The Gardening has begun!!

So I have almost cleared out all that mess in the garden and have started expanding my medicinal plants. I had to get some St. John's, or as Susun Weed likes to call it, St. Joan's (Hypericum perforatum) in hopes of using it not only for my family but as part of my business stock. Also planted are Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis), Vervain (Verbena officialis), Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum), Licorice (Helichrysum petiolare) which is not to be confused with Licorice Root (Glycyrrhiza glabra) thought their uses are similar, Hyssop Anise (Agastache foeniculum), Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), Calendula (Calendula officinalis), Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) and some other culinary herbs and spices... whew... there are more, I just can't think of them all right now. 

On top of my personal gardening efforts, I have also spent this last week creating a biome survey of a local park where I like to collect herbs, you might have read my other blog about Nettles. In this park, just in a small radius, I found over 70 medicinal plants, about 40 I have been able to identify and I am working on the rest. It has been a huge learning experience about identification. Once the database is complete to the best of my knowledge, I am considering publishing it. I have a feeling it will take a few years to complete as I am hoping to expand my range. I learned so much already though, and wish I had more time to sit in the forest and really figure out the many plants there. 

New Editions, Welcome Ducks

Freshly hatched Cayuga, spent the first 24 hours
in my Daughters shirt incubating. 

It has been a while since I touched base here and that is because I have been super duper busy with school and the garden. AND DUCKS!!! We had ducks hatch on the 7th of May and we are super excited to have them as part of our family and garden. Those buggers grow so fast! They are fun to watch and the best part is they eat slugs and snails and help keep the grass down!! Here are some pics of their progression. Our Cayuga baby was the only one out of the 7 incubated that we knew were growing that hatched. So we went to a farm and brought home 2 more Khaki Campbells. These guys grow like crazy and eat about as much as they weigh every day! They are super snuggly and warm and they cry when we aren't around. They go for car rides in a basket but this week they have pretty much outgrown their basket and the guniea pig cage we were using for inside feeding and rest time. So they are moving outside more often, to the dismay of the daughter who things they should stay inside forever. We are hoping to successfully use duck diapers so they can play indoors too though. We hope they are one Drake and 2 females, but we won't know until all their feathers are in.

Here they are 2 days old

Here they are about a week old, eating lettuce
in a bowl of water in the kitchen. 

Here they are about 2 weeks old, all in a row, snuggle time in
the morning with me while Tiana was in school.

Can you believe how fast they grow!? 

This was their first swimming pool, here about 3 weeks old,
outgrown! 

In the morning when Tiana would get ready for school
they would cry real loud and wake up Olyvia
so we took them with us in the car. They liked looking out. 

This was 5/29/15. Tiana had a long day and fell
asleep watching them. That basket next to her bed is a
hamper that they sleep in at night.