Free and Natural Insect Control One of my favorite times of year is the March/April time frame when swallows begin returning to the Pacific Northwest. These vivacious little birds overwinter in Central America and return to North America in time for the spring nesting season. These pretty little birds provide … Read More
Take Winter by Storm! The dead of winter and early spring are times for damaging, dangerous storms in North America. Making chore efficiency updates on your horse property and having backup supplies on hand is helpful for getting through the most challenging time of the year for horse owners–and it … Read More
Be Organized for Action in Case of an Emergency Disasters can happen anytime, anywhere, and it’s in your best interest to be prepared in advance. There are three primary focus areas that can assist you in preparing: build a kit, make a plan, and stay informed. These three practices can … Read More
Get Ready for the Busy Season Ahead! Earth Day is just around the corner on Saturday, April 20, 2023. In some parts of the country, daffodils are poking their heads up and may even be blooming. That means now is the time to get things done around your horse property … Read More
Overlooked Farm Practices Can Be Dangerous Fire safety in the barn often involves common concerns such as moisture content of hay and its storage, providing evacuation plans and emergency services contact numbers, 24/7 illuminated exit signs, smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, removal of cobwebs from light fixtures, no smoking signs, keeping … Read More
Correctly Managing Manure Doesn’t Need to be Difficult or Expensive There are many reasons why a mismanaged manure pile is a problem—from chore inefficiency to horse health issues (horses allowed to graze near their own manure are quickly reinfested by larva that hatch from worm eggs shed in manure), to … Read More
The dead of winter usually comes with footing challenges for horse owners. It’s unhealthy for horses to stand in disease-causing muck and it’s difficult to get chores done when pushing a manure cart through ankle-deep mud. Plus, there are detrimental implications for the natural world around us since dirty water … Read More
Fall in the Pacific Northwest (before the ground freezes) is an ideal time to plant all kinds of things— cool-season veggies, pasture grasses, perennials and both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs. Of all these, native plants can be of particular importance on a horse property. Humans, horses, wildlife, and … Read More
Horse owners know how difficult rodent control can be on a horse property. Fall is the time of year when the mouse situation inside our barns can get out of hand. Mice and rodents can carry diseases, some serious to humans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, … Read More
Even though summer is just barely in the rearview mirror, fall is the time of the year for winterizing horse properties. Chore efficiency is always my mantra, and this is especially true when prepping for the cold, rainy, snowy, windy, and dark months ahead. Setting things up so the barn … Read More
