Arizona Chickens

[EmmaDonovan]

I apologize for all my complaining, this is a tough time of year for me. Anyway, here's something more positive and interesting that I just learned about: moringa trees. This heat is really good for is planting them. Most of the tree is edible for people and livestock can eat the leaves. They grow very well and very fast in hot, dry climates.

Moringa is a superfood. It has 90 nutrients including 47 antioxidants, 25 vitamins and minerals, all 9 essential amino acids and one of the highest concentrations of plant protein within the plant kingdom, as well as antifungal, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties.

These trees have saved entire villages from starvation in places in India and Africa, including their livestock. That is amazing.

I ordered some seeds and I'm going to plant them in our backyard. They grow incredibly fast and if you cut them back at about 5', they will grow out sideways and be more bushy. There's a chain link fence between us and our one neighbor so I'm going to plant them along the fence and that will give us a little more privacy.

Anyone else grow moringa trees? Do you feed the leaves to your chickens? The leaves (not too much) are supposed to be good for them.

 

[ChicksnMore]

I know, it's 112 outside and 94 in our house. Many people here don't have A/C. This area is on the poorer side of town. I suspect there are more meth houses than houses with A/C. It's easy to forget that some of us struggle through the hellish summers with just swamp coolers and fans. Our car doesn't even have working A/C. Hurry up, November!

Hubby and I did that in our early days in Tucson. Swamp cooling was what we could afford so it's how we lived. I feel for you...hang in there. Drink lots of ice drinks, use spray bottles and wet towels to help you through it. Cooler weathers coming!

 

[BlueBaby]

That must be difficult. I feel for you. Just the other day, we were having a discussion in our house amazing at how people lived here before the advent of A/C.

They made the outter walls of their homes with thick adobe from what I was told. They napped during the hottest part of the day to keep from being active out there in the heat. They diffinately wouldn't have been out there jogging or trying to climb mountain trails in the heat.

 

[ChicksnMore]

I think I'd have to build a house below the ground like they do on Tatooine.

View attachment 3587947

I would love that so much! It's always driven me nuts that there's no basements on anything but old homes here. Basements stay so much cooler and if they could dig them by hand so many years ago...how is that now they can't with all the machines they use today. Too hard caliche they say..... Makes.me grumpy

 

[BlueBaby]

I would love that so much! It's always driven me nuts that there's no basements on anything but old homes here. Basements stay so much cooler and if they could dig them by hand so many years ago...how is that now they can't with all the machines they use today. Too hard caliche they say..... Makes.me grumpy

Laziness?

 

[ChicksnMore]

I apologize for all my complaining, this is a tough time of year for me. Anyway, here's something more positive and interesting that I just learned about: moringa trees. This heat is really good for is planting them. Most of the tree is edible for people and livestock can eat the leaves. They grow very well and very fast in hot, dry climates.

Moringa is a superfood. It has 90 nutrients including 47 antioxidants, 25 vitamins and minerals, all 9 essential amino acids and one of the highest concentrations of plant protein within the plant kingdom, as well as antifungal, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties.

These trees have saved entire villages from starvation in places in India and Africa, including their livestock. That is amazing.

I ordered some seeds and I'm going to plant them in our backyard. They grow incredibly fast and if you cut them back at about 5', they will grow out sideways and be more bushy. There's a chain link fence between us and our one neighbor so I'm going to plant them along the fence and that will give us a little more privacy.

Anyone else grow moringa trees? Do you feed the leaves to your chickens? The leaves (not too much) are supposed to be good for them.

I've tried growing moringa a few times now. I can get them to thrive all summer but the hardest part of winter kills them. Even indoors for us but that's probably because we don't heat overnight. Tucson area here and it's just too cold in the winter a couple nights out of the year. I know the UoA has one on their campus though...so I do know it's possible here. Supposedly if you can get them to 3 years old they handle cold better. All mine have been grown from seed and two years is the longest I've kept one alive.

Editing to add the moringa is very tasty though!

 

[ChicksnMore]

Laziness?

That's what I believe. Easier to build upwards even if no one can stand being in the upper level of a two story because the heats awful there.

 

[BlueBaby]

That's what I believe. Easier to build upwards even if no one can stand being in the upper level of a two story because the heats awful there.

Yes, and that way they get them done faster so they can collect all of that money and in the meantime almost done building the next house. Now they are more interested in building tall apartment buildings. I can imagine living up on the 6th floor or so in the summer when the electric goes out or there's a fire. That's not for me for sure.

 

[Happy Novogens]

I apologize for all my complaining, this is a tough time of year for me. Anyway, here's something more positive and interesting that I just learned about: moringa trees. This heat is really good for is planting them. Most of the tree is edible for people and livestock can eat the leaves. They grow very well and very fast in hot, dry climates.

Moringa is a superfood. It has 90 nutrients including 47 antioxidants, 25 vitamins and minerals, all 9 essential amino acids and one of the highest concentrations of plant protein within the plant kingdom, as well as antifungal, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties.

These trees have saved entire villages from starvation in places in India and Africa, including their livestock. That is amazing.

I ordered some seeds and I'm going to plant them in our backyard. They grow incredibly fast and if you cut them back at about 5', they will grow out sideways and be more bushy. There's a chain link fence between us and our one neighbor so I'm going to plant them along the fence and that will give us a little more privacy.

Anyone else grow moringa trees? Do you feed the leaves to your chickens? The leaves (not too much) are supposed to be good for them.

I actually planted moringa seeds in 4 different locations in our yard this summer. Not a one has come up. Don't know if there is any hope they'll come up.

My son in Florida has them and raves about their benefits. Great tree to have if food supply becomes an issue.

 

[ChicksnMore]

I actually planted moringa seeds in 4 different locations in our yard this summer. Not a one has come up. Don't know if there is any hope they'll come up.

My son in Florida has them and raves about their benefits. Great tree to have if food supply becomes an issue.

Try starting them in seed flats for extra moisture to get them going. They drown easy but need more water in the first few years. So well drained. Phoenix I think stays warm enough over winter for them from what I've read