Thursday, July 14, 2016

Plants for Trade July 2016

We just came home from our family trip and I am eager to trade away some rabbits. These little (but soon big) guys would make great pets, garden companions, breading, or meat rabbits.
As New Zealand's, they are white with red eyes (albino), dew flaps, and large ears which help them to tolerate the heat better.
They have been raised on a diet of pellet and plants, and are fully weaned now. I have a complete list of what they eat here.
http://oldescrubland.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-draft-safe-plant-list-for-florida.html
Feel free to share that list and refer back to it often. I wrote it up a while back, and it has been republished on several survival websites, making me a published author! Right now the kits are eating pressed alfalfa and organic, homegrown plants.
I also have many garden plants for trade that are edible for rabbits and people too. One of my gems is a crop of Cowpea that I have been growing and regrowing for several years now, adapting them to our area. The beans are great for people, the rest of the plant is great for rabbits! Two crops a year here in West Florida. Most of the other plants that I offer for trade are beautiful flowering perennials that we edible and also attract pollinators to the yard (ie butterflies and honey bees).
     Cannas are blooming now. I have red, pink, and yellow. The dwarf white seem to struggling and not blooming, they are not for trade at the moment. The purple leaved cannas are red, but haven't formed blossoms yet this season.
     The heat and lack of rain has made my red sage go dormant. It is not for trade at the moment. So here is a list of what I have:
New Zealand whites
Potted Lemongrass
Potted Loquat trees, one year old
Potted Cannas, red, yellow, and pink
Potted cardamom ginger
Potted Spiderwort, now dormant due to the summer heat
Potted red sage, now finished flowering for the summer
Cowpea seeds, ready for planting at the end of September
Hibiscus sabdariffa seeds, for planting next spring.
From last month, this little guy has found a home through trade. I have refreshes mother, and in two months I should hopefully have some more brothers and sisters to trade away to new homes.

The extension service does not recommend a whole lot of transplanting to be done during July.in fact, for the most part it recommends planting only Jerusalem artichoke, and any okra and southern pea seeds that haven't been sown yet. But July is still a good month for trading, for getting rid of excess on my part and hopefully getting to know new people and plants during the summer dormancy period.

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