My garden 😞

[Xerocles]

The garden is on temporary hold til I work out a system on the ducks. Will be raining for the next 4 days, so no planting for a while anyway. Plenty of plants ready, transplanted into 6" pots, and a bunch starting to bloom already.
I suppose everyone has some animals that work for them and some that don't. I guess ducks will be a "don't" for me. They just seem stupid beyond belief. I started to rotate them into/out of the garden. 1st, they don't want to leave the garden. Leave the gate open (4 ft double gate). Herd them to the gate....they won't go through, head down the fence line instead. Food placed inches OUTSIDE the gate. They'll stand inside, pacing and looking at the food, but won't go out. Force them out finally, then a repeat to try and get them back inside. 5 days of this so far. Every day the same. Last evening I got so frustrated trying to get them back inside while in the rain, i just said to heck with them, let them get eaten. Left their food inside, left them outside. This morning, they were still outside, food uneaten inside.
They have a nice spacious secure house inside the fence. Darned if I'm gonna build them another one outside.

 

[Beekissed]

The garden is on temporary hold til I work out a system on the ducks. Will be raining for the next 4 days, so no planting for a while anyway. Plenty of plants ready, transplanted into 6" pots, and a bunch starting to bloom already.
I suppose everyone has some animals that work for them and some that don't. I guess ducks will be a "don't" for me. They just seem stupid beyond belief. I started to rotate them into/out of the garden. 1st, they don't want to leave the garden. Leave the gate open (4 ft double gate). Herd them to the gate....they won't go through, head down the fence line instead. Food placed inches OUTSIDE the gate. They'll stand inside, pacing and looking at the food, but won't go out. Force them out finally, then a repeat to try and get them back inside. 5 days of this so far. Every day the same. Last evening I got so frustrated trying to get them back inside while in the rain, i just said to heck with them, let them get eaten. Left their food inside, left them outside. This morning, they were still outside, food uneaten inside.
They have a nice spacious secure house inside the fence. Darned if I'm gonna build them another one outside.

They just need time to learn the routine.....all fowl and poultry are idiots, in my book. The thing is to outsmart a bird that's an idiot.

Start a routine wherein you feed them inside the fence each evening and that's the only time they get to eat....feed in a pan or trough so they can see and hear the feeding happening~ducks love routine and hate change, so the same pan, the same bucket to carry the feed to the feeder, etc. Only feed them what they can clean up for that meal. Feed them inside the gate but not so close they can dart out when you want to close the gate. Drop the feed, stand way back so they can run in to get it or just leave the garden and leave the gate open so they can find it naturally.

By morning they will be hungry, so you can open that gate and get back from it and let them find it open on their own. A few days of this and they'll be waiting for you to open that gate so they can go free range. Just takes a little time to establish a routine.

Driving a duck is like driving a sheep....unless you have a good herding dog or lots of people with long sticks in their hands, it ain't gonna happen. But....you can lead them with food, much like sheep.

Now, I KNOW you are smarter than a duck, @Xerocles ! Just takes time to get them into a routine and you'll start to love the funny ducks and their antics. You've got this!

 

[Xerocles]

Now, I KNOW you are smarter than a duck, @Xerocles ! Just takes time to get them into a routine and you'll start to love the funny ducks and their antics. You've got this!

Not too sure about that last statement! But I sure hope so. I've got rocks smarter than those ducks.
You must have the patience of Job. Both for your ducks AND for me.
I'm not giving up. (Well, maybe partially since I said I don't even care if they get eaten.) I WILL train these ducks.
"Just takes time to get them into a routine and you'll start to love the funny ducks and their antics"
Love is an awfully strong word. I just hope I can get to acceptance. Thanks for being patient with ME.

 

[Beekissed]

Not too sure about that last statement! But I sure hope so. I've got rocks smarter than those ducks.
You must have the patience of Job. Both for your ducks AND for me.
I'm not giving up. (Well, maybe partially since I said I don't even care if they get eaten.) I WILL train these ducks.
"Just takes time to get them into a routine and you'll start to love the funny ducks and their antics"
Love is an awfully strong word. I just hope I can get to acceptance. Thanks for being patient with ME.

I don't know how much patience I have....but I did have a vision when I got the ducks. I had a goal of natural elimination of the millions of squash bugs and Jap beetles, as well as the most repulsive of all....tomato horn worms. They give me the willies!

So, I did the research, decided on the breed and determined I was going to make it work, no matter what. And so far I've learned a few things about ducks in a garden and this year I'm going to make a few adjustments to avoid the pitfalls of last year.

Like this one....when the ducks get to eating the squash bugs from the squash plants, they have a tendency to tear up the stems and leaves of the squash a bit with their big ol' feet. This damages the hollow stems and just kills those particular leaves, which sets the plant back. This year even the yellow squash are going to be staked up so the vine, stems of the leaves and such are not going to be walked on and the ducks have an easier time of getting at those squash bugs. The ducks are tall, so they should be able to reach all areas of the plant even while staked.

I'm also going to prune the bottom limbs of the tomato plants more severely this year so the ducks can visualize army worms and horn worms better....though they did an excellent job on the horn worms all the same. I was getting many a season but I only found a couple last season and found them before they could do any damage.

In the end you just have to keep that goal in your head and determine that, if other people can do this, you can too. And you can, it's just a new trick for an old dog....and I often feel much the same way.

 

[CntryBoy777]

I've never had runners, but have had khaki campbells....I had never had ducks before, only chickens, it took a while to "adjust" to the difference.....chickens, tho a flock bird, run hareem-skareem and spread out from others....not ducks, they pretty much stay together and are easily "herded" by walking slowly with arms out and hands guiding them.....be calm and step slowly towards them at a distance...if ya talk to them they will respond to your voice, a soft voice, loud noises will spook them.... ....personally, I prefer dealing with ducks over chickens....they are so much more entertaining and much rather face a drake than a spurring rooster Anyday....

 

[drstratton]

Can you rent a trailer to haul those round bales home?
With the clay issues and the roots from the saplings (they will probably sprout more saplings in the spring) and such, I would probably build some raised beds instead of trying to garden in the ground. I have fairly good soil here - it has a little too much sand but compost will eventually fix that - but I am going to start building a series of raised beds. The raised beds will make gardening easier on me, and I will be able to plant sooner when I make some cold frames for them.

Raised beds are a great way to go! We now have 6 and it is so nice, better yields and easier on the body! There are however some crops that still get planted in the ground! We have a lot of sand in our soil too, but after 25 years of gardening our top soil is now pretty good! With the clay soil @Xerocles is working with I would definitely put some in!
First 3!

Two of the 3 built this year!

6th bed for our strawberries!

 

[Mini Horses]

@drstratton I love the look and no weeds -- how tall are they? and are they filled with dirt? That's a lot of dirt!!!

 

[drstratton]

@drstratton I love the look and no weeds -- how tall are they? and are they filled with dirt? That's a lot of dirt!!!

Thank you, it certainly makes working in the garden much more pleasant.

For all of them, we removed the garden topsoil to the side to be placed on top of what we filled it with! We built the first two last spring. They are 4'Wx12'Lx30"H. We filled them with sand and sod. We put in an inexpensive above ground pool last year and I brought home to much sand for that project, but it was great to have it for filling the beds and we used the sod that we removed from the spot for the pool, it was a lot of sod! The other two green & galvanized beds are 5'Wx14'Lx30"H. We filled those & the strawberry bed from a hill of sand in our yard that we were going to use for a waterfall and pond area, it has been sitting there for 25 years and has now served a greater purpose. The strawberry bed is 4'Wx8'Lx26"H. We also threw in grass clippings & leaves into all of them...we always have a ton of both!

 

[Mini Horses]

Yeah, wow a lot of work but, very nice! Some others have had false bottoms or less productive "dirts" to help fill.. Sounds like the waterfall/pond idea wasn't an "all in" project.

The home where my mom stayed for a while had a raised flat, empty below, with some small things -- strawberries, etc. -- that the elders could stroll by in the center "courtyard" area. They could pick if desired. Was thoughtful & they loved it.

@Xerocles -- how's the duck & garden project going this week?
At least you have abundant mulch. I have rake, hoe & sometimes sore muscles. LOL Looking for old hay!!!

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

@Xerocles ...as to the ducks...everyone is right about the routine, and using the same method etc. every night, I’d go out..to ge5 the 43 ducks...with my feed bucket...rattle it loud, yell ducks...they were in the pond...I& it was too nice..they didn’t budge. Yo7 have to wait till night..that’s the only drag with ducks...chickens put themselves to bed!
, not dumb ducks! So, yes, walk slow behind them with arms out stretched...move slow...Hopefully, sinc3 you only hav3 a few..it won’t take long? Som3 nights it’d take me 45 minutes? Easily..much longe4 if we’d have to go looking on the golf cart for them...ugh...that’s why..this year..no ducks!. Can’t wait to see some garden pictures!!