Making Room for Baby

Can you ever have enough chickens?  There are so many cool breeds that the answer for me is a resounding "no".  I always seem to want more.  My husband likes to tell the story of how we ended up with our initial 6 hens.  The short story goes like this:  I wanted 6 and he wanted 4, so we comprised and got 6.  Anyway, it's all good, because I think he likes chickens as much as I do.

So, I've been thinking about expanding the coop for some time now.  I'd like to have more chickens, plus I'd like to give everyone more room to run around and do chicken stuff.  I'd always imagined that my chickens would be able to free-range, but a boom in the local hawk population has made my backyard a pretty dangerous place for chickens.  Here's a juvenile hawk that's been enjoying the hospitality of one of my bird baths.  He was also enjoying the fish in the koi pond until we closed the sushi bar with a bit of bird netting.

With so many gardening projects on our plate, enlarging the chicken coop was a pretty low priority until recently.  I came home on August 2nd and found a broody hen.  If you've never experienced a broody hen before just imagine a really tough gangster chick.  A broody hen ruffles her feathers until her body is twice it's normal size.  The feather ruffling is accompanied by an unmistakable growling noise that unequivocally states "Back up off my nest yo!".

Broodiness isn't something you can plan for or have any control over.  It's a hormonal change that occurs naturally in hens.  When a hen is broody she wants to hatch eggs and poor Pansy really wanted to hatch some eggs.  Since we don't have a rooster, none of our eggs are fertile. Fortunately, Laura of Wills Family Acres, volunteered to share some fertilized eggs with me so Pansy could be a mom.

Here are Pansy's 5 fertilized Brahma eggs, which we picked up on August 7th.  The eggs are marked with a black line to differentiate them from other eggs that might be laid in the communal nest boxes that chickens share.

Now that a sudden, unplanned flock expansion was staring me in the face, I decided I better shake a tail feather and get started on plans to enlarge the coop.  In the pictures below, the coop addition has  been framed out by my hard working husband.  The plan is to have a 12 X 24 foot fenced enclosure at the back of the existing coop structure.  Within the 12 X 24 foot enclosure, there will be a second smaller coop, which will be used as a brooding/grow out pen.  This will give the babies a safe place to grow.

Side View of Addition

Rear View of Addition

View from inside the current coop.

On August 25th the chicks hatched.  Luckily, we were home at the time.  It was pretty exciting after waiting almost 3 weeks for the big event.  The first chick to be born was a Buff Brahma that we named Mushi.  Mushi means hello in Japanese.  Here's our first view of little Mushi still a little damp from hatching.

A few hours later Mushi was joined by another Buff Bramha chick which we named Arigato.  A third chick born on Saturday night died the next day, and the remaining 2 eggs were unceremoniously booted out of the nest by Pansy on Sunday afternoon.

Mushi and Arigato became fast friends.  It was easy to get pictures of them together, because they seem to enjoy each other's company and warmth.  Plus, when you sleep standing up, I guess you need someone to lean against.

Late on Saturday, we headed in to Callahan's to purchase 4 more chicks.  We purchased 2 Dominiques and 2 Iowa Blues.  These 2 breeds were the youngest available.  They were born on August 22nd.  Getting the youngest chicks possible was essential to our plan.  

On Saturday night after dark, we planned to sneak the new chicks into Pansy's nest to see if she would accept them.  The grafting process, as it's called, went off without a hitch, and Pansy accepted the babies as her own.

The new chicks seem to fit in just fine.  Mushi and Arigato quickly made room in the stand up sleeping party for little Penny (Iowa Blue).

Because the new chicks are a little older, they were ready for some advance chick training in how to scratch and dig.  Pansy seems to be saying, "First you dig a nice hole, then it's butts up, beaks down, let's see what you found."

Chicks spend most of their time eating, sleeping, pooping and trying to keep warm.  I've always enjoyed "chicken TV", but "chick TV" is even more fun.  Check out this series of photos in which Mushi tries her best to get a little warmth from mom, who just doesn't seem to be helping out.

"I'm cold.  Where's the door to the warm place?"

"Warm me."

"Ah, come on now."

"Almost there."

Mom and chicks are currently living in a temporary brooding pen separated from the other hens. Given the opportunity, the older hens might kill the babies, so we'll keep them separated until they are old enough to fend for themselves.  Aren't they adorable?

A Hill Country Keyhole Garden

I first read about keyhole gardening in the February 2012 issue of Texas Co-Op Power magazine.  In the article - written by G.Elaine Acker with photos by Bill Smith - Deb Tolman describes a interesting method for producing food even during times of drought.  Here's a page from the article which shows a diagram and some simple steps for getting started.  For the full article visit, Keyhole Gardening.

The idea of a keyhole garden, so named for it's interesting keyhole shape, is to produce food using minimal water and maximum recycling.  What a great concept!

The basic structure of a keyhole garden consists of a 6 foot circle of rock stacked 3 feet high. The structure is filled with layers of cardboard, phone books, or recycled paper.  Soil is added to the top few inches for planting. 

A small notch is cut out of the circle to allow access to a 4 foot tall wire mesh tube that sits in middle.  Compostable materials and water are fed into the tube to provide moisture and nutrients to the garden. 

  
While I was contemplating where I could build one of these, this keyhole garden, deep in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, was already growing cucumbers.  Complete with it's deer proof fencing, this garden is sure to provide food for years to come.  Well done!

Save Some for Me!

Over the years I've had encounters with a variety of wildlife.  One of my most notable experiences was my attempt last summer to capture a rogue armadillo that was ravaging my garden.  I set out a Havahart trap in an armadillo traffic zone, but did I catch an armadillo?  Noooo!

I caught several raccoons, an opossum, a bunny, and a roadrunner.  We let them all go free, but the experience underscored the abundance of wildlife in the area.  I have a hunch that if I put out a trap with some food, I could probably catch something every night of the week.

Growing fruits and vegetables with nature waiting patiently nearby to steal your harvest can be a serious problem.  In my garden, I've seen raccoons flatten a patch of corn overnight.  And, who hasn't had a rascally squirrel steal that perfect tomato?  It's so frustrating.

There's an old saying that goes something like this, "One for the blackbird, one for the crow, one for the cutworm, and one to grow."  The idea is to grow extra knowing that nature will claim her share.

I do tend to grow a little extra, but none of my experiences prepared me for the party that took place in my melon patch.  In one night, I lost 8 melons.  Hey, you silly varmints, save some for me! 

Needless to say, all remaining melons were harvested and left to ripen in the safety of my kitchen. 

Goldenberry Delicious

When you grow your own fruits and vegetables, there's a certain excitement that comes with picking out a new variety of seed or transplant.  Scanning the seed catalogs especially makes you realize that the abundance of nature is so much more than the sparse offerings that you'll find at the grocery store.

This year I grew a plant that I've never heard of, let alone seen in my local grocery store.  The seed packet I bought called the plant by the name Goldenberry, but I've since learned that Goldenberry is synonymous with Cape Gooseberry and Peruvian Ground Cherry.  Are any of these names familiar to you? 

The Goldenberry is a relative of the tomato and needs very similar growing conditions.  The plants grow in a mounded 2-3 foot tall shrub, which later spreads and sprawls a bit as the plant gets weighed down by fruit and foliage.

Goldenberry produces numerous paper lanterns each containing a juicy berry.

I was very surprised by the prolific nature of this plant.  Production didn't slow down even when the foliage was being feasted on by flea beetles and other leaf munchers.  

When the paper lanterns begin to dry out, the fruit is ready to pick. 

The berries have a taste all their own.  There's a faint tomato flavor, but there is also something distinctly tropical and exotic about them.  I bet they would make excellent jam, but they're good for just popping in your mouth too.  If you're looking for something new for next year's veggie garden, consider giving Goldenberry a try.

Bloom Day July 2012

As I started taking pictures this morning, plants were still wet with the previous nights rainfall, and as I publish this blog another storm is rolling through.  This is one crazy July, but I'm thoroughly enjoying all this unexpected  rain.

Despite the rain, not everything is looking it's best.  Some plants like these canna lilies are looking a little weather worn and I had to search for a few photo worthy blooms.

Luckily, I have these morning glories to set a good example for the other plants.  They keep blooming in dry or wet conditions, and what a glorious way to start the day!  

These butterflies don't seem to mind that the Gregg's mistflower is not looking it's best.

The Mexican orchid tree is always a favorite with butterflies and hummingbirds no matter what the weather.

Okra is one of those vegetables that is pretty enough for an ornamental bed.  The attractive flowers of the okra plant are very comparable to other plants in the mallow family like the pavonia pictured below.

Burgundy Okra

Pale Pavonia

Fall obedient plant blooming in July.  Yep, that's right, it's going to have to change it's name.

My mum's and other fall bloomers like this spider lily are blooming early this year.  I hope something is left to bloom in September.

This is my first year growing cleome, but I love this plant.  It hasn't stopped blooming since I planted it in the spring.

This little red climbing rose has really amazed me.  A friend gave me some cuttings last fall, and I grew them over the winter.  In the spring I planted them in pots and they have really taken off.  Today they are about 6 feet tall and covered in blooms.  Incredible.  What a great plant! 

I grew these burgundy castor beans from seeds during the winter and planted them around the garden when temperatures warmed up.  These plants grow so fast and they're so interesting.  I love having them in the garden. 

There are so many plants that I enjoy growing.  It's not summer without basil, and look how pretty it is.

I tried strawberry field gomphrena last year for the first time.  I've grown gomphrena's before and they're great plants.  This year I started these from seeds, which is a very rewarding and economical way to create plants for the garden.

Salvia coccinea 'Coral Nymph' is a non-stop bloomer.  There are lots of great salvia's out there, but I love the color and drought tolerance of this plant.

I hope you enjoyed Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.  Please check in with May Dreams for other great Bloom Day posts.

The Summer of the Mite

In my mind, the summer of 2012 will long be remembered as the summer of the spider mite.  If this sounds a little melodramatic to you, wait till you see the photos and then, let me know what you think.

Spider mites have never been a huge problem for me.  I usually spray them with a little water and move on.  Never again will I ignore these nearly invisible, but highly destructive pests.

I think the problem first began in the greenhouse back in March.  I noticed a serious spider mite infestation only after the problem was well-advanced.  The weather was warming up quickly and the greenhouse was hot and dry, which created perfect conditions for the spider mites to breed.  

As I moved the plants out of the greenhouse, I forcefully sprayed the infected plants with water and relocated them to an isolated spot.  The regular water sprays seemed to help, so I kept up the sprays and even bought a special misting device called a Bug Blaster.  I honestly thought that would be the end of it.

When the spider mites made their appearance on my green beans, I wasn't terribly concerned.  I had several excellent green bean harvests and the plants were pretty well played out.  I stopped watering the beans and let the plants die thinking that would put an end to those rascally mites.

The mite infestation on the tomato plants took me completely by surprise.  I've never had spider mites attack my tomato plants, so I wasn't looking for the signs.  That was a mistake.  When I finally noticed the speckled, washed out and dusted appearance of the leaves, the mites had already grown to fantastic numbers.

I knew my plants were in trouble when I noticed visible webbing.  This was a serious infestation.  I was completely amazed and just a little creeped out looking at these pests through my garden magnifying glass.  I wasn't sure what to do next.  I had 12 tomato plants and they were all covered in mites.

Staring at the masses of tomato foliage on plants that stood over 6 feet tall, I somehow knew I wasn't going to get this problem under control.  I decided to pull out my Bug Blaster and try to bring in the remainder of my tomato harvest.

I spent the week trying to decide what to do.  I considered spraying various products such a insecticidal soap, neem oil, or pyrethrum, but the amount of foliage made this seem an impossible task.  Spider mites live under the leaves.  If I sprayed anything on the plants, I would need to get under every leaf surface.  With this much foliage, anything short of a power washer was just not going to be effective.

What I really needed was a flame thrower!  Did I mention spider mites induce insanity?  Not to worry, after  some careful consideration, I came to my senses.  In reality, I'd probably end up hurting myself or burning down something important, so I knew a flame thrower wasn't a good idea.  Besides, I'm partial to my eyebrows.

So, what did I do?  Well, I was definitely on to something with the fire idea, but I needed to approach the problem safely.  I painstakingly cut the plants into small pieces being as careful as I could not to disturb the mites.  I loaded them into the wheelbarrow and dumped them into a small backyard bonfire.

Bye bye mites.  I'll be watching for you.