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lazy gardener said:
Widgett: You can't keep just one goat... thus goes the goat math! How did your beans do? Hope you saved some seed!
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The beans were slow to take off but did well once they got going. They seemed to stall half way through growing. And yes I saved a few seeds for next year.
smile.png
 
dowgirl71 said:

I got this picture, this afternoon. This is one happy chicken-so funny to watch her actually roll in the sand!
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Love watching them do this! They always look like they're in heaven!

Don't feel bad Izzybella, mine don't like the one I had my son make for them in the run. However,when I let them out for supervised ranging, they love my 5 year old compost bin. DH says, "I thought you were going to use that for your plants?" I will but they love it so!
 
IZZYBELLA said:
I could easily get into goat math, especially seeing the absolutely adorable kids at the Cumberland Fair.  They are just so interactive and personable.  Lucky for my husband, we have nowhere to keep them... this year.  ;-)

Non-chicken question for those of you with gardens.  I have raised beds that are an absolute disaster with weeds.  They haven't been planted for at least two seasons, or so the previous owners told me.  Is there any way to winterize them that would minimize the weeds that grow back in the spring?  (I have essentially no garden experience.)
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Let the chickens go at them (if you can), but then cover them with cardboard or black plastic. The spring Sun will cook anything in there.
 
IZZYBELLA said:
I could easily get into goat math, especially seeing the absolutely adorable kids at the Cumberland Fair. They are just so interactive and personable. Lucky for my husband, we have nowhere to keep them... this year. ;-)

Non-chicken question for those of you with gardens. I have raised beds that are an absolute disaster with weeds. They haven't been planted for at least two seasons, or so the previous owners told me. Is there any way to winterize them that would minimize the weeds that grow back in the spring? (I have essentially no garden experience.)
Click to expand...
Ditto: Let the chickens have a go at them. If you can, actually fence the chickens into the area where the raised beds are, so they'll concentrate their efforts in the beds. Do the beds have wood sides? If so, how close is the soil level to the top of the sides? You don't want the girls to scratch all of the soil out of those beds. When you're ready to move on to step 2, cover the beds with a good layer of cardboard, or about 10 layers of newspaper. Wet it down so it doesn't blow away. Then start layering what ever you have on hand on top: grass clippings, leaves, chicken bedding, anything except meat and grease from your kitchen can be dug into the soil, or laid under the newspaper/cardboard. Hay and straw are also wonderful additives. Don't be shy about heaping it on. 2' is not too much! Don't let your top layer be leaves. They'll blow away. If you don't have any options other than leaves, you can lay evergreen branches over the top, or cover with tarps or plastic. By spring, those beds will be begging for some seeds, and those sprouts will jump out of that rich soil. How much sun do these beds get? Sun is the most crucial element of a good garden. Drainage, fertility, and tilth can all be improved... but without sun, you're never going to have a garden that will amount to much. Depending on how much mental effort you want to put into the project, you might want to get a soil test done this fall. You can get a kit from your county extension office. It cost about $15 for the test results, and the test is real easy to do. I'd recommend doing it this fall, b/c they get real busy in the spring, and you'll have the fall to work on amending those beds. What size are they, and how many? You might want to check out a couple of books: Lasagna Gardening by ? Lanza, and Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew, and Gardening Without Work by Ruth Stout.
 
This is the time of year when I wish I had more money. I mean, I can always use more, esp in spring when all the lovely plants are out and so many eggs to hatch, but this time of year its not only apples and pumpkins that I want [maybe a donut or two] but then there's the work of winter readying everything. I have some lovely geese now and am excited to see what spring brings us out of the pairings. I also have some muscovy ducks [chocolate ones, and sadly that's not their flavor] who should brood eggs very nicely come time. I have an offer on Russian Orloff chicks from a breeder which I hope will be sent early next week. If I could I would buy more but 10 is my limit. We have been through a lot here regarding birds and I realize more and more that while I like the colorful eggs a lot I really want to work with the RO and that alone. I have a line of great Marans here even, but so far, I just am not as 'into' them. Oh, yes, back to money; so I went to HD to pick up a few things and found garden fencing that was in a bin marked under 5$- woo hoo right? No. Can you believe they wanted 60+ dollars for a 100ft roll? OH no. Even if I had money I wouldn't be spending it like that. More than two donuts comes to mind.
 
lazy gardener said:
Ditto: Let the chickens have a go at them. If you can, actually fence the chickens into the area where the raised beds are, so they'll concentrate their efforts in the beds. Do the beds have wood sides? If so, how close is the soil level to the top of the sides? You don't want the girls to scratch all of the soil out of those beds. When you're ready to move on to step 2, cover the beds with a good layer of cardboard, or about 10 layers of newspaper. Wet it down so it doesn't blow away. Then start layering what ever you have on hand on top: grass clippings, leaves, chicken bedding, anything except meat and grease from your kitchen can be dug into the soil, or laid under the newspaper/cardboard. Hay and straw are also wonderful additives. Don't be shy about heaping it on. 2' is not too much! Don't let your top layer be leaves. They'll blow away. If you don't have any options other than leaves, you can lay evergreen branches over the top, or cover with tarps or plastic. By spring, those beds will be begging for some seeds, and those sprouts will jump out of that rich soil. How much sun do these beds get? Sun is the most crucial element of a good garden. Drainage, fertility, and tilth can all be improved... but without sun, you're never going to have a garden that will amount to much. Depending on how much mental effort you want to put into the project, you might want to get a soil test done this fall. You can get a kit from your county extension office. It cost about $15 for the test results, and the test is real easy to do. I'd recommend doing it this fall, b/c they get real busy in the spring, and you'll have the fall to work on amending those beds. What size are they, and how many? You might want to check out a couple of books: Lasagna Gardening by ? Lanza, and Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew, and Gardening Without Work by Ruth Stout.
Click to expand...

Thank you for all of the suggestions, LG! I have 14 beds each 8x4 feet with wooden sides and they are in full sun all day. (I only planted in 2 of them this year... such a shame!) There are 2-3 inches from the highest point of soil to the top of the wood. I had four of the girls out there for several hours again today. I had to keep shooing them from the young blueberry bushes (I'll have to block it off somehow going forward). Of all the beds to choose from that's the one they favor! :) Great idea re: the soil test. I'll do that.
 

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