Cat/bunny interactions are very cute. Even though buns may be kitty prey, their body language is very different from that of cats, which is confusing and often freaks cats out. Buns tend to like cuddling with cats, but cats prefer to not reciprocate the interest.

Might want to check the math on your harvest!

I see that you list 14x J. Peppers at $0.50 each. That’s $7 not $2.80

Speaking of squash, I wish mine would give up its dream of total garden domination and just make some squash already! All I’m getting is more and more vines and leaves, and I can see the buds forming, but no flowers or fruit as yet.

My success this year was corn. Probably a completely alien concept to an American- I have NEVER seen corn growing. It was kind of magical watching the male flower spring out on top and then seeing the female tassel appear underneath and then watching the cob swell. Plus it tastes amazing raw, straight off the plant while the kernels are still full of sugars.

We used to have a pet rabbit, he was house trained to a litter box just like a cat and used to love laying on the lounge in summer in front of the air conditioner…talk about personality

No one is actually reading this article. We are just looking at the bunny. Very cute! ; )

Sure he can. He could also write the blog in Swahili, or list the ten best savings accounts in Papua New Guinea, but it wouldn’t be very useful to most of his readers. Nor is it particularly considerate to start using a system of units that the majority of his readers don’t use. That was the point I was making.

And this “it’s difficult to remember the number of ounces in a pound” argument is very tired. That would be like forgetting your own age or the number of brothers or sisters you have or your house number, just because they’re not divisible by ten.

At least admit that you care about what system of units we use, rather than pretending you don’t mind either way while promoting metric. I’d respect you more if you did.

I have a small container garden on my balcony. The only useful food I grow is lettuce. While lettuce is inexpensive at the grocery here, I enjoy being able to make a small salad from the bevy of greens I grew myself! The other things I grow are parsley, basil, carrots, baby bell peppers, chives, and lavender. I have a cucumber plant finally getting larger but not expecting much from him.

I don’t track my harvest, but I track my expenses. I spend no more than $25/month, though normally it comes out to $25 over two or three months. It’s a fun project!

http://www.adoptarabbit.org

Also, about the bunny, so very cute. Love how bunny interacts well with kitty and is free-roaming. It’s sad when they’re abandoned and left to fend for themselves.

Although, JD, I was disappointed in seeing the screen flash up that bunny can stay but you’ll only provide table scraps. What if bunny gets sick and needs medical attention?

I know, you’re not responsible for him being abandoned. But, if you decide he is “yours” (you’ve already given bunny a name) then I urge you to be fully responsible for Blackberry and to educate yourself on what is needed to provide for Blackberry’s needs (as if you really went through a formal process to adopt Bunny from a rescue organization)

If you’re not in a position to do that, please reach out to a local rescue group to see what help can be provided for Blackberry.

Unlike a true wild bunny, Blackberry is an abandoned pet and may not be able to survive life like a wild animal.

Please do consider making it a semi-indoors bunny when winter comes. I know several people who have bunnies without cages in their homes – they run around just like cats. And some even use a litter box. Or you can use a porch or screened in area. At the least, an insulated dog house or something to keep it warm in winter. And lots of food once its natural sources have gone away for winter.

Also, for what it’s worth, your gardening project would be showing a much bigger return in lots of the country! For example, I definitely can’t buy decent tomatoes for $1.99 a pound in DC. They are at least $2.99, often $3.99, and organic or heirloom can be even more.

And @ Kimberly, I’m perfectly used to the metric system, since, as I said, I’ve lived in several metric countries. It’s my experience of using the metric system that made me realise how awful it is – lots and lots of measuring things out with strange-looking numbers of grams and millileters, for example, when I could easily measure out quantities by eye or hand if the recipes had been in U.S. units. I’ve already suggested a fantastic book which explains why pounds, ounces etc. just feel “right” and how they developed over centuries of real life. And in my experience, metric countries often keep a load of “unofficial” traditional units (Japanese tatami mats, Dutch “ons” and “pond”, Korean “pyeong” and inches for screen sizes) – why would they do that, if metric units are so wonderful.

And by the way, I forgot to say, recently got some free thyme seeds on a packet of butter. We now have lovely fresh – and free – thyme in our (non-metric) meals.

As to comments that it doesn’t make intuitive sense, that’s just because you aren’t used to it. Everyone has an idea of how much liquid 2 Liters are (think large soda bottle). If we used the metric system, it would make just as much sense to you as pounds and cups.

@ J.D. I was going to write more on your use of metric units since it jarred with me, but stopped in order to get on to the topic of growing vegetables. But anyway, YOU might like metric units, but why force that on your readers (or in this case, jar the reader by putting their usual units in parentheses)? I can’t imagine it’s because you’re trying to appeal to an international audience, since most of the other information on this site is U.S.-specific. As for how ounces, pounds etc. relate to the real world, there’s a great book I once read called “About The Size Of It” by Warwick Cairns which explains it all. In France they once tried “metric time”, with ten-hour days, ten-day weeks and ten-month years, but they abandoned it because it just didn’t work in real life. I think that’s why the U.S. and (to a lesser extent) the UK still cling to the old units. They just work. And lastly, I think degrees celsius is a terrible system – go up just a few degrees and the difference (as perceived by humans) is enormous. Again, metric is fine for laboratories but isn’t right for human beings in their daily lives. Sure, people will use metric units when they are forced to, but that’s precisely why I’m so proud of my American heritage – Americans are far too freedom loving to have foreign units imposed on them by government. It made me laugh a little that you’re re-educating yourself – you’re doing the totalitarians’ work for them!

This recipe is from The Joy of Jams and Jellies by Linda Ziedrich (this is a great book, as is her pickling book) for Damson Jam.

2 pounds Damson Plums (still with pits)
1/4 cup water
about 2 cups sugar

Put the plums and water into a wide skillet and simmer, covered, about 15 minutes until their skins have burst and juices run out. Uncover and simmer 10 minutes more, stirring, until pits have separated from the flesh.

Remove from heat and either press the mixture through a colander or food mill or individually pick out the pits. Measure volume of the pulp.

Return pulp to wide skillet and add 3/4 cup sugar for each 1 cup of pulp. Over medium heat, stir until sugar is dissolved. Raise heat to medium-high and cook until it reaches a set point (check to see when a drop gels when put on a chilled plate).

Ladle into jars and add lids and rings. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Makes about 3 1/2-pint jars.

If I could encourage the U.S. to adopt just one metric unit, it would be to use celsius/centigrade for temperatures. So easy to do, and it makes so much more sense!

What a sweet bunny. Don’t be surprised if you don’t get any replies to your flyers – rabbits are the 3rd most abandoned pet in North America (after cats and dogs). I’ve been involved in rabbit rescue groups since I was a teenager and have seen many, many cases first hand where people will just dump a domestic rabbit because they are tired of them, the bunny chewed a wire, a baby came along etc.

Please, please, please contact your local rabbit rescue group (in Portland it is Rabbit Advocates: http://www.adoptarabbit.org/) talk to them about options for the bunny. They also have lots of great info on their website about rabbits, their personality and care.

I saw on your other blog that you are considering keeping the bunny as an outdoor pet. **Please do not do keep the rabbit as an outdoor pet**. Rabbits are incredibly social animals and being cooped up in a cage outdoors, away from you, is not a good life for them. Predators coming near the cage at night can literally frighten a rabbit to death. Domestic rabbits are not equipped to survive free outdoors like their wild counterparts.

For more information on keeping rabbits outdoors please read this page on the House Rabbit Societies website: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/outdoors.html

The entire website is full of fantastic information about rabbit care and is the best place to go for anyone considering getting a rabbit as a pet.

Rabbits make absolutely wonderful pets, they are as personable as cats or dogs, but they are also at least as much work to care for, with special health requirements that not all vets are familiar with. Anyone considering having a rabbit for a pet needs to be committed to educating themselves about all aspects of bunny care.

Good luck with the little guy, and keep us posted on what happens to him!

That is all.

D.B.