Chickens Growing Up

Aw, my babies are looking like teenagers! It’s fun to see them grow. They are four and a half weeks old now and have been outside in the tractor full-time for two weeks. They still have a heat lamp on in the coop portion of the tractor.
There are some big ones and some small ones. [...]

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Peas/Fava Beans

I’ve been flying solo all week.
Serina Solo Parenting = No Gardening Work Done
I’ve been keeping at watering the tomatoes, staring at the peppers and eggplants still begging to be transplanted, and opening/closing the cold frame when necessary. Beyond that, not much is going on around here.
I knew that staring our first big garden in [...]

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Hawk

I finally had a moment of quiet after the kids went to bed tonight, so I sat down to check email and blogs before retiring to a restful evening of dishes, laundry, sweeping, etc. As I typed away, I kept hearing loud bird noises through the open windows. Sounded like chicks complaining about something. I [...]

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Creamy Chickpea and Tahini Casserole

Oh, Creamy Chickpea and Tahini Casserole, how I love thee!
This is seriously good food. And cheap! I’ve been toying with going dairy-free for a while, and vegan recipes are a great resource, because they’re always dairy-free. I can always add in meat, if I feel like it. This casserole is so simple and yummy, and [...]

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Chicks’ First Day Out

[Click on any pic to enlarge]
“Oooh, look, she opened the door!”

“So that’s a door. Huh. Doesn’t look like much to me.”

Two beaks and a bottom checking out the door/ramp:

“Maybe I’ll give it a shot. I’m brave. What do you guys think?”

Slowly…slowly…

“Hey! This isn’t too bad!”

“Look at me! It’s kinda nice out here…”

“Come on, everyone! This [...]

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Chicken Tractor Pics

Materials Used:

Scrap and new lumber (6 – 2″x4″x8’s, 3 – 2″x2″x8’s, assorted scraps from the garage)
Various lengths of galvanized deck screws, staples and staple gun, nails occasionally
Scrap OSB
New plywood (2 sheets, 4′x8′)
1/2″ hardware cloth and galvanized wire
$4.50/gallon “oops” paint from Lowes

Total Cost: approximately $80
Jason and I designed this together after looking at dozens of pictures [...]

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Transplanting in Cold Frame

I finally got some transplanting work done in the cold frame this past weekend. I think it was Saturday (4/11/09) that I moved the Red Tinged Winter Lettuce, arugula, and two kales out to another part of the frame, on 3″ spacings. I moved 9 of each plant, leaving the extras behind in case of [...]

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Chickens Outside!

We moved the chickens, in their chicken tractor, outside to the front yard (from the garage) today. They are two and a half weeks old now. Today was super sunny, warm, light breezes, so it was a great day for them to see some sunshine.
We want to rear them as naturally as possible, and [...]

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Chickens Out!

Woo hoo! My 26 darling little Buff Orpington chicks (who are fast getting their feathers!) are now in a chicken tractor in my garage!
That means they’re not in my house anymore! No more chicken dander!
Can you tell I’m excited? I love the little things, but I knew before I started that the dust would [...]

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Rosemary’s Up!

My rosemary, which I planted on 3/24, is finally up! Rosemary is a fussy germinator, so I didn’t think I’d be patient enough to get one, but I did!
Only one artichoke seedling ended up surviving. Two had germinated, but I accidentally beheaded one as I was watering plants the other day. This was sad, but [...]

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