"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

New Sign ~ Chickens, Herbs and Rodents



Hubby bought a new sign for the front porch.  I thought you could use a short post to read today, since a wrote such a long one yesterday.  Ha ha!  


After weeding the herb garden (or rather part of it), I tossed some lemon balm  I thinned out, into the chicken's nesting boxes.  I read that some herbs are great pest controls in the coop (Backyard Poultry Magazine, 2011, June/July issue).  

By the way, the author of that article, Susan Burek (Herbalist), also has an article you can read online. It's for making a natural  citrus disinfectant.  And it's for the chicken coop of course.  I found her article very interesting, because we do have a natural branch ladder in the coop, and I never thought once about the cracks and the possibility for mites to live and breed.  We don't have an infestation, but this is a nice preventative.  And it's natural.  

I have also found that my chickens don't eat my herbs.  They would rather have grass and bugs.  So for now, it will just make their nesting box smell good, and keep the rodents out.

If you don't like to see dead animals, don't click on the "read more" today.  

Sunday, June 8, 2014

From the Homesteading Journal . . .


. . .June 3, 2014, walked out and and checked the progress of the wild black raspberries.  Rain did not arrive.  I spent the better half of the morning watering the garden(s) and flower beds.  We really need rain.