Welcome to BunnyVille

Spring Break in Florida...what to do? what to do? The weather was fabulous...but to be honest the water at the beach and the pool are still a bit cold for my liking.....soooo..... it was a perfect time to get started on The Rabbit Farm! We are upscaling an old chicken coop given to us from a friend.....This area of the yard can get a little wet for a few days after a very strong summer storm...so to be safe everything is up in the air. We picked a spot under the young Live Oaks and Pines for the natural shade and coolness it will provide for the Bunnies.

Future "Bunnyville"

Tucked into the Oaks nicely

My Husband, Dave, and son, Nate, putting the cage together....we made it a family day! First we made a trip to a local Rabbit breeder...we selected 3 rabbits. Two Does and a Buck. The goal is to keep these three and to breed them for.....meat! Yes...you heard that right...we are going to be eating our junior rabbits.....The three adult rabbits belong to my daughter....and they are pets, but the objective here is to become a bit more self sufficient off our own backyard mini farm...So let me introduce you to the girls:

This is.....Cinnamon

And this is.....Oreo

And this lil guy is our Buck....His Daddy is a giant Angora mix:

This is Peter Rabbit! Doesn't he look chill!

So while the DH and Son worked on the construction phase...My daughter, Elly, and I raided the garage for left over paint! She picked out fabulous colors and we got to painting!

In the end....we were more than pleased...it turned out better than we had expected...we loved the cute look of it so much... we decided to make the whole back area an entire little village for bunnies! I'm already dreaming up my next house design :)   This is the Doe House, the Hutch is 4x4 with enough room for a loft and some exterior nesting boxes (to be made), and the outdoor cage/run is 4x8. This will be the main habitat for the Does with babies...Peter will only get to visit....sometimes ;) We screened in one door of the hutch completely so it can be left open for added ventilation. The front of the cage is one big door for easy access.....We still have some little things to fine tune....but we are on our way to a good start I do believe! So here she is so far....and the Bunnies are loving all the Xtra room!

Cinnamon checking out her new digs :)

The hutch access door

The screened door open with Peter loving the breeze!

Yeah! She's finished! Any suggestions for a name for our new bunny abode?

How much fun was that! I swear....I'm living a little girl's dream right here in my own back yard and I'm all grown up! God is good and Life is just too much fun!    shhhhh....Elly thinks it's all hers! Keep checking back...as the rabbit farming has only just begun! and We all know how quickly this can grow......hehehehehe.... So enjoy your first days of spring .....Easter is coming, the flowers are blooming, birds are singing and the weather is beautiful...get out there and spread some seed!   janine

Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. 

The Start of the Bird Garden

So I have decided to turn the area that was once the old Koi pond into "The Bird Garden" Only seems appropriate since I used to keep all the bird feeders around the fire pit which is now the New Koi Pond.....As they say "Tit for Tat" or well something like that!.....This Mocking bird sits greeting me as I walk through the garden gate....on the Fortuniana Rose bush...just starting to burst into blooms....With the pond up and running and the fish transferred...it was time to do some clean up around the place! I had procrastinated long enough. With clippers in hand I spent an entire day cutting all my roses back, pulling the passion Vine out of the Crape Myrtles and giving the Honeysuckle over the  chicken coops a heck of a hair cut! Shew.....the patio looks much better now. I placed some of the Xtra Cannas from the old pond into a galvanized tub on the patio with some other potted plants...it's 25 gallons, so I placed a small pump and filter to circulate the water...and now I can definitely see that we will need a few African Cichlids in that mini pond :) ssshhhh our little secret .......At the moment it's the home to the DH's 3 crawdads we found in the pond skimmer...Oh Well .....now back to the bird garden.....

So this is the spot just after the pond liner came out....I had enough dirt from the new pond dig and left over concrete from the demolition on the back porch to almost fill it up...I left the last 4-6 inches for peat and pine fines....my plan is for a bed of Caladiums here.....amongst the bird feeders....

This is the bones I'm starting with....The old frame from a garden swing upcycled to be a bird feeder holder, a few bird feeders from around the yard and a great sturdy concrete birdbath, along with a few bishop hooks....At this time I have some potted up African Iris around the border, but they are too big...I think I'll go with some Mondo grass instead...but after that first day...I felt like I was on my way...and no money out of pocket, just some things moved around...just like re-arranging the furniture :)

I'm a frugal gardener you know....so no stopping at the big box store and buying a few new bird feeders for me....Oh No...I would hit the Goodwill and thrift stores and find me some treasures! And yes I did! Can you say 

"SCORE"  

I will Make my bird feeders...

Okay....so you probably already figured that the Koi plates are my fav's...I still haven't figured where they will be incorporated...but they will...oh they most definitely will..... These sweet other finds, will soon be the beginnings of my bird garden.

 I  merged the Pink Vase and the white plate to make my first feeder....Okay...so drilling holes in glass....NOT so easy....don't try this one at home...Lucky for me I have access to a dental drill at work...and it was STILL a long and tedious project....I have to get some wire to hang it still...

 The next was the marriage of the matching Pink Mosaic Vase and Plate...(By the way)...bought a day apart and at two different thrift stores! They are mounted together on a metal Candle holder with mimicking shape.....How lucky am I.....Actually I don't rely on luck...I ask and God always seems to provide me with just what I need.....And it matched my Pink vase perfectly too...Do you see a theme here? I think the Azaleas in the yard have me inspired this month...I'm so easily swayed...Can't you just see a bed of Pink and White Caladiums around the foot of that feeder???

 Did I mention.....I do love me some azaleas!

And just a short time after...we had our very first visitors! 

 It sure has a ways to go.....but in just a few short days it is coming alive with birds and squirrels! A little paint on that swing frame, and a bed of caladiums and we shall have a little bird Haven! Native Blackberries grow entwined with the rosebush behind it and I plan on putting in a blueberry bush also....along with the neighboring Wax Myrtles and Mulberries....there should be plenty of food to keep the birds hanging around throughout the year...

Don't forget to spread some seed!  janine

I'll leave you with a quote from genesis:

 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. Then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:29-31)