Midatlantic Homestead

Midatlantic Homestead homesteading, show rabbits, meat rabbits, geese, turkeys, organic vegetables, chickens, and guinea f
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We moved out to Woodbine in 2016 and started making our hobby farm dreams come true. Farming gives us plenty of reasons to spend time outside and allows us to better understand where our food comes from. We currently raise Silver Fox rabbits for 4H and for meat along with a variety of poultry for eggs and meat. We often have rabbit kits for sale and from time to time we will also be selling poultry.

05/28/2026

Dried stinging nettle powder doesn't have a strong flavor. It's easy to incorporate it into homemade goodies, soups, quiche, smoothies, pasta, and pesto.

Stinging nettle is one of the safest of all herbs. No risk of complications or drug interactions.

It's easy to dry. I have an earlier reel that shows testing drying it in the sun oven. Normally, I just dry it on window screens in my attic.


05/23/2026

Number 1 avoidable cause of 💀 among chicks, especially for first time chick raisers is: not enough heat.

I just had someone asking me about this last week. Why might my chicks be dying? When they're newly hatched they need it to be very hot, all the time. 90-95⁰ fareheit. You can reduce the temperature by 5 degrees each week as they get older.

Just because it's summer (almost) doesn't mean they don't need supplemental heat.

And experienced chick raisers can tell without a thermometer whether they like the temperature.

Too cold: they're piling on top of each other trying to stay warm. And can smother each other.

A little chilly: they're huddled under the heat lamp not moving much.

Just right: they're happily running around inside and outside the lamp area and occasionally standing still under the heater to get warm.

Too hot: they're all around the edges of the brooder. Trying to keep away from the heat lamp. Panting.

05/20/2026

Russian Bocking number 14. This comfrey does not spread by seed, only from root cuttings. It is the variety of comfrey best suited to being a livestock feed.

Comfrey has a lot of aesthetic value in the orchard. It makes a beautiful border along my pathways.

Its primary purposes are functional though:
1. Its broad leaves prevent weeds.
2. Its roots pull up nutrients from deep in the soil, so deep that the fruit tree roots would not otherwise be able to reach them, and deposit them on the soil's surface when the leaves die back.
3. Its blossoms nourish our pollinators.
4. It's one of my favorite herbal remedies
5. AND it's a livestock feed

Notes:
Comfrey rivals soy as a source of protein for livestock. It contains valuable trace minerals. Comfrey also is one of the few greens that is a source of vitamin B12 for livestock.

Warning:
Comfrey contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids and should NOT be a primary food source. PAs are concentrated in the root and young leaves. Dried leaves remain an excellent supplemental food.

05/16/2026

Amazed. 😁 Excited to try it again tomorrow!

I do think it was hotter than my attic drying racks are, which probably reduces the content of some nutrients. But maybe speed offsets some of that?

I'm going to Google instructions and recipes tomorrow. It came with a CD rom 😂. Not sure what year it is from, but probably 90s based on the formatting.



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Howard County, MD

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