Duck Garden Started
An update from Midsummer Herbs.
Apart from coping with this ridiculous heat, we have been very busy here in the nursery and on the farm.
We have begun a new project which combines both our nursery and our animals, the construction of a purpose built garden for our ducks. We are building a garden and pond which will contain beneficial land and water plants. The plants will have both medicinal and edible properties for the ducks. They will also provide habitats for them to forage in for insects, especially snails and slugs which they love hunting. We will also include some shade plants that the ducks can eat and that will drop fruits that they can forage.
This is something that we have long been passionate about, growing a variety of edible, medicinal and beneficial plants for our farm animals. The garden will also be an attractive addition to our farm.
Previously it has been us harvesting plants and taking it to the animals, but now the ducks will be able to forage freely. And I'm sure it will only continue to improve their overall health and productivity. In my next duck garden update I will include a list of the plants which we will be planting, for both the garden bed and pond. All of these plants will be available for sale on the website.
Photos above include start and progress of clearing & preparing for planting and some of the plants we will be using
Once construction of this garden is complete we will be planting a medicinal herbal pasture for our dairy goats. Another project I'm very excited about. This will be discussed further later.
And for those interested in breeding ducks for themselves the breeds we keep are:
- Silver Appleyard- standard size
- Indian Runner - White
- Indian Runner -Black
- Cayuga
- Bantam Crested
- Call
- Khaki Campbell
- Elisabeth
- Mallard - Bantam
We are hoping to breed ducklings from all of these this breeding season, and may have some ducklings for sale later in the year. All of our ducks are pure bred and most are show quality breeding stock.
Also check out our website for new plants, we have recently updated the website and quite a few more new plants have been added.
I've also written another article for Grass Roots Magazine, its in the current issue. The article is about beneficial plants for poultry. Most of the plants mentioned in the article are for sale in our nursery.
Christina
Midsummer Herbs.
