I have Californians and New Zealand Blacks. I only feed 16% pellets and alfalfa hay. When the mamas kindle, my wife feeds them a carrot a day for a couple weeks as a "thank you." Lot's of people feed a lot of natural foods to their rabbits to supplement pellets or for the entire diet. Not sure about just apples though. Do not auto feed rabbits. Their pellets will take on moisture and get soft (waste of feed). They will also get built up fat around their reproductive organs in does and will not get pregnant. Bucks will just get fat and lazy. I only give enough pellets they will consume between feedings. I keep pellets in front of the grow out pens all the time...but feed doesn't stay around long enough to get "old." I buy all my cage supplies from Bass Equipment and make all my cages. My breeder doe cages are 36"w x 30"d and 18"h. My buck cages are 24"w x 30"d x 18"h. Grow outs are 36"w and 48"w. I hope I answered some of your questions. They might not be the "right answers"...but that is what I do. Seems to be working. I started in late January this year with 3-does and 2-bucks. Now I have close to 50 rabbits in 26 holes (pens). I have 3-does kindling this week so that number could shoot up another 20-30 bunnies quickly. Then again 9 are going to freezer camp on Saturday. God Bless!

Hi gardengrl and welcome to NoVa! I'm also in the area (Alexandria) and just got started with wintersowing in the past couple of weeks. I started gardening a few years ago and have had good luck starting seedlings in my basement under grow lights but wintersowing sounds so miraculous that I had to try it too. So far I've done lettuce, spinach, chard, cilantro, parsley, and sweet peas. I picked things that I've had luck with in the early spring (mid-Feb and on) in past years with our normal, warmer winters. These are things that don't survive in the heat of summer so I'm hoping winter sowing gives them an early start. It's a complete experiment this year! I found a list of what to start when on the blog "A Garden for the House" from NY state and sort of figured everything here could start a bit earlier. Can't wait for warmer weather to see if my milk jugs start sprouting. This winter has been so abnormally cold that my normal winter crop of red Russian kale and arugula under hoops was killed off, so I am itching to start gardening soon and have some good salads. Totally envy your 4 acres from my little, inside the beltway yard!

Here's the recipe for cottage cheese daughter has! She got it from the program 'Good Eats'! She and her two boys, ages 4 and 5 love that show! They tape them and the boys beg her to play them over and over. They've really gotten interested in cooking, themselves and even use play dough to reinact the shows! She's letting them help her alot now! Quick Cottage Cheese 1 gallon pasteurized skim milk 3/4 cup white vinegar 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 1/2 cup half-and half-or heavy cream Pour the skim milk into a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Heat to 120 degrees F. Remove from the heat and gently pour in the vinegar. Stir slowly for 1 to 2 minutes. The curd will separate from the whey. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Pour the mixture into a colander lined with a tea towel and allow to sit and drain for 5 minutes. Gather up the edges of the cloth and rinse under cold water for 3 to 5 minutes or until the curd is completely cooled, squeezing and moving the mixture the whole time. Once cooled, squeeze as dry as possible and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add the salt and stir to combine, breaking up the curd into bite-size pieces as you go. If ready to serve immediately, stir in the half-and-half or heavy cream. If not, transfer to a sealable container and place in the refrigerator. Add the half and half or heavy cream just prior to serving. Oh, and her hubby (our SIL) is here with the boys right now, having watched Ohio State and Illinois (boo hoo--OSU lost) and he says it's really good and not gritty at all, when she makes it!

Wow, thank you everyone, the warm welcome brought me a much needed smile! I must confess, Im in a bit of a depressed state here of late as I just lost my baby brother to cancer in April. I am fighting to keep myself from going under and I knew I needed to reach out, meet new people and find some other connections. I am disabled due to my health so I donot get the chance to physically go out and meet and connect with others. I remembered the KT and made the leap to try and re-connect. Oh and how many pounds of chocolate shall I bring? I make some pretty delish choc covered pretzels :) and my coffee pot is always full and ready to share!!!