I have been slowly loseing faith in gardenweb over the last few months, after getting in arguments about people rleasing farm animals into the wild and people feeding cats and letting them outdoors I've become pretty pesemistic about gardeners as a group of people, but this thread is so fantastic to find that I just swell up with hapiness at reading it. Regarding birds, many people underestimate there importance, birds are invaluable to us because they are resposible for spreading the forests. They spread seeds from mullberries and cherries andapples and pears and all sorts of fruit trees providing a source of food for us to use if we really need to, and they also spread nonfruiting seeds as well, and those grow into trees and bushes too, soaking carbon dioxide up from the air and providing a fuel source should we need it. anyways back to the main topic. Rhubarb makes agreat foundation planting, the heat off the house can lead to a very early harvest and it can be a great source of food to restore dwindleing winter stocks fast. Strawberries can be laid out in curving rows below bushes to form attractive plantings. Cherry trees are often fantastically ornamental in spring, and blueberries provide a bit of winter interest. Scarlet runner beans produce well as a green screen covering the south sides of houses in spring and fall. Grapes hardy Kiwi and Hops (I know, its more of a spice, but beer is important too dagummit) can also provide great shade in the summer, even shade for two storry houses roofs. in the hot summer months peas can be grown in shade in many locations. Man flowers are themselves edible; Nasturtiums are completely edible, leaves and all; roses not only produce edible hips but the petals are edible aswell, if you are careful you can harvest the petals first and the hips later; Violas and Pansies are edibe; Marigolds are edible aswell and offer a significant degree of protection from nematodes in the soil that attack tom's and pots. Garlic, Chives, Leeks, and Onions are also easy to grow and provide a degree of protection, and these can be easily fit into corners of a garden. there are also medicinals to be grown, given the right kind of wood/grain medium mushrooms can be grown anywere, even in your root cellar. You can grow your own digitalis if you use it, untill not too long ago digitalis was issued from pharmacies in leaf form (fox glove) although some effort would need to be put into regulating the doseage. Asparagus is another early season producer, goes well planted along fence rows. and there are a miriad of great trees to choose for an orchard, some plants will even atract deer and squirels, which are edible aswell. Animals also fit into this story, guinea fowl and muscovy ducks provide eggs and pest controll. Sheep are an excilent way to keep a lawn trimmed (especially cosidering that the entire reason that lawns were developed was to mimic the look of sheep pastures.) if you have an acre or two of pasture land you can consider alpacas for wool rather than sheep, or if food is more interesting to you dexter miniature cattle produce more milk for there wieght than any other cow, a very high cream content aswell. I tend to dislike goats because billies will spoil the milk and they will strip the bark off of your trees. There are just so many things to talk about, I wish I could cram them all in. oh, rooftop gardening is a great place to go too, No deer or rabits to eat your hard work, Wyat Erp (sp?) grew veggies on his roof top when he lived here in AK to keep them out of the mooses stomach. and it really does keep your house warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

Hey everyone. Thanks for you help. Jake is doing much better. She stopped breathing like that, and is now breathing normal. I think the catfood got caught in her throat. I kept giving her water with a dropper, and finally I think the catfood got soggy and wet and went on down. I've let her go back outside now. She's walking around pecking the other ducks like she always does. (she's the boss) I;m so thankful she's ok. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to her. She is so precious. She hasn't been the same lately since her sister Topaz got killed. They were best friends, and always together. She hasn't been tkaing care of herself like she use to (like she use to keep clean and clean her feathers everyday, but now she only takes a bath a few times a week. She really misses Topaz a lot. But, she's gonna be alright now and thankyou all for helping me. Genny

Thanks for sharing your duck story 13 years ago. We just moved into an apartment with a duck pond 50' from our back porch and it's got all different kinds of ducks and geese. The ducks are nicer and there are different ones, ratty ones, mean ones, wussy ones, skinny ones, fat ones...very often a new gang of teenie tiny ones under mom's feets. They're always fighin for territory or humpin each other. It is quite the backyard reality show. The geese are another story, there is this one that looks different than the rest and he's always causing trouble with the ducks. He's the alpha goose and he doesn't let anyone forget it for a minute. Somebody needs to mess his 6.75lb feathered butt up. Alpha goose pic included.

I am surprised that in 3 years since this post began no one has mentioned pigeons. They are the perfect homestead animal-- and were the poultry meat of choice until commercial chickens replaced them mid 20th century. A pair of pigeons will raise 2 - 4 squab a month. One squab feeds one person. Here's the amazing part: You should feed them well, but they will also fly, forage and return to feed their young: So it is possible to feed them lightly and they will still thrive on their own resources. Many a village under siege were able to continue to eat meat because their pigeons would fly safely above the battle, find food, and return. The droppings are also great for your garden. Pigeons are hugely under-rated in the united states as a valuable livestock, mostly because 'escaped' pigeons from 20th century abandoned squab farms have become a nuisance in many cities. Healthy pigeons can be purchased sometimes for as little as $2 each. The first generation should not be allowed to fly, until the second generation is established and off the nest or they may fly 'home' to their previous owner. Squab are best eaten when just coming off the nest, however older birds are fine too, just not as tender. They also provide a fascinating hobby if you choose homing or racing pigeons: you can fly them home from great distances. Because they mate for life, and are beautiful on the wing, we are somewhat tender-hearted about eating them. However, we maintain our flock as a small side business for wedding & funeral releases, (they fly home afterwards) and consider them an emergency food source should 'it' ever hit the fan. Here is a link that might be useful: Full Circle Doves