RABBIT MANURE TEA.

Sounds gross don't it?

Yeah yeah, well it is pure gold around this homestead!

Finding a fertilizer or composting agent that won't burn our plants but will also provide a good food source for them is key during these preparation months.

One great attribute of rabbit manure is that is is a cold manure. So, you can put it directly into your garden beds or onto your plants or via manure tea. The best part is, the process of obtaining manure is thoughtless. And better yet, the manure doesn't have much of an odor once its let to air dry, it can then easily be applied to indoor plants and not produce an odor.

Our rabbit hutches will soon hand a few feet off the ground so we simply situate Rubbermaid bins or a similar container below the hutches to catch the manure. At this point we simply move the cages out clean under and then replace them. New updated to the hutches coming very soon!!! It is fairly light weight manure when dry so we can let them fill and empty them maybe once a month. Conveniently our rabbits are situated quite close to  the compost and then the garden, so transporting the manure is virtually labor-less.

And this manure tea? Even easier!

Simply find an old milk jug or some other similar container. Transfer a couple tablespoons of manure into the container and fill it with water. You'll let this mixture sit for a couple weeks, agitating or shaking the container every couple days to breakdown the manure. And there you GO! Strain the water so the particles can be added back to the jug from there the mixture can be diluted farther if necessary or poured directly into the garden or onto your container plants.

Extra manure should be transferred into your compost or spread on your garden or fields. Rabbit manure is simply great! Especially since my fuzzy friends are fed an organic and non GMO diet, consisting mainly of sprouted fodder and feed pellets. I also gather them weeds and grass clippings as often as possible to incorporate some roughage into their diets.

Preparing our main garden and other garden beds is key this time of year. Trays and trays of starts are sitting under lights waiting for appropriate planting conditions. We have a great deal of work that still needs to be done so this week I plan to make 3 gallons of rabbits manure tea, some of which will be fed to my indoor plants.

Don't have any rabbit manure??? Worry no more, all you Central Oregon peeps yearning for some of this wonderful poo look no further! Head my way, I am more than willing to share. Heck! Take some horse manure for your compost pile while you're at it. For all you long distance folks, I doubt you want a pile of poo from yours truly gracing your mailbox. Take a look on Craigslist for your area or simply make a wanted add, easy peasy right? I'm sure you'll find a more than generous rabbit farmer to help you out.

In other news! I believe I have finally successfully bred Chester to our American cross doe, Snow. She displayed proper behavior leaning forward and pronouncing her vulva by lifting her tail, and after all was said, Chester fell off!!!!

Cool Q.... sounds like your rabbit STILL has no clue! 

No seriously though, I have read articles and books that all say that its easy to spot a successful breed if the buck freezes and falls off at the end. Is this true? Is it fiction? Who knows but it happened! Which is more than I can say for the last few breeds. After much praying I hope for Snow to kindle sometime the end of April.

Chester did perform in this same manner with our doe New Zealand doe, Belle, at this beginning of this month. She was not so intrigued but he performed as though he had made success, so if he did, then hopefully I will have a litter born this week. Here's hoping! I have yet to notice any signs of Belle's pregnancy or nesting for birthing. So we shall see, oh yes.

And finally coming end of April the other two girls, Rosie and Ginger, will be matured enough to start breeding! I cannot wait to see the babies Chester and Rosie will kindle, as they are both beautiful broken red New Zealands. It's safe to say I have baby fever, of all shapes and sizes. Did you see our new kittens? GAH, I almost die from their cuteness.... blah blah blah ha ha have a good day ya'll!

Considering rabbit stew.... Okay, maybe I'll give the ole girls a few more tries.


Q

ADDING TO THE STEAD LIBRARY. WHAT I WANT TO READ IN 2015.

Not that I don't love the internet. And I won't forget Google of course. But at times I yearn for something tangible to read.

I have began adding to the homestead library in order to have on hand references on the off chance that we don't always have the web to surf for endless info. I have begun to expand our "prepping" list and figure if we had to go off grid for any reason, the only books I would care much to have are books which can teach us valuable skills for living and surviving off grid.

Books with educational purpose really...... Ok, that's not my only reason.....

.... Maybe say a copy or two of Twilight... Annnnd 50 shades.... What? A girls gotta have her simple pleasures.

Alright, alright enough... ahem..

What can I say? I love books! The smell of a new book, the feel of the pages between your fingers. Reading gives me a sense of freedom and my eyes don't hurt as they do after hours of computer use. I never want my family to forget the importance of book and reading. So I want more educational and wholesome readying material available to us in order to eliminate as much need for youtube searching.

These are some books I have compiled from my own research and what I have seen a few other homestead bloggers recommended. I plan on adding most of these to our homestead library this year in hard copy! I hope yawl can take something away from any of these good reads.

Keeping a Family Cow: The Complete Guide for Home-Scale Holistic Dairy Prioducers, 3rd Edition  

By Joann S. Groham

Accidental Farmers        (#1 on my list, currently downloaded on the kindle)
By Tim Young
***Another great read from Tim, How to Make Money Homesteading

The Backyard Homestead
By Carleen Madigan

Encyclopedia of Country Living
By Carla Emery
*** I feel this is more of a just have for any library! So many good questions can be answered here.

Story's Guide to Chickens
By Gail Damerow

Storey's Guide to Rabbits
By Bob Bennett

Story's Guide to Pigs
By Kelly Klober

Ball Blue Book: Guide to Preserving** you can access many of these recipes from the internet but I love a hard copy book like this, such a farmstead must have. I just recently added this to our library, thought I had to add it in anyway!

Real Food Basics
By Kate Tietje

Ok, I'll stop myself, if I don't I'll NEVER get through all these great reads!!! Which one should I read first?