June 2009

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Grow baby, Grow!

June 10, 2009 in garden | No comments

Over the last few weeks the garden has really been taking off.
In the backyard garden the peas are waist high and showing no signs of stopping.  The mustard greens are starting to bolt and we are debating letting them, to collect the coriander mustard seeds (confusing the mustard with the cilantro that keeps going to seed in the kitchen).  The lettuces are all doing well and the cooler weather vegetables are holding in there despite some unseasonably warm weather.
In the front container garden we have several varieties of tomatoes growing.  The ones I started from seed got fried in the greenhouse on an unusually hot day so these are from starts we picked up from a random person selling them at the end of their driveway.  They were a stellar deal at $1.50 a plant when similar ones were going for $4+ at the farmers market.  We also have fennel, eggplant, sage, orange mint and two peppers in containers.  Unfortunately slugs got to two of the peppers before I found organic slug bait, but the remaining two and all the others are doing much better now.
We installed a drip system in the container garden that is fed by a rain barrel, although once we got it up we got one or two more rains and it hasn’t really rained since.  So right now it’s hooked up to the well spigot.  I plan to install drip in the backyard garden too but just keep procrastinating it.
My strawberries continue to do very well in the greenhouse so I haven’t bothered to move them out.  We’ve been snacking on them each evening when we close the chicken coop and take the dogs out.
We’ve also have tarragon, 2 kinds of cilantro, and oregano growing in a pot on the kitchen counter for some time.
The salmonberries are coming in all over the property right now and as always it’s fun to watch the chickens eat them.  Even the new chickens go crazy for the berries when I toss them in their yard.  The goats enjoy the berries too.
Much to our shock and pleasure while weeding around outside the backyard garden fence we discovered a little patch of morels growing.  After much research and disbelief we confirmed that they were indeed morels.  I can also confirm that they caused no ill effects when eaten either.  We have no idea what we did to encourage the morels to grow, but we are hoping that it continues in future years.
I still need to plan squash if it’s not too late and start succcession planting the radishes, carrots, and peas.
Currently in the garden:
Head and Leaf Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Brussel Sprouts, Red and Yellow Beets, Radishes, Carrots, Walla Walla Onions, Cauliflower, Sugar Snap Peas, Shelling Peas, Green Beans, Potatoes, and Cucumbers
Currently in the container garden:
Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, Fennel, Sage, and Orange Mint
Currently in the greenhouse:
Strawberries, Basil, Oregano, Dill
Currently running wild:
Salmonberries, Alpine Strawberries, and Thimbleberries

Chicken Condos

June 10, 2009 in chickens | No comments

I’m going to have to break up my updates in to smaller posts to get all caught up…
After the loss of yet another laying hen we went back to the drawing board with regards to our free range chickens.  It was still very important to us that our chickens are able to range and be chickens, but the loses are hard to sustain.  With thorough consideration, and following our relative success with the broiler chicken’s house, we decided to build two range houses for the new (and old) layers.  The plan was (and still is) to move the layers in to the goat pasture, once we get the pasture fences up.  For most months out of the year this will work well for us.  For the few very cold months we sometimes get we are keeping the coop down by the house that also has the heater installed.  We can relocate the flock during the harsher weather if need be.
We stuck with the same design as the broiler’s range house with some minor modifications.  We raised the peak of the roof from 3 feet to 4 feet to create more room.
In the first house we built in as many nesting boxes as we could fit which turned out to be eight.  We also put in exterior egg doors as well as hinged the roof as we had planned for the broiler’s range house.  Eight boxes is enough to support 24-32 layers so that gives us some room to grow.
In the second house we reversed the side the door was on so we could get the maximum space for roosts.  By doing so we could build in three tiered roosts which creates enough roosting space for about 15 chickens, which is how many layers we have in total.  On this house we also added heavier handles for mobility.  The nesting house shouldn’t need to be rotated often, but the roosting house will need to be moved to prevent manure build up.
We stopped by the local hardware store and picked up some exterior “oops” paint in a bright miami teal green.  Once completed and painted we started the task of moving the houses up the hill to where we anticipate the goat pasture to go.   We got the heaviest, the nesting house, moved with some serious effort.  Unfortunately, building the range houses took longer than expected and we didn’t get the pasture fences up as well.  Since then the calendar has kept us busy and we still haven’t had a chance to put up the pasture fences.  Instead of moving the roosting house up the hill we moved it to the yard with the broiler’s range house and moved the new layers out in to the yard as well.  It’s an acceptable hold over location until we can get the pasture fences up which will probably still be a couple weeks out.
Here’s the cost breakdown:
3/8″ CDX Plywood sheets 5@$8.46 $42.30
Light Wt Door Pull 4@$2.59 $10.36
Hook & Eye Latches 2@$1.99 $3.98
Screws $8.69
8 foot 2″x2″ 7@$1.71 $11.97
5 1/2″ Door Pulls 4@$3.79 $15.16
2 1/2″ Safety Latch 2@3.49 $6.98
Roof Hinges $4.79
Door Hinges $2.89
Bolt Barrel Latches 2@$3.29 $6.58
Total $113.70
We used scraps that we had already, which aren’t included in the price list, for the nesting boxes as well as some of the scraps that resulted from the project .
And for paint and supplies:
“Oops” Ext Paint $15.00
Paint Roller Cover $2.49
Paint Roller $2.29
Paint Tray $3.99
Total $23.77
Our grand total including paint and hardware came to approximately $70 per house (plus tax of course). Overall it’s still a very good deal.