I was somewhat surprised to not find one. Seems lots of folks are plagued with battling the deer. I was going to buy one to replace the raccoon as an indicator that I encourage wildlife into my world. I'm terrified of bears and find raccoons to be nuisances, so thought a deer would be a better symbol for me, even though they rarely venture into my gardens (they stay in the woods). At some point it was also discussed keeping all the animals together and remove the 'keeper of...' or 'lover of...' and just let folks use the animals however they like. I for one do not particularly love cats but I do usually have a couple barn cats hanging out for rodent control. I also use the dragonfly to symbolize my farm pond/wetlands rather than either the pond lily or the orange frog (neither resonates with me).

Another animal badge I would buy would be a beaver. I try to co-exist with them even as they regularly flood me out.

Although the focus is not really about animals, they certainly do have an impact in our gardening worlds.

A badge for deer is a good idea. Whether we love and welcome the deer or spend countless hours and dollars to keep them away, just the word 'Deer' would be enough to get folks to buy the badge.

Bonehead said: At some point it was also discussed keeping all the animals together and remove the 'keeper of...' or 'lover of...' and just let folks use the animals however they like.

I agree that having 'keeper of...' or 'lover of' is a bit offputting. I don't love cats but when a local cat decides to work in my yard, I welcome it...I may not love it or even feed it, but having just the word 'cat' would be enough to get folks to buy a badge.

There are some inconsistencies in the naming of badges...
'Keeper of' applies to Koi and poultry but the goats, horses, and sheep have 'Keeps'...rather than 'Keeper of'. We have 'Raises Cows' (and shouldn't that be cattle rather than cows?) but we have 'Rabbit Keeper'. And then there are 'Mules', just plain mules with no keeper of or keeps or raises. Maybe mules are too stubborn to have a qualifier?

Just my opinion, but I think it would be nice to look down the list of available badges and see the name of the animal in question. How we feel personally - whether we love or hate or suffer or keep/keeper of, or raise...how we feel about the animal may differ but the badge will acknowledge that we have some interest or some feeling (even if it is shooting daggers at deer who eat all the daylilies ).

Oh, and poultry includes...chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, etc. Why not a badge for each? Heck, I just got chickens the other day and was looking for a chicken badge - had to settle for a poultry badge.

I suspect if someone is willing to make the badge, @dave would probably add it.

I have two new badges coming courtesy of @RickM (Deer and Beavers)

https://garden.org/special/bad...
https://garden.org/special/bad...

Pretty sure I too mentioned before that some were "keeps" and some were "lover of", which should preclude me from having the horse one because after our last one died of old age I didn't get another because of my own age. I decided I was going to get the badge anyway, having been a horse lover all my life We can "enjoy or suffer" cold winters and hot summers so maybe we could "loves or keeps" the various domestic critters.

@RickM, thanks so much for taking the time to create a couple badges. That is so far beyond my capabilities. Sending you some nuts and buying a couple new badges!

Thank ya kindly ma'am!

I asked Dave about making a badge for heirlooms, and he mentioned this thread (I think it's this one), and suggested that I post something here about it. I don't really know what it should look like. Any ideas?

I'm always a bit confused about heirloom seeds v. open pollinated seeds. Can an old hybrid be an heirloom? Or are all heirlooms by definition open pollinated? Is there a date specific to qualify as an heirloom? But, I guess folks can make their own determination on that since the badges are really just an indicator of our gardening interests. I'd suggest perhaps an old-timey capital H.

I guess it depends on the plant. My grandma has an old rose bush that was from the roots of one the family had. It's got so many petals it can't even be pollinated. But I'm pretty sure it's an heirloom.
Heirloom vegetables are probably all old hybrids. They're open pollinated. People have different opinions about the dates.

I think folks could just use an Heirloom badge anyway they choose. Much as I use the Deer badge for 'Encourages Wildlife,' while others likely use it as 'Fights Deer.'

Another one I'd like to see would be one for Ornamental Grasses. I've thought about buying the Seed Starter badge, which looks like a grass seed head to me. Except I literally grow nothing from seed so that's a bit misleading...

I do like the badges with a clear background, I think they stand out much better than the boxy ones.

Yeah I like the clear background too. I could even make it, but don't know what to do after that.
You don't even grow the ornamental grass from seed?

The problem with the badges is their size. The final badge is only 32x32 pixels in size. Because of this, it can be difficult to create a recognizable image. Here's an attempt with a capital H in Old English Script. Click on the image to see it actual size.



Suggestions?

Could you use that "H" but with a clear background?

Define 'clear', Do you mean so that the background color of the page shows through?

Sorry, I guess what I mean was 'white'. I like the looks of the cacti and succulents badge and the greenhouse badge. It just seems to make them easier to see.

Like this?

Yes, that's much more like what I was thinking. Thanks!

I think the cacti and succulents badge you have actually has a transparent background.