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We all feed the feed we believe is best for our horse. We add on those pricey but necessary, and oh so carefully selected supplements. We choose hay that is good quality, and a pasture that is free of toxic plants. Our horses are our best friends, our athletes, our partners and our family. We strive to keep their well being in mind, and pour hundreds of dollars into their health every year. Yet so many of us overlook the most basic and fundamental substance that our horses need to consume not just to thrive, but even survive – water.

Giving your horse constant access to clean, fresh, water is one of the very basics of stable management. Many horse owners dedicate hours of research into their feed of choice, they meticulously gather information on any supplements they use, yet when it comes to water, why do so many of us fail to see its importance? We tackle feeding with a fine toothed comb, giving so much careful consideration to what we choose to input into our horses, yet so many of us let the most basic input of all go unchecked.

Water isn’t just consumed by your horse every time he dips his head to the bucket you fill each night in his stable. The automatic drinkers, the stream running through the pasture, the field trough or the pond he likes to wade in, all give him access to water too. This water isn’t pure just because it appears clean, and though we police what we put into our horse’s body feed-wise, so many of us forget to question, what exactly is water bringing to that mix? As a natural solvent, this liquid picks up little pieces of the environments it has travelled through. From minerals through to chemicals or bacteria, so much can be dissolved in water, while us, and our horses, are none the wiser.

One end to this uncertainty, and a safeguard against it, is water testing. Many barns today, draw their water from wells, making testing even more important as potential for contamination is particularly high. Even water from a main public or city line can, in some cases, be a cause for concern. Although this kind of water is filtered and tested extensively at the source, any fault from there on out, be it in the pipes, the storage, or the plumbing, still results in a problem with the end result – the water you provide for your horse. Though water may appear clean and safe, it is impossible to tell what levels of which harmful compounds are, or aren’t, lurking hidden inside that bucket, without testing it.

Test results show you the levels of the compounds and bacteria in your horse’s drinking water, and even the pH. One compound that can be tested for is Magnesium. Along with Calcium, these salts could be giving you ‘hard’ water. While this is usually no problem for your horse, at high levels, Magnesium can cause unpleasant diarrhoea in equines, meaning being in the know is important. Iron is also on most test panels. Underground, the compound is usually colourless, but on exposure to air or heat, it has the potential to stain water red or rusty in colour and carry a metallic taste. This iron can lead to iron loving bacteria, which feed on the compound and create a rusty slime that covers the inside of your pipes, reducing their effectiveness and lifespan. Another mineral worthy of mention, is lead. Although its effects on horses are not well understood, we’ve all heard the term ‘lead poisoning’ and it’s not hard to imagine high levels are best avoided.

 
Total coliforms levels check your water for bacteria that usually lives in soil and both animal and human waste. Though these bacteria themselves are not particularly harmful, their presence can act as an indicator that your water supply may be contaminated with run off water from a septic tank, or even the muckheap, paving the way for contamination with things you definitely do not want your horse drinking! Pesticides and extremely harmful substances such as blue-green algae can also be identified through having your horse’s water checked. Testing puts you in the know, and arms you with the information you need to make choices about exactly what your horse’s drinking water exposes him to.

As well as protecting your horse, water testing can also be beneficial for increasing the lifespan and integrity of your pipes and fixtures. For example, pH, which tests the acid or alkaline levels in water, is helpful in this area. Acidic water can contribute to corrosion of pipes, while an alkaline result suggests a high chance of deposits of crusty minerals lining your pipes, reducing their efficiency.

It is advised that water supplied by a well is tested annually, though if any changes in your water occur, it might also be time to get tested. This could include a change in colour, odour or taste of the water, as well as any horse, human or other animal getting sick with a water-borne disease, flooding occurring near your water supply, or work being carried out on the pipes or other fixtures.

In addition to testing, following a few common sense water tips can also pay dividends when it comes to staying in control of what your horse consumes, and making sure he stays healthy. All water buckets, baths, or troughs should be checked and filled daily, to ensure a continuous supply of clean water. This applies to automatic drinkers too. Be vigilant for any signs of contamination, be it build up of dirt, algae, or poop, and ready to clean accordingly! Don’t allow horses to have access to any stagnant or contaminated water, and if you’re not sure that the water is safe, remove access and find another source, until it has been tested and has the all clear.

It can be difficult to find specific guidelines for horse’s drinking water, as generally they are lumped into the livestock category. By undertaking water testing, you can at least ensure that the water they consume is, clean, safe, and is suited to their needs as possible. After all, the average horse drinks at least half a gallon of water for every 100 pounds of their body weight, per day, giving it the power to make a significant difference to their overall wellbeing. Water testing eliminates the unknown. It ensures that you really do have rule number one of good stable management down, by confirming the water your horse has access to really is clean, and safe for him to drink.

By Emma Doherty – Luna Sport Horses

Eggs have a long track record of being demonized as an unhealthy food due to their fat and cholesterol levels. One large egg contains 212 milligrams of cholesterol, which is indeed a lot when compared to most other foods. However, studies have proven many times that the dietary cholesterol in eggs do not adversely affect blood cholesterol levels.

Although many nutrition professionals advise individuals against consuming eggs, they can actually help to raise HDL good levels of cholesterol. In a 2013 meta-analysis, researchers studied 17 reports regarding egg consumption and health. The researchers discovered that eggs generally did not have an association with either stroke or heart disease in otherwise healthy people. This may sound groundbreaking; however, this is not new data. Several older studies have already proven this point.

High in unique antioxidants

Eggs are high in two unique antioxidants- zeaxanthine and lutein. Both of these antioxidants are known to build in the retina of the eye and help protect against diseases such as cataracts and macular degeneration. Research has proven that by supplementing your diet with an average of 1.5 egg yolks per day for 5 weeks, you can increase blood levels of lutein by 50 percent and zeaxanthine by 142 percent.

One of the most nutritious foods on the planet

Eggs contain high quality proteins and good fats, minerals, vitamins, and various trace nutrients. One large egg contains 5 grams of fat, 6 grams of protein, all 9 essential amino acids and only 77 calories. It is also rich in vitamins A,B12, B2, B5, selenium, phosphorus and iron. One large egg also contains 113 milligrams of choline, which is an important nutrient for brain development. When consuming eggs, make sure you can eat the yoke, which contain all the above listed nutrients.

A key component in healthy weight loss

Eggs score highly on a scale called the Satiety Index, which means they are capable of reducing your appetite and helping you to consume fewer calories. They also help to stabilize blood glucose levels due to their low levels of carbohydrates. A brief study that consisted of 30 obese women showed that those who ate eggs for breakfast consumed fewer calories during lunch and for the following 36 hours, compared to the study participants who consumed a bagel for breakfast.

In a separate study, a group of overweight women and men on calorie restricted diets were given a breakfast of 1 bagel or 2 eggs. After an 8 week period, the group who consumed eggs for breakfast experienced the following benefits:

• 16% greater reduction in body fat
• 65% more overall weight loss
• 34% reduction in waist circumference
• 61% greater reduction in body mass index

These benefits were experienced even though the breakfast of both groups contained the exact same number of calories. Due to their satiety factor and low calories, eggs played a major role in boosting the participants’ weight loss.

If any food can be classified as a true superfood, it should be eggs. Start your day off with two organically raised, free- range eggs to give your body a healthy boost of nutrients and maintain a healthy weight.

If you know/have children and want to increase their egg intake in a fun and interesting way try our egg cuber.

Soil pH varies from area to area widely. Some areas have very acidic soil or low pH (usually represented as a value of under 7 on tests), and some areas have alkaline or high pH soils (above 7). Acid soils are known as “sour” soils, and alkaline soils are known as “sweet” soils. Plants generally do best in soils that’s a balance between the two, or neutral pH soil (around a value of 7). However, some plants prefer alkaline soil and some prefer acidic soil. Depending on the general quality of your soil or if you have certain types of plants you want to grow with specific needs, you may need to correct the pH of your soil. Here are some basic tips on how to correct soil pH.

Testing your soil to know where you soil generally lies on the pH scale is a good start. You can get inexpensive kits at any garden center to test. We have a simple to use soil pH meter if you want to give it a go. If you have soil that’s alkaline and you want to lower the pH, ferrous sulfate and aluminum sulfate are the two recommended soil amendments that will help make your soil more acidic. To raise the pH of your soil, lime, or ground limestone, is recommended.

Products for adjusting soil pH differ and it’s best to stick with the recommended application directions usually available on the bag of the product.

More natural methods of correcting soil pH to a more generally plant-friendly level involve simply adding plenty of well-rotted manures and compost to the soil that you plan to grow in- and top dress with plenty of mulches that break down into the soil easily in the spring and fall around landscape ornamentals and in production beds. If your soil remains very acidic and compost isn’t helping, try adding wood ash or oyster shell.

Raised bed gardening is also another way to ensure good soil pH without a lot of work. Simply fill containers and raised beds with plenty of rotted compost and potting soil and add more at the end of each season after growing is done.

PH adjustment and correction is very important for a lot of reasons. Most notably, the pH of soil determines what nutrients plants can use and how fast they can use them. Often, there are some nutrients that become bound in soils that aren’t well balanced and plants can’t take up the nutrients they need to grow well. For example, most vegetable crops need slightly more acid soil to grow well so that they have access to the nutrients they need to quickly produce large amounts of fruit.

Sometimes the reason for adjusting pH of soil may simply be a cosmetic preference, specifically when it comes to the bloom of hydrangeas. Some hydrangeas bloom pink in acid soil, and the same type of hydrangea will bloom blue in alkaline soil. Sometimes, crafty gardeners have gotten both colors, even purple, by playing with the pH of the soil that their hydrangeas grow in. There are specific products sold that you can apply to the soil of your hydrangea if you wish to try- commonly found in garden center stores.

Soil pH is important but not difficult to correct. We hope this article helps you understand the basics better so you can grow better plants!

Chickens have been domesticated for thousands of years, are kept on almost every continent around the world, and are a commodity and a mainstay of human civilization. Ducks are in a way as well, especially in certain areas- but their popularity is small in comparison. Why is that? Why do people seem to prefer chickens over ducks? Why do chickens get so much attention and ducks happen to be sort of a sideline? As a keeper of both, I ask myself this a lot- and for good reason. Here’s why.

Ducks are Healthy

Given basic good care, ducks are healthy animals. They have excellent immune systems, and are hardier in cold and even hot weather than chickens. There are some breed specific exceptions to this rule but overall, a duck will give you a lot less to worry about in terms of sickness than a chicken will over its lifetime. There are so many terrible diseases that befall chickens compared to ducks- even some diseases that have vaccinations ready and waiting should you think you need them. There are no vaccinations for ducks, as they don’t need them.

Ducks are Hardy

Ducks take cold, wet, and snow in stride. They wait out hot weather without much fuss. They seem to ENJOY those cloudy, cold, wet, windy miserable days that make chickens (and humans!) sick with annoying upper respiratory infections and other such nonsense. They will play in the snow in temperatures well below zero. When chickens are hunkering against the house with the cold north winds tossing up their light and fluffy feathers each way, ducks are out in the thick of it rooting for worms and bugs in the middle of the field. When it’s hot, a small kiddy pool of hose water keeps them happy, and if you have a pond, even better. You won’t see a pant or a complaint from a duck.

Ducks Provide Really Well

Despite what many people think, there are breeds of duck that lay better than the best laying breeds of chicken, even in the cold and snow, such as the Khaki Campbell. A duck will also lay better and longer than a chicken will. Expect an egg a day with a well laying duck for 5 years or so. Chickens typically top out at a year, and then production suffers. Duck eggs are delicious, more nutritious, and more “gourmet” than chicken eggs. Duck eggs are excellent in cooking and baking, and they’re rich and beautiful eaten fried or scrambled. Square eggs are a great novelty for kids. Ducks also taste heavenly- their flesh is all dark meat and delicious, and easy to prepare. Processing duck is a lot like chicken, and with the right equipment is also just as easy.

Ducks Live Happily with People

Domestic breeds of duck are very friendly animals and often make loving, long lived pets. With a light in a coop, ducks reliably coop up at night in a secure space and enjoy nesting in clean straw and bedding. They make excellent and gentle garden pest eradicators- as they don’t scratch or eat new plant seedlings and destroy garden beds like chickens do. They’ll leave your tomatoes alone, eating the grubs and bugs that want to eat your tomatoes. They are quiet animals and don’t crow loudly, making them good choices for inner-city birds.

Ducks are wonderful birds to have on the homestead for food, and wonderful, healthy pets. They have many advantages over chickens. Consider adding some ducks to your flock!

I don’t know how many of these bubbles I have been through but greed is always at the heart. It doesn’t seem to matter if is make millions growing organic certified food or plant lemon myrtle plantations people get sucked into the greed and easy lifestyles touted as saviors. A honest business grows or declines with the market based on supply and demand. Simple economics 101 is if supply is high and demand in low the price will be low. Most of these niche systems do initially have low supply have high demand so prices are extremely high but the markets are so small that even modest increases in supply means the price drops considerable.

To give you a idea currently alpacas are currently selling at 70-90% reduction of there asking price a few years ago.

The best way to avoid these mistakes is completing a business plan. In there should be realistic expectations of market expansion and what competitors can enter the market. Building a brand will also help weather some of the downside.

Phrases to look out for:

– solid investments

– a perfect “phased retirement opportunity”

– retirement opportunity for empty nesters, especially those seeking an escape from the corporate rat race.

– minimal or no farming experience

– free 300 page guide

– turn $35,000 to $1,000,000 in ten years

– peace of mind

– tax advantages

Perennial herbs are wonderful additions to the garden. They’re easy to grow and cultivate, beautiful, and offer many uses- uses such as flavoring food, for making teas, making natural medicines, for cleaning and freshening, and even decorating. Perennial herbs offer beauty and function. Here are our 5 easiest perennial herbs to grow that deserve a spot in your garden or landscape.

• Thyme: Thyme comes in two forms- growing upright, or spreading. Both versions are wonderful plants to have in the garden. Creeping thyme specifically makes a beautiful dried or fresh herb for cooking, but it also makes a wonderful air freshener. In the garden, it grows very well in hot, dry places along paths, or can even take some treading on in between stepping stones. The purple or white flowers are long blooming and are a favorite of many pollinators, specifically for wonderfully helpful honey and native bees.

• Mint: Mint can be a bully, but in the right places it can spread happily and fill an area with useful, aromatic goodness. Use mint to take over a spot where other stuff won’t really grow well, and keep it contained by a deep, root-busting yearly trench around the perimeter you have your mint growing to keep it from spreading. Mint can be used in savory foods and sauces, in sweet foods and sauces, in drinks both cold (think about a refreshing mint julep in the middle of the summer!) or hot (a tea that soothes a sore throat in winter). Use mint to freshen air. You can mix it into natural cleaning products to add a wonderfully clean smell to your surface cleaners. Use it in homemade soap and shampoo recipes, as well as a breath freshener or in homemade toothpaste. Like thyme, the flowers are numerous, long blooming, and valued by pollinators.

• Lavender is an old herb that has as many uses as mint, and makes a stately and beautiful statement in the garden. Beautiful greyish blue foliage mounds and purple spikes of beautiful flowers are very welcome to pollinators. Long-lived, it also grows well in dry conditions in the hot sun. Lavender is a calming, restorative herb and can be used in household product accordingly. Satchels, cleaning products for the home and body, in medicinal tonics, and cooking are all basic uses of lavender. Wonderful fresh, it also dries very well and is an essential in the best potpourri recipes.

• Echinacea is a US native plant that has also been domesticated and changed for the garden, with big purple or white flowers, and now even additions of red and orange blooming Echinacea’s are easily found. Very hardy, long lived, tough, and an essential plant for wildlife (pollinators and birds alike!) cone flower is a standard perennial for every garden. As an herb, it’s incredibly healing. Usually made into teas or added into soaps, it possesses very powerful restorative qualities and also makes a great preventative herb.

• Sage is a standard herb in most red meat dishes, but is also an incredibly strong healing herb. Made into a tea, it works wonderfully for cold and flu symptoms in the face and throat, and has been shown to help ease menopausal symptoms. In the garden, many types of sage are available and all are very beautiful. Another long-lived plant, its toughness will astound you. The flowers are loved by butterflies and hummingbirds, as well as bees and other pollinators.

We hope you enjoy our 5 favorite easy perennial garden herbs!

Having a beautiful garden can seem complicated and expensive but if you follow these steps, you will see that is something you can do with little money. Make the project design and creation of your garden. Divide the project into phases of your garden for you to go by gradually creating the garden of your dreams. Consider consulting a landscaper and get their opinion, although we can give you some tips on how to make a garden with little money.

To make beautiful and economic gateways for your garden, you can use cobbles, gravel, stone or concrete. If you use pieces of gravel, it is recommended to select small-less angular gravel 1/4 centimeter- and avoid rounded gravel or other stones.

To furnish decks and patios we suggest you choose chairs and economic tables as you can find in DIY centers or even thrift stores. The best prices for garden furniture are usually found in late summer. In another article, you will find tips on how to decorate a space.

To make a garden, if you have enough space you can also place a water closed loop, so you will not waste water and be more economical. In stores home improvements are available pumps and fountains that can be installed in the garden, terrace or patio.

Before planting grass, make sure this is appropriate to the climate of the area where you live, as it does not support well the hot, dry climates. If you live in a region with high temperatures and / or slightly moist, it will be convenient to opt for an alternative to grass. Thus, you can be useful our articles on how to choose or how to put artificial turf artificial turf.

You can create flowerbeds with a garden hose to achieve curved, and then install edges to define them better. You also interested to know how to care for plants in a grow bed.

Be advisable to enrich the soil with compost and other accessories in accordance with the advice of qualified personnel. To make it even cheaper, you can see in this article how to compost at home.

It is convenient to plant trees, shrubs and native or indigenous flowers in your area, as these are more likely to thrive and do not need a major commitment and investment to keep them in top condition. It is also recommended to plant evergreen trees

You can add torches, outdoor lamps, lights on poles or candles to create a cozy atmosphere at night. You will find here some more tips on how to illuminate terraces and gardens.

There is risk in just about everything. As adults we should be free to evaluate these risks verses the benefits. Many of the left of politics love to use government to ban things that could cause harm. It is ironic that the same system they advocate turns against them and bans freedoms they enjoy eg. raw milk.

If you want to ban knives, guns, fast food, GMOs, vaccines, fireworks, sweeteners, Monsanto and you advocate giving power to the government, don’t be surprised when they ban raw milk, unvaccinated children, medical cannabis and others.

Stop supporting the coercion of others by advocating banning. Using political power to get things you want banned does backfire. Punish those who do wrong not everyone and use persuasion instead of coercion. Is it really that hard to understand?