Hi friends.
I'm a goal and New Year’s resolution type of person, and this year my "tortoise goals" are to contribute more to the hobby as well as continue to expand my own knowledge. I have some more specific goals to help me along that path, and one of those is to create a new TFO thread each month. My approach will be to simply share what I am doing or discuss a topic I am studying no matter how frivolous it may seem, as that approach is what I appreciate most from other hobbyists. I'll try to remember to throw in discussion questions so this doesn't end up being just a diary.
My focus this month is dietary sustainability. One of the definitions of sustain is "to support the weight of, to carry or withstand". My application of this concept to backyard tortoise keeping is that I want to be able to grow all of the food that my tortoises need or would want to eat and I want to do it without any harmful impact to the environment, the tortoises or my bank account.
That's the long-term goal. I am nowhere near that point yet but am getting progressively better. Here is a picture of my backyard the day we bought the house 2 years ago:
Although the weeds in the foreground look plentiful, they are about 95% mustard. Mustard is OK, the tortoises eat it when it's young but quickly loose interest when the plant grows and turns bitter. The tortoises seem to like the taste of mallow much better, another weed that grows well in the AZ winters. I was only able to locate one plant in the space above, and very quickly I began to miss our previous home:
I tried my best with that single mallow plant, watering it and even feeding it. I let it grow out as large as it could. Last winter I had about 10 plants pop up all around the area where the original plant was. Now two years later things are looking much better:
They are off to a slow start despite the rain we have had, but there's no doubt that my efforts are beginning to pay off. Here's a slightly larger view showing approximately 50 square feet of space all of it mallow:
Here's the side of the yard where I am letting the weeds grow out:
It's a good 1,000 sq ft of space or so (I know, it's an incredibly exciting picture). Don't worry about the rocks, the tortoises do not have access to this area. The mallow area is in the front and this is the same area with all the mustard weeds in the first picture from a different angle. I am clearing all the mustard this year manually as I do not want to use any herbicides for obvious reasons. I have other areas in the yard where it is being allowed to grow since I don't want to completely get rid of it, I would just like the mallow to get more of a foothold. I hope that next year I will have much more impressive progress to share.
Dandelion will come around a little bit later in the winter. That’s another one that will take some work in my back yard, but hopefully the efforts I took over the last two winters will give me more plants this year.
There’s more I am working with than just weeds. Forthcoming will be a discussion on the leafy greens and succulents I am growing.
A question for anyone interested – What are your tortoise-safe methods for fertilizing and feeding plants?
I'm a goal and New Year’s resolution type of person, and this year my "tortoise goals" are to contribute more to the hobby as well as continue to expand my own knowledge. I have some more specific goals to help me along that path, and one of those is to create a new TFO thread each month. My approach will be to simply share what I am doing or discuss a topic I am studying no matter how frivolous it may seem, as that approach is what I appreciate most from other hobbyists. I'll try to remember to throw in discussion questions so this doesn't end up being just a diary.
My focus this month is dietary sustainability. One of the definitions of sustain is "to support the weight of, to carry or withstand". My application of this concept to backyard tortoise keeping is that I want to be able to grow all of the food that my tortoises need or would want to eat and I want to do it without any harmful impact to the environment, the tortoises or my bank account.
That's the long-term goal. I am nowhere near that point yet but am getting progressively better. Here is a picture of my backyard the day we bought the house 2 years ago:
Although the weeds in the foreground look plentiful, they are about 95% mustard. Mustard is OK, the tortoises eat it when it's young but quickly loose interest when the plant grows and turns bitter. The tortoises seem to like the taste of mallow much better, another weed that grows well in the AZ winters. I was only able to locate one plant in the space above, and very quickly I began to miss our previous home:
I tried my best with that single mallow plant, watering it and even feeding it. I let it grow out as large as it could. Last winter I had about 10 plants pop up all around the area where the original plant was. Now two years later things are looking much better:
They are off to a slow start despite the rain we have had, but there's no doubt that my efforts are beginning to pay off. Here's a slightly larger view showing approximately 50 square feet of space all of it mallow:
Here's the side of the yard where I am letting the weeds grow out:
It's a good 1,000 sq ft of space or so (I know, it's an incredibly exciting picture). Don't worry about the rocks, the tortoises do not have access to this area. The mallow area is in the front and this is the same area with all the mustard weeds in the first picture from a different angle. I am clearing all the mustard this year manually as I do not want to use any herbicides for obvious reasons. I have other areas in the yard where it is being allowed to grow since I don't want to completely get rid of it, I would just like the mallow to get more of a foothold. I hope that next year I will have much more impressive progress to share.
Dandelion will come around a little bit later in the winter. That’s another one that will take some work in my back yard, but hopefully the efforts I took over the last two winters will give me more plants this year.
There’s more I am working with than just weeds. Forthcoming will be a discussion on the leafy greens and succulents I am growing.
A question for anyone interested – What are your tortoise-safe methods for fertilizing and feeding plants?
