Twin Nigerian Dwarf goats, both boys, one horned and one polled, for sale now as bottle babies or weaned in four weeks.  These boys are pure Nigerian.  Horned buckling $75.00, polled buckling $100.00.  Born on March 19, available now as bottle babies or weaned around May 15.

He is a ram lamb, so will have to be sold, but he is our first, and Beady's first, and Mom as well as baby are healthy.

It is ironic that starting seeds indoors requires grow lights, and that they be close to the seedlings or they will get too leggy and collapse.  The sun isn't close to seedlings at all, and yet if you are growing things native to your area those same seedlings will thrive.  Just more proof that all living things do best in their natural environments, including humans.  :)

Our emergency well pump; we chose this pvc set up because there are no leathers to dry out if we don't use it.  This well is relatively shallow, but we had the same pump on our last well too, and it was 180'.  It doesn't put out as much water as a big iron pump, but for now it serves our needs. 

This well was abandoned when the house was put on county water, so no longer has an electric pump in it.  The pvc set up can be installed even with an electric pump, as that is how we had it on our last well. 

For me to feel secure, I like to have at least two sources of water that I can use even without power.  Now if I can get my windmill hooked to another well this summer, I can keep my ponds full too.

I love bees.  Not only because they are cute, but because they assist me in growing food, AND honey is my go to cure all for ailments inside and out.  I don't use chemicals on blooming plants, I always plant bee friendly or bee attractive plants, and I leave certain areas of my land untouched, so that the bees can have all the clover they want, as well as any other native plants they might like.  Protecting the wild bee population is one of the most important things that I do, in my opinion.  I help them, they help me.

Check out this very interesting link to bee-havior.   
 
   

From New Scientist.com,

The extraordinary mental feats of bees are forcing us to rethink what we thought we knew about intelligence. Prepare to be surprised at what a tiny brain can do as we take a look at some of what these industrious honey-makers get up to.


Guarding the door

Throughout history, bees have been revered for their altruism and cooperation – but they occasionally engage in
all-out warfare, invading another hive and steal its honey. For this reason, some workers linger at the hive entrance to ensure that no enemy bees make it inside. The guard bee in this picture can be seen with its body arched, waiting to inspect and attack intruders.

Attending the queen

In any hive, the queen bee quickly establishes an entourage befitting its royal status. Here, the queen honeybee (Apis mellifera) sits at the centre of its court. As sign of their
loyalty, its attendants lick their sovereign and clash their antennae against her majesty's – a common behaviour that helps establish group membership in the hive.

Can I have a bite?

Bees share and share alike, passing their precious nectar to other members of their hive. This also allows them to exchange relevant hormones, helping to prepare the behaviour of the colony for different situations.

Read the rest of the article at http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/bee-haviour/3.

"I can't eat eggs, I have high cholesterol."

How many times have you said this, or heard someone else say the same thing?  Turns out, eggs being bad for you is a myth from the 60's.  In addition, if you keep the birds yourself and let them eat grasses and bugs, eggs are actually GOOD for you!!

From Mother Nature Network's article 10 False Facts Most People Think Are True...

8. Cholesterol in eggs is bad for the heart

The perceived association between dietary cholesterol and risk for coronary heart disease
stems from dietary recommendations proposed in the 1960s that had little
scientific evidence, other than the known association between saturated fat and
cholesterol and animal studies where cholesterol was fed in amounts far
exceeding normal intakes. Since then, study after study has found that dietary cholesterol (the
cholesterol found in food) does not negatively raise your body’s cholesterol. It
is the consumption of saturated fat that is the demon
here. So eat eggs, don’t eat steak.


See the rest of the list here:  http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/10-false-facts-most-people-think-are-true


And from Mother Earth News, How Do Your Eggs Stack Up?...

In 1999, Pennsylvania pastured poultry producer Barb Gorski used a grant from 
the USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program to have meat 
and eggs from her own birds and those of two other farmers tested for a range of nutritional factors. The pastured eggs were found to contain 10 percent less 
fat, 34 percent less cholesterol, 40 percent more vitamin A and four times as 
much omega-3 fatty acids compared to the standard values reported by the USDA 
for commercial eggs. (Numerous studies suggest that diets high in omega-3s can 
help protect against heart disease, mitigate the effects of Type II diabetes and 
otherwise benefit the human body’s immune responses.) The pastured chicken meat 
(with skin on) contained 21 percent less fat, 30 percent less saturated fat and 
50 percent more vitamin A than the USDA standard.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-04-01/Best-Eggs-Comparison.aspx?page=2#ixzz2OYt53h18


And trust me, chicken coops do not have to be fancy, not do you have to spend $1,500.00 on those tiny custom built jobs that you often see in catalogs and farm stores.  Almost anything will do, as long as you can keep them locked up tight from predators at night.  Be creative!  And get some birds!! 

The only way to be sure where your eggs are coming from is to raise them yourself, because even the high priced "cage free", "free range" kind of eggs at the store are often from the same factory produced cheap eggs; the labeling can be misleading because of the FDA and USDA allowed definitions of those labels.

Put your health first; get your own birds, and produce your own healthy, good for you eggs.  If you garden, nothing beats using your own bird manure.  Your produce waste can be fed to the birds and turned into eggs.  And at the end of her laying life, you have a stewing chicken that has been raised on good food, so you are now producing healthy meat too. 

It's spring.  Go get some birds, and enjoy them and their product

If you are unfamiliar with quercetin, you aren't alone.  However, if you have allergies, increasing your quercetin intake can really help.  You can buy quercetin supplements in pill form, but taking it in the form of food makes it easier for your body to absorb.

So, if you suffer with a runny nose or itchy eyes in the spring, eat more onions!