These are actual questions I get through comments and site searches. Some can be pretty strange. If you have a question or an answer to a question just send it through the comment section of this page.

Critter Queries

Dogs & Cats

Q. How can I grow my own cat grass?

A. Easy Peasy. Grow your own wheat grass.

Chickens

Q. How old are chickens when they go broody?

A. If she can lay ‘em she can hatch ‘em. I’ve had 2 hens go broody. They were both about a year old. Many breeds of chicken have had the instinct to go broody bred out of them so they’ll produce more eggs. Just one of the negative impacts of chicken factory “farming”.

Q. Can I keep chickens in the garden?

A. Well, that depends. During growing season we keep them out cause chickens can cause harm in a garden pretty quick. They will scratch around delicate roots, eat tomatoes, scatter mulch and trample down plants.

But during the off seasons we let em have it. They will cultivate and fertilize the garden spot. When we dig for planting they love to follow behind and gobble up delicacies like grub worms and beetles that have been hiding underground. In the process they help break up the soil.

Q. Is it ok to feed chickens Nutritional Yeast?

A.

Ducks

Q. How long should my runner duck sit on her eggs?

A. Duck eggs take about 28 days to incubate.

Q. How old are Indian Runner ducks when they lay eggs?

A. When ever she decides to… but she should start laying eggs between 4 – 6months.

Q. Are all Indian Runner ducks the same color when they are babys?

A. Five of our eggs hatched. We had 1 white, 1 black and 3 grey(blue). I understand that some females have the gene to produce offspring of all colors. Our Bonnie apparently has that gene. The ducklings are 2 months old now and their color has not changed in any drastic ways.

Home and Health

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)

Q. Can i put straight apple cider vinegar (ACV) in my ear?

A. Yes, It’s great for getting soap residue out of your ear. Using ACV in the ear has shown to help an earache. Though it is just as effective to mix 1/2 ACV and 1/2 water.

Q. Can I leave ACV in my hair?

A. Why not? It’s a great conditioner. The Ph level of ACV is very close to your hairs’ Ph level.

Q. Will vinegar take perm smell out of hair?

A.

Sugar

Q. Can you use raw sugar or honey instead of white sugar when
making (canning) jellies and preserves?

A. I use raw sugar just as I would use white sugar.

Honey can be used to replace sugar when canning jams, jellies, preserves, chutney’s, fruit, etc. To use honey in place of sugar in canning, use 7/8 cup for every cup of sugar, and don’t change the other liquids.

In baking some folks use honey cup for cup, others prefer 1/2 cup – 2/3 cup of honey per cup of white sugar. Also in baking, reduce the amount of other liquids by 1/4 cup for every cup of honey used and lower the oven temp by 25 degrees to prevent over-browning.

Q. Is raw sugar low glycemic?

A. No.

Q. Is raw sugar as bad as white sugar?

A. I like how jugalbandi.info describes raw sugar as “minimally processed, granulated cane sugar that has not been tortured or molested in unmentionable ways unlike it’s white counterpart. Has a richer flavor and more nutrients.” They have a well written and very informative article on the subject of sugars. Check it out.

Slowly, Put the Chicken Down & Step Away from the Keyboard!

Q. Do the voices in my head bother you?

A. Umm, why don’t you sit down and have a nice cup of Chamomile Tea.

Q. Why does your nose RUN and your feet SMELL?

A. Uh, anybody? I guess maybe I’ve been cleaning out the hen house?

There’s alot going on here at The RiverRest this spring. We’ve been busy getting the garden ready, preparing the soil and starting transplants. It seems like every year it gets bigger.

We had to find ways to keep the chickens out of the garden. All of the Bamboo that Charley and Tony cut and hauled here really came in handy. We used it to build a fence around the main garden and the Potato Patch. So Far So Good. We’ll be publishing our stick fence building experiences as soon as we get around to writing it. In the meantime, here’s some photos of our new bamboo fences.

Last year we built a primitive stick fence around the new Strawberry Patch. We used sticks, limbs and twigs from the woods. It lasted the Winter but was in need of some repairs so we decided to try something new with the bamboo.

Probably the most exciting thing to happen is with the chickens. Red, one of our hens, went broody. She started sitting on a few eggs so we jumped at the chance to let her hatch them.

I’ve got many things I want to tell you all about. Like about how our dog Pearl has become an egg retriever, making Dandelion Jelly and what to do with KnotWeed. So, please bear with me. I’ll get around tuit, soon, I promise!

©2009 Susan Hoke

Someone posted this question on a forum I visit. I started thinking of some of the things we do here on the River Rest that keeps trash out of the landfill.

The 3 R’s. REDUCE – REUSE – RECYCLE.

Reduce,reuse,recycle

Our county has a pretty good recycle program. They take the usual; newspaper,plastics,aluminum,glass and cardboard. They also take used motor oil and car batteries. We utilize this program as much as we can. The little things add up.
We not only recycle, we REUSE.
[Read more →]

Yesterday was my birthday, I rose early and ventured to my favorite trout stream and spent the morning basking in the beauty of the wilderness. I caught, and released many fish. I returned home in the early afternoon to find another egg in the hen house, that made three. So I decided to fix myself a birthday feast.

[Read more →]

Pickles Fermenting in Crock

Basement

07/22/08

Leave for 2 Weeks

08/05/08

Then Can

This is the note I wrote to myself & placed on the refrigerator. Yesterday I canned them. Fermenting makes a milder, tastier pickle than just canning with water,vinegar & spices.

Here’s how you do it [Read more →]