HUGS International : Homestead and Urban Garden Society

The ducklings appear to have doubled in size in about a week.  Nothing scientific -- it's not like I weighed or measured them or anything -- but they are noticeably bigger! They instinctively kept close to the big ones in the duck house, and by the end of the first night the big ones were sitting on the little ones to keep them warm.  Although I really don't think the big ones did it by choice, I think they just gave up out of sheer exhaustion from being chased around by the little ones inside their house for hours. We kept the little ones in the duck house for a few days, and finally herded them outside for a few minutes to get the lay of the land, each day allowing a little more time outside with the big ones. Tori (our lovable canine companion) has been the most excited out of anyone about the new babies.  She was in the car with us when we brought them home from Tractor Supply, after all.  Anytime they make noise she wants to go outside and check on them.  Anytime

In failure there is knowledge.  The knowledge of "well, I won't do that again!"  The avocado trees which flourished in my compost pile quickly withered and lost all their leaves after I transplanted them by the canal.  Next time I will try hardening them off -- not against the cold, but against the sun.  Unlike most of America, Florida barely has any cold, but we have tons of sun which can be brutal to saplings... lesson learned. I could also transplant with compost to fill in the hole, and use a thick layer of straw for mulch.  I guess I was in too much of a hurry just to get out there and do something, I forgot the basics! In other news: March 15th was the official date of incorporation for HUGS. A mango tree was purchased for Rob's birthday.  I'll be adding it to the perennial garden. And two baby ducks found themselves being brought home from Tractor Supply and are being kept warm by two feisty mama ducks that aren't entirely sure what just happe

"In writing about plants, Goodall combines the cozy traditions of English garden writing -- the epistolary ease and familiarity with horticulture -- with the authority of an intrepid scientist who has spent not just days or weeks but years living in the forest among the trees.  She has cultivated that way of being in (and with) nature E.O. Wilson had in mind when he coined the word biophilia .  Though the book is steeped in science, Goodall's feelings for the plants are spiritual--and her concern for their fate in the modern world is forthrightly political. SEEDS OF HOPE is not just a love letter to the plant world, though it is certainly that.  It's also a call to arms, sounding the alarm about habitat destruction, the violence of industrial agriculture, and the risks of genetic engineering.  In our time, the long, beautiful, and mutually beneficial co-evolutionary journey of plants and animals has arrived at a critical new juncture, Goodall suggests, and this g

"So long as never-ending economic growth remains the goal of our governments and our major financial institutions, and so long as the corporate bottom line continues to put immediate profit above the future of our children and so  long as so many of the world's inhabitants continue to live in unalleviated poverty, the crimes against the natural world will continue. We who care, we who understand, must use every means at our disposal to fight back.  We shall lose some of the battles -- but we must not give up.  And we have a powerful ally, for nature, ever resilient and resourceful, will, given time, clothe a devastated landscape with green growing things so that it becomes a place where animals can once again thrive.  Of course it can take a very long time indeed for such an area to become a well-functioning ecosystem with diverse flora and fauna.  But when the right people--those who truly understand the dynamics of a healthy ecosystem, who have learned by watching, and

Since I haven't used the compost pile for much after we got the ducks, I decided to move the fencing and utilize it around the garden to keep the dog out of there instead.  This new open area was free range for foraging ducks, so I had to do something with the two avocado saplings, or loose them to potential nibbling. Consultation with the fiance confirmed that while we would *like* to have more avocado trees, our property just isn't big enough for more.  What we really want is a variety of trees, like mangoes, limes, oranges, almonds... you get the idea. So I did something I've been thinking about doing since the idea of HUGS first came to me: I went out into the world and planted them where I thought they might be useful. Go go gadget: guerrilla gardening! Site 1 "Before" 2.27.18 Site 1 "After" 2.27.18 Just around the corner from my house is an informational sign near the canal explaining what the city does

Garden Update We had some surprise visitors yesterday!  This big guy and 6 of his closest friends were wandering around the neighborhood looking for bugs and fresh grit.  That was a first in our yard! Trying the Ruth Stout method of no-till straw gardening to start a permanent garden for the first time on this property.  So far I'm impressed -- a bale of straw the same size as a bag of cedar chips goes three times as far, and counting!  It makes great bedding for the ducks, and when it gets too mucked up from being in the duck house, I just move it to the garden and it makes a superb mulch!  Crusty on top, moist in the middle... yum!  :) Tractor Supply got in a spring shipment of root stock so I picked up some Mary Washington asparagus on a whim just to see how it would do.  After the first rain it sprouted right up!  And it just keeps coming! Also expanding the wicking bed experiment into hydroponics -- can it be successful using just duck water?? Curious m

Well, the GoFundMe campaign brought in a grand total of zero dollars to file articles of incorporation on January 1, 2018.  As soon as my beginning emergency fund is completed with $2500, I will start using that 10% of my income to fund HUGS, and grow from there.  I think it was Mike Tyson who said "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." So it looks like my goal of officially starting a non-profit will happen after my tax return comes in. Until then I'll keep saving seeds, learning, growing, and dreaming. The ducks finally decided to lay eggs.  We bought them 9 months ago and they were already fully matured, so I figured they were just too old or they were both males.  But then we went on vacation and my mom found two big, white eggs in the duck house while we were gone.  Then another one, and another one, and still another one.  They've been pretty consistent at one a day for the past week so we're hoping this trend continues! Speaking of