problem was finding available meat rabbits, as the breeders near me focused on pet and dwarf breeds.  An opportunity arose with a trip to Ohio for a dog show that I had planned to go to.  I managed to find a breeder who had (and was able to locate) available rabbits that I could take with me on the return trip home.  It really was an interesting 10 hour drive with 3 dogs and 4 rabbits.

The two meat breeds I had chosen are the New Zealand Red (NZR) and the Californian, both very popular breeds for meat production.  Rabbits of these breeds tend to have a good meat to bone ratio and grow to a good meat size fairly quickly.  They should reach an eatable weight of 4-5lbs at around 8weeks of age. 

 

With home built hutches mostly finished, I brought home a pair from each breed.  Their hutches are being kept under an old tarp covered canopy next to the chicken run.  This area will provide ample shade to help keep the rabbits cool during the warm summer months.  We used heavy duty wire fencing to help keep them protected, and we hope to expand the chicken run to encompass this rabbit area as another security layer. 

Basil

Basil, is my NZR male and only 4 months old.  He has the added bonus of a pedigree and comes from some very strong lines of big litters that grow fast.  His ear is tattooed to reflect that pedigree.  He is the friendliest out of the four of them, often coming to his hutch door when he sees me approaching.  He's also the first to escape due to me forgetting to lock the door, he was easy to catch as he didn't feel the need to actually run from us.

Paprika is Basil's counterpart, she is what they call a broken red as she is not a solid color.  She is somewhat skittish but doesn't mind taking food from me when given.  At 4 months old, she has a few more months before it would be safe to breed her.  I won't be pairing her with Basil until the heat of summer has passed.

Chives is a Californian male that is about a year old.  He really loves his grasses and will take any I toss in for him.  He has such a big rump, hopefully his kits will inherit his booty.

And finally Nutmeg, Chives' counterpart.  She also is a year old and ready to breed.  She doesn't care for being handled, but will tolerate it.  She prefers grasses and hay over the pellets, often grabbing a bite of hay before I can put it down while her there's still plenty of pellets left in her bowl.


Well that's enough rambling for now, hopefully I can keep up with updates of the random happenings. 

Surprises in Prosser Pines

Prosser Pines County Park, a small 50 acre white pine forest, was the target of today's walk.  Just like most any other parks around here, the entrance to this one was on a busy road.  Just across the road was Cathedral Pines County Park, a significantly bigger park (320 acres) that is popular with campers and picnickers, and we hope to hike there some time in the future.


We all went on this walk: Tom, me, and the 3 pups (Tetsu, Tikaani, and Miyu)  Stepping into Prosser Pines always has this kind of mystical feel to it.  The ground is covered with nothing but pine needles, there's little to no undergrowth, and the pines create a thick canopy overhead.  Even with the busy street close by, the pines mute the sounds of rushing cars and all you can really hear is the wind rustling the pine needles.

What's really great about this park is that even though there are marked trails, there really isn't anything that can prevent you from making your own trail.   So we started off on the trail, casually enjoying the serene beauty of these trees.  There were various fallen trees across the trails, victims of Hurricane Sandy most likely, but they were easy to step over or walk around.  We eventually started meandering off the trails, mainly so as not to bump into others walking the parks.

As we wondered around the trees, something caught my eye.  There was a strange collection of branches, I didn't know what they were but I had to go check them out.  We headed towards it, curious to see what it is.  As we got close to it, we could hear the creaking of the branches, as the tree the leaned on swayed back and forth. 

We never expected to find a tipi (or what I later found was called a tree-pi) in the middle of this forest.  Numerous branches and small logs carefully placed against this tree, a seemingly artistic expression to emphasize nature.  I was ecstatic to find this, and quite glad that I remembered to have brought my camera.

We continued our walk, talking about the tree-pi and wondering who could have built it.  We found a trail and followed it to the edge of the forest.  This edge of the forest bordered what looked to be a sod farm, fields of grass and watering equipment, everything maintained for the winter cold.  We watch a few geese chewing on the grass until the trail took us back among the trees.  As we walked, Tom saw what may be another tree-pi in the distance.  We headed towards it to check it out.  What we found may have been a tree-pi at one point, but it looks like it might have fallen over.

I was a bit disappointed, and hoped that this collapse was an act of nature and not some person being mean.  As we walked around it, we noticed a small plastic box hidden under it.

Inside was a small,spiral bound notebook with a pen and random trinkets.  Inside the notebook were messages left by various people who had also found this box.  Some of them were just signatures or doodles, others were thank you's for the box.  The message on the first page was dated back in November 2011. On the back cover, there was a small message written by the people who originally left the box in the part.  They named themselves Nature Buddies.

I left my own message in the book, before placing all the contents back in the box and leaving the box where I found it.  We continued to wander the forest for a another half hour before heading back to the entrance.  As we headed to the car, I saw a few more people heading into the park.  I wondered if they too would find these little surprises, and leave a message in the book for future hikers to see. 

Starting up Again...

So it has been some time since I last wrote on here, yeah I've been slacking but sometimes life just seems to keep a person busy.  Not to mention the fact that it is so much more convenient to just post a picture or two on Facebook with a one sentence blurb.  But you know, I don't want to keep doing that.  I want to write stories and share experiences, I want to give people a feel of almost being there.  So with this new year, I hope to have experiences and fulfill some goals, and share them here.  

One goal I am hoping to accomplish is to get Tikaani his Working Pack Dog (WPD) title.  Now, the title itself is not that important, it is basically just a guide to help accomplish another goal, which is just to exercise more.  In order to get Tikaani his WPD, we would basically have to hike around the woods while Tikaani carries a pack filled with provisions.  Focusing on getting this title will not only get me to exercise more, but I'll get to enjoy the beauty of nature and gain some memorable experiences.  Heck, I'm already experiencing many fascinating things while trying to condition our bodies to handle these pack hikes.  Seeing the various wildlife that cross our path, meeting new and interesting people, and finding hidden secrets is just amazing to experience. 

Stay tuned, the next entry will start us off with some beautiful surprises found during our walk through Prosser Pines County Park.  Some surprises can be quite unexpected.

For now, here's a pic of Miyu being a brat...Enjoy!

The Good and the Bad: Miyu's Spay and Hip X-ray

Poor Miyu, all doped up and wearing the cone of shame

So yesterday I dropped Miyu at the vet to get spayed.  I was a total mess, the whole time while driving her there I was thinking about all the bad possibilities that could happen while she was under.  In the end though, the surgery went very well with practically no tearing and a fairly small incision.

I spent a greater part of 6 months researching and finding a vet that I was comfortable with cutting my baby girl open.  I originally wanted to go with a Laparoscopic Spay, but after getting the price estimates for such a procedure from the two vets in the island that can do it ($1500 for one, $820 for the other), I found that financially I could not go that route.  So instead I went with an Open Style Ovariectomy, of which the second vet experienced with Laparoscopic Spays was capable of doing.

The incision with a quarter for size comparison.

With an Ovariectomy, only the ovaries are removed while with a regular spay(ovariohysterectomy) they also remove the uterus.  Miyu's uterus remains and is now inert and dormant, with the chances of her getting any major uterine illnesses becoming a fraction of a percent.  There is less internal damage and quicker healing when leaving the uterus in, as well as most surgical mishaps have been avoided altogether (which could have potentially needed a second clean up surgery to fix).  The vet did not leave any foreign substance (suture thread) in her body, and instead cauterized the areas that the ovaries were attached to.  All this for the same price as a regular spay.



While she was knocked out, I opted to get her hips x-rayed and OFA scored.  When I came in the pick Miyu up, the vet discussed with me what he saw in the x-ray and what concerns he had.  From what it looks, the vet says that she has mild Hip Displaysia and that only time will tell how severely it will affect her life.  Looking at the x-ray, the vet pointed out that her balls weren't in her sockets as much as they should be.  The overlap should look to be at least 50%, while hers were more like 1/3 (33%).  Her right sockets did not look very smooth and had a slight jaggedness to it.

We'll see what OFA scores her at and will be taking the image to my regular vet to see what they think.  Either way, I plan to having her x-rays done again in about a year to see how it progresses.  Fingers crossed that it doesn't get worse.


UPDATE:  Her OFA prelim score came back as Moderate, which is a step up from the worse score she could have gotten.   Will do another xray when she's older to monitor the change,  hopefully she doesn't get any worse.  Here is her OFA page showing the results.

Fun in the Water

Some pool fun for Tikaani and Miyu.  I threw in two lacrosse balls, a tennis ball and a weird rattle thing for them to play with.  Tikaani loved going for the lacrosse balls since they were underwater, while Miyu enjoyed the rattle thing and splashing for the heck of it.  Tetsu didn't want to partake so he basked in the sun instead.

Tikaani' Second Obedience Match

Today Tikaani had his second obedience match.  It was part of an event that not only contained obedience and rally matches, but also practice conformation runs and various demonstrations.  More info about the event can be seen here: 2011 AKC Canine Experience

This time around, I dragged Tom and the rest of the pups since they could use a good outing and after the match we had a shiba meet up to attend.  Tetsu perched on Tom's lap while Miyu remained crated, with unleashed dogs around and Tom suffering from a migraine, this seemed like the best option.

I worked with Tikaani for a bit before stepping into the ring, having a hard time getting his focus with all the excitement and new smells around.  Once we stepped in the ring though, his focus was right on me, or more specifically the bit of cheese in my hand (I opted FEO)that didn't interest him earlier.  He was a bit rough at the beginning of the heel, but sharpened up and did fantastic.  He did a wonderful figure eight, and performed the stand/stay perfectly.  I was a bit worried about his stand/stay since he had shown head shyness in class, but this judge touched him along the neck instead of the top of the head, to which he gave no reaction to.

Even though it was a Novice match with off leash elements, I opted to keep a hold of his leash with everything but the recall.  I wrapped the loosely around his neck in a fashion that if he had decided to go for a joy run it would unwrap and become something to grab onto.  But no worries there, he came when called and sat mostly centered to me, facing at a slight angle in prep for the finish.  I got him to center and motioned him to finish.  Usually he's pretty good with his finish, but this time around he was a bit sloppy.  It was probably due to all of the distractions, but he still kept with me.

During the group sit/stay and down/stay, he seemed to be pretty glad to not have to move, especially with all that sun cooking his coat.  To his right was a German Shepherd Dog that didn't want to listen, and focused on me every time I treated Tikaani.  To his left, was an energetic toy poodle that kept trying to sniff him and also didn't want to hold still.  But even with this, Tikaani stayed and only adjusted to a more comfortable down.

When the match was done, I traded Tikaani for Tetsu and walked around to get a peek at what else was going on.  There were several vendors and clubs there, I got to pet a toy Xolo and talked to a SARS person.  They were about to do a dirt dog demonstration, but it was time for us to clean up and head to the meet up.  Apparently, when I was wondering around there was a small scare of a loose Golden Retriever running up to Tom and Tikaani.  Miyu was barking her head off in the crate, while Tikaani and the Golden were initiating play bows to each other.  This sort of thing really didn't help Tom's headache, but it was a good thing we had switched dogs since Tetsu doesn't appreciate dogs running up to him. 

All and all it was a fun day, and after the meet up we brought home some tired pups.  They remained dead for the rest of the day, even moaning every time I offered to take them out for potty walks.  Well, since we didn't get any pictures of the match, here's one of Tetsu and Miyu at the meet up actually enjoying each others company:

Potatoes!!

Decided to dig up my potatoes today.  With all the heat we've been having, the plants were dieing and some of the potatoes were starting to get soft.  I managed to get 10lbs of potatoes with the 12 seed potatoes I started with (which equaled about 1lb).  Quite a colorful mix of whites, reds and blues.  Can't wait to cook them all up.