Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[dheltzel]

in the square foot gardening book they make a big deal about the soil quality and the fact that it is airy and not compressed.
but forests have nice dark dirt under the leaves............they are not great places to grow veggies due to shade

peat moss
vermiculite
good soil like miracle grow
compost
these are the kinds of things they list in certain proportions..................I actually think it maybe compost or soil.............

people who dig their veggie gardens and turn the soil are aerating the soil.................and fluffing it up..................


the raised bed idea was to eliminate the need to dig so much and to raise up the bed

digging is hard work
bending is hard on the back...............yet some raised beds are really not that high...........just put soil on top of the existing ground with a border...........


I am looking to keep my gardening efforts easier because my body aches! knees back energy etc and

I would like to have the garden be something that I don't have to keep redoing so much.............that is why I just LOVE PERENNIALS!

I also have only a few sunny locations.
one is in the front yard
one is on my deck

because of this I use containers on the deck and want to have a few raised beds up front.

I didn't get the raised beds built because I built a new coop.!

I also planted 2 gooseberry bushes in the front sun..............with the usual digging a hole method.

I often cut corners and still have a lot of success (and a few failures, which I try to learn from). If I did what the gardening books recommend, I'd never even get started, I just don't have that much time or energy. I made raised beds in an established garden area and just shovelled the soil from between the beds into them. If any more was required, they would still be a pile of boards with weeds growing around them!

I don't mean to criticize the way others do things, they probably get better results, but sometimes "good enough" is all you can manage, often we even have to scale down what seems good enough.

This year my garden focus is on teaching my younger nieces (10 and 12), the basics of gardening. We are doing some fun stuff (indian corn from a cob they saved from last fall's decorations) as well as practical stuff (potatoes under a lot of mulch). They actually like to weed, and they are actively learning to recognize the weeds and the vegetables. I'm so proud of them.

 

[dheltzel]

Soo it was in the low 90's today and humid. I have my coop in the garage with four hens I got right after Easter. I am new to all of this. My New Hampshire reds were panting a bit so I put a fan on top of screen pointing down into the open part of coop. They seemed good after that. Should I leave fan on all night? I keep reading about ventilation and don't want to lose one this summer. Any thoughts? Thanks

Can you move the coop to a shady area outside for the summer? Natural breezes are the best!
And make sure they always have water.

 

[chiques chicks]

My garden hasn't been turned in 4 years. I just let the chickens scratch in it all winter. I raise really good weeds.

My Bruce used a technique called "lasagna gardening" I know nothing about it other than she liked my rabbit make for it.

If anyone local needs rabbit manure for their garden, I have three feed bags full at the moment. Fill one about Wkly. I spread it around everything.

My tomato bags are a mix of last year's chicken coop cleaning and rabbit drippings, no real dirt at all. Interested to see what happens. I try all sorts of things, have many failures, but learn a lot.

side note: browsed dinner tonight, wild strawberries and mulberries are in season. Interesting every mulberry tree seems to have a slightly different flavor.

 

[chickadoodle1]

Can you move the coop to a shady area outside for the summer? Natural breezes are the best!
And make sure they always have water.

Not exactly.....we are not supposed to have them. We have large windows in our garage, and are working on getting a privacy fence. Once we do, we will put another coop and run outside....

 

[OneMountainAcres]

So I finally did it. I let the chickies out tonight at about 6:30 and waited to see if they'd actually put themselves away and to bed on their own. Besides chasing them back out of the woods a couple times and back around the side of the garage so I could see them, I basically let them do their thing. Joel was complaining and didn't want to come out. He finally did for about 20 minutes but was the first to put himself to bed at least a half hour before anyone else. The last of them went to bed at 8:10 all by themselves I love watching them.
It's so funny. I thought that the highest ranking would be up on the higher roost in the coop. Nope. The hot spot is the lower roost, directly in front of the window lol. I've only had one so far who voluntarily goes to the high roost on her own. I also have a couple pullets (SLW and BCM) who insist on laying on the poop boards under the roost by the window. I've been grabbing them and putting them up on the roost at night where they stay but they just won't do it on their own. Heck, even the silkies are finally doing it in their own but these two just won't do it!

 

[Jnkbtd08]

For the garage coop.....
We arent suppose to have chcick either. We built our coop and outside run directly behind our shed. So its not really visible from the road. Plus they get the shade from our shed.
Good luck.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Please! Does any one have a hen they could sell me around 15 weeks old ? My neighbors dog got one of ours the other day. I am right near the NY- Pa border in Bradford County today, but tomorrow I will be coming home all the way down the Northeast Extension through the Pconos, and I can certainly make a detour . Any takers I have cash?

 

[LisaYolkUm]

these chickens continue to be funny!

I have 2 nest boxes and 4 chickens

but clearly only one nest box is the best one..................they all want that one.

Today one gal was in the box working on the egg laying while another one was just directly below............standing totally still for a long long time.............as if waiting in line!

Then I guess she felt things were getting more urgent so she joined the first gal in the box. The box has small bar on it so she stood on the bar directly over the laying hen and I was thinking she might just lay her egg ON the other hen!

As soon as the first chicken was done...............as in immediately .............she layed her egg too!

Oh girls.................what is wrong with the other box

I even cleaned the coop today and freshened up the boxes................

Now that my basil is growing really well I even put a little basil in for aroma therapy...........................

its harmless entertainment!

 

[motherhen71185]

Hi everyone.

 

[fisherlady]

Please! Does any one have a hen they could sell me around 15 weeks old ? My neighbors dog got one of ours the other day. I am right near the NY- Pa border in Bradford County today, but tomorrow I will be coming home all the way down the Northeast Extension through the Pconos, and I can certainly make a detour .

Any takers I have cash?

If you head the other way (SW) I would have the perfect little gal for you. I have a Buckeye pullet from an early March hatch and I am not going to keep Buckeyes (going with the bigger Light Sussex)
If you are in the Bradford area and don't find one soon I can always have my DH drop a few off when he is working in that area! LOL... just being neighborly, of course!

these chickens continue to be funny!

I have 2 nest boxes and 4 chickens

but clearly only one nest box is the best one..................they all want that one.

Today one gal was in the box working on the egg laying while another one was just directly below............standing totally still for a long long time.............as if waiting in line!

Then I guess she felt things were getting more urgent so she joined the first gal in the box. The box has small bar on it so she stood on the bar directly over the laying hen and I was thinking she might just lay her egg ON the other hen!

As soon as the first chicken was done...............as in immediately .............she layed her egg too!

Oh girls.................what is wrong with the other box

I even cleaned the coop today and freshened up the boxes................

Now that my basil is growing really well I even put a little basil in for aroma therapy...........................

its harmless entertainment!

Yep, no matter how many boxes you provide there will always be a favorite that just is just the 'perfect one' for the hens (at least on that day! LOL)
I have also set a couple of cat carriers around, and a 5 gallon bucket on it's side with a board across the bottom front opening (to hold in bedding)... If you add in a new one it becomes a source of entertainment and much discussion between the birds!

Hi everyone.

Hello there!