Anyone have luck catching a feral chicken?? UPDATE: Rooster caught, no hen

[Suzi18]

Hey! I'm 14, not thirteen.

Once you get my age you would rather be a year younger. Oh to be 14 again..................

 

[Smuvers Farm]

Thanks We got her as a gift for my mom. She said that before the flock was complete, she wanted to have a laced chicken and a chocolate orpington.
Oof, that's some serious snow! We just had our first snow yesterday. It didn't stick, though, because of all the rain that preceded it. I recently had to rescue some bedraggled chickens from our non-waterproofed coop and move them to our garage. The coop is nice and dry now, though.

Do you home school? I forgot if you shared that with us or not.... My 8 y/o is a home school kiddo.

 

[Molpet]

Does &the layer of snow help insulate?

yes it does

 

[staceyj]

LAUNDRY BASKET POTATO TUTORIAL (for kids or grown up)

What you need:

A good size laundry basket
-the kind with holes. I use old but your choice
*Most laundry baskets holes don't start until about 3-4 inches from the bottom.

I fill the bottom of mine with a few inches of filler like rocks, pebbles or bricks because Potatoes hate being soggy.

An old sheet , (a twin size does two baskets)

or landscape fabric ( the breathable kind- not the super heavy duty kind)

A pair of scissors.

Soil. Loamy is best but any kind will do really except heavy clay-like or dense.
*Potatoes like room to expand.
*bonus info: I add Epsom salt to EVERYTHING.

A big cup, scoop, little bucket etc for filling. (Not a trowel! Too frustrating!
More on this later.

Watering can.

6-8 seed potatoes.
Many choices here.
You can buy them by the smallish bag or in huge quantities at the ag center or garden supply place....

Or you can plan a few weeks ahead and make your own!

Buy a few organic potatoes at the grocery, put them in a paper lunch bag, roll the top down and leave them be for about 2 weeks on the workbench or on a shelf in the laundry but,
Dear god!!!!! Don't forget where you put them because if forgotten forever they will eventually rot and nothing smells worse than a rotten potato. Except maybe an onion. Or both! *Never store together.

Have the kiddo check on them every day or two.

One night while you're cooking dinner they discover they have eyes! Don't worry if they look a little shrivel-y.

After a few more days the potato eyes have grown into "fingers"

Any nice day this week it's time to plant!

OUTSIDE:
Pick a nice sunny spot.

Have your bag of soil nearby. Like right next to the basket nearby. Have a grownup cut the bag open.

Fill the bottom of your laundry basket with any of those fillers I suggested above, to just below the bottom layer of holes.

Toss the fabric over the basket and reach down to make sure it goes to the bottom. You might have to help if it's a small kid and a tall basket.

With little kids the "process" means everything. Let them transfer scoop by scoop, the soil into the basket.
If they're engaged, Let them do it no matter how many times it takes.
*You are aiming for a 4-6 inch layer.

Sprinkle a few kid size handfuls of "magic crystals" aka Epsom salt,
on the soil and encourage them to stir it in with their hands or a spoon if they hate getting their fingers yucky....

Then some gentle pats for good luck or whatever, to level it out.

Next step is PLANTING!

Potatoes need 2 eyes to grow. Idk why. Don't argue.

You can plant a whole small one or cut bigger ones into smaller segements as long as they have (#2eyes) ,
Some say if you are going to cut them to do it a few days ahead of time to allow the wet sides to dry out, I never have. Do whatever works for you!

Have the kid place the potatoes on top of the soil in two rows of 3 or 4.
*EYES UP.
Supervise this part so they are pretty evenly spaced.

Have the kiddo "cover everybody up" with a few more inches of soil til the potatoes are 2-4 inches underground.
Again, let them pat the soil firmly, but not smash it.

A sprinkling of a few pinches of the magic crystals for drama.

Give the whole thing a drink of water.

Assign the job of checking in it to the kid.
If the soil gets dry, let them give it a drink.

All it takes is a few sunny days, then wowza,
MAGIC HAPPENS.

Suddenly, little green plants are peeking out of the soil!
And they aren't even whimpy!

Once they are an inch or two tall it's time for more kid work.

Have them add another layer of soil, totally covering up the little plants by about two more inches.

Do a potato check every day. Make it their job.

...drinks of water,
Pinches of magic crystals....

Continue the process of covering up/ watering/ growing until the level of soil has reached just a few inches shy of the top of the basket or til you run out of soil.

Water as needed.
Keep an eye out for pests like caterpillars.
Find em? Squash them.

Let the plants grow!
They get good sized.

After 60-70 days the leaves yellow and start dropping.
The plants look pretty sorry.
But that's ok!

*you can chop off the plants now if you wish, then wait a week or so to harvest. It gives the potato skins a chance to thicken, but I don't because I love thin skinned "new potatoes".

IT'S HARVEST TIME!

Have kid wear clothes that can get dirty.
*little garden gloves for dirt phobic kids.

A tarp or something similar.
A big bowl, basket, bucket...
for collecting potatoes.

Another vessel to put the rocks in for the next batch!

Dump the basket over on the tarp.
Have the kid get in there with both hands digging and sifting as they look for their "potato treasure".

It seems you never find them all on the first pass, or even the second so sit in the shade, supervise, and encourage!

Educational opportunities:

Gardening vocabulary.

Fosters nurturing and patience, also taking turns and teamwork if working in pairs or small groups.

Counting:
Number of potatoes to be planted
2 "eyes"
Total number of potatoes harvested

Measuring:
By volume in cups, quarts, buckets, *pinches.

Later, by height (plants in early stages can be measured with a ruler

Sorting and organization :
Gathering necessary items,
two rows of however many

Comparison and categorizing:
Plants differ in height based on...?
Hypothesize!
Shady side of the basket maybe?

At harvest time
get out the mixing bowls!

Let them SORT by tiny, small, medium, big...

Get out the kitchen scale and work on Weights:
total harvest
Compare weights
Weigh groups

Make a graph

The best parts of this project of course are spending time with your kids, doing something that isn't electronic and doesn't require an App

Oh, and did I mention...
how proud your child will be at the dinner table when you announce over and over again that THEY GREW THIS?!

 

[staceyj]

That's fine I wish I would be driving soon, but up here in New York, your learners permit doesn't come till sixteen.
My mom does some gardening, but this year was more preparing for next year than anything else We just got our chickens last March, so this summer we've been buying coop, building a more secure coop after they got attacked by a bear(2 died, 4 survived), building a fence, hatching eggs and only getting roosters, finding homes for said roosters, getting new pullets, finding a home for a not-so-female chick in the batch, and caring for the chickens that we just set up a space for next years garden. We did grow some rhubarb and tomatoes, though.

Wow!
That's a lot of learning in one year.

 

[rjohns39]

Well, integration went well this morning. The 14 week old girls were released into the pasture this morning. Once again, I'm left wondering what goes on in the mind of a hen? My absolute smallest hen from the new batch decided it was a good idea to peck my Alpha Tom. Really, I think she was just preening, but who knows. First few pecks, he gives her the "have you lost your mind?!?" look, a few pecks more and he delivered one very measured peck to the base of her neck and she ran back into her safe place. Lesson Learned: Don't peck the tyrannosaurus. Other than that, just a few chest bumps and it was quickly over.

 

[staceyj]

Well, integration went well this morning. The 14 week old girls were released into the pasture this morning. Once again, I'm left wondering what goes on in the mind of a hen? My absolute smallest hen from the new batch decided it was a good idea to peck my Alpha Tom. Really, I think she was just preening, but who knows. First few pecks, he gives her the "have you lost your mind?!?" look, a few pecks more and he delivered one very measured peck to the base of her neck and she ran back into her safe place. Lesson Learned: Don't peck the tyrannosaurus. Other than that, just a few chest bumps and it was quickly over.

PHEW.
You know how to build suspense @rjohns39 !

 

[21hens-incharge]

I will try again to grow taters.

Things my set up was perhaps wrong in...

Not sunny enough, only about 6 hours there.
Not enough breathing holes, think big tree pots with holes in the bottom only.
To wet
No magic crystals
Did not bury deep enough when covering sprouts
Wrong dirt.......gonna have to research that....we used bagged organic potting soil with some chicken compost.

Yes taters are inexpensive in the store but dang am I ever tired of relying on the stores. Not to mention all recalls and issues of late with listeria, e-coli and other stuff.
We had been using frozen veggies a few weeks before a recall announcement. EVERY bag of veggies we had were in the recall batches.


SO a question.... Can the tater dirt be used to grow peppers or other veggies or refreshed in spring for more taters?

 

[Smuvers Farm]

Thank you for all that work Stacey!!! Definitely gonna plant taters with this... we need new laundry baskets anyway!!

 

[staceyj]

I will try again to grow taters.

Things my set up was perhaps wrong in...

Not sunny enough, only about 6 hours there.
Not enough breathing holes, think big tree pots with holes in the bottom only.
To wet
No magic crystals
Did not bury deep enough when covering sprouts
Wrong dirt.......gonna have to research that....we used bagged organic potting soil with some chicken compost.

Yes taters are inexpensive in the store but dang am I ever tired of relying on the stores. Not to mention all recalls and issues of late with listeria, e-coli and other stuff.
We had been using frozen veggies a few weeks before a recall announcement. EVERY bag of veggies we had were in the recall batches.


SO a question.... Can the tater dirt be used to grow peppers or other veggies or refreshed in spring for more taters?

Soil questions answered!


You can add some sand and peat to a heavier soil to lighten it up, but not too much peat or the soil will become hydrophobic.
Also with plenty of drainage alone, you should see improvement.

You can try to reuse potato soil a second time but probs won't have as good results. This soil isn't exactly "spent" but potatoes are heavy feeders. I sometimes add some compost or all purpose vegetable food during the growing time. Especially if we've had a long rainy spell because all those ventilation/ drainage holes are also nutrient exit doors.

You can always ammend the soil with a good measure of compost for planting again the next season but I'd use that exact soil for something else in the crop rotation equation. (Because of pests/disease/nutritional deficiencies)

Bean, roots, greens, fruits.

So I'd suggest growing some kind of greens in that particular batch of dirt instead of potatoes after season #1.

Or use it for flower pots or add it to your compost pile and by next season it'll be new again.