What did you do in the garden today?

[pennyJo1960]

I am trying to work up the energy to clean my brooder then go do coops bringing out the black rubber boots

 

[chickmom3941]

Rainy today. Coop will get cleaned out tomorrow, and the dirty stuff will go into the compost pile.

I think grass seed in front no longer needs watering, neither does the grassy berm and channel where we seeded all around the cut sod. However, might need to water the dirt berm another time or two ...the rain and clouds today will be good, but that sun and wind sure dries out exposed dirt when trying to grow grass!


need to buy a heated base for the galvanized waterer. Need to bring out the heated dog bowl for the coop.

We also use a heated dog bowl in our coop. Have had the same one for probably 5 years or more - works like a charm all winter long! We put it up on a concrete block so it doesn't get too much hay and stuff in it.
The weather is kinda nasty today - rainy, windy, and cool. Typical October weather here in MN. Surprisingly, we still have some herbs growing out on the deck - parsley, cilantro and mint are still going strong. The basil died a week or so back, when we had some very cold weather for a few days. Anyway, not a lot happening outside. Making some stew tonight, which should be good on a cold day like today.
Even though the weather is bad, the girls refuse to stay in their pen. They keep coming outside and standing in the rain. Then they go back inside for awhile, but next thing you know, they're back out standing in the rain again. Lol. Go figure.
BTW, Welcome to the thread, Old Trooper - good to have you here!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Like you chickmom I am doing soup recipe partly of my mind the original is based on a packaged soup mix not caring for Broccoli in my soup chose the wing it
Baked Potato Au Gratin Soup

6 large Potato baked lightly and diced
1 lb bacon fried crisp cut and added (Save some for garnish)
2 cups cooked Ham
3 cups shredded cheese (to your liking)
3 tbsp Dill
4 tbsp pepper
2 tbsp salt
3 tbsp parsley
3 crushed garlic cloves
1 ½ tbsp celery seed


Save 1 cup of ham drippings 4 tbsp of bacon grease then add 3 to 4 cups milk

Simmer 15 to 20 stir often thicken with cornstarch and milk to thicken to desired thickness

 

[chickmom3941]

Penny, is your contest for best chicken Halloween costume over already? I hadn't checked it out for awhile, and just tried to find it, but wasn't able to. Was hoping to see all the cute chickens in their costumes!

 

[pennyJo1960]

isn't over till halloween night look at the bottom of signature

 

[Sueby]

Hi gardeners!

Garden isn't very exciting this time of year, got 3 tomato vines left and 2 boxes of green ones in the house that are still turning. My lettuce isn't getting very big very quickly! I'm going to cover it when need be, try and keep it going as long as possible.

Even the chickens aren't doing much, I'm down to 3 eggs a day. I told dh that we need more chickens. Seems like such a waste to have them but still having to buy eggs. I just wish i had a good way to add more. I wish i had known more about chickens and gotten a breed that would go broody.

@karenerwin good news about your Mom!

 

[chickmom3941]

isn't over till halloween night look at the bottom of signature

Thanks - such fun, and there sure are some cute ones! I wish my girls would cooperate with me dressing them up, but there's NO WAY any of them would allow that.

It's another cold, windy day today. It stopped raining, but this morning is still cloudy and damp. Supposed to get partly sunny later this afternoon. I'm just planning on staying indoors today, cooking & cleaning. Also, we're having a Halloween party at work this weekend, so I'm going to bake a treat to contribute. Will make it sometime this week, and probably freeze it till Sunday to keep it fresh till the party.

I know what you mean, Sueby, I have eggs on our shopping list because our girls have slowed down laying quite significantly.

 

[Acre4Me]

Whew! grass seed is sprouting in an area I had figured it wasn't going to grow because we hadn't watered it very diligently. Luckily, it gets shade, so I think that is what helped along with the wind blowing water from the sprinklers onto that area.

Landscaper came to plant the final plant in the newly landscaped bed in the front yard - we got a Serviceberry bc it will look nice in that bed, not overly large. It wasn't as large as they had quoted us, so discounted the bill - always a pleasant surprise. Landscaper walked around the yard bc wanted to see the work we had accomplished and said "Wow! That's a lot of work!" Yes, yes it was...that is why we had to do it ourselves - would have been too $$$ to hire it out. He also checked out the 102 tons of dirt he had gotten delivered and then spread out for us in the back. It has settled and been rained on a few times, and remains gently sloped away from the building and garden and towards the back, so that was also nice to hear!

And finally...SPROUTS! Had planted various extra seeds in the large bed of new dirt for a new garden area. Today, there are sprouts! Of course cold weather is coming, and they will not grow much, but was just looking for a bit of "green manure" to grow then rot over the winter! Hopefully they grow for a little while. Beans, peas, radish, beet seeds.

 

[Acre4Me]

I know what you mean, Sueby, I have eggs on our shopping list because our girls have slowed down laying quite significantly.

Even the chickens aren't doing much, I'm down to 3 eggs a day. I told dh that we need more chickens. Seems like such a waste to have them but still having to buy eggs. I just wish i had a good way to add more. I wish i had known more about chickens and gotten a breed that would go broody.

We had to buy eggs last winter too. We supplemented light last year, but it was sooooo overcast and cloudy last Jan/Feb, we were hardly getting any eggs - I think the best light was coming from the light bulb on a timer, but we only had that on a few hours a day. This year we are again supplementing light and have not yet seen a decrease, but we will see what happens in the short-short winter days.

Broody hens: We only have 1 broody out of the many breeds we have gotten and raised. The one we have is a Black Australorp. Her two same-hatch sisters are not broody - one died at 1 year old, and the other *thinks* about being broody occasionally, but gives it up in about 48 hours without any encouragement from us. Our BA broody goes broody every couple of months - it seems. She has raised 3 batches of chicks for us (adoption) after sitting on fake eggs for 2.5-3weeks. Recently, she was broody and after 3.5-4weeks she went un-broody, so I was happy to see that she naturally got out of that cycle. We currently have several new breeds that are almost 6 months old...will be interesting to see if any go broody.

 

[Sueby]

@Acre4Me I may consider supplementing light. They are still pullets so I'm not sure how bad it will get over the winter, we'll see. Thanks for sharing your experience.