Our heirloom tomatoes are thriving... we transplanted them from the seed starting tray to their own little pots and I can almost hear them stretching out their little toes and drinking in long gulps of the summer-like sunshine.
We've started our squash seeds, and thinned out the pepper plants. We're growing two kinds of heirloom sweet peppers, and then some cayenne, chiptole, sahuaro... and a mystery mix of hot peppers. I'm amazed at how much potential energy a squash seed has stored inside its little package. These guys burst into what you see below overnight!
On impulse, I decided to grow brocolli. I have a dangerous habit of going overboard when I see the farmer's markets and garden centers with plants out for sale...
The strawberries have begun to blossom... I have them scattered all over the yard in containers, window boxes, and a small patch beneath our Japanese Maple.
We enjoyed our first serving of swish chard last night, wilted in aluminum foil on the grill with garlic and asparagus.
Good Neighbors have planted some leeks, and I'm anxiously awaiting the sprouting of a row of carrots I planted in front. Peas and green beans will grow behind and form a screen in front of the hot tub!
Casa de Chicken is almost finished! The babies are sleeping in it at night now with a heat lamp and enjoying helping us fertilize and aerate our tomato and pepper garden plot during the day.
A bit more paint and trim and we'll move it into the run before laying the roofing material and installing the roosting bars. A few features of this design are particularly convenient: the roof overhang that keeps us from getting soaked in rain or sunburnt while cleaning, the metal floor surfaces for easy cleaning and to prevent the floor from rotting out, and the "poop chute"... see below :)
This is the "poop chute". A shelf below will hold a plastic bin into which we will scrape all of the soiled bedding. This makes for easy cleaning and transport to the compost bin. We cover the chute with a peice of wood when not in use so it's not a chicken trap door :)
Two large nesting boxes on either side, set a bit higher than the floor of the coop, should be plenty of room for eleven laying hens to share.
Time to go collect some more free leaf compost... we're going to try growing potatoes in bags this year to open up more room in the raised bed for juicy tomatoes!
3 comments:
Your coop is so cute!! Awesome poop chute! We made ours so the whole door swings out, then I go at it with a shovel and move the poopies to a compost pile. Still not sure on how to incorporate chicken poo into the garden, I keep hearing it has to sit for a year because it's too hot with nitrates?? Do you know anything about that?
My herb bed is being slowly torn apart by my girls and they ruined my swiss chard... oh well... they are so cute and earn their keep well enough by the gift of eggies!
Love your garden pics!
Sarah, that's what I've heard, too, and my dad was a south Georgia boy. He said that chicken manure would burn just about anything.
Aye Sarah, we move our chicken poo into the compost and let it break down there. The little ones "going" in the garden patch is such a small amount of poo, I'm figuring that turning it under the soil and watering it well will break it down quickly enough.
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