New Mexico

[chiplantz747]

I am from West Virginia, anyone else from the Eastern PanHandle?

 

[FridayYet]

I am from West Virginia, anyone else from the Eastern PanHandle?

Hi chiplantz, do you live in New Mexico now? If so, welcome!

 

[Zoomie]

Well, not me.... originally from Ohio, here, but wish I'd been born in New Mexico. Moving here was like coming home, finally.

How is everyone doing? My chicken news: I had 4 Svart Höna chicks, but 3 turned out to be cockerels...

So alas, two now reside in the freezer. I kept the one I felt was the most beautiful and now have a lovely pair. Also now have a pair of beautiful Barnevelders, as well, for my smaller coop. We are working on a very strong and tough coop and are getting close to done, so it will be fun to finally get chickens in it, even if it's just a pair. Hey, you have to start somewhere!

Meantime having a hard time going crazy and planting every seed I can find.

Spring fever is hitting in earnest. Are the rest of you bringing home little baby plants yet? They have not started to set them out at the stores yet, here, at our elevation. Which is good or I'd have a bunch of orphan plants living on the porch, it's supposed to snow here on Saturday!!

 

[mistymac]

Is it possible to have too many chickens

The kids and I hatched some babies out (a whopping 32!) to add to our flock of 14 laying hens, 1 rooster, and 14 3-week old chicks the kids bought with their allowance

If my math is correct that's 61 chickens

 

[Zoomie]

Is it possible to have too many chickens

The kids and I hatched some babies out (a whopping 32!) to add to our flock of 14 laying hens, 1 rooster, and 14 3-week old chicks the kids bought with their allowance

If my math is correct that's 61 chickens

LOL, is that like being too thin or too rich? You can't have "too many"?

I will say though that in about 2 months it will seem like 600, when you have to clean up after them.

Hopefully the kids will be OK with putting some in the freezer at that point!

 

[FridayYet]

I'm one of those that believe you can have too many, but that number is different for everyone! I only want as many as I can give lots of space to, afford to feed, and have the time and desire to clean up after. For some people that may be 3 or 4, for others, a few hundred.

Somewhere around a dozen is a really good number for me.

 

[Peep_Show]

re: Veggie planting in New Mexico

The date for the last expect frost hasn't passed yet, so advise not putting out those tender tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, basils. Plants that can weather the cold (and should be considered your spring crops) are chard, kale, peas, radishes, beets, and sometimes carrots all that can be sown now without too many ill effects. Start your tender crops now (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants) under grow lights for transplanting in 6 or so weeks.

Here in the ABQ area April is hecka wind season. Young plants set out now might get blown to bits. I usually don't transplant my seedlings until June/July time frame. I find planting squash mid-June avoids the dreaded squash bug invatsons. Beans do fine planted as late as mid-July.

Happy gardening!





Plenty of growth. This garden was planted late June.

 

[Zoomie]

@Peep_Show Thanks for the gardening tips! Your garden is amazing, and that's so great it flourished like that. I have to keep restraining myself from planing now... at 7,500' our seasons are a little delayed compared to Albuquerque. But oh, how those green buds on the trees are egging me on (so to speak, lol). It's a great reminder to start tomatoes and chilies, even though it's supposed to start snowing here. Come on, spring!

 

[FridayYet]

I've got a bunch of starts, and it's a good thing my garden fence and trellises aren't up or I would have been sorely tempted to plant during that last warm snap! The FB gardening group says not to plant until Mother's Day, so I'd better have my fences up by then!

Once this stuff goes into the ground, I'll start some Squash for mid June planting.

 

[mistymac]

Agreed! We plan to sell most of these chicks (the new babies) just haven't gotten around to it! This was my first time incubating eggs so I really didn't expect that good of a hatch rate! We have an acre for them to roam and a large coop so they are happy chickens! I am starting to see a decline in egg laying (have a few older hens) so we definitely wanted to replace some layers + add more. These kids can easily eat a dozen eggs a day! Plus, my boys are doing Poultry project this year for 4-H (an excuse for my chicken addiction)