Ribh's D'Coopage

[Kris5902]

Looking great!

 

[Ribh]

After yesterdays misdemeanors all my big girls spent time out in *jail* ie the old coop. After the big one they weren't impressed but my BRs promptly laid me 2 eggs. Yay Since they've spent more time broody than productive that is a bonus!

While chickens are easier to understand than most people I know, I am bamboozled by what's going on in my coop. I pretty much have 2 flocks, which is what happened 1st time round too. Only the Blue bantam is moving between both lots. I am assuming she is head honcho of the 2nd flock but the dynamics are so subtle I'm not sure where anyone sits just now. I think my MBR might be 2nd in command. I think Lavender might be close to the bottom but all my goldies seem to be adept @ keeping out of trouble & they were last to eat & drink when I doled out the extra food & water stations this morning. My big girls are still hogging the food & water downstairs first thing so until they decide to share we have upstairs room service.

They were good when I popped them back in the pen after their *time out* but they roosted all together on the 2nd bar. I found Lottie on her own @ the other end so popped her on the top bar between the 2 campines. Lavender apparently slept in a nesting box. Hmmm... but everyone else camped out together on the top rail. I seem to have very egalitarian flocks once they work things out.

 

[MaryJanet]

Hi @Ribh if you're still interested, here's a snap of the meadow flowers. The citrus in the background is double-grafted lemon and lime. It's still too young for bearing fruit, but future G&Ts will be well catered for. At this time, the flowers are mostly zinnias, cosmos, native lavender, billy buttons, and paper daisies, but in spring there were cornflowers, flanders poppies, and california poppies. There's a frangipani in there too, the species type with fragrant white flowers with yellow edges. I've got a pink frangi in the backyard, planted over Yasmin the old cat who passed away a few weeks ago.

When I moved here a few years ago, it was a blank slate. So I've been gradually filling it out. I haave a spot for a future rose garden, another spot for future vegies, another spot for some lawn. There are a few sapling getting going: a jacaranda, a hibiscus, a peacharine, a lemon, a lime, and the double grafted lemon-lime. I'll add a valencia orange and another species frangipani soon, then that'll be the trees done. I'm growing a couple of jasmine over the chicken coop, mainly for shade but it'll smell nice too.

Ummm so... Don't get me started on gardening, haha! I could prattle on all day!

 

[MaryJanet]

 

[Ribh]

Hi @Ribh if you're still interested, here's a snap of the meadow flowers. The citrus in the background is double-grafted lemon and lime. It's still too young for bearing fruit, but future G&Ts will be well catered for. At this time, the flowers are mostly zinnias, cosmos, native lavender, billy buttons, and paper daisies, but in spring there were cornflowers, flanders poppies, and california poppies. There's a frangipani in there too, the species type with fragrant white flowers with yellow edges. I've got a pink frangi in the backyard, planted over Yasmin the old cat who passed away a few weeks ago.

When I moved here a few years ago, it was a blank slate. So I've been gradually filling it out. I haave a spot for a future rose garden, another spot for future vegies, another spot for some lawn. There are a few sapling getting going: a jacaranda, a hibiscus, a peacharine, a lemon, a lime, and the double grafted lemon-lime. I'll add a valencia orange and another species frangipani soon, then that'll be the trees done. I'm growing a couple of jasmine over the chicken coop, mainly for shade but it'll smell nice too.

Ummm so... Don't get me started on gardening, haha! I could prattle on all day!

Oh, thank you so much!!!! Of course I'm still interested! Love franjipanis. Have one of the white ones ['cause they're the most fragrant] @ the end of our coop & jasmine on the verandah. Love it!

That is gorgeous. I wish our soil was good enough to do that. It looks fantastic!

 

[MaryJanet]

Well, the soil is sand - the whole suburb is built on a huge sandbar - but I covered it with a thick layer of proper compost before throwing the seeds out. I've heard it's easier to bring sand up to loam than to break clay down to loam, so I'm lucky in that respect. I spend time pulling weeds from the meadow plants, but I leave the spent meadow plants and flower heads to regenerate the soil. It drinks too much for an Adelaide garden, so this year's project is the bore: testing, pump, garden irrigation. Next year I'll sort some decent rainwater tanks out.

 

[WhoDatChick]

View attachment 1730119

Ooooohhhhhh, so lovely

 

[Ribh]

Well, the soil is sand - the whole suburb is built on a huge sandbar - but I covered it with a thick layer of proper compost before throwing the seeds out. I've heard it's easier to bring sand up to loam than to break clay down to loam, so I'm lucky in that respect. I spend time pulling weeds from the meadow plants, but I leave the spent meadow plants and flower heads to regenerate the soil. It drinks too much for an Adelaide garden, so this year's project is the bore: testing, pump, garden irrigation. Next year I'll sort some decent rainwater tanks out.

Ooooo ~ are you on tank water? Ouch. Summer must have been hard this year! It looks spectacular though.

We are on clay & ironstone. It sets like cement & is really hard to work. Hubby eventually built me raised beds & we have imported soil.

 

[MaryJanet]

No, mains water. It's been expensive. And a waste of clean drinking water. Next summer won't be so bad with the bore going.

 

[MaryJanet]

Ooooohhhhhh, so lovely

Thank you! It was an easy and fast way improve the garden