High Desert Gardening

Seed Catalog Season Already?

2011-11-28T15:57:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving brought some balmy days in the mid-60's (*F) and mild nights that only flirted with freezing. Bright blue skies and wispy clouds. Makes it difficult to believe that it could be Seed Catalog Season already! But it is, and my second catalog arrived this week - from Totally Tomatoes. The tomatoes have such delightful names, like Jaune Flammee, Tigerella, and Purple Russian. I want to buy them all!

This week it is going to be down in the teens at night again - Winter is doing her best to arrive. All those cold desert days with barely a hint of green raises the odds that I will buy way more tomato seeds that I could possibly grow... Today is a breezy 54*F, though, and feels more like early Autumn, before the apple trees shed their leaves and the chill nights killed the last of the tomato plants. In keeping with that lazy Autumn feeling, here's a picture of one of my ducks napping in the warm October sun. Well, almost napping - the eyes are not quite closed yet.

I am so blessed to have had such a productive and enjoyable year in the garden. The soil continues to improve with every wheel barrel full of composted chickie-poo pine bedding. Automatic waterer did wonders to keep everything alive during the blistering Summer sun, and my flock were all to happy to devour excess zucchinis bigger than my arm!

... Hill Billy, Old German, Orange Strawberry, Merlot and Mexico Midget - tomato dreaming...

Been a long time since I've posted

2011-11-14T23:34:00.000-08:00

Too busy for words... but, as if I haven't anything else to do... my newest blog A Tiny Slice Of Paradise. It isn't a blog in the traditional sense. It is, essentially, where I am transcribing my garden journal. Grouping everything by date. One might think that the two blogs would eventually merge, but I don't think so. They serve two different purposes for me. Well, we shall see...

Vacation Time in Tennessee

2011-08-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

Spent one of our mornings at the historic Carnton Plantation. Although the outside has seen some wear and tear, the insides have been restored back to the original time period - sans carpeting in most rooms, so as to display the blood stains of the wounded Confederate Soldiers. Alas, they don't allow indoor photography, so you will have to visit to see it; however, there are no such restrictions on the outside or in the garden.

And, of course, being of the homo sapiens jardinis species, a brief hour in the gardens was just a tease. (Don't forget to click on the photo to view the full sized picture).

I was somewhate disappointed by the gardens, thinking they would be well tended; however, there were weeds in the beds and cherry tomatoes seemed to have been allowed to sprout and grow randomly. And, of course, I was visiting at the end of the season, so the bearded irises were sporting berries and most of the flowers were beginning to put out seed heads. Still, there were many delightly little vingets to be had. For example, bees that were as big as the first joint of my thumb and darn near as fat. Their favorite food? Some purple runner beans.

And, the little copper colored butterflies that I chased in my youth, hundreds of them enjoying the late summer bounty.

I love my little garden in the desert; but sometimes, I really miss living in Dixie.

Current Status

2011-08-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Current state of the garden:

Sunflowers - 10 in bloom in the main sunflower location - one "Mammoth" has a central disk about 8" across; however, most have central disks closer to 5 and 6 inches. Both of the ones in Raised Bed 2 are blooming, as are two of the volunteers (from bird seed) near the nectarine tree. About 10 more main buds. Good soil, good water means that many of them look like they will have smaller "side buds" that will bloom later one. Need to protect the ripening heads from birds and other creatures.
Corn - first set is beginning to tassel. Second set is growing strong, as well as the bush beans planted in between them. The sunflowers planted between them, of course, have been devoured by some wildling. I am thinking of planting more corn next weekend - a losing bet to get ripening ears of corn out of them; however, I am sure the chickens will enjoy tearing it up at the end of the season when they are let loose in the garden to eat and till things under.
Bush beans - in full swing. They will probably be done with their crop in a few weeks. Then time to till them under.
Dow Gawk (Asparagus or Yard Long Beans) - the ones in the corn are starting to flower; the new ones planted against the fence along the South are barely surviving. The ones by the dead apple tree keep getting eaten up.
Blackeye Peas and Purple Hull Peas - are both beginning to bloom and set tiny bean pods. The blooms are lavender and turn brownish after pollination. A few more weeks and we will have "shelly peas." One nice thing about them is that they hold the bean pods high above the plant, so they are easy to see.
Cukes - They are producing the first of their flowers and fruits; however, I think the heat and water stress are causing them to ripen small and fast. The 3 inch ones I plucked today were prickly and bitter. But the chickens like 'em!
Blue Bedder Salvia (Ornamental Sage) - Has so far survived critter depredations and has its first buds. It is a perennial, so maybe I will get lucky and see them again next year. I have 3 small plants that have survived so far.
CA Poppies - 3 plants are barely surviving, and one is actually thriving and blooming. One bloom is done, one is open, and 3 more will be ready later this week. The plant is small, and the blooms are small, but perhaps next year's seed will sprout sooner and be stronger by this time of year.
Morning Glories - in all locations, MGs and Moon Flowers are suffering from being too tasty. They are prolific and vigorous, so the plants aren't dead, yet - but they don't actually get a chance to thrive. A casualty of laziness and a disinclination to use synthetic chemicals. I heard about a fermented solution of garlic and hot peppers that is supposed to keep critters away. I might try some next year.
Raspberry - lives and looks healthy - but not flower buds yet, so no fruit. But it lives, so that is a grand improvement over its several predecessors.
Strawberries - The runners from three hen-pecked plants have re-filled bed two, and I have foolish hopes that next year I will have strawberries to eat.
Silver Thyme - done blooming, and now going to seed.
Rosemary - finished blooming a while ago, but still sending up new shoots. This is the longest into Summer that it has ever done so. I wonder if it is because of our relatively cool weather, or if it is just because it is big and old enough to do so now, or some combination thereof.
Oregano - some that I let go to flower looks lovely; the rest looks tired. Much of it is getting woody. I think it may be time to give it a sharp trimming so it will grow mostly on tender new stems next year.
Melissa (Lemon Balm) - Looks sad and brown around the edges as it always does this time of year.
Day Lilly - the one in sun has bloomed several times this season; the other two, not. I should move the other two now so that they have time to become established before winter. I am actually quite surprised that they came back this year - they were looking quite poorly at the end of last season.
Desert Mallow - my original weed in Raised Bed One from several years ago is in great decline. I think she is done. The good news is, I sprinkled seed in Raised Bed Three last year, and one of her progeny has taken root there and is looking quite vigorous. Perhaps at the end of this season, it will be time to rip out the original plant.
Unknown summer squashes - probably yellow straight neck, yellow crook neck, a patty-pan and some more zukes. Laziness means that I will be surprised when they produce. They should be ready to bloom in about 4 more weeks - in time to get some good squash before frost. They are, of course, planted too close together. I cannot seem to bring myself to either plant further apart or to thin.

Ducky enjoying the kiddie wading pool. They really are waterproof.

Harvest Begins

2011-07-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

Gathered enough green beans today (and a tiny purple one that I couldn't resist) to actually have enough to eat as a side dish today. There are still 30 or more tiny, tiny ones that will hopefully be ready to eat next weekend when I return home.

The harvest actually started in June with the first of the garlic. This place is from last week - the last of the small garlics to be cured and the first little beans to be picked.

I just love the colors and textures of the hard necked garlics. It was a cool, wet Spring, and many of the garlics did not bulb up as much as I expected. Still, my house smells either delightful - or stinky - right now, depending how much one loves the stinky rose.

Herbs that were chopped fine and added to my home grown eggs this morning: a sage leaf, a touch of oregano, and some tender new growth from my rosemary.

I worried about taking my eye off the zukes for 5 seconds to go on business travel. While I did not find any that were baseball bat sized, I did find one that was as long and as thick around as my fore arm! Won't have time to do anything with it, and there are 5 young ones on the vine right now, so I think I will slice it length-wise and let the chickies devour it tomorrow.

Critters in the Garden Day

2011-07-30T23:54:00.000-07:00

Over a dozen sunflowers are blooming in various places in the garden - and the bees are intimately familiar with all of them. Often times 2, 3 or more bees will be collecting pollen and nectar. Note the pollen-filled legs of these buzzing ladies. (Click on the photo for a larger version)

Besides the buzzing of bustling, busy bees, there is also the humming of dragon flies as they patrol the skies for mosquitoes and other flying, biting things. This one rests on the tip of my dead cherry tree. See - laziness on my part (in clearing the dead tree) provides a place to relax for this mighty hunter!

Speaking of hunters, not only gatherers frequent the sunflowers. Several of these spiders also frequent the sunflower disks. Their legs are a semi-translucent white color that picks up the yellow hue of the sunflowers - making them appear to be just a light yellow dot on the disk - nothing threatening looking at all. I haven't seen what it eats, yet, but a number of little gnat-like creatures also seek sustenance from the sunflower, so I suspect those are what this arachnid hunts.

Another hunter, but not of the insect or arachnid family - a local lizard that frequents the garden. Here it is chomping on an ant. We are fairly used to one another, so if I move slowly, I can often get withing 3 feet of this one before it scampers off. I try and back away before invading it's personal space, however, and I think this contributes to its tolerance of me.

Well, this critter is not allowed in the garden to place. He continues the canine tradition of the "race track" around the garden/chicken run, and so runs his laps while I am puttering around inside the fence.

Random Photo Day

2011-07-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

Some early morning photos from this morning. Nothing fancy or revolutionary - just a nice little walk around the garden before the blazing sun warms everything up. The rule of thumb is, 60*F by 6 am, 70*F by 7 am, 80*F by 8 am, and 90*F by noon. Remember, you can click on the photo for a larger version.

Just a few years ago this apple tree was a mere stick, barely bigger in diameter than my thumb. It now sports a trunk bigger around than my wrist. Fickle Desert Spring froze all the buds this year, so no apples. Still, it is nice and green - and I harvest the suckers (some call them water sprouts) for the ducks and chickens to dine on.

This is a purple bush bean called Velour. The flowers and stems are purple, and some of the leaves have purple flecks in them. The tiny beans (the one in the photo is about an inch long) turn purple as they mature, and turn deep green when blanched or cooked. The plants are not as vigorous as say, Kentucky Wonder; however, they are cute, and the purple beans are easy to find among the green foliage.

Early morning view of sweet corn in the foreground, the root stock of a peach tree (redish leaves), all overlooking sunlit weeds in the distance. Fill flash was a little too heavy, giving it a very contrasty, almost artificial look compared to what I saw - but it still picked up the glow of the weeds, and that was one of my main objectives.

Detail of a garlic scape. I let about 50 of these form bubils. Not sure that they will make new garlic plants, and even if they do, it could take 5 years before they are big enough to harvest. Chickens really do eat anything, however, so I have been giving some to them. Garlic is supposed to act as a natural de-wormer. I don't think they have worms, but I'm feeding them the bubils just in case. Besides, they love chasing down the little balls of garlic when I throw them in their pen.

Nodding garlic scapes with their hundreds of tiny bubils. The early morning golden light really brings out the pink colors in them. During the flat light of the day, they look more brown.

My girl on patrol. Her web is in bed one and is strung between Sweet Marjoram, Rosemary, and Lemon Balm (although I like it's official name better: Melissa Officinalis.). I know she is a girl because most male spiders have hooks on their front legs to hold the female with during mating. She has been hanging out for a few weeks, now. Eat and be merry, Garden Friend!

More weeds and morning sunshine. This time the weeds are inside the garden. I left them there because I want them to spread their 900,000,000,000 seeds all over my garden. Actually, I left them up because the ducks rest on the other side of the fence in the shade of these weeds in the late afternoon. Makes a decent wind break for them.

A Sunflower Kind of Day

2011-07-23T00:41:00.000-07:00

My little plot of 15 sunflowers planted early in the season is now beginning to bloom. The short sunflower in the foreground was the first one to bloom and is facing East. I'm not sure why the Mammoth in the background is not. Maybe it didn't hear that sunflowers are all supposed to face East when they bloom? My sunflowers never get very tall. In the several years I have grown them, even Mammoth is lucky to top 5 feet tall. Still, they are bright and cheerful, and if I can keep them from getting munched down to the ground when they are little, they will provide me with months of bloom.

Yes, that is real desert sunshine from behind the first sunflower to bloom this year. While the disk is only about 4 inches across, the long petals make the flower head seem much larger.

Difficult to tell from the photos, but this is a Mammoth, and while it won't get to Mammoth proportions here in the desert, the center is a good six inches across. If I can keep the critters off of it, it could provide a nice snack for the chickens in the middle of winter.

Blooming in bed number two - a dainty dwarf sunflower. As it is supposed to, this one is happily facing East.

A promise of sunflower delights to come - a 4 inch flower head wrapped in layers of frilly green. By the time I am back from business travel, the main sowing of sunflowers should be in full bloom. Big, bold, bright - and edible to boot!

Lazy Day Tour of the Summer Garden

2011-07-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

Well, after a week of bronchitis, strep throat, doctor's visits, chest x-rays, antibiotics and asthma inhalers, I am feeling mostly alive again. Of course, the chipmunks and birds took advantage of my inattention to the garden and have mowed down the last of the late sunflower seedlings. At least one chipmunk made an attempt at young squash plants, too, but was foiled by the floating row cover. Still, it left its calling card.

Chipmunk Poop on Floating Row Cover

The first sunflower is in full bloom now, obediently facing the sunrise, no longer tracking the sun in its daily arc over the sky. Only 2 foot tall with a 6 inch bloom, I believe this is on of the dwarf sunflowers called Sunspot.

The first set of corn is doing well, enjoying their heavily amended and composted bed. They are heavy feeders, and at the end of last year, I put two wheel-barrels full of semi-composted chickie-poo and pine shavings in that bed to decompose and mellow over the winter. This seems to have worked well as the corn is flourishing and putting out suckers. I will trim the weaker suckers and feed them to the chickens; however, the more vigorous suckers may also fruit. We'll see. It's one giant experiment.

The second planting of corn did not have the autumn prep that the first set did, so I have tried to compensate by adding finished compost and growing bush beans with them. They are growing an inch a week, so I think they are happy.

The garlic harvest is just about complete. Yesterday I cleaned 7.4 pounds of good garlic and 3.2 pounds of garlic that has one issue or another that will necessitate its consumption within the next two months. Stored cool, dark, and with ventilation, the better garlic should keep 6 months. Frozen, it will last a year. I'm going to make some garlic and olive oil paste and freeze it. Although it may lose some of its potency that way, it will also be edible for about forever.

Garlic that has been allowed to go to "seed." The "flowers" are really tiny garlic bulbs.

First of the bush beans are starting to produce. It will be a few days, still, before they are big enough to harvest. I planted purple podded beans as my main crop this year, just because I like the color purple. And because I wanted to add as much color to the desert as I could. Especially since the critters ate up all the flowers that I planted.

Hopefully I am back to work on Monday, and able to hack down weeds sooner than that. The beds in the garden are mostly weed-free; however, the paths and edges have the desert denezines creeping in: cheat grass, tumbleweed and some type of eucalyptus plant.

Late Start In the Garden

2011-07-11T04:59:00.000-07:00

Due to the last killing frost and last snow being at the beginning of June, it took a while for the garden to get into full swing this year. This means that getting a corn, pumpkin or winter squash crop will be a gamble this year. But heck, growing a garden of any sort here in the high desert is a gamble.

Either a Zuke or a Yellow Squash - of course, I am not organized enough to label them. Good thing I like surprises.

Veggies currently in the ground:

Black Beauty Zucchini
Yellow Crook Neck Squash
Yellow Straight Neck Squash
Acorn (Winter) Squash
A small, short season (90 day) pumpkin that I can't recall the name of
3 sad Alaskan Fancy determinate tomato plants
40 stalks of Golden Bantam Cross (F1) Corn
Sweet Dumpling (Winter) Squash
Lemon Cukes
Market More 76 Cukes
6 sad little Okra plants that don't like our cold nights (still in the 50*F at night)
A few garlic that really should be pulled by now
Blue bush green beans (turn green when cooked - or when the temps top 100) - French Velour and True Blue
Yellow "Pencil Pod" wax bush beans
Dow Gawk "Yard Long" pole beans
Kentucky Wonder pole beans
Blackeye Peas - both purple hull and California No. 5
Last of the snap pea vines (to be fed to the chickens and ducks this weekend)

Bush beans are beginning to bloom, so probably two weeks before we start eating them. I'm not sure how blue the blue beans will be - the flowers are decidedly purple. Planting more bush beans every week as they ripen their crop over a short time period (as opposed to pole beans that will bear until frost kills them). Also, beans will fix nitrogen into my sand. Since they are cheap seeds to buy, I am using beans like a cover crop.

Speaking of cover crops, I found some old clover seed, and it is making a fair stand under the apple trees.

As for veggies, the rest of them will probably start being ready for harvest whenever I'm on my next business trip. It's just the way of the world. A new sprinkler and battery-operated timer setup should at least help insure that the plants will live.

Duckies Enjoying Their Kiddie Pool

2011-07-10T05:15:00.000-07:00

It isn't deep enough for them to actually swim, but they enjoy it none the less. My Granddaughter saw cute little baby duckies at the feed store, but of course, couldn't keep them at her apartment in town. But since Grandma already has chickens, how much more work can duckies be?

Summer Garlic

2011-07-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

Summer, to me, doesn't really start until the harvesting of the garlic. I think our heat contributes to their early maturity, and while most people may be harvesting their garlic in July and August, mine are usually ready by the end of June. Being sporadic with the watering may also encourage them to ripen earlier. I planted about 150 good sized cloves and about 200 smaller cloves. There was, of course, chipmunk depredations, a little bit of winter-kill, and some were so small that I have chosen to let them mature bulbils on scapes instead of trying to force them to grow big bulbs. One could certainly tell the difference in the quality of the ground (I don't think I would call it "soil" still yet). The sand amended with chickie-poo/chickie-bedding created compost had overall healthier and bigger bulbs - even from cloves that were not top sized.

1/3 garlic harvest curing.

Average size, about 2 1/2" diameter.

Garlic Scapes producing

bulbils for tiny new garlic plants.

Close-up of a scape and

its bulbils.

Summer is also when all the critters come out to hunt. Taken too close with my phone camera, so it is somewhat out of focus, but this dragon fly spent some time chasing gnats and then alighted on an old sunflower stalk from last year.

Spring Arrived for a Day, and now It is Summer

2011-06-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

One day it was 70*F or so, and we all thought, "how nice." The next day it was 90*F. And since then, for at least three weeks now, it has been pleasantly warm in the high eighties and low nineties. Looks like a cool summer again this year - maybe only a few days in the triple digits? If so, the garden will love it!

Two week old corn is two to three inches high. What survived initial bird depredation (in spite of using a row cover), is now healthy and growing rapidly. Planted out the second set this past weekend. I may set out some more next weekend, but the beginning of July means that there is a 50-50 chance of a hard frost in September followed by several frost free weeks. Still, if the third planting just turns out to be a place for the chickens to play, that works ok for me, too.

Ate a few peas yesterday. Chickens like the shells, but the ducks thought I was throwing rocks or something, as they were not enthused about green things flying over the fence. The chickens were all to happy to go into "shark attack" mode, however, and swarmed the pea shells. Sorry, duckies.

Been feeding the ducks and chickens tufts of grass that still have the seeds in them. The ducks like to thresh the seeds out with their bills while the chickens like to "scratch and attack" the grass stems until the seeds fall out and can be eaten. The benefits to the birds are that they get some fresh food and exercise. The benefit to me is grass weed reduction. The benefit to the grass clump is that they get a trim and extra water and get to grow more seeds.

Egg production is in full swing. Out of 15 hens, I am still getting 6-8 eggs a day. In some ways, it is better than the 10-12 eggs a day that they laid in their prime. Still, it is almost like zucchini - be careful - if you stand still, I will hand you eggs!

I hate to jinx myself, but there may be a chance that I have morning glories this year. I need to plant more. I am babying along the 6 or 7 that I currently have. They are getting one new little leaf every few days. Hopefully they will hit critical mass soon and start climbing several inches a day.

Also looks like I will have more than two dozen sunflowers this year. I planted a dozen or so more on Sunday, but it's getting late for planting sunflowers, too. I have a set of volunteers from bird seed - we'll see how they do.

I am letting the garlic that is too small to bulb go to "seed," so to speak. Their scapes will "flower" with tiny bulbils - each a tiny, tiny garlic. If I time things right, I can plant out hundreds, which in a few years, will be almost big enough to use as planting stock.... or, I might just eat them. I planted hot garlic, however, so they will definitely add a fiery zing to whatever I put them in. Maybe put them in pasta sauce to mellow.

If you build it, they will come.

Weed-eaters are growing up!

2011-05-30T00:48:00.000-07:00

Started integrating them with the chickens this week.
I still don't trustmy rooster with them yet,
so they had to spend the rainy day

in their dog crate and not in the snug chicken coop.

The weather doesn't seem to bother them nearly
as much as it seems to bother me, though.

Random Photos

2011-05-16T04:49:00.000-07:00

My son is helping me paint the chicken coop so that it looks like a "Red Barn." Next payday I'll buy the white paint for the trim. You might recognize this photo as a sepia-tint photo from a recent post. Notice how the weeds between the garlic and the chicken coop are not nearly as prominent looking in the sepia-tinted photo! The weeds keep the sand from blowing around, so even though they harbor bugs, I keep them around until I am ready to plant - which means most of them will make it to viable seed production. That's ok, though - as the weeds also add valuable green matter to my compost pile.

I will likely never see fruit from my hardy nectarine. It seems to always burst into bloom shortly after the first 70*F day - never learning that here in the High Desert, that a day like that invariably is followed by a 20*F night later in the week. Still, it's a beautiful tree all covered in pink. And it survived two winters where we got into the negative temps for a week or more each. So I can't complain at all.

Oregano is growing like crazy, tender and strong smelling amid last year's woody flower stalks.

This photo is from a few months ago - a Maran and an Easter Egger hen - my organic weed-eaters. They chickens don't like garlic at all, and are very dainty about not stepping on it.

Springtime Ramblings

2011-05-15T04:30:00.000-07:00

It's amazing what one can do on their phone these days. This photo was taken and edited on my phone. I suppose I can also blog via my phone, but haven't spent the time figuring it out because - I have been spending every spare moment in the garden! As you can see, the garlic planted last fall is doing well.

And, I have finally found the solution to the birds and other critters eating my sunflower and other seedlings - row covers. Duh. I bought about $30 worth of them this spring, and in stead of losing half (or more) of my seedlings to the voracious wildlings, out of 50 sunflower seedlings, I've only lost 5 (ok, I stepped on two additional ones, but that is a separate issue!). In this photo is the first bush bean planting - all under wraps.

Rows are about 5 ft long. Top set includes 4 rows, right to left, one row each of: Ferry Morse "Royal Burgundy" Purple Bean (Ferry Morse Seeds from Home Harvest Seeds) (2011 seed), Pinetree Garden "Pencil Pod Yellow (wax) Bush Bean" (Pinetree Gardens) (2008 seed), Park Seed "True Blue" Green Bean (Park Seed) (2011 seed) and Park Seed "Velour" Purple Bean (2011 seed). The row on the bottom left has a mixture of them - just figured it would look nice. I dropped a bunch of the pencil pod yellow wax bean seeds in a puddle, though, so there is a higher percent of them than I originally planned. The row on the bottom left has radishes. It's a little early for both beans and blackeye peas, but I couldn't help but plant a 15 ft double row of Ferry Morse "California Blackeye." Also planted them under row covers.

A note about the row covers in this photo - right now they are plastered to the sand because I have just heavily watered in the seeds. They do "float" when they are dry.

Duckies!

2011-05-15T02:58:00.000-07:00

My granddaughter gave me a trio of unknown ducklings for Easter - falling for their cuteness as the feed store so hoped. They have turned out to be three boys of a white, "Peking" type.

As with all the fowl in our little micro-farm, they started life out in my bath tub.

In the picture below, their feathers are just starting to come in. Their wings are so tiny compared to their bodies. I don't recall the chickies' wings appearing so small. They are starting to lose their yellow coloring here, too. Their beaks are also turning from a pale peach color to the more yellow-orange color that we associate with duck bills.

Once their feathers started coming in, we set up a little wire enclosure in the garden. They share a woven wire fence with the chickens, so they can see each other. Eventually, the ducks will move into the chicken run/coop with the chickies. We put duct tape over the ventilation holes in one of our dog crates for a shelter; however, they still prefer to sleep in the open if it is not windy. I guess that's why they have more fat than chickens - at the first hint of the possibility of coolness, the chickies head for home.

They currently use their water tub for bathing. As soon as I put fresh water in it, they rush to see who will be the first one to get in. Whomever gets there first defends their right to the water with much to do. When the little kiddie pools start showing up at the store, I shall have to get them one. They muddy up the water pretty good, though, so for sanitation, it will need to be rinsed at least daily. The chickens hate water, so there won't be any competition there.

Favorite duckie food right now is chopped up spinach leaves floated in their water. They get the leaves that are too tough for people or that are bug-eaten. They are also getting all of the immature seed stalks as the spinach that overwintered is trying its best to bolt now.

"Year Over Year" Journal Entries

2011-01-03T05:13:00.000-08:00

My Mom got my gradeschool-aged nephews a digital microscope for Christmas. I am totally green and purple with envy. But, alas, that is out of my budget at the moment. I did, however, purchase a little 45 power field microscope with battery powered LED light - and while it isn't quite the same thing, for $5, it is a whole lot of fun. I would say, ounce for ounce and dollar for dollar, it is my favorite new toy.

Below are some Journal Entries from the last several years. Current comments in brackets [like this].

4 January 2009

Thinking of fencing off some of the west side of the chicken run so I can plant corn and stuff for them there. Then when the summer heat hits, they'll have shade and also stuff to play in. Open it up in sections so they don't destroy it all at once. corn, sunflowers, maybe try pease in the fall. [I never did do this. Perhaps I will do this in 2011?]

Can I really keep them [the chickens] out of the garden all summer? I am going to have to if I want any flowers or food [for us] out of it.

Last year was the Year of the Chicken... this year is the Year of the Garden.

Maybe next fall I [will] spend 3 months raising a feeder pig - but maybe not. We'll see just how far I want to take this farming thing. [I didn't, but the question comes up every year...]

I still can't believe that I am living the dream! It isn't perfect, but it IS very good. I am so very blessed.

Fresh eggs for breakfast - most only hours old, the rest laid yesterday! Gave away 18 to the neighbors. DSR is going to bring some to work tonight to give away. Whenever I end up with eggs that are over a week old, I feed them to [the dogs] and back to the chickens - glad they both like scrambled eggs! Yum!

10 January 2008

Snow last night [is] keeping my trees watered with "sweet" water as opposed to my salty, alkalai well water.

[Need to] clean and move my plant shelves. Then I will allow myself to start some seeds.

14 January 2007

Still frozen; no water [the water line from the well to the house and from the hot water heater to the house were frozen as we experienced nighttime temps in the 2-3*F range and daytime temps in the mid 20*F range. Yipes!]

[Reading] Cutting Gardens by Anne Halpin & Betty Mackey. [My notes on] Conditioning Flowers

Recut at a slant
Underwater Cut - carnations, sweet williams, dianthus, china asters, marigolds, marguerites, snapdragons, sweetpeas
Hollow [stems] - fill with cool water and plug with cotton - delphinium, dahlia, hollyhock
Sear sap bleeders - campanula, hardy mums, daffs, narcissus, dahlia, forget-me-nots, heliotrope, hollyhocks, hydrangea, lantana, lobelia, poppies, stephanotis
Tough flowers - split stems, dip in boiling water for 20 seconds - asters, chrysanthemums
Strip leaves that will be underwater
AFTER cutting treatments, put in cool, dark place for a while
Conditioner - 1 TBSP suger + 1 TBSP bleach [I don't state "in how much water" in my journal, but I am assuming per 1 gal water]
Foliage - lay in flat pan of water and soak
Silver Foliage - wrap in tissue, dip stems in boining water [for] 20 seconds, then [dip] in cold water

With this cold, I wonder how my tiny orchard is doing? [Survived.]

14 January 2010

First sunny day in a while! Makes me want to go out and dig in the dirt!

Snow if finally nearly all melted. I know it insulates things, but I hate snow. I hate weather below freezing, and especially weather below negative 10*F.

Still months away from seeing if any of my fruit trees survived - and if any have, did anything above the rootstock make it? Only time will tell. [Lost the cherry tree and the old apple tree brought from California to late snow.]

And another question - did my super rosemary survive [the negative degrees]? It isn't supposed to live through ANY of our winters, so I won't be too devistated if it's gone. Still, I'm rooting for it. [It did survive.]

Is it Spring yet!?

2011-01-02T04:29:00.000-08:00

One thing good about being past the Winter solstice - that means the days are getting longer and soon it will be Spring! But, alas, Spring will not be here soon enough. So for the first time in a long time, I am endevouring to bring Spring inside.

This is a small flat of basil and lettuce that was started about a week ago. The ultra-tiny seeds were glued to single-ply bathroom tissue to help keep their spacing. The tissue was then set on top of potting mix and more potting mix was gently pressed over the tissue to a depth of about 1/4 inch. Watering was done by gently dripping water from my hands as I discovered my misting bottle has been devoured by the black hole. You can see some of the exposed tissue where there are no seeds. While the seeds would probably stay in place better if I let the glue dry, they seem to have stayed reasonably well. I used Elmer's school glue - the washable, gel type.

Here's a closeup of some of the lettuce as they germinated. The flat is kept under ordinary (not "grow" type) flourescent lights controled by a timer - 12 hours on, 12 hours off. Day temps run about 75*F with night time temps dipping into the 50*F - 60*F range (they are in my unheated laundry room, and once the lights go out, the temps drop pretty quickly).

I love my camera - here's a closeup of one of the seedlings. This one is about a week old.

Happy New Years!

2011-01-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

Apparently Scout likes to help with "catching" the snow when it's time to shovel the back patio. Lows in the teens on the overnight, reaching the high twenties during the day. A little more snow predicted for tonight/tomorrow morning, but that should be it for a while. As for me, I'd rather stay inside and dream of Spring.

There are a few thoughts on what to do with last season's "trash." Some maintain that the left over crop residue should be removed from the field and composted, thus removing insect eggs, mold spores and disease. Others believe that the crop stubble will protect the ground, prevent erosion and hold water. Since the desert is in need of keeping every particle of organic matter and every drop of water that it can, I am going with the later method. Besides, I just like the look of dried corn "trash" after a winter snow.

The chickies are not particularly fond of snow, and when they realized I didn't have any goodies for them, decided that they would stay in the confines of their toasty coop.

I am, of course, using the weather as an excuse for not cleaning out the chicken coop. Too windy last weekend. Too snowy this weekend. Supposed to be above 30*F tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow. It isn't too nasty yet, but it will be if I don't get my act together soon. Besides, it's time to get the compost bin filled up with chickie-poo soon if I want more of that good stuff ready for the spring garden. Takes a good 3 months during the summer to cook the excess amonia out of it and turn into to sweet smelling compost. I assume it will take longer when the temps are regularly below freezing at night.

Random Autumn Flashbacks From My Garden Journal

2010-09-27T04:52:00.000-07:00

No, not from my garden - I took this picture in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains. The edge of the field was filled with two dozen or so of these butterflies flitting from place to place. They did not sit still long, being much preoccupied with eating! Out of 100 photos taken over the course of an hour, I think I got 4 that are pretty good. This is probably the best photo I've ever taken.

Some old journal entries - in order by day of the month. My current comments in [brackets]. Spelling is as written in my journal - no spell check when writing with a pen!

2007-09-30 7:03 a.m. Well, I guess one cannot argue with 25*F - That is a killing frost with no ambiguity. The sun is up - I am not looking forward to seeing the damage.

On the up side, this will mean that I can procrastinate no further on ripping out marginal items and planting out garlic.

Soaked peas last night - 150 are ready to go. I guess I shall find out if they can germinate this cold. [No, they didn't]

Trees have been full of rich, green leaves - will the frost signal them to change color? So far, just a very few yellow leaves on the apple tree and only 2 orange ones on the nectarine.

Days will hopefully warm up. no wind, but cold right now. I should go do something useful in the garden or yard.

2006-10-01 Bought a wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer last week - need to set it up and start checking highs and lows [presumably to help predict frost].

Funny how much you can get done when you are motivated - D. got a job offer for a job in Iraq, so this weekend we got

5 posts for enclosing my garden up
concreted the edges of the dogs' pen (one more side to go, but I can do that side)

Things to do

Move the 1/2 barrels to the garden area and use for garlic - make drainage holes [There's a notation that this did not get done.]
Plant plant gifts from James W. of Dave's Garden [www.DavesGarden.com]
Top dress bulbs with low nitrogen fert. (bonemeal)
Look at the weather report (definately fall, but no hard frosts yet)

2005-10-05 The sweet gums [trees] are looking decidedly perky this morning. I was concerned that yesterday's dry winds would have been hard on them, but I guess the cooler temps and deep watering helped them. Of course, I took pictures yesterday. Need to add them to my [photo] database. 2006-10-05

Watered back yard & fruit trees
Watered most east sweet gum [presumably the sweet gum tree to the East of the group]
Watered front poplars (south)
Irises from Dave's Garden arrived today - about 20 lbs worth
1300 bulbs to go into the ground

All this and David leaves for South Carolina in less than two weeks and then on to Iraq 4 weeks or so later. So much to do. So little time left to be together. A year apart - with the chance of it being permanent. So I plant and plant and grow babies to fill the emptiness.

2007-10-06 21:00 ish After a good nap...This year was the first year in a long, long time that I had a real garden. I am totally so very blessed. To be able to come home from work and eat a few cherry toms from the garden, water the trees, take photos of a sunflower, spy on a lizard. What a joy. To have hopes and dreams. To feel, smell, taste the cycle of life. Delicate yellow tomato flowers, lush green growth, baby tomes smaller than a finger nail, sweet yellow fruit bursting in your mouth, frost blackened leaves and deep roots chopped for the compost pile...seeds for next year. The dance of rain and cloud and wind and sun. Birds, lizzards, tiny spiders, giant grasshoppers - if you build it, they will come. Butterflies, catterpillars and ants. If you grow it, they will come. Solitary bees, irridescent wasps, tiny flies. If it blooms, they will come. There is not lack of life in the desert, although conditions are harsh and existance is tenuous. If you provide an oasis, it will be recognized far and wide, and the denizines of the high desert, they will come. I have no idea where they hail from, but across sand and arid winds, they find this tiny island of green and in droves, they come. If 3 4[foot] x 8 [foot] beds - not even 100 sq ft out of 180,000 sq ft of our land - brought such diversity to our land, what might I expect with a garden twice as large [as those three beds]? And if I add more flowers, will that increase the draw? If I spied a dozen wasps and one hawk moth at one of 7 sunflowers, who and how many will visit if I grow 20 sunflowers, 50, 100 or more? If I grow a veritable forest of sunflowers, what will happen to the insect population? And will lizzards take up household there to dine on some of them [I can say that yes, the lizards are in the garden to stay]

September Garden Status

2010-09-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

The last sunflower is blooming, along with oregano, sweet marjoram, yellow squash and desert mallow.

Well, some days I actually feel like I had a real garden this year with an actual harvest. A review of some of the crops:

Birds and everything else will pluck out newly sprouted sunflower seeds and peas - must rig up some protection for them. At least a dozen sunflower sprouts and 100 pea sprouts were donated to the local wildlife.
Garlic beds dug up a month or more in advance worked out very well - nice, soft, easy to plant beds. Ones not made up early are not nearly as easy to plant out. Now I am looking at planting some directly in unprepared beds, and that will be even worse, probably inhibiting good bulbing up in the spring.
Sunflower seed heads need to be well protected or the wildlings will eat them all - even before they are mature. Chickies got very few this year, and there are none for the wild things for the winter. Sunflower leaves,however, made excellent chicken greens all summer long. And after the sunflower seeds had been consumed by the wild things, I pulled the stalks out and the chickens had a riotous good time eating up the leaves and pecking at the seed head itself.
Collards grew very well under the shade of the large, yellow squash leaves. Next year, need to grow more. The chickies really like collards, and I added some to our salads.
Spinach was a great success. I only half-hearted saved seeds. Some of the ones I saved did sprout when planted in the fall, but I don't know if Matador is open pollinated, so I didn't really work at it. Chickies and Granddaughter indulged in much spring spinach.
No matter how many edible pod peas that I grow, there is never enough! I like to eat them right off the vine. The chickies like the peas, the pods (from ones that have grown too old to eat more than the peas themselves), and the leaves.
Peas sown in September will probably not ripen before the first hard frost - still, at least they will make some nice greens for the chickens.
Bi-colored corn was stunted as usual, but flood watering them produced a significantly higher number of ears of corn this year. Pollination was spotty, so most ears were missing kernels here and there - not pretty, but still very sweet and yummy. I ate several raw, right off the stalk - and happy chickies got to peck at the resulting cob. The bright red stalks and leaves of this variety is beautiful - need to look up what type I planted so that I can order that type of seed again.
Yellow squash was a great success in bed no. 3. The ones in the ground, however, were eaten the moment they sprung forth from the earth.
My garden blessed me with any wild things in the garden this year. I saw my first and only humming bird while sitting quietly in the garden before work one summer day. Lizards lapped water from the herbs in bed no. 1 all through the summer. Pigeons nested in the chicken coop (although Old Biddy kept destroying their nests, so they did not raise a brood). Chipmunks and mice raided the garden from time to time, and red tailed hawks (or so I believe them to be), soared overhead. Rabbits, luckily, are well-fenced out!

Well, I am sure there is more, but if I am ever to get this posted, I shall have to stop for the moment.

Chickies and Hungry Jack (the rooster) enjoying sunflower stalks for a late afternoon snack.

Garlic Planting Season

2010-09-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

The gathering of the Canadian Geese at the lake and the arrival of crisp, Autumn mornings indicate that Garlic Planting Season has arrived in the High Desert. In years past, I have planted Bogatyr, Polish, Georgia Crystal, Korean Red, Siberian, Music and Kettle River. With the exception of the Kettle River, all have been hard necks that enjoy a good, freezing winter. Over and over, Siberian has been the best grower, with the rest of the hard necks being one slight step below and about equal. The soft neck was still good and quite edible, but did not produce as large a bulb as it might have with a milder winter. It has been a few years since I have grown garlic, and the most I've ever grown was about 100.

This year, I decided to plant enough to perhaps sell a few and give away some... so far, 316 cloves are in the ground. I waited until the last minute to order garlic as I wasn't sure I would have time to plant out so many, due to school and other obligations; however, the urge to plant garlic was irresistible, and I succumbed at the last moment. Alas, this meant that my favorite garlic supplier, The Garlic Store (http://www.thegarlicstore.com/) , was out of all of the varieties that I wished for. So instead, I ordered from Two Sisters Garlic (http://www.2sistersgarlic.com/). I am somewhat disappointed that they also ended up not having Siberian and ended up making a substitution; however, I understand I ordered late. I also understand that the biggest and best bulbs had already been sold. Still, the varieties I have should make plenty of wonderfully stinky garlic.

This year I am growing only 4 varieties. One of the reasons I limited myself to four varieties was not simply because I ordered late and choices were limited, but also because it is difficult to keep track of the different varieties. Many look similar in clove color, skin color, shape and size. Planting maps need to be carefully kept and the bulbs must be tagged at harvest if there is going to be any chance of knowing which variety you have. The four varieties I chose for this year are all different in appearance, so even if some are confused at harvest time, there is a middling fair chance I will be able to tell them apart.

The varieties I am planting this year include Inchilium Red (soft neck), Fireball, Music, and German Red. Planted so far - 316 cloves. 281 main crop and 35 small cloves to let flower or to eat the scapes from.

29 Inchilium Red
126 Fireball
99 Music
27 German Red
35 very small cloves Fireball

Main Bed North 56 Music, 27 German Red, 42 Fireball
Main Bed South 43 Music, 70 Fireball
Raised Bed No. 2 10 Inchilium Red along the south board
West Sunflower Bed 14 Fireball, 19 Inchilium Red, 35 small Fireball for scapes or flowers

Still left to plant - about 100 cloves of planting size and 100 small cloves for chive, scape or flower use. And somewhere along the way, in a totally unrelated drive to plant flowering spring bulbs, I also now have 45 daffodil bulbs to plant out!

It Starts with Chickie Poo

2010-08-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

Several months ago, I cleaned out the chicken coop and piled the chickie poo filled bedding of pine shavings into a pile about 5 feet long, 4 feet wide and 3 feet tall. For 3 or 4 weeks, the amonia that was released by Billions and Billions (use Carl Sagan's voice, please) of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria totally stank! I watered and turned it diligently, keeping the temperatures down to between 140*F and 150*F, enabling the aerobic bacteria to flourish and pathogens to perish. Around the second month, the temperatures did not climb so dramatically, and the main nitrogen burn off was complete. Still, the pile would rise to the E. Coli and Salmonela killing range of 140*F a day or two after turning and watering. So I continued turning the pile every few days when it started cooling down. And day by day, the pile was getting darker and darker, and smelling less and less.

I had read that the compost would "smell sweet" when it was done, but I had no previous experience with "hot" composting, and I was not sure what the authors meant. So one day, the pile did not heat up after watering and turning. So I watered and turned the pile again. And still, the temperature barely rose to 120*F. So per the advice of the compost mages, I ignored it and let the pile sit for several weeks. And low and behold, after that time, I put my hands into soft, barely warm, sweet smelling compost.

I spread the compost where I will plant garlic in late September or early October (depending when the bulbs get here). I sprinkled some goodies for the chickies on it, and they tilled it into the sand for me. The cycle is complete - they will have chopped garlic leaves in the late spring to help clean them of parasites. ...And now, it's time to clean the coop again and make more desert gold.

Determination

2010-08-29T02:19:00.000-07:00

The corn is stunted, heat and drought stressed - but life is resilient and determined. Even though they barely grew to 3 feet tall this year, the corn is now bravely shedding pollen and setting fruit.

Likewise, one small, solitary apple ripens in defiance of relentless desert winds and a hard winter that froze most apple buds to death.

Sometimes I think, I should just let Mother Nature win and take back this small plot of desert. And then I see chickens sneaking into the corn, chickadees stealing sunflower seeds, and a rosemary bush that continues to defy odds - and I think, if they can persevere, so can I.

August Harvest and General Notes

2010-08-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

Harvest

August is one of my favorite months in my High Desert Garden. The mornings are staying cooler all the way up to 9 am as the 60*F by 6 am, 70*F by 7 am, 80*F by 8 am and 90* by 9 am pattern breaks up. During August, the temps may still be below 80 by 10 am. These cooler temps spur the garden veggies into accelerated growth and production - bringing the first of the autumn harvests.

Sunflowers have been blooming for nearly a month, but their seeds are not yet ripened. So, for the fall harvest, yellow crook neck summer squash is the first to produce something edible. Above is one of my plants with a co-joined twin squash. I've never had a squash like that before. Also, note, I think the ants are my primary pollinator here. Of course, I also hand pollinate when I have time - but I don't always have time to help Mother Nature out. Probably the ants are good for Mother Nature's purposes - she merely wishes to produce a goodly amount of seed for next year's plants. Me, I want enough to eat and feed chickies. That requires additional pollination here in the desert.

The last of the sunflower buds have committed to pointing East, so I know they will be blooming soon. Blooms staggered over two months - that is about the same as years past. I mix types and when birds eat seedlings, I plant another seed - so one never knows what type one will get.

I am convinced that if you grow it, they will come. And that includes birds, insects, lizards and spiders. Here, a grey black widow patrols one of the ripening sunflower seed heads.

Although I planted Mammoth sunflowers, none of the plants were taller than 3 feet this year. Looking around the roadsides, it seems that none of the wild or cultivated sunflowers attained much height this year. I can tell which are the Mammoth sunflowers, however, as their flowers were still more than eight inches in diameter.

General Notes
First Frost Dates from Years Past

2005-10-15 Light Frost
2006-10-26 Killing Frost
2007-10-18 Light Frost
2007-10-20 Killing Frost
2008 - not recorded
2009 - not recorded

Bed No. One

Bearded Irises - starting to fade; tips are browning and some of the leaves are dying down. Although only the blue and white ones bloomed this year, it appears that all varieties actually survived and sent up leaves for the summer. Hopefully they will all bloom next year.
Rosemary - Looking very healthy. It has doubled in size from last year (which is double in size from the year before). It was a 97 cent Walmart unknown cultivar of rosemary. It was not rated for negative 10 degree winters and I fully expect it to die each winter. But here it is, several years later, and it is taking over. Need to harvest the nice young leaves, coat in olive oil and freeze.
Unknown Day Lilies - 3 out of 6 survive. One had one bloom before the temperatures became scorching. It was a burnt orange color, and while lovely, was certainly not the bright pink of the cultivar New Toy. Still, if it survives winter, I will be more than happy to keep it!
Oregano - harvested a few zip lock bags full before the summer heat made the plants get leggy and slightly bitter. I cut it back until it was only 6 inches tall, so it is not as bushy as it could normally be by this time. Still, I am thinking there will be a flush of new growth as the weather cools, so I may get a small second harvest.
Sweet Marjoram - is Oregano's wilder sister, generally having a milder flavor than oregano, and having a more open growth pattern. In the Spring, when growth is young, you can't easily tell them apart - but later in the season, you will see Sweet Marjoram becoming leggy, and growing tall spikes of small white flowers that arch over and sway gracefully in the breeze.
Desert Mallow - bright orange and somewhat weedy looking, this one has come back year after year. Her blooms are pretty stinky, but the attract pollinators by the droves. And, though stinky, the bright orange blooms are lovely and prolific. I cut her back after she matured a set of seed pods, and she is blooming again, although a little less than the first bloom set. I have scattered her seed pods around, hoping I can get a few more to personalise in the garden.
Lemon Balm - Does not like the heat of summer. The plant grows leggy and the edges of the leaves that are not shaded by the Oregano become small and burnt on the edges. Definitely need to harvest this one in the early Spring when it is sending out large, pretty leaves by the bunches. It self-sowed quite happily this year, so I doubt I will ever have to plant more, even though this is the second year the original two plants have come back.

Autumn is here

2010-08-01T23:54:00.000-07:00

It's the beginning of August and although the daytime temperatures are still in the mid- to high- 90's (*F), the nights are dipping into the 50's and low 60's - signifying the beginning of autumn.

Sunflowers are in full bloom - ones blooming at the beginning of July still holding their petals, but showing signs that the heads are now filling with seed. 4 or 5 buds are still tracking the sun across the sky, but most have now made a commitment to point east in preparation for unfolding their petals. 4 young seedlings, barely 3 inches tall, battle time and the elements - will they bloom before the end of the season?

Collards have germinated in bed number 3. They are limping along in the heat, but they will grow through light frosts, so hopefully they will begin to flourish as the days cool.

Okra in the ground has been plucked, presumably by the birds. Three survive in bed number three, however. They are supposed to only take 60 days or less to harvest. They are all still small - stunted, I am guessing, by the harsh desert sun and wind. But if we are lucky, there are still 40 - 60 more frost free days and I may hope to at least see them bloom.

Three delicata squash on the original vine - and the vine is just now starting to take off, with leaf and flower buds soaking up the sun.

The unknown squash in bed three has female buds that show them to be yellow crook neck. They haven't been fertilized yet, so I can't say that we will get a harvest - but the ants are working hard, crawling all over them and spreading yellow-orange pollen all around. Yellow squash planted in the ground barely survives.

I ordered garlic for this fall's planting. This year's planting includes 2 lbs of German Red and 5 lbs of Siberian - both hard necks that enjoy a cold winter. I also ordered 1 lb of the softneck, Inchelium Red. That should yield close to 70 hardnecks and a similar number of softnecks - although the softnecks might not survive if we have as brutal a winter as last year. Normally I order from The Garlic Store, but they indicate they will not be shipping until October. As it looks like winter will be arriving early this year, I ordered from a place that will ship in mid-August: 2 Sister's Garlic. They did not have the top sized Siberian, but the medium sized will have more cloves per pound, so it may be that my harvest is actually bigger that way.

Speaking of garlic, the composted chicken poo is just about ready to dig into the sand. It will sit a few weeks, and then it should be ready for planting out the garlic. I still haven't decided exactly where to plant, but I better figure it out soon.

Planted out crook neck squash seeds that got rained on - placed them among the corn. One has germinated so far. I also placed some in bed number two, but I haven't seen any there, yet.

Busy week in the garden. Wish I had more time to hang out there. Work and school have taken their toll on my free time.

Herbs

2010-07-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

All of my herbs love the desert. Maybe the heat and the sharply draining sand reminds them of the Mediterranean heritage. Above are garlic scapes (flower buds), rosemary, oregano, sweet marjoram and silver thyme.

Below, some of the garlic from bed no. 3. Bulbs were small this year due to a number of reasons - they were "volunteers" from cast offs, the winter was long and extra cold, spring was wet and cool - nothing to make them want to "bulb up." Still, an unexpected harvest of volunteers is never a bad thing.

Silver Thyme with Rosemary backdrop.

Oregano and Bearded Iris.

Hens, Nests and Eggs

2010-07-13T04:37:00.000-07:00

These photos and the video at the end of this post were collected in the late spring/early summer of 2010. The photos taken inside the coop are a little hazy since they were taken with an iPhone3G with only indirect lighting.
A pigeon has decided to build her nest on top of the chicken nest box in the hen house. This pair of eggs are white and about 1 1/2 inch long.

Here, in the actual nest box below, are a clutch of chicken eggs. By the end of June, about half the hens are laying every day and about half are laying every third day or so. Not nearly the production as when they were younger, but not bad for 3 year old hens. The Marans are still out-laying everyone by a large margin.

Hens checking out the next box when it was first built. My husband and son did a nice job, and the hens started laying in the new nest box the day it was built.

My dust-bathing beauties. This is their favorite place to bath. It's in the garden where we once burned a big pile of brush. I had raked the leftover ashes into the sand so it wouldn't blow around - and they love it.

And, of course, what Mama Hen would be worth her salt without a video of her babies!

Spinach

2010-07-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

I grew spinach for the first time this year. I planted "Matador" in the berry bed. Only three strawberry plants survived our winter this year, but three is enough to send 15 - 20 runners by summer, so I figured I fill the empty spaces with fast growing spinach.

I am convinced that if children were introduced to spinach from their grandma's garden at an early age, then they would both love eating spinach and have a better foundation with which to face the world.

I am not quite at the point where I will be saving seeds, but I am heading that way. Observing this season's spinach bolting is the first step in that process. And who knows, maybe the chickens won't get all the bolting spinach and blooms, and I'll save a few seeds "just to see what happens."

Early June

2010-07-11T21:55:00.001-07:00

I am happy to report that there were no posts for June 2010 because my husband is home from Afghanistan, I am enjoying having him back home, and I was out in the garden actually gardening! Goodness and blessings all around me!

Early June is the time of mouthwatering peas! None of them actually made it into the house this year. Granddaughter and I grazed them in the garden and fed the shells and vines to the chickens. At the end of the season, over the course of a week, the vines were cut and tossed into the chicken run for chickie entertainment and nutrition.

Early June also foreshadows the bounty of Deep Summer and Autumn. The sunflowers in bed two that looked lonely and far apart are a dark green and foot tall in Early June. The promise of giant, golden globes in a few more months.

I have successfully murdered 4 raspberry bushes to date. Young, Innocent things, bought as bare root plants ready to leap forth and take over the world. But alas, dogs, searing heat, and early neglect and other abuse led to all of their demise. But this year, it appears, that I may finally be successful. A Walmart plant, supposedly of "thornless black raspberry" parentage, thrives and began flowering in June. My keys to finally having some success? Plant early - before the searing heat of summer. Water daily this first year. Mulch heavily. Feed lightly.

Spring is Tentatively Here

2010-05-27T22:54:00.000-07:00

The Desert Mallow is tentatively blooming. Most of the buds are still tightly furled, but a few brave buds have burst open in all their orange glory. This is a wild flower here in Northern Nevada, although this one has decided to become a permanent resident of my herb bed. I thought they re-seeded every year, but, apparently, given water and food, they can become a perennial. I wish they smelled as pretty as their little one inch blooms look, but, alas, they pretty much stink. But the bugs love them, and when the winds are calm, bees, flies, and wasps of all kinds flock to these flowers in droves. If there are any volunteers this year, I should plant them where I would like to grow squash. So far, to get any fruit set, I've had to hand pollinate both zukes and yellow squash.Hand pollinating can be relaxing and enjoyable, but sometimes, I'd just rather have Mother Nature take care of it.

This second photo depicts some of the still tightly curled Desert Mallow buds. In a few more weeks, there could be hundreds of bright orange flowers - but for the moment, there are less than a dozen of them.

Other plants that are growing and even blooming, in spite of a long, cold, dreary spring include my upright rosemary and the tough as nails bearded irises. Herbs are also doing well - especially the oregano, its cousin, sweet marjoram, and the lemon balm. The lemon balm enjoys this weather so much that many seeds from last year have germinated and are working on their first and second set of leaves.

Wishing for the Weather to Settle

2010-05-23T14:36:00.001-07:00

Although the apple trees survived our extra brutal winter this year, only the two Fuji's bloomed with any vigor. The Gala had less than one dozen flowers. Since the Gala is the cross-pollinator for the Fuji's, and visa versa, there chances are pretty slim that we will have apples this year. Add to the fact that they bloomed during a cold, windy week at the beginning of May when the bees were still sleepy means the chances are really about none. Inspection of the trees confirm this. At least the three young trees seem to have survived the winter. The old tree of unknown parentage that my husband saved from the house-builder's bulldozer, however, does not look like it will survive this brutal spring season. I continue to water her as if she were going to live - but if not, then this summer she will become something else. I recently saw a book on wooden buttons. Maybe some of her branches will be reincarnated that way. And her gnarled trunk might warm our house as firewood. And, of course, I have my photos of her. But for now, I encourage her with water, food and words.

Still, as the matron apple tree appears to decline, there are young, fresh plants just beginning their journey. Seven sunflowers in Bed 2 are up and about with large leaves patiently waiting for the hot summer sun. 15 more are barely out of the ground on the west side of the garden - planted under chicken wire, and hidden by dried weeds to thwart the hungry birds. They are planted on the west side, because, invariably, a sunflower will face the morning sun when it prepares to set seed.

Other Garden Status

Peas - over 30 of them, ranging from just sprouted to 4 inches tall
Spinach - var. "Matador" - 39, some with their first set of true leaves
"New Toy" Day Lilies - 3 sets, barely out of the ground and only a few inches high - hoping their bright pink blooms will add color to the garden all season long
Rosemary - continues to bloom
Lemon Balm - self seeded babies are launching their first true leaves
Bearded Irises - Deep maroon tips peak out of lengthening scapes
Garlic - waits for the summer heat to spur them to bulk up their bulbs
Hens - Acquiring 8-12 eggs a day

Enjoying the blessings of the season - in spite of snow last week and the chance of freezing night temperatures still in the forecast.

Henhouse News

2010-05-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

The boys build me a nest box for Mother's Day. I thought it would be too open and that the hens wouldn't use it, but that has not been the case. "Old Biddy," the largest of the Maran hens, lays her single egg every day on top of the nest box. She's always laid her eggs on hard surfaces, so I suppose that is not too surprising.

These eggs were an acumulation of leftovers - some are several days old. They became snacks for the dogs along with about a dozen more "old" eggs. The people are way more spoiled - we eat only "same day" eggs. Sometimes they are less than an hour old.

I can't believe that "Hungry Jack" is now several years old. This is a photo from two weeks ago where he is watching over his bathing beauties. He very rarely partakes in the dust baths himself, but he likes to strut around the flock when the ladies are bathing.

On a sad note, one of my Silver Laced Wyandotes has passed away. It looks like she died in the night on her roost. There appears to be no sign of foul play. She was a little over two years old. My son took her out and burried her.

Spring Is Here!

2010-05-18T22:25:00.001-07:00

It's been a long, cold, bitter winter here in the high desert, but warm temps and rain instead of snow, announce that Spring is finally here!

Small Miracles!

The rosemary pictured above, is not supposed to be winter hardy around here. Especially in an unusually cold winter where we received temperatures as low as negative ten! Other amazing survivors include 3 out of 4 apple trees, the nectarine and the cherry. Oregano, sweet marjoram, lemon balm and earded irises didn't bat an eye - and the irises are now budding. Hens (and rooster) also survived unscathed and are now ramping up egg production. Yes, the miracle of Spring is here!

New In the Ground!

"Matador" spinach is in the ground and sprouting
Peas are 2 - 3 inches tall
6 Silver Thyme plants are in the herb bed
Sunflowers are sprouting (and with them, this year's the battle with the birds and chipmonks)
Two tomato plants are in the ground - still pretty chancy for this time of year

Grow Cheer - Support The Troops

2009-11-29T12:20:00.001-08:00

Plans for the Future

2009-11-16T22:17:00.000-08:00

This year has been a very frustrating year in the garden - or rather, OUT of the garden. Between my surgery, my job and my husband being deployed with the Army right smack dab in the middle of planting season, there wasn't much gardening done this year. I could have really used a garden this year to counter the stress of it all. But, as most gardeners, I am eternally optimistic - because next year's garden is certainly to be the best garden yet!

They say that winter is the end of the gardening season, but in reality, it is the beginning - for it is during the cold and dreary days of winter that the new garden is dreamed into existence

Sunflowers can stand quite a bit of cold and can be planted the same time as peas. I will have to be careful the peas do not smother the young sunflowers, but if I do, then they will have a head start at the northern boarder of the bed.

Certainly the peas will not survive the hot summer sun, and probably won't even survive our wild and crazy late spring. Luckily, chickens love pea vines! And, as the peas are pulled, the sunflower plants should start coming into their own. As I pull pea vines, I will plant a few zucchini's. Probably more than we need, but pollination is difficult to come by for zukes - probably because even our summer mornings are often too cold to lure bees out and the mid-day sun has all but the hardiest insects scrambling for cover. Last time I grew squash I hand pollinated. I also plan to plant some spinach and mesclun mix in the shade of the zukes and sunflowers. We'll see if lots of water and shade will help the salad greens survive.

And when the crisp autumn afternoons foretell of fireplaces and honking geese, I'll feed the last of the zucchini leaves and stems to the chicken, protect my sunflower seed heads from marauding wild birds, and plant out garlic.

I have three 4 x 8 ft raised beds. This is just an idea for bed number one. ... Actually, it is bed number two. Bed number one houses my perennial herbs and bearded irises. I haven't dreamed up what to do with the third bed yet. I am hoping to add at least 3 more beds for the 2010 season. And a better watering system than depending on myself and my erratic schedule. ... and a way to let chickens in the garden but protecting the plants from their sharp beaks.

Apples this season? Almost

2009-08-09T19:58:00.001-07:00

Fading September Fuji apple blossoms turning into tiny apples in mid-May. They are about the size of my thumb nail at this point.

Alas, summer thunderstorms in July that produced wild winds (but no rain that actually reached the ground) knocked all the apples off of the trees. The chickens did eat them up, but instead of ripe, fist sized apples, they got hard, green, golf-ball sized apples. At least they were not totally wasted, but still, I was hoping for some apples that maybe people could partake of. Still, at least I know that I have the right pollinators. My rescue tree of unknown parentage along with both my September Fujis and one other apple tree (I want to say it's the Gala) bloomed and fruited this year. Another apple tree didn't bloom, but it's young, yet, so I wasn't really expecting it to bloom.

Babies at about 3 weeks. They lived in my shower for about a month and then moved into the bottom half of a dog crate in the laundry room.

Baby chickies born in mid May should be laying eggs after Thanks Giving. Of the original 6 that hatched, 4 survived. 1 died of injuries sustained by overly helpful German Shepard (Dog was very gentle trying to put chickie back in the chickie cage, but not gentle enough. Our son put the chickie out of it's misery with my pistol.). The other died of unknown causes. Here you see a Silver Laced Wyandotte x Maran and a White Easter Egger x Maran.

The Roosters are pretty hard on the hens and have now been separated from them. The hens should be much happier and egg production might even go up. Only really need to have the Roosters running with the Hens when I want fertile eggs.

Babies! Babies!

2009-05-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

This one was born on Saturday.
He/She is up and about, eating, drinking and causing a ruckus. And apparently, will need to move to a box with higher sides soon.

So, I think this one might actually be a Maran (R) x Easter Egger (H). Difficult to tell what color the EE was - white or brown, but this one certainly doesn't look black like SLW or Maran parentage.

The chickie here was born on Sunday, but was not yet robust enough to hang out with the older chicks. By the time the other three had hatched, this one was running around and was put in with the older ones.

Memorial Day arrivals with two more eggs left to hatch. Babies aren't even dry yet. It's a miracle. I AM reminded that there is a Higher Power somewhere.

Wow, what a weekend. I feel like the Chicken Maternity Ward. We thought Old Biddy was sitting on 7 eggs, but she was sitting on 9. 6 live births gives us a 60% success rate - pretty good for going "all natural". 1 didn't make it through its hatch. Two more? Well, they are still within a normal time frame - normal being between 18 days and 25 days. We are on day 23 right now. Going to keep them hydrated and see what happens. Some were put under old Biddy on the Sunday, so the ones that hatched today could have been "22 day" chicks. Still, even if the other two eggs don't hatch, I am deliriously happy with the small, noisy peepers in my bathroom.

Spring Has Sprung

2009-05-23T11:51:00.001-07:00

The first chickie hatched today - exactly 21 days. Done the old fashioned way - a randy rooster, some hens, a broody biddy and time. The day temps are in the mid 80s to low 90s right now - perfect for baby chickens. And a warm mommy to tuck under when the temps drop at night. No brooder light bulbs for me this season.

I've been on hiatus as the Army has taken over my life, but, in spite of my mostly ignoring the garden and chickens, things are moving along.

I took some photos this morning, and hopefully more chickies will be born soon. Old Biddy started out with more than a dozen eggs, but over the course of the first week, she rejected about half of them and ended up keeping 7. Don't know why she rejected some, but they were "obviously" rejects as she took the time to push them to the furthest corner of her broody cage and did not attack me when I removed them. I tried to play that game with one that she wanted, and she hollered and hissed at me and rolled it back across the floor and back into her clutch. I'm sure she had her henny penney reasons.

Mid West Travel Digressions

2009-01-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

Over the summer I had the good fortune to have a day off in the mid-west. I drove out to Lake Michigan. I've seen the Great Lakes on maps, so I knew they were huge - but you really have to see it to realize just how big it really is. From the south shore, you cannot even tell it is a lake - it looks like an ocean that opens up to the north and extends to the end of the earth. A sea gull over Lake Michigan. I love my camera. True, I'm not very practiced, so a shot like this for me is still "just lucky" - but it helps to have good equipment.
And, more sea gulls as they fly out over the lake. You can click on any of the photos on this blog to see the full sized picture.
View of the beach. I understand that at one time, the factories along the bank spewed smoke so vile and plentiful that the skies above the lake were smuged black. I'm glad that is no longer the case.
Pebbles along the shore. Sometimes I just like to take pictures of patterns. Some day I hope to return with more than a few hours to spare - still, I am so blessed that I get to see so much of our country.

Almost Home Again

2009-01-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

I love being on the road, and it's always interesting and fun to visit our remote offices - but sometimes I think the best part of being on the road is coming home. Looking forward to hearing "Hungry Jack" crow in the mornings and seeing the girls stampede for treats. You can see our neighbor's house in the background while Hungry Jack does his thing. Good thing the neighbors are a ways away - Hungry Jack can get pretty loud when he chooses. And if he and No. 2 get into a crowing duel, it can really echo through your brain.
Here's a photo of The Princess rooster, Fancy Pants and The Mean Hen as they get ready to take a trek to friends who planned to eat them. Fancy pants did end up as roast rooster, but I hear The Princess and The Mean Hen have become pets. The Mean Hen is laying an egg every few days and The Princess has the run of the yard. Glad to see they have a good home, but I am even happier that my own flock is now so much more mellow. Literally within hours of the mean roosters and hen being removed from the flow, there was a happier, calmer air about them.

Funny side note about chickens - apparently there is a significant minority of people where I work who are somehow involved with chickens! Either they have some (as in the case of someone in our So Cal office), or used to have them (Georgia and Nor Cal Offices), or are thinking of getting them (Nor Cal Office). In a few cases, my coworkers' grown children are somehow involved with chickens on a professional level. I would never have guessed!

Airplane ride most of the day tomorrow and then home!

Garlic ... culling ckickens ... eggs ...

2009-01-11T13:38:00.000-08:00

Procrastination means that I have a few "not doing so well" garlic cloves. None of them are actually rotting or moldy, but they certainly are not in their prime. But, can't let anything go to waste, so, like in 2007 (the photo above), I will plant the cloves in a pot. I'll water them well, let them stay outside for a few weeks (so they think Winter has come), and then bring them inside and put in a sunny window sill (so they think Spring has arrived). Keep moist but not soggy and within a few weeks, garlic shoots should rise up. When they get to be 4 or 5 or 6 inches tall, cut a few inches off the top and use like garlic chives. They'll continue to grow for a few months until their storage of food in the clove is used up. Then it is into the compost pile with them. I don't like green onions, so I use these whenever I need green onions.
This is a picture of Jake from October 2006. He's running over what would eventually become the western fence line of my garden. He's buried out in the back, now, within site of the garden.
Speaking of burials, this flower grows in the shady areas of Laurelwood Cemetery in Savannah, Ga. Don't know what it is, but it was blooming in July last year when I visited.

Here you can see the "chalaza" from one of my eggs. Usually when you break an egg, the chalaza will break near the yolk and recoil and stick to the membrane still in the shell. You can see a good drawing of the parts of an egg at 4-H Virtual Farm (http://www.ext.vt.edu/resources/4h/virtualfarm/poultry/poultry_eggparts.html) I have been trying to take a clear photo of the germinal disc of an egg - it is the very tiny spot that can tell you if an egg is fertile or not. My yolks all seem to land "spot side down", so I haven't captured one of my own, yet. The website mentioned above has a link to a photo of a germinal disc.

Three things I have noticed about my "cage free" chickens are that 1) the yolks are much deeper yellow than store bought eggs - sometimes they are nearly orange, 2) the yolks are strong - you really need to pre-beat them in a cup if you want to break them up - or really stab them with the spatula in the pan (wow, even I can make easy-over eggs with these eggs!), and 3) the shells are much, much harder. This is pretty interesting to me, since they chickies are not "free range" or "organic". They get scientifically, commercially formulated (drug-free) chicken feed, corn-based (drug-free) chicken scratch, oatmeal, scrap veggies, and oyster shell (if they want it). Threw some scratch out in my fallow garden beds this afternoon, so the chickens plowed it up rather nicely while hunting down their goodies. Life is good.

... except, probably, for the 3 chickens that are being culled today. The two Easter Egger roosters (Fancy Pants and The Princess) and EE no. 38 are being relocated to a family in CA who will be, most likely, eating them. They are in a dog crate awaiting transportation (yes, they have access to water). The whole rest of the flock is already much happier with just the two Maran roos.

The two EE roosters were getting meaner and meaner, both to me and the hens. They would corner a hen and be pretty rough on her. The hens would stress out and scatter whenever the two EEs came near... but the two Maran roosters are gentle and the hens will actually go up to them and "present" themselves. I guess we'll be having Maran and Maran crossbreed babies in the early summer! (The Marans, as a species, seem to be more interested in eating than fighting or being mean... gentleness is a good trait to breed into a flock.)

Brown EE no. 38 started pulling feathers and picking on all the hens a few weeks ago. We tried to cure her of her bad habbits, but when she started picking so badly that she was drawing blood and nearly killed one of her flock-mates, we knew she had to go. Don't want her teaching the others how to do such things... the SLW that got all beat up is in "hospital confinement" in a dog crate in the hen house. That way she can rest up without the roosters or others bothering her, but talk to the other chickens and still be part of the flock. Don't know if she will make it or not. She is bare chicken skin on several spots on her back and looks pretty pecked at and bruised.

Happy New Years!

2009-01-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

Ok, there's my obligatory picture of my favorite (New Year and Every Day) beverage and a few eggs from the Biddies. They are laying between 9 and 15 eggs a day now. Sort of like zucchini in the summer, I am giving eggs away to anyone who will sit still for 20 seconds!

Some digressions

Some of you who have known me for a long time (or a long, long time, as the case may be), know that I am an avid collector of postcards. I have been collecting them for well over 3 decades. Some years I am more active with sending and recieving them - and some years I am too busy with other aspects of my life. I am hoping that 2009 is one of my more active postcard years. To that end, I have joined PostCrossing.com.

Piggies for 2009?!

I'm thinking of raising two feeder pigs during the fall of 2009 - gilts (girls) probably - one to put in the freezer by Thanks Giving, and one to sell, so that maybe I'll break even on the costs of housing and fencing. The big question is, will I be able to eat them? I am guessing I will cry on butchering day, but will I be able to eat my hog? I am thinking yes!

From the ATTRA people: Hogs (http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/Hogs.html)
Jouney To Forwever: Farm Pigs (http://journeytoforever.org/farm_pig.html)

Maybe the hogs can eat some of the extra eggs when the hens are in full production? I am thinking fall hogs, as, if I have a really productive year in the garden, they can eat some goodies from there, too. And then all the poo gets put back into the compost bin and becomes food for next year's garden. It's a thought, anyway.

Such for the grandiose dreams for the 2009 season!

Well, 5 days of vacation are coming to a close. Have enjoyed hanging out with the chickies and watering trees (once the hoses have thawed out) and other such home-body things - but I will enjoy getting back to work and plunging into all the new projects for the New Year. Many blessings to everyone.

Lessons Learned 2008

2008-12-28T01:09:00.000-08:00

Many blessings in the garden this year. Although not as productive as the 2007 season, I was also more focused on chickens and work travel during the 2008 season. Now that the chickens are under control, I shall try to be more focused on the gardening aspects again.

Procrastination Kills Plants!

Successes

Spring planted peas - probably they could have benefited from mulch and a floating row cover, but by garlic harvesting time in early June, they were going like gang busters.
Garlic - planted on time in the fall of 2007, mulched and fed and watered at the correct times
Fruit trees growing well - bloomed nicely before winter came and froze the buds. No fruits yet, but the trees are maturing nicely and are starting to look like, well, real trees (as opposed to sticks)
Sunflowers - planted in basically pure sand. They were stunted, but all grew. Watering enough was a challenge. Planting in trenches, watering deeply and mulching probably will help. As well as some fertilization. Chickens loved the sunflower seeds (what few they got) and loved eating the leaves, too.
Chickens - grew well and started laying right on schedule in mid-November.
Corn - well, not successful in that people didn't get to eat it, but very successful in that chickens enjoyed the heck out of their corn stalk forest and ate and shredded both the corn, the leaves and the stalks. Going to grow some for them and some for us in 2009.
Zucchini - Eight Ball - will grow standard zukes next year, but the protected ones did well. The others were eaten to the ground by the young chickens.
Oregano, Rosemary, Lemon Balm - surprise survivors that overwintered from 2007
Shredded paper mulch - made mostly of bills and junk mail. Need to do this for the trees this year.
Watering the compost pile and keeping it mostly covered - I noticed a seemingly overnight improvement in the speed of the pile decomposing as soon as I started doing that.

Chickens Kill Plants!

Problems and Challenges

Chickens - they are cute and they love scratching around the garden and eating everything green in site. Meaning, anything unprotected got trampled, eaten or trampled and eaten.
- Zucchini
- Young tomatoes (they didn't eat them; just trample them as they hunted tomato worms)
- Bearded irises
- Strawberry plants
Tomatoes - tomatoes plus desert sun equals no fruit setting; fruit setting in Sept won't ripen before the first hard frost
Cukes - keep planting these too late, but the flowers are pretty, so not a total loss
Didn't plant garlic for 2009 on time; going to be a small harvest this year
Sunflowers - wild birds got to the seeds before I was able to feed them to the chickens, so the chickies only got to eat some of the seeds.
Beans - too hot for them. Miss one day of watering and they wilt and die when the temps are over 100°F. Mulching and planting in trenches might help. Grasshoppers loved them.
Lots of space yet unused. Need to fill it or Nature will fill it with weeds!

The Desert Kills Plants!

Some Ideas for the 2009 Season

Tomatoes - grow in 3 - 5 gallon buckets and haul in and out and grow under lights so that they are well on their way when the last frost is done
Make cages for the plants so that the chickens can't get at them - SLW in photo above is showing her disdain for the fencing I used to protect sleeping garlic bulbs!
Plant some corn in the chicken run - protect until it is well matured. That will give them shade in the summer and something to play in throughout the fall and into the winter.
Shred more paper - it's tough to keep up with, but it works wonderfully as both mulch and chicken bedding
Mulch, mulch, mulch and mulch some more
Compost more
Make manure tea for the trees and plants
Implement an automated drip or sprinkler system
Plant more hybrid poplar trees along the front - plant in trenches, flood irrigate and mulch and feed well.
Plant a few hybrid poplars on the outside of the south and north sides of the chicken run - this will provide shade and wind blocks during the summer. (If I plant them inside the run, the chickens will be able to use the trees to escape from the run!)
Plant extra herb and tomato plants so I can give some away
Try early maturing, "closer to wild" grape or current tomatoes to see if I can get a harvest this year; protect them when the nights start getting colder
Grow enough basil to make pesto

Counting My Blessings

2008-12-27T16:01:00.000-08:00

Lovely clear, warm (above 40°F, calm day. I let the chickens into the barren winter garden for the afternoon, tossed out some uncooked oatmeal and cracked corn and let them have at it. Spent several hours just puttering around, taking pictures, adding fresh pine bedding to the chicken coop, and generally just whiling away the day doing "not much of anything."
I suppose that some of the point of raising chickens would be to go out and collect the eggs fresh before breakfast and fry them up on the spot. It was still in the 20's at breakfast time, so we ate yesterday's eggs, and these lovelys sat in the pine shavings for several more hours as the morning thawed out.
I have barricaded the bed with the garlic so that it is "Chicken-proof", but I have not done the same to the herb bed. Caught this girl red-handed (or red-headed) among the dried basil stalks, tomato plant trash and flattened down Irises. Hard to believe that 7 months ago, this bed was in full bloom (First Day of June 2008).
She's my chicken killer. Can't train something like that out of a dog, so we have strong fencing and try and be extra diligent at surveillance. She came to us skiddish, shy, and with her ribs sticking out. Now she is fat, happy, bouncy and full of kisses for everyone. My toddler granddaughter still scares her a little, and after an hour or so of toddler pursuit, Sadie is ready to hide in her bed in the laundry room. Come to think of it, after an hour of toddler pursuit, I am ready to hide in my room, too! Well, I can't complain too much about the flock of disabled vehicles that live on our little farm. It keeps the boys amused - and I know where everyone is on Saturday night - at home, warming up by the fire after playing with the cars all afternoon!After much "Schooling by broom", the PIA rooster seems to be behaving much better now. He has been re-named "Fancy Pants". Here's a closeup of his fancy tail. He better keep behaving, as we have a turkey fryer, now, and he'd fit, no problem!Many blessings for the New Year!

Battening down the hatches

2008-12-21T13:46:00.001-08:00

What a difference a few months makes. Here's a photo from mid-October - nearly done at this point, and ready for winter. Roof is weather-proofed even though we are still five shingles short of having all the roofing on. I guess we're buying a full bundle of shingles to finish it off.

Way too cold for shorts these days - one morning was three degrees last week. My husband forced me to get a warm, hooded, "Carhardt-style" work jacket at Cabellas yesterday. I whined about spending so much money on a jacket... and then I went to play with the chickens this morning, and, ok, so maybe it was worth it! Now I have a heavy jacket and socks. What'll it be next? Snow boots or something?!

Well, it certainly doesn't snow this much where we are. If it did, well, we probably wouldn't be living here! It's pretty, but it isn't fun to drive in, even with 4WD. And it never really snows enough around here for anyone (including me) to actually really learn how to drive in the stuff. Is it summer, yet? Then I can whine about the heat instead of the cold! One nice thing about winter, though - I have lots of time to plan projects for my husband for Spring and Summer next year!

Baby, it's cold outside!

2008-12-07T05:59:00.000-08:00

The song, according to Wikipedia, is written by Frank Loesser. In my mind, it is sung by Doris Day and Frank Sinatra, but according to the article, the chart topping version that everyone remembers is actually recorded by Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer. Frankie & Doris appear to have never recorded it. No matter - at 14 °, it's cold outside! Chickens were especially appreciative of getting warm water this morning! And the coop is significantly warmer than outside, so if it was 14 in the coop and 55.4° in the house, I shudder to think what the outside temp was!

Oh, no, more Photoshop

2008-12-03T20:17:00.000-08:00

The only thing exciting is the egg hunt and egg counts. Today there were a total of 9. 5 tan from the Silver Laced Wyandottes, 3 dark brown from the Marans and a weird olive colored egg that could have been an odd one from either a Maran or an Easter Egger.
Used a bunch of this in some wonderful home made vegetable soup. The other ingredients were store bought, but still, nothing like fresh, hot soup on a cold winter day! The maroonish colored garlic have deep, golden brown cloves with a nice, spicy taste. The taste mellows with cooking, though, so I think my daughter could have tripled (or more) the amount of garlic in the soup! (Ok, so what if I think you can never have enough garlic!)Yes, these are all made from actual digital photos of my 2008 garlic harvest. I'm so desperate for Spring and Summer that I have resorted to "photoshopping" my harvest!This is a still life that I took a few years ago. The lighting wasn't very good and it just didn't quite make it as a photograph. But I think it turned out OK as a photoshopped picture.

Artistic Eggs

2008-12-02T20:58:00.000-08:00

These are made from actual photographs of mine. In the case of the eggs, the photo did not really turn out that great. Add a little photoshopping, though, and they look great (at least to me - I'm biased!). Remember, you can click on the picture for a full sized version...

This is from a photo of the Pain In The A... rooster. I think I have this as a non-photoshopped photo somewhere else on this blog. He looks so lovely and pleasant in this photo. If only he were so in real life. Periodic chasing with a broom and letting a toddler hoot and holler at him seems to have made him a little nicer to be around, however.

More Eggs!

2008-11-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

Two more eggs today - another small light brown one and a small dark brown one. Five eggs in two days - here they are compared to a Grade A Large store-bought white egg. I know brown eggs aren't any more nutritious than white ones, but they sure are prettier.
Here are my eggs sitting in what I hope are the last store-bought eggs that I eat in many, many years.

No pictures, but all the girls (except Kick-Start) got their right wing feathers clipped and leg bands. Since Kick-Start can't fly and is easily recognizable, I figured I didn't need to clip her or adorn her with jewelry. The roosters don't really fly and are also easily identifiable, so I didn't clip them or adorn them, either. Hopefully this will stop any more of the girls from flying over the fence and getting themselves eaten. And, hopefully, it will help protect my garden.

On the gardening and I-Can't-Wait-For-Spring front, the first of the seed catalogs came this week. Other than that, I think the rosemary and oregano are the only things showing any green at this moment. I'm not sure why the rosemary is alive - it should have died many, many hard frosts ago. Still, I am delighted that we will have fresh rosemary for the turkey this Thanks Giving.

Secure the garlic planting area from chickens
Plant garlic
Deep water trees as soon as the hoses thaw in the morning to give them the maximum amount of above freezing time to absorb the water
Mulch strawberries
Mulch herbs (rosemary, oregano, sweet marjoram, lemon balm)
Re-dig the watering basins around the trees and put the mulch back in that the chickens have spread all around

First Eggs!

2008-11-22T03:38:00.000-08:00

My husband discovered them while I was at work yesterday. Right on schedule - I had estimated Thanks Giving. We actually got 4 eggs, but one of them was cracked and he threw it out. I am guessing that the darker ones are from a Maran and the lighter one from a Silver Laced Wyandotte. If we get a few more this morning, we'll be having scrambled eggs for breakfast!

Another Day In Paradise

2008-11-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

Although the chickens have been living in the coop for quite some time now, it still isn't totally finished. Sort of like the Winchester Mystery House - there is this urge to "keep building." Son and husband continue to work hard to make sure it is done before the really cold times arrive. You can see the beginning skeleton of the awning that will help provide shade in the summer. What you can't see is that tar paper has gone up on the roof and that the whole south side has been flashed, edged, papered and shingled. The north side is papered - which is a good thing because it actually rained today. See the clouds in the picture - it was pleasantly cool yesterday when those clouds were white. Now those clouds are black and dripping rain. (And slowing down my Internet connection on top of that.)

The Princes Chicken/Rooster/Hen/He/She/It had a tough week last week. Spent a lot of time being beat up by the Roosters. In particular, my other Easter Egger Rooster would make a bee-line for the Chicken and start whacking away at him. Then the other two roosters would join in. We kept the Princess in a dog crate in the coop while I was on travel - with my son making sure it had food and water and some supervised/protected time out of the crate. But my husband seems to have solved the Princess Rooster bashing - he took the instigator and stuffed in in the head rooster's face a few times and after the instigator got beat on a little, he stopped being so mean. Both my husband and I took a broom to the instigator (now known as the PIA Rooster (Pain In the A... Rooster)) and PIA is no longer flying at us, either. Good thing, because the consensus that I've been getting on how to deal with PIA was to roast him. (Ok, a few people said he could become stew, but since he's a young rooster, they felt he could still be quite tender and should be roasted or baked.) I did carry PIA around for a while and discuss these possibilities with him. So far, 3 days now and he seems to have mellowed out quite a bit.

The girls are gaining weight and their hips are broadening. They are definately getting "rounder" in the behind. I believe the same things happened to me when I was ready to hatch out little chickies of my own. And while the Roosters are getting amorous, the Hens are mostly still squawking at them and running away.

Here's a few rare photos of my husband. He is decidedly camera shy. But he was hand feeding some of the chickens so he was trapped - and I got my shot. This photo is taken in the garden as there is not one smidgen of green left in their run.

Here is my husband holding Kick-Start, our lame girl. She knows he will carry her everywhere, so when she sees him coming, she hop-flaps over to him and looks up and waits. She fully expects treats with her transportation and he never disappoints. Here they are in front of the "rescue" apple tree that my husband brought over the Sierra Nevadas for me. It was slated to be bull-dozed to make way for new houses - but instead, it came to live with us in the desert. He's a tough guy, so he blames adopting all the strays on me! Well, ok, so we're both softies - he brings 'em home and I end up taking care of them.

Water has a veneer of ice early in the mornings these days, but the temps usually warm up quickly after sunrise. Still, they appreciate it when I bring them warm water - which is to say "house temperature" water. But the days are coming when the water will be solidly frozen and I will be bringing warm water serveral times daily. Winter adds at least a half hour of hot water hauling to dogs and chickens for my morning chores. It's a PIA, but I am more than happy to pay the price of not living in the suburbs or city.

Here's the Top Dog Rooster. He's actually pretty gentle when not provoked. He can be mean if provoked, though, as the PIA Rooster has discovered. He crows a lot and "talks" to the hens as they go about their business. When he sounds the alarm, everyone mad-dashes to the hen house.

I'm supposed to be planting out garlic, but the weather has not been cooperative and it was much more fun to take photos of chickens yesterday. I'm also supposed to burry the strawberries in shredded paper. I did, at least, throw tomato vine trash on the rosemary, oregano, sweet marjoram and lemon balm, so hopefully all of those will survive the winter.

This chicken pot pie is made with store-bought chicken - but I did inform the PIA Rooster that it could easily be made with Fresh PIA Rooster if he could not figure out how to get along! (Yes, I know, those of you who know me well are probably thinking that I did not really make this all by myself, but I did. So see, yes, you can teach an old hen new tricks!)

Chicken Portraits

2008-10-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Remember, you can click on the photo to see a larger version of it. Well, I think the Princess Chicken turned out to be a rooster after all. It is growing spurs and also does still occasionally crow. The feathers on its neck look more traditionally male than female. On the other hand, it doesn't strut around like the other 3 roosters. In fact, it acts decidedly hen-like, even though its tail has elongated to rooster proportions and it has other "roostery" attributes. Nice example of a classic "rose" comb here - but also note absence of wattles. Could it still be a hen - just a hen with extra testosterone? If it is a rooster, it isn't even really number 4 of 4 - the other 3 roosters don't even treat it like it's a rooster. My friend says that maybe "he" is a San Francisco Princess. In any event, the Prince/Princess is healthy and happy.

Silver Laced Wyandotte Pullet (Hen) - she is puffed out and settled down for the night. Note the small "rose" comb and dark beak. Generally speaking, these are the first ones to come running when I head towards the chicken run with "goodies."
Maran Pullet (Hen) - of the three types of hens in my flock, these are the most aggressive towards other hens. The Top Hen is a Maran and roosts on the ladder, higher up than even the roosters. They don't have true "rose" combs, but have a little "mini-comb." The Maran rooster has a full comb and full wattles. You can see the hen barely has any wattles (the red skin flaps that hang from their cheeks).
Head Rooster ready for Sleepy Time. He is a Maran rooster and is the "Top Dog" in the chicken coop. Note full comb and wattles. I hope they don't get frost bit this winter.
"Easter Egger (EEs)" rooster. The EEs were sold as "Ameracaunas," but I am not sure that they are truly such. In any event, this is my prettiest rooster. In fact, he is the prettiest chicken in the whole flock. I am hoping to breed him to the white EEs in the summer. He is 3rd out of four on the hierarchy ladder.
Speaking of ladders, here is a Silver Laced Wyandotte peaking out from her nightly roost on the ladder.
An Orange/Brown EE Pullet (Hen) - The brown EEs seem to have an attitude issue. The white EEs don't seem to have this problem. Perhaps they are not related to the Orange/Brown ones. This one tends to come up behind me and pick at the rivets in my jeans or painfully pluck at my wedding ring.

White "EE" Pullet. A bit less agressive than their darker cousins.

Is it Spring yet? And selling eggs...

2008-10-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken in mid-April in California. So at least 6 months before anything green even thinks of poking its head up out of the sand here in Nevada.

There are some advantages to winter, though. First off, it isn't so doggoned hot. Of course, that probably means it is freezing cold. We do get a few weeks where it is actually nice, though. Maybe one in April, maybe a few in May, a few in September. If we're lucky, a few in October.

Another advantage of winter is that the winds die down, meaning there is less dust in the air. On a cold, clear November night, you can see stars beyond imagination. Those of you who live your lives in the city miss one of the joys of rural life - turning off all the lights and sitting on the porch with a good dog at your feet and counting stars. In November, there are no blood-thirsty bugs to feast on you at night. I think even if you were a hard-core atheist, at a moment like that, you would be tempted to Believe.

Peas were planted two days before the sub-20°F night. So far, none have peaked up from the ground. Perhaps I was too late in planting them? I was hoping for pea vines for the chickies to munch on in winter, even if we didn't get any peas.

Garlic is here and ready to plant out. My living room smells so yummy with the bulbs waiting for me there - waiting for me to

get off my duff
build them a cage to protect them from marauding chickens
put them in the ground

The basil, of course, died with the first 30°F night, but the oregano keeps on as well as the sweet marjoram. Surprisingly, the rosemary also still survives. The tips are a little frost-killed, but I think if I mulch it well, perhaps it will come back in the Spring. Gardeners, I am sure, are eternal optimists. Even after we are dead and buried, there is always Next Spring.

About selling chicken eggs...

Of course, one must count one's eggs before the chickens actually start laying. It's the way it is done! So even though no one is laying yet... with 25 hens, and 2 of 3 laying an egg every day, we could have 18-20 eggs or so during peak season. That could mean that I have 10 dozen eggs a week to sell at the farmer's market. Enough to beak even in cost of driving expenses and almost a weeks worth of chicken feed. An added bonus is that my granddaughter lives in the same town as the little farmer's market that I would attend. So it would just be another excuse to see her every week. Any eggs that didn't sell I could give to my daughter.

But to really make it worth it from a dollar perspective, I think I would need 100 hens... but that is starting to sound like work. I have to remember, the chickens are for therapy and entertainment, not work! ...and maybe I can sell some garlic, too...

With the idea that I might have a very small egg business, here are some resources I have found...on the other hand, I have not been able to find anything useful on the laws that I need to comply with...

Nevada Grown (http://nevadagrown.com/UserPages/default.aspx)- as they say on their website, "your resource for Nevada’s rich selection of locally-grown food."
Fallon's Farmer's Market (http://www.fallontourism.com/index/farmers_market.htm) - small town, homey, little tiny farmer's market - I love it!
Local Food Northern Nevada (http://lfnn.blogspot.com/) - a local blogger on local foods and where to find them in the Reno/Sparks metroplex (hey, for Northern Nevada, it is a "metroplex"...)

22°F this morning in the coop

2008-10-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

From Left to Right: White & Blakc Ameraucana, Maran Hen, Maran Rooster, back end of a Silver Laced Wyandotte, White Ameraucana (aka The Princess Chicken).

Of course, that was too cold for me to go mucking about in the wane morning light. All of these pictures were taken in the coop in the evening while it was a balmy 34°F.
Closer view of the Maran Hen (left) and Maran Rooster (right). It's difficult to tell in this photo, but the hens are all quite a bit darker in coloring, with little rose combs. The rooster is a lot larger than the hens, and his comb is traditional rooster looking, not rose at all. And, of course, he crows. A lot. And not just at sunrise, but whenever he darn well feels. He crows at me when I enter the coop and startle him, and he crows at my german shepard. I think he just likes to hear himself crow. The other two roosters don't crow nearly as much.
A trio of Silver Laced Wyandotte hens. They have almost no combs. I chose the Marans both for the dark brown eggs that they lay, and also, because, like the Wyandottes, they have small combs. I'm hoping this will help avert frost bite.
Closer view of a Silver Laced Wyandotte hen. Note her red earlobes. She will lay traditional brown eggs (not nearly as dark as the Marans).
Left to Right: Ameraucana rooster, Maran hen, Brown/Orange Ameraucana - all puffed out and mad because I woke her up - two Silver Laced Wyandottes.
Brown/Orange Ameraucana and a Silver Laced Wyandotte - I stuck my finger under the Wyandotte - nice and toasty under the feathers and in her down. Feet all warm, too. They are perched on 2" x 4" boards with the wide side parallel to the floor so they can cover all of their feet when roosting. Supposed to help prevent frostbite on the toesies.
And, of course, no photo shoot could be complete without a photo of The Princess Chicken. Since the roosters have started crowing and growing spurs, she (we still think she is a she) has stopped crowing. She is acting more feminine, too - not nearly as agressive as she used to be. Still, we don't have eggs from her, yet, so she still might be a he. White Ameraucana. Ameraucanas lay blue or green eggs, with the color being specific to the hen (i.e. she will lay all blue or all green eggs, and not a mixture).
Maran hen on top of an 8 ft ladder. She's the top hen and she always wants to roost as high up as possible. I left the ladder in the coop after adjusting the heat lamp (the ladder is far from the lamp) - and now she has taken over. I guess I will have to presure wash and bleach before returning it to my husband!

By the way, the heat lamp doesn't really heat the coop, but it does keep the waterer mostly deiced - meaning that I won't usually have to go chip ice for them in the wee hours before work.

Pullet Power

2008-09-16T23:27:00.000-07:00

Not sure why teenage female chickens are called "pullets," but they are. So here are the babies as they currently are, as of mid-September, 2008. And, in case you are wondering - yes, that is the same baby chicky watering jar as in their baby video. They have a large watering facility that will easily allow 15 or more chickens to drink at one time - but no, they still prefer drinking from their original water jar.

My Baby Chickie Video

2008-09-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, got some new video editing software that I just had to play with. This video is from the first few days of my chickies' lives. Can you spot the Princess Chicken? From Day One, you can see she stands out from the crowd.

Took me most of the night to figure out how to

Use my new Pinnacle Studio video software
Find a FREE .MOV to .AVI converter (that actually works well)
Create a YouTube account
Export video in a format that YouTube liked
Upload the video, find it didn't work, recreate, upload again
Repeat above a few times

So, no other posts this holiday, probably, but I am proud to share part of the first day's of life of my babies. (Now, where was this technology when I had my human babies?) Anyway, watch out world - I may have found a new calling!

Holiday in the High Desert

2008-08-31T10:42:00.000-07:00

Labor Day Weekend is the "Last Hoorah" travel weekend for a lot of people. As a result, I try to stay as far away from roads as possible. In fact, it's usually my favorite holiday to spend at home. By the end of August we are usually having a few days that are under 90*F, and with luck, one or two of them will land on the holiday weekend. Indeed, we are in luck this year, as today it is supposed to be under 80*F, even!

The "rescue" apple tree and my miniature corn field in the NE corner of the garden. The tarp is strung on the fence between the garden and the chicken run to provide shade and a wind block.

So I slept in until 5:30 a.m. this morning, and then met the sunrise with a small stampeed of chickens. The air was crisp and breezy, but not cold and windy, so everyone was hungry and energetic. This young "Easter Egger" doesn't yet have her poofy cheeck feathers, and is maturing quite a bit slower than her flock mates. I suppose in a different flock, she would have been culled long before now, but in a small, home flock like ours, we can afford to keep on a slow grower.
You can see the poofy cheeck feathers on the two "Easter Eggers" here. They are attacking some dried sunflower heads from last year's harvest.
As you can see, the sunflowers were a big hit with the chickies. I hung out in the coop filling water bottles and mixing up more food and such while they squawbled over both the seeds and the right to attack the dried sunflower head.
Another big hit with the chickies are the steps to the coop. Both fun for hopping on and beeing taller than the other chickies, and a great place to chill out under.
As cute as the chickies are, however, their sweetness is just an illusion. Here is some of the destruction that they caused in the corn patch.
And, while Life is determined to go forth in spite of the Desert, the Chickens and Me, only a few corn stalks produced ears. And those that did produced small ears... and most of those were sampled by Chickens.

So now, I think, it must be - Nap Time!

General Status

2008-08-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

Work progresses on the chicken coop. Here DSR is screwing down the plywood that will be the underlayment for the roof. It's so nice to have the chickens out of the laundry room on a permanent bases, now.
Of course, major work on the coop means that the chickens spent all day hanging out in the tattered remains of the garden. The corn patch, of course, is still a favorite. But the chickies have also discovered that sunflower leaves also make delectable eating greens. One of the brown Easter Eggers caught a small lizard and made off like the winner of The Grand Prize. She ate it down in one bite. Of course, I didn't have my camera handy, but it sure was funny to watch.
This Yellow Pear did not fare as well as the last one, so it was tossed to a lucky chicken this afternoon. At least I got to eat the other one myself. I suspect that the green tomatoes on the vine now will not make it to ripening as the nights will soon become too cold. First hard frost should be coming 'round soon.
Harvested another Eight Ball zuke this afternoon. Procrastination meant that it is quite a bit bigger than the last one. Still, should be good for stuffing. There are 4 more that are now growing bigger - indicating that they were successfully pollinated. This is a photo of a female flower - you can see the baby fruit at her base. If pollinated, it will darken and start to increase in size. If not, it will yellow and wither. Since I hand pollinated this one, it will hopefully grow and get eaten in a few days.

Some lessons learned this year

What chickens don't eat, they will trample to death
Watering and covering the compost pile really speeds up decomposition
Eight Ball zukes are cute, but Black Beauty (a "regular zuke") is much more productive for the space and water
Tomatoes continue to be a challenge to get to fruit - lots of lovely bush, lots of cute little yellow flowers, but not much pollination
The wild birds and other critters have learned about sunflowers - need to "bag" the heads well before seed formation now
Need to plant a lot more sunflowers if we are going to supplement the chickens' diet with seeds and leaves
Young zucchini leaves are relished by young chickens, even if they are prickly
I will need to make a chicken wire "cage" for the garlic prior to planting it in the ground
Only going to plant two types of garlic this year - Georgia Crystal and Siberian. Besides the distinct color differerence of the bulb wrappers, I'm going to plant only one type to a bed. This will help with identification when it comes time to harvest. The smaller cloves I will plant together so I can let the scapes mature - the chickens loved the tiny bulbils and garlic is supposed to be good to help clean out their systems.
I still cannot keep up with pinching back basil flowers when the heat of summer gets here.
Lemon balm and oregano should be harvested early in the spring before the summer heat makes them bloom.
Rosemary needs full sun - even in the desert. When the basils start shading it, then it slows down in growth. When I pinch back the basils, the rosemary starts growing vigorously again.
Strawberries will take over, given lots of food, water and desert sun.
Do not procrastinate in taking photos of flowers in the spring - today might be a perfect day, but tomorrow a hard frost could destroy all the blooms and buds.
Baby chickens are all consuming
The trees need lots of watering in the summer - once a week for the young ones is not enough

Garden Update

2008-08-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

What chickens don't eat, they will trample or tear up just for fun. So, between hail in June and ever growing chicken feet and beaks, not many of the dozen tomato plants have survived. I am convinced, however, that nothing short of pulling the plant out will kill Yellow Pear. This hardy soul only has one tomato on it right now, but it is turning that lovely yellow color, and if I get to it before the chickens, I could have a sweet bit of tomato heaven in the next day or two.

Male flower buds on the Eight Ball Zucchini plant. The one that is coloring up is ready to use for pollination. I rarely wait until they are actually open these days.
This is a Mexico Midget tomato. The seed is several years old and I was surprised it was so viable. I set out several, but this plant is the lone survivor of this type. There are a few thumbnail sized green tomatoes on it. Unlike Yellow Pear, it does not seem to set fruit when the temps are in the mid to high 90s.

I know, I know, I'm not supposed to let basil flower. Still, I had some basil in my (still store-bought) eggs this morning along with some of the rosemary that you can almost see in this photo. Also added a pinch of fresh oregano. Yum!

Eight Ball Zucchini Report

2008-08-18T02:30:00.000-07:00

What would summer be like without zucchini? Generally speaking, I was expecting an overload of zucchini this year. I had doubled the number of zukes that I planted out this season, and while they have to be hand pollinated to foil Mother Nature, generally speaking, they are more than prolific. In fact, in places with a higher density of pollinators, they are known to take over whole city blocks. And other than the pollinator issue, if you give it some amended sand and copious amounts of water, it loves the desert. 90 degree days, doesn't bat an eye. 100 degrees, are you kidding, that's barely warming up. True, last year when we got to 108, it wasn't really happy, but hey, it was 108. ... but then along came 27 ravenous young chickens... and instead of a dozen zucchini plants (people would shudder and say in disbelief, "You planted a dozen zucchini plants?! Are you crazy?!"), I ended up with just two healthy plants and one that I really should just put out of it's misery.

My main crop of zukes was going to be the standard Black Beauty. She performed well for me in humid Georgia and the hot San Joaquin Valley. With pollination help, she did fine in the High Desert. Unfortunately, she was planted on the ground and was not equipped to deal with chickens. As a result, the only survivors were a few of my trial of Eight Ball Zucchini plants. And here is the first one to come to harvest - about the size of my fist.
This shows it in relation to my SLR camera lense cover for a size comparison. Generally, when the chickens are out, the raised bed is covered in chicken wire so they can't destroy the last of my zucchini plants.

And, of course, the obligatory Super Model Harvest Pose on the corner of the raised bed.
This is a baby Eight Ball, about an inch and a half in diameter right now. You can see where I cut off the top of the flower so that I could take a male flower and pollinate her. The high temps kill the pollen on the male flowers, so pollination has to take place between right before the male flowers open until it starts warming up around 10 a.m.

All in all, the Eight Ball Zukes don't produce nearly as many female flowers as Black Beauty, and the zukes don't have as much mass as a Black Beauty of comprable age - but they are cute and I think I will grow them again next year. Germination was good, but they have to have lots of water and shade their first few days if the temps are over 90*F. Plants are bushy, not viny, and tend to be pretty open. The stems and leaves have the traditional zucchini spines. I hope to have enough to make stuffed zucchini with them some day.

Today's Chicky Pics

2008-08-17T19:04:00.001-07:00

The chicken coop as it looks today - steps, door, roof trusses. (View of the south side.) Eventually there will be a window next to the door, oh, and a roof, too. Everything is screwed together as opposed to nailed - the theory being that screws are stronger. With the 75 MPH wind gusts that we get during some of the year, we need all the strength we can get. The daubs of white are putty over the screws. Eventually, I think, everything will be painted white with some contrasting color trim. We were going to paint it red like a barn, but figured we'd better go with the most heat reflecting color we could. 103*F yesterday.

There's a tarp on the south side of the coop for shade. Under it is the waterer and feeder. And except for the heat of the day, there are usually at least a few chickens on top of it. Luckily, it hoses off well. Eventually it will be replaced with an awning. Being that they like to sit up high, however, we're going to put removable (and washable) roosts on its support posts.

The corn patch is everybody's favorite place to hang out. It seems to be an all around chicky paradise: cool, damp dirt to dust bathe in or hunt bugs in (or, perhaps both at the same time); tender corn leaves to eat; young corn cobs to devour before they even start looking like baby corn on the cob; large, rustling leaves to pick at and shred (I don't think they actually eat the tougher ones, just play with them); tall stalks to provide shade and a great place for hide and seek. Makes me want corn that is 10 feet tall for me to run around in (although I'll pass on searching for and eating bugs).

If the people are to get any corn next year, I will certainly have to barricade it so the marauders can't get to it!

Coop Building Part One

2008-08-16T16:48:00.000-07:00

We are well into August 2008 and the coop is still not completed. We've come a long way, though, and at least the chickens have been out of the laundry room on a permanent bases for a month now. (Remember to click on the photo to see full sized versions of them.)
We naivly thought the chickies would live in the bottom half of a dog crate for 4 or 5 weeks and then move into their newly completed coop and chicken run. As of today, they are just about 8 weeks old - and we are still several weeks off from completion.

The coop certainly is suffering from "scope creap," and as such, is both over budget and well past the original projected deployment date. At least we are currently in a successful beta-test.
Six bags of fence post concrete were used for each of the 4" x 4" foundation posts. There are a total of 9 posts. Posts were set a few days before the beginning of the floor joists and braces.

Floor details. The boys used a lot of brackets, screws and nails. Not to mention, lots of wood. Lowes loves us. A lot.

At this point, the chickies' whole world is still the bottom half of a dog crate in the laundry room.

Mid-June and the walls are going up. DSr. and DJr. built them on the floor and then hoisted them into position by hand and bolted them to the foundation posts and floor support beams.
The West wall is the first one up. This one faces the fenced garden area.
The North wall is next. Also, most of the fence posts and frames for the run are up by now. The tractor and auger have certainly proved their worth.
All four walls are up and the opening for the door is in place. You can barely see it in this photo, but the door is wrapped in a camo tarp on the floor as it hailed in June - three times!
Detail of teh walls being bolted to the foundation posts.

Chicken Feathers

2008-08-11T02:05:00.000-07:00

These photos were really taken yesterday evening. I'm not sure any more if my Ameraucanas are purebred, but at the very least, they appear to be "Easter Eggers," and that is OK with me.
I love the colors and markings on their feathers. These are neck feathers where they transition to the body feathers.
One of the reasons I think they may not be true Ameraucanas is because they have tails - and I understand the real ones don't.
This photo didn't turn out sharp enough to really capture a detail of the feathers, but you can see that this white so-called Ameraucana also has a tail.
A Silver Laced Wyandotte getting her adult markings.
Detail of the "laced" feathers.

New Chicken Feeder

2008-08-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

Just for size comparisons, this is a picture (originally posted on June 28, 2008) of a Maran on my hand.
And this is a picture of the Princess Chicken taken yesterday evening. I know in the blog they look similar in size, but note that the hand that is holding the chicken is the same hand - and that hand hasn't changed sizes in decades, now!
The new feeder came on Saturday (actually, it got here earlier, but I was on business travel, so it hung out at the post office for a while). The chickens really like it a lot - no more banging their heads against the divider in the baby chicky feeder. A little more than half the flock can eat at one time, and since the food is out for them all day long, it isn't a problem. About half head straight for food when I let them out in the morning and about half go running around like, er, chickens, just enjoying the freedom to run and flap about. Around the time they are done running around, the first set of chickens have filled their collective tummies (crops) and are ready for a stroll, and the others get to eat. Working out well, but I can see a second feeder in the future.
Of course, there are benefits for the head hen (me!), too - this feeder holds about 20 lbs of food - close to half a bag. That's about 3 days worth. Where as the baby feeder (that once held a full day's ration for them) only now holds a half a meal for them. By the time they have transitioned off of baby chicky food in the next month or so, I'm sure I will be needing another grown up feeder.
Other advantages of this feeder is that it is up on 4" x 4" blocks of wood so they can't scratch out food and waste it, and it has little dividers which are pretty effective at preventing the pullets from swishing their beaks from side to side and flinging food about. Given a choice, the chickies will fling food everywhere every time.

I could almost pretend it's a farm

2008-08-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

Apple trees and corn and the happy chirping of young pullets - one could almost say we are farming. Of course, real farmers would probably laugh at me (hopefully a kind chuckle with warm eyes). Here is my short, "77 day" corn - it's beginning to bloom, but at the rate the chickies are picking at them, they may not survive long enough to ripen any actual corn. Still, the entertainment value of watching the chickens hide in them plus the entertainment value to the chickens themselves, has already made the 5 ft x 6 ft plot of 4 ft high corn well worth it. Epsecially considering that it only cost me $2 in seed and 5 minutes a day to deep water.
The "Princess" chicken, hiding in the corn. She's somewhat out of focus because she's one who doesn't stay still very much. The other day, she rode into the house on my head. I now have a goodly scratch on my scalp from her claws.
A Silver Laced Wyandotte girl sitting on a bag of store bought compost. Hopefully, this will be the last year I'll be buying compost - the girls are making quite a bit of the good stuff for me now. In fact, I turned the compost the other day, and the stuff on the bottom is getting brown and almost dirt-looking. Looking forward to combining it into the sand where next year's beds will be.

This is "Kick-start," our little lame Ameracauna, digging around in the compost pile. I had taken the black plastic cover off of it to water and turn the pile and she jumped in and went bug-hunting.

I'm getting better at catching the chickens in flight. Or, at least, sort of in flight.

Sunflowers were a great success this year. Nearly all that I planted germinated and are now in various stages from budding to being nearly ready to harvest. The ones planted when the day temperatures were in the 40's seem to have grown the best, but all suffered because they were planted, essentially, in sand. The one that was planted in good dirt was much healthier and grew a bigger flower head than all the others, of course.

Yes, more Chicky Pictures

2008-07-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

Pretty soon I will have to rename my blog to "Chicky Pics" or something. The garden isn't doing too well this year, but the chickens have been providing enough entertainment to make up for it! And - I have a nicely composting hill of chicky bedding that will help turn this desert sand into dirt (I love hitting my head against brick walls, thus, I married a US Marine and I am gardening in the desert!).

All the chickens are flying now, so I have to wash the top of the dog crate off every day or it will quickly become covered in icky chicky poo. This is one of my orange and black Ameraucanas.
I love the close up detail of their feathers. Remember, click on the photo to see the full sized photos.
Silver Laced Wyandotte and others have discovered the joy of roosting on the edge of an unused flower pot. The photo doesn't show it well, but the rim of the pot is about an inch wide - perfect for young chicken feet to hang on to.
A black and white Ameraucana grooming herself. The chickens spend a goodly amoung of time preening and aligning their feathers.
It's really difficult for me to catch the chickens in flight. I have several pictures that are in better focus, but they either have the head or tail cut off. This is the only one so far, that I have of the whole chicken in flight.

This is their temporary outdoor run located inside the garden fence. The chicken coop is still under construction and their permanent yard is not yet fenced. You can see the extention of the fence past the end of the garden fence - this will be the front of the chicken run. I believe the chicken yard will be about 45 ft x 55 ft with a 16 x 16 ft coop inside of it. The run area will be divided in two so that one side can get a good cleaning, rest and decontamination while the other side is in use. ...At night, the chickies are still sleeping in my laundry room.

The Enemy

2008-07-26T04:28:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately this year, hail killed off many of the tomato plants early on, so I don't have any extra "sacrificial tomatoes" this year - thus, these moths were not destined to live - but instead, were destined to become - chicken food. It's the way of the world.

Of course, besides the eat and be eaten rule, there is the "Chickens will trample anything" rule. Thus, since the tomatoes in this raised bed are in with the most delectable zucchinis, there is wire fencing over the top of it. Otherwise, I'm sure the tomatoes would be trampled by worm-hunting chickies and the zucchini plants would be eaten to the ground.
Remember, you can click on the photo to see the full sized picture of this green portrait.
A face only a mother could love.
Feet detail for those of you who are in to feet.

Garden photos (what, no chicky pictures today?)

2008-07-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

A garlic "blossom" - really, they are little, tiny bulbs, but it looks like a flower. I'm glad I let one mature it's scapes. Very pretty. The big bulbs of this one are also purple hued.

The first tomato! Still smaller than my pinky fingernail, but a tomato it is! Only the cherry toms will set fruit when the temps hang out over 90*F.

It isn't a very clear photo, but I caught a bee filling up with pollen at one of the sunflowers along the northern border of the garden.

Here's a close-up from the photo - you can see she is not in focus, but I like the photo anyway.
Same bee, but got her walking on the sunflower this time. Look at her hind leg, stuffed with pollen. (Looks like a large, yellow blob slightly above the wing on the left (her right).)
Something laid her eggs on this tomato plant a few days ago. Yesterday they were a jade green color, but it was too windy to take photos. Today they look clear. Could their inhabitants have hatched? They are about the size of a "seed bead."
Corn is growing like a weed. It got a light dose of fresh chicken bedding, and seems to be thriving from it. Too much fresh chicky-poo tends to burn the roots of plants, but I think the corn likes it. The corn is about 18 inches tall in this photo. I still can't believe we may have corn in another month. It is growing several inches a day, however, so I'm beginning to believe...
Eight Ball zucchini baby in bed 3. Got 100 percent germination out of the seed, but the heat conspired to kill several, so now I only have 3 plants - which, since they are zukes, could be a blessing!
Genovese basil front and center, and a little Lettuce Leaf basil to the right. Smells delightful when watering the garden by moonlight.
Dark Opal basil - yes, I know I'm not supposed to let it bloom, but it's just so pretty, that each year I end up letting it go. As a result, of course, the plants aren't as bushy - sending it's energy into flower production instead of producing leaves.
Rosemary, smells so divine. I have yet to find a trailing kind like they have at the Corporate Offices where I often travel to for work. And, I've never been successful getting one to live through the winter - but it's still worth the few dollars I spend to buy a new one each year.

Beans did not survive the heat and the drying winds.

Transplanted bearded irises starting to put on some real growth. Maybe they really will bloom next year.
Ok, couldn't help myself. This is the chicky that my granddaughter has decreed is "The Princes Chicken." We have no idea what type she might be. She isn't anything we ordered - but she's cute and has attitude, so we like her. I wonder if she will lay white eggs?

Chicks are flying

2008-07-13T01:18:00.000-07:00

A Maran watches the coop being built. DSr screwed thin strips of scrap wood across the bottom rungs of the welded wire so that the chicks could not escape their temporary run. Just outside of the run, the coop is taking shape. DSr & DJr hung tar paper and siding on the south side of the building today and also put up two more roof trusses. Starting to look like a building! I think this Maran approves.

Maran Notes

Black with white "dots"
Fluffy compared to the others
Bigger, faster growing than the Ameraucanas and the Silver Laced Wyandotts
First to learn to fly
Pink-ish white legs
Dark brown eggs - they are known as the "chocolate egg" layers

White Ameraucana looking for bugs. One of the advantages for the chickens for being outside most of the day is that there are a variety of bugs, dry garlic wrappers, sand and various other things to pick at. One of the advantages to the people are that they spread more poop outdoors than in and the house smells better! Some day I will reclaim my laundry room. I did remove the heat lamp today, so that's a start.

Ameraucana Notes

Green legged
I have two types - the white based and the orange/brown based
They are the smallest of the three types that I have
Last to learn to fly, but now that they have learned how, they enjoy doing it
Each bird will have her own color of eggs, and as a breed, it could be blue, green, turquoise, aqua or similar colors

Silver Laced Wyandott on top of the dog crate roof. The bottom half is in the laundry room duct taped to some cardboard to make their "indoor" run. The top half is being used for shade in their temporary day-time enclosure in my garden. Most of all of the chickens can fly up on to it now.

Silver Laced Notes

Yellow legs
Slightly less fast growing than the Marans
Denser body than the Marans and the Ameraucanas
Lacing just starting to show up around the neck feathers of some of the birds
Eggs are your "basic brown" egg

Look, Ma, I look like a chicken! This is a photo of the orange/brown based Ameraucana. She looks like she is posing for the camera. Since they've been photographed from the time they got here, they are getting pretty blase about the camera.

A Tale of Two Babies

2008-07-05T04:24:00.000-07:00

Developmentally, the chicks are way ahead of my granddaughter, but by noise level and kinetic energy, I'd have to say they are about the same. The chickies being much less exhausting than following around a toddler!

While my granddaughter enjoys eating fresh picked tomatoes, she doesn't go completely crazy like the chicks do when presented with a few handfulls of chopped up tomato leftovers.
Both child and chicks would probably be perfectly happy bedding down in fresh pine shavings or fresh straw
Chickies and child enjoy digging in the dirt and chasing bugs
Neither like loud, sudden noises

Roof trusses are starting to go up on the hen house. I swear, the chickens are going to have a palatial coop. It's actually bigger than DSr & my bedroom! Built to withstand 70 MPH winds, insulated against 110*F Summer Days and 10*F Winter Nights... he's also using it as practice for someday building our own house, so it is built "pretty close to code." For a chicken coop. The chickens are definitely not a money making or money saving venture at this point! I've been keeping a photographic record. Someday I'll post them here.

I am going on a weeks business trip in a while, and I am very concerned that much of the garden won't make it as the trip will probably coinside with record heat temps...
Transplanted bearded irises appear to be surviving. The ones that I cut back to 8 inch fans have new growth, but it's more difficult to tell with the ones I did not trim.
Basils just starting to take off. One of the Dark Opal Purple Basils seems to have escaped death and I am letting the other one bloom as it is so pretty. The sweet basils and large leafed basils, however, will not be allowed to bloom as I certainly want those for eating.
Sweet Marjoram is blooming - I know, I know - I'm not supposed to let that bloom either!
Lemon balm has much smaller leaves now that it is getting more sun. And it is spreading. Removing bearded iris competition and shade, however, seems to have removed the environment that the bugs-who-love-lemon-balm enjoy - so now the leaves are no longer bug-bitten.
First tomato is forming on my little indestructible Red Pear tomato plant (the one that has survived hail and 25*F nights!)
Two sunflowers are blooming. You sure can tell the difference in the ones planted in decent soil and the ones planted in basically pure sand. The difference in the amount of work, however, is worth it. The sand babies are still beautiful. I did forget, however, that all sunflowers face East when blooming, so some of the flowers are going to face into the chicken coop and not towards the garden. Oh well, they are still bright yellow and lovely!
Summer squash in Bed 3 are up, and one struggling one near my indestructible Red Pear tomato - but none of the winte squash or pumpkin seems to have emerged yet. I think the summer squash is Eight Ball Zucchini, but due to haphazard record keeping, I won't be able to tell until they actually fruit.
Corn is off and running. Some of the larger plants have produced side shoots. I've heard both that you should leave them on and that you should cut them off. Being a fan of Lazy Gardening, I'm leaving them on...
Chicky-poo pine shavings seem to be making good mulch. I'm keeping it at least 6 inches away from the drip line of most items so as not to have a nitrogen "burn", and that seems to be working. The corn got a light scattering of it right in the rows and they seem happier for it. At this point, since the chickies (and their chicky-poo) are living in my laundry room most of the time, the bedding gets changed pretty regularly - so I'm thinking the ratio of chicky-poo to pine shavings is rather small. There is no nitrogen in our sand for decomposing pine shavings to rob; if they are going to decompose, I'm sure it will be from using chicky-poo nitrogen.
I am covetting a set of real compost bins, but at the moment, my 4 ft tall pile of weeds keeps shrinking down as I add to the top and water. I water the compost pile with dirty chicken water and the water I use to clean out their water and feed bowls. I noticed a definate improvement when I started watering the compost pile. Must be a Desert Thing - never have had to water compost before!

New Afternoon Chicky Digs

2008-06-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

DSr helped me corner off a section of the garden for the chickies. Can't leave them out there at night, but they can hang out during the day when there's a person to check on them every hour or so. It is about 12 ft x 12 ft, so that gives them some space to stretch their wings. They'll have to come inside at night, though, as it still is pretty cool at night for them. Still, if they can be outside for 5-8 hours a day, that will be good for them.
Hard to tell, but the lead chicky to the right had a piece of tomato and the others were giving chase. (By the way, don't forget, you can click on the picture to see a full sized view)
This is the little lame girl taking a nap in the sun. I think she likes the sand - it's easier for her to balance on when she hops around on one foot. She's pretty good at the hop-fly-a-foot-hop method of getting around, though, and while everyone else was chasing eachother trying to steal tomato pieces from eachother, she quietly took her piece to a corner and ate in peace. She seems to be competing for food, water and a comfy spot to sleep without any trouble. Even if she never lays an egg, I don't see any reason she can't continue to remain as part of the flock.

Garlic, Garlic, Garlic!

2008-06-29T05:20:00.000-07:00

No vampires in my garden! Pulled the last of the garlic out of the ground Tuesday of last week. A little over 100 bulbs. Most of them in the "over 2 inch diameter" size.
I love the lighting from the evening sun. Gives everything a warm glow.
On the other hand, sometimes you can get more true-to-life colors if you bring your own lighting.
Everything smelled so wonderfully like stinky garlic as I wove the stalks into the fence to hang the harvest to cure. It still smells good, but you have to put your nose up to it a bit, now. On the night of the harvest, the whole garden smelled of garlic.

So that's it for the year. Garlic needs to cure for another month or so, but playing with the garlic is over until around October, when next year's garlic will go into the ground. Looking forward to lots and lots of garlic bread this summer!

Yes, yes, even more Chicky Pics

2008-06-28T16:48:00.000-07:00

I can't help it - I'm deep in the chicky litter now, so there's going to be a lot of chicky pictures for a while. Here's a Maran, strutting her stuff.
Here is an Ameraucana - they have the most varied markings. The Marans all look pretty much the same and the Silver Laced Wyandotts also all look pretty much the same. The Ameraucanas, while you can tell are similar, area all pretty distinct.
This one is the same as the one in my hand, above...but if you look at the one below, spreading her wings, they barely look like they are related.
I think of this girl as my "video game" girl as she has an exclaimation point on her head. "Look, Ma, I want to fly like an eagle!"

Pretty much all the babies are trying to fly now. They get a running start, bounce, and then they are airborn for a foot or so. Had to tape cardboard to make the walls of their crate higher. They will be needing more room very shortly.

Pea season is pretty much over, being that it's been well into the 90s for several weeks now. I've been pulling the vines for the chickies every few days and they've been enjoying pecing at them. It doesn't look like they are actually eating much of it, but I am hoping that picking at the vines amuses them enough so that they don't want to pick at eachother. And, after the vines are picked over and trampled, off to the compost heap they go.

Speaking of compost, used chicky litter is being put out in the garden in little bits and pieces. I'd like to really mulch deep with those nice pine shavings, but I'm afraid that too much chicky poo in the pine might burn the roots of the plants. Still, at least I am recycling the pine shavings and chicky poo - some day I will turn this desert sand into SOIL!

More chicky pictures

2008-06-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

"Here, chicky, chicky. Here, chicky, chicky." They're starting to recognize DJR and I. A palm full of chick feed also helps, of course!
Here's a little Ameraucana sitting quietly in DJR's hands.

Garden Update

2008-06-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

Desert Mallow buds and bloom at night. I think I've remarked before that they are pretty stinky - but the pollinators love them, so I won't complain.
A mess of peas and some garlic. Steamed the peas and ate them. Cut some pea vines for the chickies to peck at. It doesn't look like the actually ate any of it, but it did amuse them for some time.
This tom is a survivor of 3 hail storms and 25 degree weather. These are the first buds. I know I should pinch them off for a healthier plant, but I'm not going to.
Corn, lovely corn. 60 little stems of corn are poking through the dirt. Apparently the birds out here don't know about eating corn seedlings? Shhhh, we'll keep it a secret!

First set of Kentucky Wonder pole beans are well up
Yellow Pencil Pods are doing much better than the Royal Purple bush beans, but I wonder how much that has to do with seed viability? The Royal Purple seeds were several years old.
Dow gawk beans not germinated yet. It's still early. Hopefully they wil be up soon.
Toms that were planted out a few weeks ago all nice and dark green and ready to take off growing like crazy any moment now.
Still eating a few tiny strawberries every day
Deep watered the fruit trees earlier this week
Still no sign of Eight Ball (round) zucchini seedlings.
Have been moving bearded irises out of veg bed 1 and out into the sand. Not amending the sand too much, although I did add some slow release fertilizer to it. They may not bloom next year, but I am hoping that I transplanted them early enough in the season that they will be well established by next spring.

Slowly, very slowly, I am turning the sand in my 50x70 little oasis into dirt. Of course, the three raised beds still have the best dirt/sand mix, but the bean patch and corn patch are doing well. As I compost more weeds and more chicken bedding and chicken poo, we should be able to actually "grow dirt." Also trying to plant lots of legumes, too, these first few years. I can see improvements over last year and the year before already.

Garlic Harvest Begins

2008-06-21T01:53:00.001-07:00

This is garlic just moments from the ground. These all came out of the raised bed. Some are not as mature as I should have let them become, but I need the bed space for tomatoes and cukes. These were harvested on Thursday.
This set of garlic was harvested a few weeks ago and have been hanging from the fence to cure. They are all cleaned up and ready for eating. They, too, are not as mature as they should have been, but sometimes I just can't wait. More mature ones have a stronger flavor and will last longer. Still, they should be fine eating this summer. Also with that first harvest, I pulled all the garlic that did not set well and were going to have obviously small bulbs (less than 1 1/2 inches). Still good eating, but not worth using the space in the bed for them.
Of course, the other down side of harvesting too early is that the cloves are not as well formed and the bulbs are on the smaller side. Still, at an average of about 2" diameter, still a good eating size.
Mmmm, I don't think this one will have to worry about long term storage...looks like garlic bread to me!

Look, Ma, Real Feathers

2008-06-21T00:26:00.000-07:00

Hard to tell from earlier photos, but compared to just 2 days ago, the babies are all showing some wing feathers. This is the wing of a Maran. In general, the Marans are feathering out the fastest, but are the smallest and least hardy looking of the chicks.

This is my little lame girl. Her right foot is definately deformed and pretty useless. Yesterday I gave her a few hours sectioned off from the other chicks with access to water and food without competition from her flock-mates and that seems to have made the difference between her being able to compete and her getting weak and trampled on. Now when her flock-mates try to walk on her she can push back. Also,now that her wing featers are growing in, she compensates for her lame foot by using her wings to balance with. She also uses her wings to "hold" on to the feeder until she gets her head in the hole. I was worried that she would be one to die, but she is looking pretty robust.
The Ameraucanas seem to be the hardiest and fastest growing of the three types. They also seem to be the most interested in learning to fly - yes, at 5 days old (they hatched on Monday, even though they didn't get to me until Wednesday) they already like to run around with wings flapping. This is a photo taken during "pasty butt" inspections. Nearly all the Ameraucanas were "fluffy butt", however a about half of the Marans were "pasty butt." Those in need got a good butt washing.
One disconcerting thing about baby chicks is that they all look dead when they are sleeping. Those of you with human children remember how angelic and cute the babies were when sleeping (even if they were little devils while awake). And, of course, nothing cuter than a sleepy-eyed puppy. But cute, fluffy, bouncy, happily peeping chickies look dead when sleeping. I know they need their rest, but it makes me want to poke at them and make sure they are alive. Ameraucana above, Maran below.
On a separate sad note, the smallest Maran is going to pass away (Not the one pictured above - that girl is quite healthy). I can't get her to eat or drink water. I tried separating her from the flock to give her a break, but then she used all her meager strength to cry at the top of her lungs. I put her in a large margarine tub in with the flock and she settled down and seemed much happier with the chirping of her flock around her. I imagine she will be dead in the morning. At least she is not getting stepped on or pecked on by the others. She seems comfortable and at peace. It's the way of the world. I will burry her under one of the apple trees in the garden.

More Chicky Babies

2008-06-19T00:13:00.000-07:00

Ameraucana.
Sleepy babies.Racing towards the food tray!
One of the chickies' favorite occupations.

Warm enough temps means that everyone isn't huddled directly under the heat lamp, but are spread out to enjoy the particular temperature that they prefer. When I first brought them home, they were piled up in one corner for 5 minutes or so until they started feeling comfortable. See the one with the leg stretched out? When they wake up, they often stretch like dogs.

So, for the next few days, they are hanging out in my laundry room in the bottom half of a dog crate. It has the bare minimum space allowance for 0-4 week old babies. This weekend I will monitor temps in the metal building throughout the day and night and then they will probably move out of the house at that point. I'll need to put chicken wire over the top to prevent rodents from entering and chickies from exiting. And, I am trying to figure out how to make their home bigger without spending much (any) money. I mean, they are only going to be in the crate for about 4 or 5 more weeks...maybe I can somehow attach the top half of the crate to it. The chicks are pretty agile and can probably cross the "hump" where the two halves would be joined.

Ok, so not much gardening news, other than I have been enjoying fresh strawberries every time I go out there. I also have some peas that I am going to chop up into tiny pieces and give to the chickies this weekend. (Just a tiny bit so they get a taste of "green stuff." Not actually enough to be considered a "meal.")I am purposely waiting until the weekend so I can keep an eye on them in case they get "pasty bottoms" - a deadly condition where their poop sticks to them and seals them shut so more poop can't get out. (Who knew?)

Compost Machines

2008-06-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

Babies arrived this morning. Post office called me about 6:15 a.m., but I didn't get back from work to pick them up until 8:30 a.m. They've had water, eaten a bit, pooped and are now mostly napping. I think I'm ready for a nap, too.The one on the left is a Silver Laced Wyandotte and the one on the right is a Ameraucana. The Wyandotte lays a traditional brown egg and the Ameraucana lays a either blue, green or aqua colored eggs (the egg color is particular to a chicken - one chicken will only lay one color).
This is a Maran chick - they lay dark brown shelled eggs - also known as "chocolate" shelled eggs. So you know why I had to get those kinds of chicks, right?!
Not sure where the blondie came from. She's an extra. She has a light grey spot on the top of her head. At least I hope she is a she - I really don't want to have him for dinner if she is really a he!

More Ickys from the Garden

2008-06-16T01:50:00.000-07:00

Found munching on garlic - fed to the birds!

Found sampling the beans - fed to my tarantula!

Moral of the story : Don't mess around in My garden!

June, June, June!

2008-06-12T21:36:00.000-07:00

Lots of activity in the last few weeks. And more, much more to come! Can't believe we are already in the middle of June.

Peas
- Been eating peas from bed 2 for several weeks
- Peas in bed 1 and around the tree are starting to flower
Strawberries
- Eating one or two sweet strawberries a day starting this week
- Picked 18 yummy little strawberries today (they are mostly just a little bigger than my thumb nail, but oooh, sooo sweet!)
- Runners are running everywhere - may never have to buy new plants again!
- Some plants have leaves nearly as big as my hand
Bearded Irises
- The Irises are officially done blooming
- Have moved 9 out of bed 1 and planted around the garden - they may not bloom next year, but probably the following year they will be fabulous.
Beans
- Over 80 Yellow Pencil Pod Bush Beans are up
- About 50 Royal Burgundy Bush Beans are up
- A few Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans are starting to come up
- Sowed about a dozen more Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans today
- Sowed two dozen Dow Gawk "Yard Long" Beans (90 days to maturaty - I'm surely pushing the season)
Other Stuff
- Sowed some "Eight Ball" round zucchini today
- Harvested some garlic that did poorly over the winter - bulbs are mature, but small
- Really need to plant out all those things that take 90 days or more to mature
- 8 Heavenly Blue Morning Glories are up
- Zero Moon Flowers have germinated
- Corn due to germinate late next week

First Day of June

2008-06-01T12:07:00.001-07:00

Here's a photo of one of last year's "Iris Bed Designers" who rearranged them last summer. I know he is admiring his handywork!

Hail damaged sweet basil...

First Royal Purple bush bean seedling for the season. There are a few more that were snipped off, so I am thinking something ate them. I may have to lightly cover that area with some pulled weeds so the seedlings are not as visible.

Some of the sunflowers are now a foot tall. Others planted later or in less ideal locations are not as tall or robust but seem to be doing ok, too. Not sure why some sunflowers haven't germinated at all. The weeds, of course, continue to flourish!

We are definately behind last year in planting things out. The long, cold spring did not inspire one to set plants out too early this year. The tomato planted a month ahead of everyone else does not appear to be appreciably further along than the ones I planted out last week. Of course, the peas loved the spring this year.

One of the nice things about having a large garden as opposed to a small farm is that it only takes 15 minutes to plant out a bed of beans and there are no tractor requirements. And only 15 minutes to plant out 3 tomato babies.

Planted a whole pack of Pensil Pod Yellow Bush Beans - about 120 seeds
Planted a Red Pear tomato and a Sweet Baby Girl tomato plant in raised bed 3 (where the garlic is ripening)
Planted a Yellow Pear tomato to the east of the Rescue Apple tree
Dead-headed spent iris blooms
Watered everything
Pulled a 5 gal bucket of weeds and added to the top of the compost pile
Took pictures

Can't wait!

2008-05-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

The summer harvesting season is almost upon us. I have been eating one or two peas here and there for the last few weeks, but now the pease are blooming in earnest and hopefully we'll have enough for some stir fry soon - assuming I don't eat them all while watering the garden or pulling weeds!

Came home from business travel to find the first of the strawberries blushing red. I was wondering when to get my bird netting... I think the answer is now!

Here's a little view of the south side of the garden looking East.

32 sunflowers growing so far
4 Royal Purple bush beans breaking ground
Peas blooming - continuing to eat a few here and there
First strawberries ripening up
Bearded Irises still blooming like crazy
Tomatoes have survived hail and transplanting
Garlic scapes doing their thing
Harvested some lemon balm to freshen up my garbage disposal
Oregano going crazy
Basils outside looking good (hopefully they'll go crazy once the warm weather gets here)

Local Denizens

2008-05-29T03:39:00.000-07:00

Some of the little uglies that live amongst the weeds.

Survived the Hail

2008-05-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

I was so bummed over the shredded irises that I decided to post some pre-hail photos of them to cheer me up. Luckily, the plants themselves are doing fine. And it looks like the buds that will bloom in a few days are also fine.
Don't know the name of this one, but it is a lovely blue color. It could be "blueberry", but I may never know as all the ID tags went bye-bye when the dogs started pulling them out last year. Thank goodness for fencing (and thank God for a husband and son who like to build fences!!!)!

Among the plants that were not phased by the rain, hail and cold were the peas. Moments after taking this photo, I ate this one! Crunchy, sweet, yum!

Surprisingly, nearly everything did OK with the hail. Probably because, even though it hailed three days in a row, the hail actually only lasted 5 or 10 minutes each time and was promptly melted by reasonably warm rain. In fact, the trees are looking possitively lush with all this water they've been getting. Much better than I can do with a hose.

Five tomatoes in the ground
- Tomato Vera (hollow, "pepper-like", tomato)
- Classic Roma
- Red Pear cherry
- Mexico Midget cherry
- Steak Sandwich
A dozen or so more tomato babies inside under lights
Sugar Snap Peas starting to bloom - and the first few peas already eated off of the vine
Basils
- All Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil that were in the ground died during the hail
- 2 Purple Ruffles planted - both survived hail
- Mammoth Basil survives
- 2 Genovese Basils survive
Other Herbs
- 3 clumps of Lemon Balm - the small ones that were burried under tomato trash have caught up with the one that was cared for - all looking vigorous
- Rosemary sitting around not doing anything - not looking poorly, but not growing - just hanging out and waiting for warm weather, I suspect
- Oregano loves this weather
- Sweet Marjoram loves the weather, too
Strawberries - some are as big as my thumbnail
About 10% of the garlic have scapes
Sunflowers looking healthy and vigorous - sowed more the other day, but they aren't up yet.

Hail at the end of MAY!

2008-05-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

Sadness is ... a lovely blue bearded iris shredded by hail - 3 days in a row. Where did the Desert go?! It's supposed to be getting into the 90's by now! Well, at least the basil and tomatoes survived, and the iris plants are all fine - just the flowers look sad. I'm glad I took lots of photos before the storms!

Royal Gala Apple Tree

2008-05-25T05:08:00.000-07:00

Apple trees apparently like living here. I have several, both in the orchard and in the back yard. This one actually bloomed this year. Even if I never get fruit from them due to our climate, they are robust and green, and I am totally enjoying them. The bugs and the birds are enjoying them, too. In addition to this Royal Gala, I also have a Grand Gala and a September Wonder Fujii in the orchard - along with my unknown "Rescue" apple tree.

Garden is starting to take off!

2008-05-21T02:00:00.000-07:00

I am certainly paying for staying out at sunset to take photos of the garden - the biting bugs had a field day feasting upon me!

Tiny strawberries are popping up everywhere. Several dozen so far - most smaller than my pinky fingernail. But still, they are strawberries, and they promise all sorts of sweet delights!I have both June bearing and ever bearing strawberry plants, but, alas, due to poor planning and poor labeling, I have no idea which are which. I am assuming the ones going crazy with the flowers right now are the June bearing, being that it is almost June...

The first peas are now blooming, so hopefully we will also soon be crunching on the first sweet, tender sugar snap peas. They don't last long when spring goes from 25 at night and days in the 50's to days in the 90's - inside of a week. Even the vines that have not attained full size should start going crazy trying to make peas before they die of heat exhaustion.

Probably I should have put more tomatoes in the ground last week, but with being sick and preparing to cross the mountains, I just didn't have it in me. I was, of course, quite pleased to find that the one tomato plant that I did put out survived fine and greened up well. So I am thinking that setting out tomatoes is going to be high on the list of things to do this week.

And, of course, the Oregano is trying to grow everywhere! I think I am actually glad that some of my transplants died while I was gone - as the ones that survived are doing almost too well. I guess I will be drying Oregano for winter use this year! All this from two scrawny little seedlings that almost didn't survive last summer.

Some accomplishments today:

Deep watered established trees and all the non-tree plants (did not water the not-yet-established trees as it was very windy today - and I was concerned that with 50MPH winds, that watering them would loosen them up and let them be toppled over)
Enjoyed the bearded irises
Transplanted 1 tomato and 5 basil plants
Planted a pack of Royal Burgundy bush beans
Pulled some weeds - they are making a nice mulch around my rescue apple tree
Pulled a few dozen porcupine quills out of one of my dogs, Max - he wasn't pleased, but he's much happier now.

Still haven't decided what to do with the black widdow who is living in one of my apple trees. I know where she is, so I am careful, but I am concerned for my grand daughter. I have an afinity for anything that gobbles up bugs in the garden, though, and her web is full of (nicely dead) bugs. Maybe I can relocate her to the far corners of the property? For the moment, though, I am letting her be...

Came home to find...

2008-05-20T02:36:00.000-07:00

The scapes were barely reaching for the sun and the buds just beginning to fill out when I left my little plot of sand to spend the weekend in California. What a lovely site to return to. Bearded Irises are among my favorite flowers. They are heat and drought resistant, can take sub-freezing winters and have silky, delicate looking flowers in a rainbow of colors.

Trek Over the Sierra Nevadas

2008-05-19T21:11:00.001-07:00

Traveled over the mountains to see my daughter graduate Magna Cum Laude from the university this weekend. On the way home, took some photos in the mountains.
I've always been fascinated by tree bark (and lichen, but that's a topic for another day). In the days before digital cameras and photo shop, one never knew if the photos would turn out to be anything useful. They are often taken under challenging lighting conditions and at the edges of a lens' capabilities. After the cost of film and the cost of developing, you were often left with over exposed tones of grey. But here we are, in the digital age, and with some color balancing and some cropping, here we are with some acceptable photos of pine tree bark after all. I like these two photos - it's almost as if I can feel the roughness of the surface.