wystansimons

Chicken Tunnels!!

I find something to post about nearly every day now, as spring is springing! In my ongoing search for a way to combine suburban life and with chickens, I stumbled on Chicken Tunnels – chicken tunnels are hot!! Everyone’s posting about Chicken Tunnels! Or maybe that was last year, and I’m behind the curve. Here isContinue reading “Chicken Tunnels!!”

Flowers for Chickens and Living Forage

Take a Course at Forested! First of all, I must let you know about my friend LincolnSmith’s workshops series at his forest teaching garden, Forested, this spring – here’s the link! https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#inbox/14cd4a6cf3709800 Flowers for Chickens? Why? This idea is totally stolen from an inspiring website I looked at and have not been able to relocate.Continue reading “Flowers for Chickens and Living Forage”

Tomato Trauma

I have a son who loves plastic pots with an love that is really obsession. To him only the pot is real, certainly not what is in the pot. And so when I found the transplanted tomato seedling dumped out upside down again this morning, I wasn’t actually surprised or even outraged., although I didContinue reading “Tomato Trauma”

Winter Babies

Past time. My neighbor Mrs. Q. has had her seeds planted since early February. Maybe January. Not that we are competing. I did get mine in while it was still barely February. It’s easy to waste time looking backwards, wishing you had already done something, or done it better, so I congratulated myself onContinue reading “Winter Babies”

Cranky Chickens Love Cabbage

Remember that back in November I added 5 young hens at the point of lay to my flock of 8 older girls. It wasn’t too pretty for a while, as the older hens came to accept the new ones. We had some injuries. By late January I am pleased to report that everyone was gettingContinue reading “Cranky Chickens Love Cabbage”

Christmas Lights For Chickens

We were at December 12th. Almost the darkest of the year. Although we had 13 chickens, we were getting only 5 eggs a day. Shucks. Then one morning I plugged in the old heat lamp I keep out in the coop, just before getting out there to feed and water the girls. That night, what doContinue reading “Christmas Lights For Chickens”

Dreaming and Clucking

So the garden is shutting down. Pretty soon we get out the seed catalogs and gear up to start seedlings. But for the moment it’s not a bad idea to stop and daydream. Time to feel grateful for chickens, who keep on producing food and eating up kitchen vegetable leftovers right through the winter months.Continue reading “Dreaming and Clucking”

So Harvest the Broccoli Already

I wanted it to be bigger. At least two meals worth. These broc plants have fought back from cabbage worm attack, survived dry spells when neither the weather nor I remembered to moisten the soil, come back from some freezing nights. They are survivors. But they aren’t very big. What I hate about suburban growingContinue reading “So Harvest the Broccoli Already”

Chickens Paddocks

Chicken paddocks is a great idea. I have mentioned it before, and I am sure I will mention it again. For years we’ve allowed our chickens half the day in our back yard, for their health, for better eggs, because I am soft hearted — because they seemed to get into it no matterContinue reading “Chickens Paddocks”

Mulch…and so on

Winter is really coming now. So they say. Tonight they predict a hard freeze for Maryland, so the last potted plants have all come in from the patio and I need to think about heavy mulch if I want to hang onto the lettuce and spinach bed, support the broccoli and cabbage, and keep theContinue reading “Mulch…and so on”