June 14, 2025

Expanding Our Little Chickens' Territory

 Once our little chickens got into the routine of sleeping in their chicken coop (rather than under it), we opened the lower door and let them out to explore their yard. 



Our possible rooster is looking more roosterish. His comb is the most pronounced of
all the chicks, he's bigger, his legs are thicker, and he has hints of curled tail feathers.




They all come back to the coop at night, where they are safe from nighttime predators (skunks, opossums, owls, and raccoons). 

Typically, chickens start laying eggs around 5 months old. So hopefully in September I'll have our first pullet eggs to who you. 

June 6, 2025

Moving Day for Little Chickens

At about five-weeks old, our little Buff Orpingtons are fully feathered and look like miniature chickens rather than chicks.


 Plus, they were starting to perch on the rim of their box.


I didn't want them hopping out of their pen, where they could inadvertently get stepped on by goats. So it was time to move them to the coop portion of the converted chicken tractor


It's roomier than their box. For the first couple of days, all the openings were screened off so they could look out and get used to their new surroundings. 


Then I removed the screen from the door to let them see what outside is like.





The ramp gives them access to the enclosed area under the coop. Soon we'll open the front and let them roam in their new chicken yard. I just want to make sure they know to go back to the coop at night.

May 31, 2025

Garden Notes: May 2025

So true!

Rainfall

  • 1st: 0.01"
  • 2nd: 0.18"
  • 3rd: 0.83"
  • 4th: 0.12"
  • 10th: 0.15"
  • 11th: 0.28"
  • 12th: 1.61"
  • 13th: 0.04"
  • 14th: 0.48"
  • 19th: 0.01"
  • 21st: 0.99"
  • 26th: 0.27"
  • 27th: 0.64"
  • 28th: 0.15"
  • 29th: 0.01"
  • 30th: 0.12"
  • Total: 5.89 inches
 Temperature
  • range of nighttime lows: 45 to 67°F (7.2 to 19.4°C)
  • range of daytime highs: 57 to 86°F (14 to 30°C)
Weather Notes:
  • We also had quite a few days with showers but not enough to register on our weather station.

Planted:

  • buckwheat
  • potatoes
  • transplants:
    • parsley
    • dill
    • bell peppers
  • sweet potato slips
  • okra
  • watermelon
  • woad
  • Japanese indigo
  • pole beans
  • multiplier onions
Harvested:
  • lettuce
  • wild lettuce
  • cultivated strawberries
  • wild strawberries
  • kale
  • lambs quarter
  • broccoli bites
  • snow peas
  • asparagus
  • garlic
  • oregano
  • wheat
  • cucumbers
  • peaches
  • Swiss chard
  • 1st mulberries

Preserved

  • strawberry jam, canned
  • lambs quarter, canned

Pictures

garden goodies

polyculture bed of lettuce, daikons, volunteer tomatoes & lambs quarter

1st of the garlic

Corn. I planted three adjacent beds of it.

chicory flowers

Lambs quarter. We eat in in salads, sauteed, and I can it for a cooked green..

Dan cutting the wheat with his power scythe

An odd shaped strawberry

Strawberry shortcake (with goat whipped cream)

Wild strawberries

Pea and peanut salad

Peaches! Beautiful peaches. We haven't had a nice harvest of peaches in years.

Your turn. How does your garden grow?