I am still having fun entering all sorts of giveaways to try winning some of the things we need for Tater, you can enter too. See this post for more details.

N was so cute, he made a little scavenger hunt of gardening goodies for me to find for my birthday. You see all I wanted was plants and bulbs for my birthday so he ordered them. Unfortunately growers will only ship after your latest frost date so I wont actually have the plants and bulbs until April, which was expected.

Still he wanted to make some excitement for me on my birthday so he clipped out each photo and description of each thing he got me, then he glued the paper to Popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners. Then he hid them in various plants and other places for me to find. He even wrote this cute little poem to kick off the scavenger hunt:

Now I can’t wait to be in the new place and to start planting the pretty garden goodies there! Fun. Also, my birthday fun would not be complete without some pet drama right? Well, our rabbit gave birth to 4 babies last night!

*WARNING* This is not a happy baby Easter bunnies story, if you can’t stomach the ways of nature skip this section!

While I was in the tub last night N was making the rounds feeding all the animals and he discovered 4 pitiful dead baby bunnies at Maybelle’s feet. Apparently she had given birth and we were unaware. So N comes to get me so I can see what happen.

We weren’t sure if Maybelle had killed the babies or if they had just died on their own. There are a number of reasons why baby rabbits don’t survive birth. We expected that genetics issues (a lop ear and a dwarf mating) combined with Maybelle’s lack of experience in mothering would have contributed to the lack of survival of the babies. Also some rabbits kill their young too.

Basically warmth is the main killer of baby rabbits (called kits). Mothering rabbits don’t usually carry their young around the cage in their mouth (like cats do) and when babies are born outside the nesting box they often aren’t warm enough to survive and mom can’t do much to remedy this.

Normally breeders will have to rub the born babies to warm them up. They’ll also move them back to the nesting box where they’ll be warm and safe if mom births outside the nesting box for some reason.

Well upon inspection of the 4 dead bunnies we did not see any signs of cannibalism or mistreatment. The babies were either born dead or died shortly after birth on their own (either because of cold or whatever). It is sad but is ultimately part of nature especially in situations like ours where the babies are an accident and the mother is not experienced in breeding.

Now this morning apparently Maybelle was birthing another baby. When we went down to check on her she was in the process of having one that was breech, it was partially out (from tail to ribcage)… After about 10 minutes of no progress we knew it was stuck so we helped her out a bit by gently pulling on it while she contracted. It came out and was of course dead as a result of being stuck.

She is still acting a bit weird so I am keeping an eye out to see if she has more babies today. I can’t feel any moving inside her but you never know. The reading says her delivery of a litter should be done in about 20 minutes and we aren’t sure if last night’s litter was from a separate uterus than the breech one we noticed this morning. She could still have more in there so I am watching her closely, just to make sure.

*Update* Since publishing this she has birthed one more baby but she started munching on this one.

I did snap photos of all this for the blog but am opting not to post them right on here, since I don’t want to offend or scar anyone not wishing to see the sight. If you want to see the photos you can view them here: #1, #2, #3 & #4. Just be sure the kids aren’t looking over your shoulder or anything. They aren’t gross, just sad.

Oh and in addition to the dead bunnies Dixie also left us her own little presents overnight:

After being outdoors until about 9pm yesterday and having fun all day yesterday she managed to shit out all that for us between midnight March 19th & 10am March 20th. Nice huh, good thing we are keeping her confined to a tiled room at night.

Happy Birthday to me!

The post Got some plants on the way and some animal drama for my birthday. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

First, I compiled a list of the plants I got, plugged them in to my Dave’s Garden Journal with photos so I could remember what got planted where in a few months. It’s so easy to forget what you have and where you put it when you have a garden addiction like I do!

• Peruvian Daffodil (view my dave’s garden journal entry by clicking here) – Is a uniquw white flower with wispy petals and a sweet scent. Related to paperwhites in the narcissus family, can’t survive frosty conditions so it makes a great house plant!
• Summer Sunset Calla Lilies (view my dave’s garden journal entry) – Have green leaves with tiny white spots and orangish/ yellow blooms.
• Anemone/ Grecian Windflower (view my dave’s garden journal entry for these variations: The Admiral, The Governor, St. Brigid and Mr. Fokker ) – These come in a variety of color variations, they look poppy like and are deer resistant.
• Karl Rosenfeld Peony (view my dave’s garden journal entry) –
• Bowl of Beauty Peony (view my dave’s garden journal entry) – Has pink flower petals with cheery yellow and pink centers, plant in feb-march in Arizona.
• Tiger Orange Lily (view my dave’s garden journal entry) –
• Blue Girl Tea Rose (view my dave’s garden journal entry) –
• Intrigue Floribunda Rose (view my dave’s garden journal entry) –

Here is my niece who came with my mom to stay with us for my birthday. She is the most well behaved baby I have ever been around and she loves the camera!

Here we are at Wupatki National Monument inside one of the ruins. I wasn’t quite ready for the photo to be taken (as you can see) but it’s still priceless.

Here is a photo of us eating fondue on my birthday. It was yummy and so much fun!

We took my mother and niece out to Grand Falls for fun, we of course got a group photo of us in front of the waterfall.

And here are the photos I took of my newly sprouted crocus. They have surfaced in a variety of colors and locations. We are really enjoying their progress and beauty and thought you might also.

The post Birthday photos shared! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

The great thing about bulbs, tubers and corms is that they usually will re-flower year after year when given the right growing conditions and care. Specifically calla lilies are grown from tubers and bloom in late spring and are considered “perennial bulbs” that will return year after year.

They are hardy in zones 9 & 10 and can be left in the ground between blooming seasons, in all other zones they will need to be dug up, dried and stored during the winter. Calla lilies don’t do well in frosty conditions and will often fail to return the next season if exposed to freezing temperatures.

The great thing about Calla lilies is that they can be grown as a houseplant easily. As houseplants they should be given a 2 to 3 month rest period without moisture once they bloom. Flowers will fade and can be cut back but the leaves will remain green until you reduce the amount of water given. Reducing the water after flowering will initate the 2 to 3 month rest period. After this time has passed they should be repotted and lightly watered until new growth appears.

If you prefer to grow your calla lilies outdoors you can start your in indoors in later winter and transplant them outdoors after your last frost in the spring, the calla lilies will grow and bloom through spring, summer and even fall but will need to be dug up, divided and stored during the winter if you aren’t in zones 9 or 10.

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I have been specifically told not to buy any plants or bulbs till after my birthday (which is march 20th), I think I’ll be getting some gardening goodies! Anyway, I am taking an inventory of all I have going right now and I have been wanting to make up a handy cheat sheet for myself with my plants needs and care information that way I am reminded of what I need to do and I don’t kill some of my more tender bulbs & plants.

I had some lovely Dahlias growing during the summer and I am just now realizing that I forgot to dig all of them up before the frost came… They are ruined now! So, obviously I need some reminders about my gardening and maybe I can share my cheat sheet with you here if you want.

I am wondering what kind of gardening you do (if any), what hardiness zone are you in and what is your favorite plant?

The post I can't wait for spring! Need to garden, bad! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Anyway, wanted to take to opportunity to share a beautiful orchid photo I took. I love trying to capture beauty with my camera. You can buy a copy of the orchid shot by clicking on the image (wink, wink). Many of my other photographs are for sale @ http://talinan.dpcprints.com

I actually forgot I was still selling some of my photos till today and I thought some color would be nice on this gloomy, cold February day. Hopefully you all are staying warm!

Oh, if you are interested in growing orchids here is what I learned about the growing conditions of mine:

Phalaenopsis Orchid Growing Info-

Needs daytime temperatures between 70 & 90 degrees and nighttime temperatures between 60 & 70 degrees. Will need watter every 5-7 days to stay evenly moist. Keep the foliage dry and water in the morning. This orchid can only tolerate moderate indirect light and it does best when fertilized 1-2 times per month.

The post Pretty, pretty Orchids! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.