Arizona Chickens

[BlueBaby]

@BlueBaby thank you! There are 14 out there, not sure how many females there are yet though. I have to get serious about sexing them now.

Sexing them should be easy enough, right? The boy's don't lay egg's.

 

[igorsMistress]

Sexing them should be easy enough, right? The boy's don't lay egg's.

They have a lot of room to run around in there, I'll need to thin the males at some point so I'll have to catch them all

 

[cactusrota]

I was reading your response and thinking, "Really? I grow year round." Then I looked at where you are in relation to where I am and the light bulb clicked on. I start my winter crops as early as September and continue planting all the way through early January, and meanwhile start my seedlings indoors for my Spring garden. (I grow everything from seed.) This year I'm trying a variety of tomato from Iraq that supposedly continues producing fruit longer into the summer.

There are several good books on the market to help desert gardeners. Probably my favorite is "Southwest Fruit & Vegetable Gardening" by Jacqueline A. Soule. She taught me that I'm not a terrible gardener for never being able to grow zucchini well; it's just not a vegetable conducive to my elevation. Thankfully I'm now a pro at butternut and spaghetti squashes instead.

Yeah I'm kinda halfway between low and high desert here. Our winter nights get down into the teens on occasion and we don't have a greenhouse. And our summers average only maybe 5 degrees cooler than the Phoenix valley. It's frustrating because it leaves us with two short growing seasons: in spring and monsoons until the beginning of Nov. Certain crops do well though. My anaheims did awesome last year. My armenian cukes had two short but very productive growing spurts during August and September. Drying beans seem to do better than green beans. The farmers here pretty much stick with cotton, alfalfa and summer wheat. Cotton has been grown in this area for so long that the soil and water table is saturated with salt from dessicating the cotton crops for so long...

I had a zucchini that did amazing a couple years back, and I couldn't remember where i got the seeds from because I had planted them in early spring and they didn't really do anything until the rains started in July. I had to do some research and I think I ID'ed them as Caserta. Happy and productive during the monsoons and yummy/sweet.

 

[BlueBaby]

They have a lot of room to run around in there, I'll need to thin the males at some point so I'll have to catch them all

That should be fun! They were talking about a chance of rain tonight on KFYI talk radio, so it might be too muddy for you to do it tomorrow. I can't imagine trying to catch those little quail with a fishing net like I do with the chickens (roo's).

 

[igorsMistress]

That should be fun! They were talking about a chance of rain tonight on KFYI talk radio, so it might be too muddy for you to do it tomorrow. I can't imagine trying to catch those little quail with a fishing net like I do with the chickens (roo's).

That's a great idea and we have a few. Thanks

 

[DesertChic]

Yeah I'm kinda halfway between low and high desert here. Our winter nights get down into the teens on occasion and we don't have a greenhouse. And our summers average only maybe 5 degrees cooler than the Phoenix valley. It's frustrating because it leaves us with two short growing seasons: in spring and monsoons until the beginning of Nov. Certain crops do well though. My anaheims did awesome last year. My armenian cukes had two short but very productive growing spurts during August and September. Drying beans seem to do better than green beans. The farmers here pretty much stick with cotton, alfalfa and summer wheat. Cotton has been grown in this area for so long that the soil and water table is saturated with salt from dessicating the cotton crops for so long...

I had a zucchini that did amazing a couple years back, and I couldn't remember where i got the seeds from because I had planted them in early spring and they didn't really do anything until the rains started in July. I had to do some research and I think I ID'ed them as Caserta. Happy and productive during the monsoons and yummy/sweet.

I never have luck with green beans either, but cow peas grow like weeds for me and we sometimes eat those as green beans, and they're very desert friendly in even poor soils. I'm building more raised beds this year and want to include a tall, arched trellis for climbing plants to grow on, and I have some long beans from both Thailand and China that I'm going to give a try. This is also my first year of growing King Tut Egyptian Purple Peas, which were allegedly thought to be extinct until the shelled peas were discovered in King Tut's tomb and propagated to restore their availability. They're growing quite well so far.

I also plant a lot of buckwheat for the chickens in the summer. Buckwheat is very desert tolerant and makes great chicken forage.

 

[FeatherPugs]

Cowpeas grow great here as well and we love them!! Also Okra - both great hot weather growers too. We have yet to have a real corn crop or a zucchini crop - I have currently growing broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, root crops - beets, turnips and carrots - I need to put the snap peas in the ground beginning of Feb. There is so much to play with and that I all I do actually EXCEPT what I grow for the chickies like oregano, dill, etc. Now I'm off to look up buckwheat!!

 

[BlueBaby]

I never have luck with green beans either, but cow peas grow like weeds for me and we sometimes eat those as green beans, and they're very desert friendly in even poor soils. I'm building more raised beds this year and want to include a tall, arched trellis for climbing plants to grow on, and I have some long beans from both Thailand and China that I'm going to give a try. This is also my first year of growing King Tut Egyptian Purple Peas, which were allegedly thought to be extinct until the shelled peas were discovered in King Tut's tomb and propagated to restore their availability. They're growing quite well so far.

I also plant a lot of buckwheat for the chickens in the summer. Buckwheat is very desert tolerant and makes great chicken forage.

Buckwheat also makes good pancakes.

 

[m1chelle1]

I never have luck with green beans either, but cow peas grow like weeds for me and we sometimes eat those as green beans, and they're very desert friendly in even poor soils. I'm building more raised beds this year and want to include a tall, arched trellis for climbing plants to grow on, and I have some long beans from both Thailand and China that I'm going to give a try. This is also my first year of growing King Tut Egyptian Purple Peas, which were allegedly thought to be extinct until the shelled peas were discovered in King Tut's tomb and propagated to restore their availability. They're growing quite well so far.

I also plant a lot of buckwheat for the chickens in the summer. Buckwheat is very desert tolerant and makes great chicken forage.

Oh wow, very cool!! Do you have any pictures of the King Tut Purple Peas? Ive never heard of these. How do they taste?

 

[DesertChic]

Cowpeas grow great here as well and we love them!! Also Okra - both great hot weather growers too. We have yet to have a real corn crop or a zucchini crop - I have currently growing broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, root crops - beets, turnips and carrots - I need to put the snap peas in the ground beginning of Feb. There is so much to play with and that I all I do actually EXCEPT what I grow for the chickies like oregano, dill, etc. Now I'm off to look up buckwheat!!

Yeah, my corn has never grown well....probably because I don't use chemical fertilizers.

You could actually start the snap peas now. I planted mine in December and already have flowers on them. Just don't forget to soak the seeds first!

This year I've also planted kohlrabi for the first time. I'd never even heard of it until I started a diet a few months back and it was mentioned for one of the recipes. Now it's one of my favorite veggies. I've made kraut from it and plan to make coleslaw from it eventually too. Very crisp, mild and tasty. I'm also trying three kinds of alpine strawberry from seed. I've got 25 little seedlings out there that I started indoors in vermiculite. I've never had very good luck with strawberries, but you just never know when you may find that one species that takes off.