Tag Archives: natives

Havenscourt Homestead Update

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Last time I visited Kitty she had just planted this native and drought tolerant garden in her front yard. It looks this great and she doesn’t even water it! Are you jealous?

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This is such a cool idea: hanging teapot planters…I think everyone who came to the tour took photos of these..

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Another really cool idea: snow peas on the security bars

Last Sunday I went to Kitty Sharkey’s for the Bay Friendly Garden Tour. Many people say it is the most popular stop on the tour and I don’t doubt it. Hundreds of people came by. She’s featured in Backyard Roots and her homestead was one of the first backyard farms I visited.  I think it’s time for an update….visit her site: havenscourthomestead.com

Please come by the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo in Berkeley  this Thursday May 9th at 7pm. I’ll be having a slideshow and  you can meet Kitty and her goats.

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This handy device saves water and makes sure the goats always have fresh water. They just push on the end and water comes out. There’s a bucket below to catch the extra.

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This is Pappy, one of Kitty’s newest additions, a shetland sheep. She says this breed is a primitive breed from Scotland. The sheep shed their wool once a year, a process called rooing. They aren’t shorn.

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More new additions, Kitty recently got two Sebastapol Geese goslings (and she’s babysitting the other two).

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This is Tony, a heritage Blue Slate turkey who spent the day trying to impress the hens.

Swarm

To end a great day, we were sitting around when Kitty noticed a humm and saw a large swarm of bees above the yard. They found the open hive and settled right in. In 15 minutes the job was done.