Ducks 4 in '24

[ducks4you]

So, @heirloomgirl mentioned Richter Herbs (Canadian) and their wide variety of thyme, so I looked them up.
Fascinating! They have a seed collection called a "Seed Zoo," which is a worldwide collection of seeds collected, sold, saved to share, to help prevent food monocultures. Most interesting was the comments on squash that produce a variety inside of the species, instead of uniformity.

Richters SeedZoo Rare Seeds

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www.richters.com

Keeping with the theme:

What Will Become of Rice? - Modern Farmer

In one of the greenhouses on the Lundberg Family Farms acreage in northern California, there sits a binder. Technically, there are multiple volumes of the

modernfarmer.com

New Grafting Technique Could Save the Cavendish Banana - Modern Farmer

The most common banana variety is at risk of going extinct. But researchers have discovered a new grafting technique to save it—and many other plants.

modernfarmer.com

 

[ducks4you]

Temperatures have been SO MILD that the grass has continued to grow. That will stop this weekend. We will dip below 0 degrees F starting Sunday Morning, and not get out of the deep freeze until a week from today.
I was thinking that I overdid it when I planted my peach tree and gave it some straw cover.
Now, I am glad that I did.
Once it hits 5 degrees F my heated hoses will no longer work. They can still be damaged, so I plan to pull the blue one up closer to the house so that nobody walks on it, and especially no Horse tramples it. The heated hoses will freeze and are best left plugged in and not touched, so as not to damage the wires.
I bought a cover where the red heated hose and the extension cord for the blue heated hose go over the sidewalk to the side entrance and steps.
Looks like this and mine is yellow, 39 inches across.

For most of each winter the hoses are a Godsend.
Meanwhile, I have a collection of 6 plastic (painter type) buckets that don't leak. It will take filling them from an old washer faucet in the basement, carrying up 5 1/2 steps to the landing, pick up and over the threashold, then out to the barn. Usually I fill 1/2 full, so it takes 6 buckets carried out one at a time to the barn.
It doesn't help if you spill water on yourself.
Fortunately the ponies don't drink as much water in the winter.
It IS a workout.
Kid across the street is still helping me clean stalls.

 

[ducks4you]

Well...my blue heated hose is now toast. It was flaring and smoking last night while I was filling buckets.
It's extension cord is now unplugged. Highs in the upper 30's through tomorrow and I will use it through tomorrow, and then it becomes just another 50 ft hose to use next gardening season.

 

[ducks4you]

FINALLY found a new farrier!! He came out and trimmed everybody today. I don't have a "before" for my mare, but she was terribly long and overgrown in the front. Here is the "after" photo.
Funny, Buster Brown behaved better than Cup and Cakes...

 

[ducks4you]

Finally repotted my store bought basil. It was terribly potbound when I bought it. Now it will have root room to grow.
The ONLY thing that kept it alive was the yogurt container below full of water.
It is under a gro light on top of the fridge.
My gardening this winter is moving along about as fast as outside water in January!

 

[heirloomgal]

FINALLY found a new farrier!! He came out and trimmed everybody today. I don't have a "before" for my mare, but she was terribly long and overgrown in the front. Here is the "after" photo.
Funny, Buster Brown behaved better than Cup and Cakes...

Horses are nearly as exotic to me as giraffes, fairly rare around here. But when I do get lucky and see one I'm always shocked by how sleek and smooth they look from a distance, but when you get right up to them...they're hairy!!!! Even their legs!!

 

[ducks4you]

They are a marvel to behold, but much more graceful when they move.
They are VERY smart, the most intelligent non meat eating animal, and they have the fastest reaction time of any domestic animal, turn on a dime and kick a predator in the face fast.
My mare was perfect today, and my quarter horse gelding surprised me bc he behaved better than my mountain horse gelding.
Trimming involves bending the kneed (or hock) and folding up the leg so that the farrier can use a knife to first shave out excess around the frog, then using clippers to shape the nail, then, placing the hoof on a block the file smooth the outside of the hoof.
The horse has to cooperate. Some VERY well trained horses will hold the hoof Up for the farrier. I have seen a Belgium (draft horse) tied up and chained up in stocks bc he was downright dangerous getting his feet done.
Same horse pulled a carriage weekly. Must have had a bad experience and they have the memories of an elephant, but the forgiveness of a saint for a trainer with patience.

 

[ducks4you]

Understand that my mare has a thick winter coat right now. Mid Summer they are so sleek you would swear that they have no coat at all.

 

[heirloomgal]

They are a marvel to behold, but much more graceful when they move.
They are VERY smart, the most intelligent non meat eating animal, and they have the fastest reaction time of any domestic animal, turn on a dime and kick a predator in the face fast.
My mare was perfect today, and my quarter horse gelding surprised me bc he behaved better than my mountain horse gelding.
Trimming involves bending the kneed (or hock) and folding up the leg so that the farrier can use a knife to first shave out excess around the frog, then using clippers to shape the nail, then, placing the hoof on a block the file smooth the outside of the hoof.
The horse has to cooperate. Some VERY well trained horses will hold the hoof Up for the farrier. I have seen a Belgium (draft horse) tied up and chained up in stocks bc he was downright dangerous getting his feet done.
Same horse pulled a carriage weekly. Must have had a bad experience and they have the memories of an elephant, but the forgiveness of a saint for a trainer with patience.

I LOVE horses. When I was a kid my room was plastered with framed photos of horses and posters. For my birthday one year I got this special mail order wall calender made of slats bound with string, and on it was printed some palamino horse images. When I made money I sunk it into horse magazins & books, and for a little while, a place that was a 1 hour bicycle ride from where I lived to a ranch where you could buy a 1/2 hour trail ride for 45 dollars. Was worth every penny, even the two hour bicycle ride. Even when the horse tried to scrape me off on the side of the barn. I always dreamed of having horse. It must be pretty amazing. 🥰

I remember my dad telling me about some cousins we had WAY north, like10 - 11 hours north of me (and I'm already really north). They had gotten a horse from somewhere, might have been given to them, and they'd never had one before so didn't know how to care for it. When my dad arrived there he saw that the hooves were crazy long, so he said he tied the horse's front to a tree somehow with a diy harness (they had zero horse accesories) and used an axe to shave them. Fixed him right up, compared to how he was. He eventually trained the horse to pull a little load, which that horse didn't appreciate, lol. Sadly, that horse died in a train collision. He just stood there and didn;t understand he needed to move.

 

[ducks4you]

I realized that both the vinyl boots and my leather (riding) field boots weren't really winter boots, I ordered a new pair of short boots, came in today, AND.THEY.FIT!!!!!!