Ducks and the Blooming Garden....

Thought I'd share this ducky video with you!  

My Muscovy Ducks having breakfast.  They are 8 weeks old.

The Peppers have been really enjoying the heat... look at these banana peppers!

My beautiful Kale is being eaten...

Radishes... my husband's favorite!

Our first garden salad...

Our 1st garden salad!
We enjoyed a nice salad from the garden tonight... baby romaine, broccoli, danvers half long carrots and radishes.

Radishes are my husband's very favorite vegetable from the garden... so tonight I planted a bunch more for him!

I'm beginning to let some of my muscovy ducks into my garden... not the whole herd of them (all 9)... just a few females and a male.  I have to really watch them as they pass their favorite greens... cucumbers... beets... corn...  overall, they're doing a pretty good job gobbling up the hoppers.... but sometimes the greens are just too tempting!

You'd laugh if you heard me out there with them (I am mama duck!)... I'm always telling them... "Eat the hoppers.... Eat the hoppers!"

Harvesting Broccoli...

Garden Fresh Broccoli... YUM!

I started harvesting my broccoli this week.  It tastes SO good!  It's so much better than grocery store broccoli!

Woohoo... I finally get to participate in Daphne's Monday Harvest Reports!

Our "free range" Muscovy Ducklings are almost 6 weeks old!  Here's a photo that I just snapped... they're hiding under my truck in the shade. 

Growing Kale for the very first time!

Garden update...

For the very first time... I am growing Kale!  Russian Red Kale is the seed type.  I've come to really enjoy Kale in my green smoothies... and in soups too.

I had to reseed some of my Kale squares as the duckies go to them before I put up my garden fence.

Muscovy Ducklings 5 weeks old

Russian Red Kale sprout

My tomato plants survived the mighty winds of late May and early June and are flowering.  They look really healthy!  Bring on the tomatoes... I want lots of canned sauce!

I have a whole 4x8 bed of various types of pepper plants... from hot to sweet.  They're about 5" tall so far.

And my strawberry plants are producing nicely!  I have 3 boxes of strawberry plants this year.  My bigger box contains plants that are about 3 years old.  My two smaller boxes were planted this year with plants generously provided to me by a neighbor.

And here's my bench that I purchased way back in 2004.  It was looking a little shabby, so I painted it.  Some of the wood will need to be replaced... maybe next year.  I painted it Pacific Pine... the same color as my front door.

Now to get my boys to help me put it in the fenced in garden!

Ducky things... a new house

Hi Gardening Friends!

standing up tall!

Muscovy Ducklings 3 weeks old.

Muscovy Ducklings playing in the mud puddle!  They love puddles!

The Ducklings spent their first night outside in their duck house.  As I peered in this morning, they seemed very comfortable.

My older son designed and built it for me out of scrap lumber and repurposed plywood.

Duck House.  Needs to be painted!

Tomatoes and Peppers and Eggplants... oh my!

Finally... a day of sun and warmth!  We've had a very wet spring here in northern Wyoming and flooding in southern Montana!

Southern Montana

On Saturday between rain drops my son shoveled out about 1 yard of beautiful rich, dark, compost from my pickup AND filled up my garden beds for me!

Big Blue loaded up with 2 yards of rain soaked compost.

Then today he shovel the leftover, about a yard's worth, onto a tarp for future use.  What a great kid!

Today, in the bright sunshine, I planted... and planted... and planted!

32 Amish Paste

8 Jet Star

8 Early Girl

8 Brandy Wine

8 Eggplant

32 Peppers (assorted but mostly hot)

4 Broccoli

My garden... looks like a garden now!  Sorry, I'm too pooped to take photos... tomorrow!

I also have spinach and lettuce growing!

My Muscovy Ducklings spent a few hours outside rooting and basking in the sunshine... oh ya... and eating bugs!  They loved it!  They're 9 days old now and getting tail feathers!

8 days old

What a cutie!  

Got compost!

Got a truck load of compost!!!!  Guess what my 2 teenage boys are doing tomorrow?

On the way to Billings Montana, we took the backroads.  Had to take this pic!

I hope that the weather is nice tomorrow.  I'd like to let my ducklings meander thru my gardening beds before I fill them with compost.

Speaking of ducklings... they're getting so big so fast!!!

5 days old and growing fast!

My next great adventure has begun...

Make way for the ducklings!!!

Here's some photos of my Muscovy Ducklings.

Oh my gosh, they are SO CUTE!!!

This is my very first poultry experience... let the fun begin... and let it begin with grasshoppers!

Grasshoppers... go ahead... I dare ya...

Last year those darn grasshoppers ate my whole box of beautiful burgundy beans then my pepper plants...  they hopped all over the place jumping out at me as I walked... ewwww!

I watched them grow from little buggers to big buggers all the while fighting with myself over how to control them....

One year they totally defoliated my raspberry bushes... no raspberries for us!

This year... I TAKE REVENGE and let the natural order of things prevail!  This year I'm getting critters that will eat those darn hoppers, oh... and flies too..  among other bugs.

Welcome to our little homestead Muscovy Ducks!!!!

Next week my little muscovy ducklings will arrive.

I'm actually a little nervous about this adventure, well, because I've never had poultry before!  The extent of animal experience ends at cats and a dog!  But hey, I'm up for the challenge!!!

So, I've been searching and reading tons of articles online...   If you have experience with these wonderful animals, please do share your wisdom!