Free ranging rabbits give me joy!This year my garden was dismal in its production of food. I think we got less than 20 tomatoes and 6-8 zucchini's. It was so frustrating fighting the drought, heat and insects. Combined with daily visits to my poor rabbits confined in as large of cages as I could arrange for them. I began to see an inequity that I could fix. With our triple digit temps, I couldn't act quickly as the rabbits required cooling devices we had in place to protect them during the brutal heat waves. This gave me some valuable planning time. I also met many green horned tomato worms. They were so beautiful that I did some research and discovered that they were endangered. They turn into these amazing moon shaped moths. Well that clinched the deal. I sacrificed my non-producing tomatoes to the green horned worms and began to convert my garden for the rabbits. We reinforced the fencing to keep them in, and the dogs/cats out and also put up a 2ft exterior barrier on top of the soil to prevent rabbits from digging out. I finally transferred my 8 females and a couple young males to freedom. I can barely get any work done since it's so much fun to watch them playing and chasing each other among the raised beds. And the best news is that I can still garden in some of the raised beds that are too high for them to invade. I'll probably just plant carrots for the buns ;) We are still figuring out how to deal with storms, but they won't come until January/February. We'll figure it out as we move forward. In the meantime, my buns have a joyful life and freedom.
1 Comment
2/22/2022 04:57:51 am
That was an awesome article. As a rabbit keeper I liked it. Keep writing like this more.
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Farm NewsIt's never a dull day at the Kitty Hotel. Springtime means new arrivals & births, eggs hatching, coats shedding and seasonal preparation for summer or winter. Fall brings harvest, canning and winter prepration. We are always entertained by our many animal friends.
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