Having a small backyard flock of chickens is a growing trend in countries around the world. And it is not just country folks who enjoy raising chickens, more and more cities are relaxing their laws and ordinances and allowing chickens, so city dwellers can enjoy this pleasant hobby too. Many celebrities such a Jennifer Aniston, Barbra Streisand, Miley Cyrus, Chevy Chase, Reese Witherspoon and Martha Steward raise backyard chickens. So why are pet chickens so popular? Let's have a look at some of the benefits of raising backyard chickens.

Chickens are not just for pet purposes...Meat birds (Cornish Cross) are usually processed around the age of 7 – 9 weeks.  So after feeding them for only 2 months, you can stock your freezer with your own wonderful, fresh, home-grown meat.

- When you raise your own chickens, you know what went into the meat and eggs.  It’s a safer and healthier alternative to factory farmed poultry and eggs.

- The meat of farm-raised chicken has significantly less fat (and fewer calories) than typical store-bought chicken. 

- Backyard and free ranged hens produce eggs that are very nutritious and great tasting. Not to mention they are always fresh! Free ranged and backyard hens' eggs are also much healthier than battery hens' eggs.

- Chickens make great pets for children and great 4H projects.

- They are friendly, easy to manage, low maintenance and can be kept as house pets as well.

- Chickens are a food source. Hens will provide you with wonderful fresh eggs and cockerels (and retired hens) can be processed and eaten.

- Chickens are entertaining and keeping and spending time with your feathered friends, or just, "watching chicken TV", can be rewarding and at times very funny.

Free range chickens are excellent, hardworking gardeners 

 - Once you’ve harvested everything you want from your vegetable garden, your chickens will happily clear the beds, scratching out and eating unwanted weeds, slugs and seeds and fertilizing the soil while they're at it.

- Own an orchard or a few fruit trees? Chickens will devour the fallen fruit before it can attract insects. 

- Chicken manure contains high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

- Chicken manure is more economically valuable than synthetic fertilizers.

- Chicken manure can be used to make fertilizer tea.

- Chickens love digging and scratching around in compost heaps and composting with chickens can be very beneficial for your compost heaps too.

- Chickens will happily take care of crickets, grass hoppers, snails and other pests.

And for bored chickens…

The Chicken Swing Reduce coop boredom and provide an activity for all breeds and ages of chickens with The Chicken Swing, which is fun–and fun to watch! For best results, introduce the swing to young fowl. However, chickens of all ages have been known to take up swinging. Features: Fun activity to reduce coop boredom Swinging motion is enjoyed by the chicken as well as the people who watch them swing. 

You can trust these great guys with more than just the weather. They each keep their areas running smoothly.  Randy Ruggles in the Newark/Granville and surrounding areas, Stephan Carbonara in the Columbus and surrounding areas and Bryan Smith in the Zanesville and surrounding areas.

All three are certified arborists…what does that mean to you. Let’s talk about that!

A Certified Arborist credential identifies professional arborists who have a minimum of three years’ full-time experience working in the professional tree care industry and who have passed an extensive examination covering all facets of arboriculture. That means you know you’re getting the best care possible for your trees. Here’s what our Certified Arborists can do for you.

Services an Arborist can Provide                                 

• Pruning An arborist can determine the type of pruning necessary to maintain or improve the health, appearance, and safety of trees.
• Tree Removal. Although tree removal is a last resort, there are circumstances when it is necessary. An arborist can help decide whether a tree should be removed.
• Emergency Tree Care. An arborist can assist in performing emergency tree care in a safe manner, while reducing further risk of damage to property.
• Planting. Some Arborists plant trees and most can recommend species that are appropriate for a particular location.
• Plant Health Care. Preventive maintenance helps keep trees in good health while reducing any insect, disease, or site problems.
• Many other services. Consulting services, tree risk assessment, cabling and bracing trees, etc.

Social benefits of trees go beyond enjoying their beauty. Humans feel a calming effect from being near trees. The serenity we feel can significantly reduce stress, fatigue, and even decrease recovery time from surgery and illness. Green spaces can also help lower the level of crime within urban environments.

Trees alter the environment we live in by moderating climate, improving air quality, reducing storm water runoff, and harboring wildlife.

Examples of the environmental benefits of trees:

• Trees help moderate temperatures by creating a cooling effect which can counteract the heating effect of pavement and buildings in an urban environment.
• Compact tree foliage can serve as a windbreak, as well as provide protection from rainfall.
• Leaves filter the air we breathe by removing dust and other particulates and releasing oxygen.

Definitely all great reasons to work with a great company that has the knowledge and experience and get the job done right…on time, every time! 

The more researchers study the science of plants, the more remarkable those chlorophyll-filled wonders seem to be. If your definition of ethical eating involves dining only on non-sentient plants, you might rethink your food choices. Tomatoes, Brussels sprouts and other members of the plant family are lively, highly reactive to their environments and, in a variety of ways, communicate with the world around them. This excerpt is taken from “Sorry Vegans: Brussels Sprouts Like to Live, Too,” first published in The New York Times. — MOTHER EARTH NEWS  

http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/wildlife/how-plants-defend-themselves-zm0z13amzcom.aspx

This article is a great read. It’s that time of year when we will be planting our gardens and along with our thriving plants will come pests that want to make a meal out of them. Plants have a defense system that we can’t see or hear, but it’s there and they are standing their ground to stay healthy and thrive.

Did you know that within 20 minutes of a caterpillar munching on a leaf, the plant has gathered carbon from the atmosphere and created an irritant to the caterpillar or sticky goo to trap the pest?

When plant biologists speak of their subjects, they use active verbs and vivid images. Plants “forage” for resources such as light and soil nutrients, and “anticipate” rough spots and opportunities. By analyzing the ratio of red light and far red light (light at the far end of the spectrum) falling on their leaves, for example, plants can sense the presence of other chlorophyll species of competitors nearby and try to grow the other way. Their roots ride the underground rhizosphere and engage in cross-cultural and microbial trade.

After reading this article, you’ll never look at your innocent garden plants the same again.

Did you know that many trees besides the Maple tree can be tapped for sap? Some trees yield a sugar-rich sap which can be consumed raw, fermented into alcoholic beverages or gently boiled down to syrup. However, there are trees that will provide you with sap that is better than others. A list of trees that can be tapped will be really helpful.

If you really want to make your own Maple syrup, you will need a maple tree. This species can be found in a lot of areas around the country. The Maple is one of the trees that can be tapped if you want to make traditional Maple syrup that we put on pancakes and waffles every day. Click on this link to read the full article.

http://www.livinggreenandfrugally.com/18-trees-that-can-be-tapped-for-sap-and-syrup/

It’s spring and that means warmer and sunnier weather, but it also means storms and storm damage. Now’s the time to have trees inspected to prevent damage to your property, home, cars and more.

We all look at trees and see the immense beauty, enjoy the cool shade and know that they give us the oxygen we need to sustain life, but there’s a dark and dangerous side too. Winds can bring them down, lightening can strike and damage and even though you may not see what’s going on with a tree, there can be a lot of internal damage that weakens and makes vulnerable the stability of a tree.

I know for myself, there’s nothing quite as sad as losing a tree to storm damage, seeing roots exposed and helpless branches on the ground instead of reaching to the sky is a troubling sight. Sometimes insect or disease damage makes it imperative that a tree be cut down before damage to property occurs. It takes years for trees to reach a level of maturity where they provide shade and become aesthetically pleasing, so when you lose a mature tree for any reason, it’s difficult to replace that loss.

Have your trees checked every year to prevent disease and damage whenever possible. Keep those branches protected so your children can swing from the trees, climb like monkeys in the jungle and so you can stretch out in a hammock tied between your trees. Keep your “tree” memories alive and well!