Darrin Neagoy

Thank you sir, you have gotten my mind thinking. I have ordered a wood chipper to begin the process. Need carbon material to begin the composting process.

Hi,

I'm looking to start a plant nursery and would like to keep the soil mix as organic as possible, instead of using slow release Osmocote what would be a better option? Would I simply have to fertilize more often with blood meal/worm castings? I'm planning on growing blue berries, some flowering shrubs, and house plants.

Hi,

I've been looking into bee keeping lately and am uncertain if I'd be unable to keep bees in my back yard. I live in the country although a remote area there are a number of homes in my area along a large lake with the people focused on lawn care and yard maintenance which implies they tend to spray a lot of chemicals and poisons to keep their lawns monocultured and green. Across the street from my coldasack is national forest land. Would the bees likely be searching the forested areas for flowers to pollinate or would they look around the people's yards for honey sources? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.

I had posted about this chicken earlier concerned she wasn't laying. I'm watching this chicken more and more and thinking she's sick with something.

Symptoms:

Seemingly depressed: puffed up with wings drooping usually not interacting with the other hens and rooster.
Feathers puffed up standing still
Eats little to nothing. I have just isolated her in a pen next to the main pen and she's eating voraciously which leads me to think the hens in the main flock were preventing her from eating.
Her comb is just not developed which leads me to think she's had this for a while under my care, but for some reasons the other hens don't
She is weightless to pick up and being a leghorn she would not let me pick her up like this if she was healthy. My orpingtons usually make little protests in their way, but this hen makes no sound.
She also seems be weak. I noticed two days in a row signs of weakness. Trouble getting up the coup door. A little stuttering in her walk.


Her eyes appear healthy, as stated she is eating. She doesn't seem very interested in her surroundings.  I tried to count her heart beat and counted 60 heart beats. I'm not sure how accurate that is. I did try twice.
The past 4 days I gave her 5 mils eye drop of a water vinegar garlic and honey mixture once a day. Yesterday I gave her the mixture twice.  
Here are a few photos I just took. Could her legs be an additional symptom? I'm not sure if there's anything wrong there or not. I'm hoping some one has an idea. Any help appreciated.

I originally had 12 chickens. 4 were roosters, and were harassing the hens to no end. I processed three for the table and kept the one that seemed to be the best with them. Initially I bought 8 buff orpington straight run and 2 white leghorns pullets, as advertised at tractor supply, then a week later decided to get two more from a different tractor supply. I was told the chicks I first bought were a week old, and the new leghorns I got I believe were not much older than maybe a day from the original 10 I got.

I was concerned that maybe the less developed hen was sick but hiding her illness, but i wasn't sure. I no longer think she's a sick hen. I still just think she's laying less. Every chance I get I take a peak at them and haven't seen her in the nesting boxes. There are two in the back of the tractor.

Hi,

I have 9 chickens I purchased on April 5 of this year. There are 5 Buff orpingtons and 4 white leghorns.  All are hens except for one rooster. The birds are kept in a 6x8 foot mobile chicken tractor in a 25x 25 ft poultry net paddock. I move them around my yard for fresh grass as often as I can, usually once a week. The birds are fed Dumor layer feed with water in their food and have access to water within the coop. They have begun laying and I am so far getting 5 eggs a day.  I believe one of the my leghorns is not laying. Her comb and waddle don't appear as well developed as the other leghorn hens. She has layed eggs as I have collected 4 white eggs, but most recently 2 orpingtons have been laying in her stead. Is there anything i can do for her, or should look into? This leg horn appears to be healthy in all respects as far as I can tell. Attached are some pics of her with a few other members of her flock. Thank you in advance for any guidance.

I do some yard work for my neighbors and notice they have a lot of ants in their yards. One neighbor has flower beds where there are ton of red biting ants. He sprays ant killer on them to be rid of them, but that doesn't seem to do anything. In another clients yard I no longer work at they are in flower beds. The ground was covered in oak leaves and the soil arguably in good condition high in organic matter. They were paying me to remove the leaves as well as weeds and tree sapplings.  

Is there a use for ants in a permaculture mind set or a reason they appear? I understand from the Rodales guide to Composting ants add magnesium and phosphorus to the soil. It seems their nests would additionally allow the passage of air particles into the ground aka aeration into the soil. I've noticed atleast 3 nests nestled up on the plant stalks. My one client believes it will eventually kill the plant so he sprays the nests and destroys them off his plants. I'd appreciate any thoughts on this.

I am very new to composting and have two piles going so far. Currently the first pile is dead white pine needles of eastern texas, a few oak leaves and pine cones make up the brown material along with additional sticks broken into segments as well, and some sweet gum leaves. Should the pine needles and leave be chopped up to in 1 to 2 inch segments instead of whole?

The green material is mostly kitchen produce ie fruit, veggies, coffee grounds, loose leaf leaves and so on. No meat, dairy, or oil is added to the compost pile. I have also added vines growing on trees still green, some weed trees growing with their leaves, they have all been chopped pretty thoroughly.

The other pile is raked up pine neeedles and other leaves. I was planning to add green yard material in the summer and spring when they become available. I don't water that pile. Will it still break down long term?

My understanding is that the pile needs to be 1 part nitrogen to 2 parts carbon. Is that right? How do you quantify this? Is it as simple as having a 45 gallon garbage can with 22.5 gallons green waste and then mixing a full 45 gallon container with carbon material? then mixing the two or layering it throughout?

My pile currently has no manure to add to it. I plan to get chickens in the near future and am planning a coop, but am waiting for spring at this time. How long could it take a composting pile with no manure to compost? The pile is contained by 4 wooden pallets picked up from a local hardware store. It's about half full and I add to kitchen waste weekly upon turning it into a joining wood pallet bin I have loosely tied with string. Am I turning the pile to much or should I continue? I have felt some heat happening, but it wasn't more than 85 degrees, I am guessing without a thermometer.

I am taking anti depressants and am wondering if I should avoid adding my own urine to the pile as a result? I haven't because of this concern.

I really don't mind the work as it takes all of 10 to 15 minutes to do and I look forward to the resulting compost, so in my mind more labor is even desirable so long as the results happen.

My last question is are there any plants I can buy and propagate specifically to add to the compost pile? Ie some kind of tall growing grass?

Any help is greatly appreciated please let me know. Thank you!

It's been fairly dry in my area for a few months. If it doesn't rain we may be getting a burn ban again, that's my opinion. At this time I don't have a means to collect water if it rains.
The water has high mercury, possibly lead, and perhaps other agriculture run off chemicals. To get rid of invasive aquatic plants... I can't remember the name, they sprayed something akin to round up in the water too last spring.

I'll just store containers of water. Thank you.

Hi,

This is my first forum post. I have started my compost pile and have been using tap water with chlorine in it. After wondering for a while if the chlorine would be an issue  I've found that it's probably better not to add that tap water.  I live on a major reservoir in Texas and can use that water instead to water the compost pile. However there is a high concentration of heavy metals in the water which is why I elected to use the tap water. Is there a way I could filter that lake water and use it in the compost in an inexpensive or natural matter?

When I apply the water I use a hose nozzle making the water have a mist. Is that enough to evaporate the chlorine from the water? I ask because I was once told this worked in aquaponics.

Would my best option be to simply set water aside and dechlorinate it? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you!