Matt McSpadden

I have seen some designs with 5 gallon buckets buried except the lid, with PVC pipes attached to the side... for some pseudo underground nests.  The rabbits could feel secluded and be undeground for temperature... but the nest could still be accessed by a human by removing the lid.

I liked Christopher's answer.

To me, a processed food is anything that has been altered in some way by means of cutting, chopping, cooking, freezing, drying, frying, etc.

Ultra processed immediately has me thinking of things produced in a factory or laboratory that the average person could not make in their kitchen, but if you use the normal definition of the words, it simply means lots of processing. Would dicing an onion be ultra processed? There are a whole lot of cuts to get there :)

In today's vernacular, I think processed food refers to foods that are farther from their natural state, in the context of making it less healthy. And I think ultra processed foods is used to mean foods that are even further removed from their natural state... or perhaps don't have a natural state because it's not from a traditional food source... and again the context being less healthy.

I know this was not your question, but make sure your flux is reasonably fresh. My uncle and I wasted several hours trying to get some pipes to solder using 15 year old flux. Once we got some new, it soldered perfectly in seconds.

French tarragon, often labeled "King of Herbs", has the most flavor of all tarragon types. Known for it's mild licorice flavor, tarragon is a signature flavor in many french dishes. Tarragon is believed by experts to be native to regions of Mongolia and Siberia, but has since naturalized across the northern hemisphere. Tarragon is not propagated by seed, but instead by plant division. Tarragon is also becoming a popular addition to dijon mustard.

The Maine Ingredient is now offering organic dried french tarragon!

Try some today.

Backstory:
Like many of us, I try to eat local and organic whenever I can. I am grateful to live in a place where I can usually find meat, dairy, eggs, vegetables, and fresh herbs that are local and organic. But whenever I got to the dried herbs/spices there was nothing local. It was all imported from at least across the country, if not from around the world. These containers smelled like nothing, had no color, and didn't add much flavor to anything.

One year, I had a huge crop of garlic and decided to make some home made garlic powder. We used some, and I gave the rest to family and friends. It was the best smelling and tasting garlic powder I had ever tasted. Everyone else thought so too. And while it was hard work, I had a blast making it. Then my life took a drastic turn, and I found myself in a situation where I had nowhere to grow things anymore. I still wanted to do something with local and organic food, but it took me a while to get from "I can't..." to "what can I...". When I did finally come around, I knew that dried herbs and spices was the perfect fit. My knowledge at the time was limited, so I started researching how to dry things. I learned a lot here at Permies.com and took it even a step further with a class from Meeting House Farm (a medicinal herb growing collaborative). Not long after, The Maine Ingredient LLC was born.



It certainly helped that there is a certified organic farm just up the road that sells wholesale herbs to restaurants. I bought some and started drying them in a small drying room I had created. I found I could create incredible dried herbs that actually had color, would make the whole room smell like that herb, and would still last a very long time. In this picture you can see the color difference between some thyme I dried and some store-bought.  


About:
The Maine Ingredient LLC specializes in Maine grown, organic ingredients, with a focus on dried herbs and spices.

Local:
The Maine Ingredient is proud to be a local business. Our products are sourced from certified organic farms in Maine, then dried in Maine, and then packaged into USA made, glass bottles, right here in Maine.

Color and Flavor:
Most commercial options dry their product too hot and too fast. The Maine Ingredient uses the same techniques that are used in the medicinal herbalist industry. By using these time-tested techniques, I can produce products that actually have color and flavor, unlike most store bought dried herbs.

Less Plastic:
While some of our products come in contact with plastic during processing, none are ever stored in plastic once we have them.

Products:
We currently sell the following products...

Maple Sugar - Has a subtle flavor that is perfect for cinnamon rolls, muffins, bread, cookies, coffee, tea, and anywhere you would use refined sugar. Also has more nutrients and has a lighter impact on the land than refined sugar.


Dried Sage - Has an aromatic flavor that is great for breakfast sausage, pork, chicken, compound butter, stews, and more.


Dried Rosemary - Has a pungent flavor that is perfect for beef, chicken, pork, lamb, stews, casseroles and more.


Dried Basil - Has a hint of sweetness with that classic basil flavor and is great for soups, sauces, pasta, tea and more.


Dried Thyme - Has a fragrant flavor and is great for beef, chicken, stocks, meatloaf, vegetables and more.


Dried Oregano - Has a pungent flavor, is most often used dried, and is fantastic for pizza, tomato sauces, Italian vinaigrettes, marinades, beef, salads, tea, and even more.


Dried Parsley - Has an herbaceous and slightly bitter taste, that helps accentuate other flavors and is fantastic for soups, meatloaf, dry rubs, baked potatoes, salads, and more.


Dried Tarragon - Has a mild licorice flavor that is signature in many french dishes and is great for potatoes, chicken, salmon, tuna, eggs, and more.


If you need help drying your own, feel free to reach out with questions. If you have someone closer to you, who is drying herbs/spices in a proper manner, then buy from them. If you are not able to dry your own right now and don't have someone else closer... check us out. https://themaineingredient.com

One thing to keep in mind, if this is a long term project... is that most of those setups are communal. I know people who do this long term have to keep track of bucks and does and who does who, so as to not inbreed. Individual cages make that part easier, but less natural.

I think it would be good to at least have two places, to separate the bucks, so that you can plan for when you will have litters, and to give the does a rest in between.

Most options that I have seen use pallets, if they are free in your area to build areas.

Another cheap option is to simply use straw bales... and they can be added to the compost later.

I actually have never heard of John Jeavons... I'm going to have to go look him up. I have heard of eliot coleman, and I very much like his content.

I must say that I'm envious of your garden. There are gardens... and then some people have the ability to take it to the next level and make it look even more beautiful.

Kaarina Kreus wrote:Yea, chicken coops are a magnet for all kinds of critters 😂.

Very true, but for future readers, I would like to differentiate between the critters that are attracted to the chickens as food, and the critters that are attracted to the chicken food.

For predators who want chicken dinner... I don't think you can prevent the attraction, but you can prevent them from getting in, like Kaarina mentioned.

Then you have things like rats and mice that are attracted to the chicken food. I believe that one can prevent that attraction by not leaving any food out over night, and making sure the chickens are only fed what they can eat, and no more.

My mom has rats in her chicken coop. This happened primarily because she did not listen that she needed a new floor before getting new chickens, and also that she cannot leave food out all night for the chickens.

I have been looking at this one for her. https://goodnature.co/products/a24-starter-trapping-kit