Posted on 5th February 2010 by admin in Chickens | Susan's posts
Chickens
We are still trying to get a big run built for the chickens. Their current run and hen house are quite big enough for 3 chickens, but we want to be able to use the chickens to help us with working the soil. Its going to be quite a big job as we want the run to actually be in the form of 4 enclosed garden beds that we can open individually when the planting in a bed is finished. So its taking us a while.
We planted green manure in the beds an
yway and we are building the fencing around the beds. The chickens find it quite interesting to hear the work going on, but can’t see much because we’ve got iron sheets around the base of the chook yard to reduce the temptations for the dogs.
We put a piece of wood into the current chicken pen a while ago so we could hang greens off it. Occasionally the biggest of the chickens will fly up onto the beam and have a bit of a look out and tease the dogs. Yesterday I went out to collect eggs and found all three of the chooks sitting on the beam checking out the green manure.
I don’t know what it is about chickens, but I find them very funny. It just broke me up when I saw them and even more so when one of them turned around with its back to us and waggled its tail like a duck.
Posted on 5th February 2010 by admin in Gardening | Susan's posts
seeds
I’ve been totally swamped with writing funding applications the last couple of weeks and in the same avoidance mode of cleaning the house to avoid writing an essay I’ve been out in the garden seeing what needs to b
e done. A lot as it turned out. The rain has given a boost to the couch which has got into every corner. So I spent a lot of time pulling it out as well as slashing buffel. Very therapeutic and a hell of a lot more relaxing than trying to work out what our vehicle fuel costs are likely to be in 2010/2011.
Once the grass was cleared a few beds turned up looking a bit naked. So I used my normal approach of scattering the chosen seeds into the freshly dug beds. Lettuce (a couple of heat tolerant types), mizuna, parlsey, cherry tomatoes, marigolds, and beans. Three days later the mizuna and lettuce have started coming up and I know I am going to face the dilemma again of pinching out to avoid overcrowding or just leave it alone and let it all grow happily.
This is a source of difference with Trevor’s and my approach to gardening. Trevor uses seed trays, pinches out over growth and transplants when the plants are ready.
I prefer to sow the seed where it is to grow on the basis of the heat here and transplant shock being quite severe.
I think I get better results although it is all pretty chaotic and the plants tend to be a bit smaller. Trevor’s more considered approach yields larger plants but there is a high loss with transplant shock.
On the other hand we do have plants that we just don’t seem to be able to grow from seed – scatter gun or seed trays. Could be the extreme conditions maybe. Eggplant and capsicum have been impossible to grow from seed, but advanced seedlings have done well 
and our eggplants are into their second season and still setting fruit.
Coriander – forget it – seed or seedling no matter – it just turns up its toes and dies before your eyes.
I’ve finished the application writing (although reporting on funding we already have is going to take up most of my time next week), but I’ve promised myself time in the garden this weekend. I want to get some silverbeet in as well as see if Mexican coriander is going to survive.
yway and we are building the fencing around the beds. The chickens find it quite interesting to hear the work going on, but can’t see much because we’ve got iron sheets around the base of the chook yard to reduce the temptations for the dogs.
