duckminifarm.com Blog

I get so amused by some of the “green” experts I see on TV…..especially the ones that hail from “green” areas such as New York City. Now, I’m not saying that a city-dweller can’t have strong feelings about ecology, but it must be difficult to practice being “green” when the only bit of nature you see is in a park. It’s sad, really.

I’m not politically “green,” but I care about the environment because I enjoy nature, good food and being able to breathe. Of course, taking care of the land and the animals is part of being a Christian good steward of what God has given to us.

Here’s how a composting cycle can easily work on a farm, or even in a large suburban backyard. It’s rather simple, although a little hard to follow in outline form:

1. The WORMS in the worm-bed help create the compost for the garden. Worms are an important part in the cycle, but one that not many people think of. (They’re also used for fishing, if you have a stocked pond.)

2. The enriched compost (goat poop, horse poop, rabbit poop, old hay, kitchen scraps…..you get the idea…all processed by worms) goes into the GARDEN and ORCHARD, along with a few worms. Results: better vegetable & fruit crops.

Excess manure is also drug over the fields for grass fertilizer.

3. The better VEGETABLES from the garden goes to feed the humans in the household (most of us don’t have the time or machinery to raise our own corn for animal feed), and the humans spend some of their “grocery” money to buy animal feed.

Any leftover fresh vegetables, over-ripe fruit, etc. can go to the animals. As small treats to the rabbits or goats, or en mass to the chickens. Of course, chickens can eat most cooked vegetables….I haven’t found many things that a chicken CAN’T eat.

4. Animal feed = rabbit meat, fresh eggs, chicken meat, or even beef, mutton or cabritto if you have the space. The feed also means baby rabbits or other animals to sell, and the money goes back into the system.

Rabbits are great for meat. They take up little room and frequently produce large litters of kits. The meat is low in fat and high in protein.

Chickens are great, too, even if you don’t harvest them for meat. Chickens can and will eat almost anything and will reward you with delicious fresh eggs. If you have enough room for free-range chickens, kitchen scraps, and no predators, then you won’t have to feed you chickens much chicken-feed. I feed very little chicken feed. Our chickens clean up feed from other animals, free-range around, and eat scraps and I get about 6 eggs a day from our motley flock. Even 2 or 3 good hens might supply you with all the eggs you need.

5. Any “waste” animal feed, feed that gets wet, spills on the ground or feed “sweepings” from the feed room can go to the worms. They’ll love it.

Feed bags make good garbage sacks. They’re also good to put down on the paths in your garden and, covered with mulch, are attractive and efficient weed barriers. In some places, you can even reuse your feed sacks.