Feeding your chickens from your garden

[glib]

I have no hoop houses right now. I cover during Thanksgiving week end, and uncover in March. Unlike Anthony, I use clamps and 6 mils poly sheeting. Each sheet lasts about 5 years. Under cover I have collard, kale, and radicchio, so I use the cover to protect established plants, grown during summer and Fall, not to start early crops. Both techniques are viable. Not covered, parsnips and carrots. In the cellar, beets, cabbage, daikon and turnips.

But the point is, chickens can be allowed in a garden only in the absence of crops. It works well with a summer garden, which is empty in early spring and Fall, but works less well in the winter garden.

 

[cmonkey]

I am growing three kinds of fodder beets this year along with golden amaranth. High yielding.

http://www.rareseeds.com/golden-/?F_Keyword=golden amaranth
http://www.rareseeds.com/zentaur-fodder-beet/?F_Keyword=fodder beet
http://www.rareseeds.com/geante-blanche-beet/?F_Keyword=fodder beet
http://www.rareseeds.com/mammoth-red-mangel-beet/?F_Keyword=mangel

 

[cmonkey]

I have hoop tunnels in our garden, zone 6 I start planted out in jan and am still harvesting in December! I get to plant anywhere from 6-8 weeks earlier than everyone else and am harvesting 6-8 after everyone else! Be warned... It's a love hate relationship though! Lol whatever you do, DONT use plastic clamps, they tear holes in everything (I have tuff lite 4 plastic and ag-50 and ag-15 fabric). I've had to invest in the "sandbag store" sandbags to make everything last and more efficient. I love the sandbags except when I have to relocate a couple hundred every spring and fall

. I love the covers (because I love fresh and early garden food) but they are a pain to properly clean, store, and take up quite a bit of space (not to mention the initial expense!). I wouldn't trade anything for my 1/2" and 3/4" EMT though! We don't get a lot of snow here but we sure are windy and pvc would never hold up! When it's 10 degrees outside in January, it's a tropical rain forest under the rows! Seriously. I've measured 130 deg temps inside and it literally rains. I grow to feed the family and its therefore, an essential but if you're only growing for recreation, I wouldn't recommend it. Best of luck!

How big are your hoop houses? I am planning to put some out back and am wondering how large to make them. We'd like fresh greens all through winter. We are in zone 5A so we might not have the range you do, but anything is better than nothing.

 

[AnthonyFlock]

They're 3-3 & 1/2' tall by 4' wide, two rows are 40' long and two rows are 55' long. In the winter, you can sink the poles further in the ground to keep the rows warmer. I've found that the covers work best if put on in the mid fall so the ground doesnt lose as much heat. Doing that, we're able to maintain 60-70 deg soil temps with very dense clay straight through winter. Happy gardening!

 

[glib]

CMonkey, I am not Anthony but I impersonate him on TV. I have 4X12 beds, all very standardized. I use four hoops made with PVC pipe from Home Depot, 1 inch diameter, one hoop every four feet. They are cut in a slanted way at the end to help penetrate the soil. They bend into an arch, and I use one more PVC pipe, with drilled holes and long screws, at the top as a cross beam parallel to the beds. Basically the same as these

http://www.veggiecare.com/howto.html

I cover with 6 mils plastic sheeting, 12 feet wide. In the past I could get it clear, now it has a large recycled content and is more opaque but still acceptable. The clamps are these

http://www.territorialseed.com/product/The_Garden_Clip_System

It is absolutely necessary to then weigh down and seal the hedges (that is why I use 12 ft wide sheeting, not 10 ft wide. To have plenty of space to seal the edges). I use dozens of bricks leftover from a previous project, about 20 per bed. These hoop houses are not large but you can enter them from one end, and harvest your greens as you crawl through the hoop house. It is also advisable to remove all mulch before sealing, so that the soil can provide thermal ballast. Again, mine are for support of fully grown cold hardy plants during winter.

 

[cmonkey]

They're 3-3 & 1/2' tall by 4' wide, two rows are 40' long and two rows are 55' long. In the winter, you can sink the poles further in the ground to keep the rows warmer. I've found that the covers work best if put on in the mid fall so the ground doesnt lose as much heat. Doing that, we're able to maintain 60-70 deg soil temps with very dense clay straight through winter. Happy gardening!

You are able to maintain 60-70 deg soil temp from a hoop house that is only 3.5 feet high and 4 feet wide?? I would think you'd need something bigger, that is pretty incredible. I was thinking of having a walk-in hoop house, I wonder how much different it would be.

 

[MagicPidge]

I don't grow anything extra in my garden for them produce wise, but they do get produce scraps. However, i have "cultivated" an area of my yard to grow certain "weeds" for them. Amaranth and lambs quarter being the main ones, if you let them grow until they go to seed you can cut off the entire seed head and throw it to them, or knock the seed off into a bucket. You can get alot of seed from one plant. I filled a 3 gallon bucket with seed from one amaranth plant last year.

Same here! Every now and again we'd let the chickens loose on the dandelions -- free weed control.

 

[AnthonyFlock]

You are able to maintain 60-70 deg soil temp from a hoop house that is only 3.5 feet high and 4 feet wide?? I would think you'd need something bigger, that is pretty incredible. I was thinking of having a walk-in hoop house, I wonder how much different it would be.

The smaller the enclosure, the easier it is to maintain heat. Ex: vaulted ceilings vs standard, all the heat goes up in the room w/vaulted ceilings so it feels colder than the standard (and therefore, does a number on your energy bill

). Same with the garden, it won't hold heat well in the winter. There are advantages though! They are easier to maintain and being sble to "walk" in is a huge perk. You can also put mini tunnels (1-2' high and 1-2' wide) within the large house and that'll work very well during the winter for cold hardy crops.

 

[21hens-incharge]

So very true about them needing to stay out of the summer garden.
Mine got in and demolished 8 heads of cabbage in a matter of 2 hours.
Mine are no longer allowed to roam the yard unattended.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Mine get lots of garden leftovers from my parents large garden...over ripe corn, zucchini, tomatoes, etc.

From my yard they get....weeds. I don't quite have the soil quality my folks do!

The girls do enjoy dandelion greens, clover, and many other treats I find growing in my lawn.