There are a number of common herbs we can grow for chickens for general health. Herbs can also be used to treat chooks for infestations of worms, lice and mites. General poultry tonics and laying stimulants include, garlic, onion, chickweed dandelion, fennel, wormwood, rue, cleavers, cress, marigold, mint, vervain, comfrey, mullein roots, thyme, marjoram, sage, nasturtium, … [Read more...]
Foxglove organic stories Part 6: Up to our elbows
After sending home the last of their volunteers for the winter, Sue gives us the lowdown on what lies ahead for Foxglove Farm, as they brace for a period of maintenance and marvel at some impressive potatoes. We have had the last of our volunteers for the year as it is getting too difficult to keep them warm. Not that it has been so cold but we have had our days- even a bit … [Read more...]
Foxglove organic stories Part 5: Chicks and beekeeping
Amazing things are happening this early part of winter on the farm. 4 of our hens have been sitting on eggs and our first new chicks have hatched! Hopefully, over the next 2 weeks, I will be up to my elbows in little chicks. Sadly, the daddy of these chicks is no longer with us. The most gentlemanly rooster I have met so far, had a tennis ball-sized cancerous growth on his … [Read more...]
Time to put the chicken before the egg
Rescue battery hens Cape Town is winding down their warmer weather hen rescues with mid-to-end April being their last rescue until later this year (spring 2013). They've recently launched their "discreetly report a business" campaign where members of the public can use their website to inform them of companies in their area who do not sell free range products. This … [Read more...]
Foxglove organic stories Part 4: Time for the chicken run
It's raining today. I didn't want it to rain right now but I am grateful for my plants to get this rain. The reason for not wanting rain is that we are up to our elbows finishing the chicken tractor. We offer you another installment by Sue Vingerhoets of Foxglove organic farm. This mobile hen house can be moved into place for the hens to work over a piece of ground and when … [Read more...]
Negative impacts of factory farming
Factory farming is cruel, wreaks havoc on our bodies and accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than all transport combined. Yet, in our profit-driven society, these methods still remain. Intensive farming, also referred to as industrial animal agriculture or factory farming, is a system of raising animals using intensive ‘production line' methods that maximize the … [Read more...]
Foxglove organic stories Part 2: Up to my elbows
This month I am up to my elbows in other people's business! Not by my choosing because firstly, it has nothing to do with me and secondly, I already have 3 full-time jobs! Farm living is not strictly about farm life. I ended up catering for a friend's birthday picnic as the only other options were ridiculously expensive or grocery store platters of sausage rolls and oily … [Read more...]
Creating office space the green way
Running a home office can be like a virus that gradually spreads throughout your space. Yet the more travelling is avoided and time is saved, the greener and more efficiently your initiative is running. And what is better than breakaway spaces in the garden for creative meetings or huddling around a warm fire for winter discussions? Our boardroom is a green canopy covered in … [Read more...]
Happy hens help create a happy future
One of the serious fall-outs of the war on nature that crept into our society like a thief in the night - gradually and veiled as ‘progress’ – is the battery chicken industry. This is one of the first atrocities that I became aware of some 20 years ago, which made me realise that things had gone horribly wrong in our western model. Compassion in World Farming, driven by the … [Read more...]
The protein crunch
Twenty-five thousand people die per day from starvation, while as many die of obesity-related conditions. This was just the start of what I learned at the launch of Jason Drew and David Lorimer's new book, The Protein Crunch at The Bay Bookshop in Cape Town. If these words are a fracture of what's contained in the book, I thought, it is going to blow my mind. And that's … [Read more...]
Karoo cheese from mellow goats
Are you looking for yummy goats milk cheese and other farm products for your family? Let me tell you about Arbeidsgenot, a farm near Lutzville - or let Malinda speak for herself: At Arbeidsgenot we are moving into winter, with milk production from our goats dropping dramatically, as is natural for them in winter. Winter milk is creamier than summer milk resulting in a … [Read more...]
