Gardening 2015

Starting to plan where to plant what.
Wife is speading a layer of horse manure on the ground, but it'll be at least another month before the ground is dry enough to rototill.
But we have cleaned the greenhouse and are slowly getting in gardening mood:)
 
Got about a foot of snow on the Garden at the moment. Looks like it may be there for a bit, once it's gone though it's on!! Tulips and Crocuses starting to show around here as well, wont be long, time to get some starts going inside.
 
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  • #7
I'm growing snow piles along my driveway still. Potted mini garden on the porch for me this year. Too much in lifes forecast this year to commit to a decent garden. I hate to put a nice garden in and half ass it and not keep up.
 
Yeah it sucks to see one go to crap. Luckily for me my wife is home all day and is quite the green thumb. I just do the tilling, some planting and enjoy the produce later!
 
Chickens are still doing prep work here, we pen them in the garden for the winter - automatic tilling and fertilizing. Still a month or so till the snow melts. . .
 
they are awesome, and they are annoying, be forwarned, and consider ducks.

Some basic chicken info is covered in my wife's blog http://simplicityforjulia.com/chickens/

They really like to get out, the experts are called Houdini chickens, and when they get out, they tear up anything you don't want them in, strawberry patch, mulch around plants and trees, etc. On the other hand they come running to you when you bring them food, and they pop out eggs on a regular basis, which if you give them proper foraging area (paddock shift is the optimal way to go) will be the richest, darkest orange yoked and best tasting eggs you've ever had, although I've heard duck eggs are even better, we're getting some ducks this year.
 
One gardener I work for up here hs a chicken run alllll the way around about a 1/4 acre garden. Netting on top as well. Where she lives has horrible grasshopper problems come summer. A lot of infrastructure like that though
 
Sounds like a grasshopper defense perimeter, I don't see many around here but I hear that the birds go nuts for them.
I found a mouse nest in my grill once, threw that in the pen and the girls ate 'em up
 
Interesting. Sounds like I got some learnin to do! I have tried duck eggs and did not like them as much as chicken personally. The ones I had were almost all yoke.
 
must be preference then, the guy I heard it from liked them better and gave credit to the higher yoke ratio.
There is a ton of info to learn on chickens, depending on how involved you want to get, the best setups require the least continual involvement. Keep in mind there are many opinions in the different ways to keep chickens, you don't need the perfect setup that makes everyone happy, you just need to find what works for you and your birds. We have a roughly 40 by 50 foot pen that is going to be separated into 3 runs (just haven't gotten to the inside fences yet) and our birds seem very healthy and happy, and some net and fishing line over it and around the yard keep the hawks at bay. There are a ton of options depending on your terrain and available space. Its a fun project to take up.
 
Ducks are even worse than chickens for making a mess, those big flat feet paddle everything into a mud bath. We have one chicken who gets out of the pen and follows you round the garden digging up everything you just planted.

Duck eggs are excellent for baking and poaching. Boiled or fried I prefer hen eggs.
 
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  • #17
Chickens will keep ticks at bay in a yard. I like ducks. They are nice and social and friendly a lot of times. But they are messier. I can't have any birds. I have 3 bird dogs. They won't harm the birds but they will retrieve them to me constantly, point them constantly, and general scare and harass them.
 
I have a Labrador who is terrified of chickens, and a malamute who would kill every last one of them in the blink of an eye. Just have to ensure they never meet.
 
Peter said:
Getting a big ass polytunnel set up this year.
Click to expand...

You are going to love having that.
I'm so pissed off that mine emigrated to Norway last winter.

Cover the ground with some of that coarse woven plastic stuff they use in nurseries, and you'll have zero maintenance.
I had an average of 12 weeds a year in mine, and they all snuck up right next to the plants.
 
Peter said:
Ducks are even worse than chickens for making a mess, those big flat feet paddle everything into a mud bath. We have one chicken who gets out of the pen and follows you round the garden digging up everything you just planted.

Duck eggs are excellent for baking and poaching. Boiled or fried I prefer hen eggs.
Click to expand...

this
 
stig said:
You are going to love having that.
I'm so pissed off that mine emigrated to Norway last winter.

Cover the ground with some of that coarse woven plastic stuff they use in nurseries, and you'll have zero maintenance.
I had an average of 12 weeds a year in mine, and they all snuck up right next to the plants.
Click to expand...

I have another system for zero maintenance, two retired parents who spend up to 8 hours a day in the garden while I'm at work. I did the big infrastructure projects like breaking new ground, moving tonnes of chip and logs, and erecting polytunnels. Then once everything is ready for planting they take over and i don't have to do a thing unless I want to. It's perfect for me because I find I get busy for a few weeks and don't get any time in the garden and then it's all gone to pot.
 
With our greenhouse this year we been eating tons of lettuce and picking tomatoes already, got bell peppers to pick as well. The lettuce will be done with the heat real soon yard is awash in color from azaleas, dogwoods,redbud, and all my plum trees:)

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All things heavenly rarify to air. Trèès pŕoduce that heavenly air. Breathe air and take care.
 
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