Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

David did some weeding in the polytunnel today. Arthur had done a fabulous job of moving more muck (compost) into one of the empty beds so David started to prepare the next one ready to receive its own muck later in the week. The main problem we now have is that we still have a few parsnips and carrots left in one bed so cannot cover that one in compost, a second one has quite a lot of brassicas left in it and a third one has been taken over by perpetual thyme! But keeping on top of the weeding does not need to be held up and the best news was that we were then able to pot up four trays of the resulting unwanted plants, which included a lot of grass (not really a weed but definitely in the wrong place) and give the quail and rabbits a big treat!
For the rabbits, fresh greens of any sort are great at this time of year: great for their teeth, guts and for giving them something to do: they do get a few carrots as well (but don't tell the goats).
For the quail, trays of grass and other assorted plant life provides not only the 'green' stuff but also the chance to hunt for (and then eat) 'minibeasts', as well as the opportunity for a dust bath or two in the loose soil. Happy animals all round.
And in other news, the hunt is now on for a male Muscovy: apparently we can expect the females to start laying eggs early in spring (March/April) and if one of them subsequently goes broody we want to make sure she is sitting on fertile eggs. It feels a tad early to be contemplating the pitter patter of tiny feet but as hopefully 'mother duck' will be doing all the work, we are happy to let nature take its course.