The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

Brambles!!! curse of the earth.
I would definitely pull them up, getting as much root as possible BEFORE you till, otherwise you are creating a ton more work.

Once you've done that, you have to keep on top of pulling the zillions sprouts through the first year. by the 2nd, its not so bad but you still need to be vigilant. 3rd, year, either you are used to it or it really is easier, I couldn't decide.

If you know where you want your garden, you can make your life immeasureably easier now by placing stuff on the area: tarps? giant cardboard weighted down with stuff? bales of hay? park a vehicle? etc - so you kill what is growing there. My fav is layers and layers of hay/straw. Yeah yeah, i know, hay can have seeds. I'm gonna tell you, at least where I have lived, nothing is going to keep things from sprouting in your garden unless you've killed it all with chemicals. But, it does get easier each year as you keep at it. Mulch is the best/easiest way, so I totally agree with oldhenlikesdogs there.

I have hog panels around my garden, and they keep the chickens out except for rare times.

 

[allyclair]

Do the grass clippings not sprout into grass? One year my neighbour did us a 'favour' and mowed our lawn....and blew all the grass into my garden. Within a couple weeks I was overrun with grass. Or does the mulch prevent that?

I'm in Nova Scotia so our summers are very short and we like to get out and enjoy them, not be tied to weeding and watering etc. But, oh how I miss harvesting and eating the fresh veggies. I'm really excited to try this

 

[JulesChicks]

Brambles!!! curse of the earth.
I would definitely pull them up, getting as much root as possible BEFORE you till, otherwise you are creating a ton more work.

Once you've done that, you have to keep on top of pulling the zillions sprouts through the first year. by the 2nd, its not so bad but you still need to be vigilant. 3rd, year, either you are used to it or it really is easier, I couldn't decide.

If you know where you want your garden, you can make your life immeasureably easier now by placing stuff on the area: tarps? giant cardboard weighted down with stuff? bales of hay? park a vehicle? etc - so you kill what is growing there. My fav is layers and layers of hay/straw. Yeah yeah, i know, hay can have seeds. I'm gonna tell you, at least where I have lived, nothing is going to keep things from sprouting in your garden unless you've killed it all with chemicals. But, it does get easier each year as you keep at it. Mulch is the best/easiest way, so I totally agree with oldhenlikesdogs there.

I have hog panels around my garden, and they keep the chickens out except for rare times.

I agree they are the curse of the earth! However, I thought they were the worst until we discovered we had poison hemlock where we wanted to have our chicken run

So, yes I hate brambles and thistle, all the thorny nasties we have growing in abundance - but I really hate having poisonous plants in abundance where we want to have runs and pasture. Ugh. This property was so overgrown when we got it we didn't know the poisonous stuff was under the brambles. Oh, and we have nightshade growing up the steps to the dilapidated deck. I ripped it out once but it's back. I think I will spray those. I can have my husband mow down or brush hog the future garden and then we can cover it with something. Would do that to the pasture but it's too big of an area.

 

[JulesChicks]

How short are summers in Nova Scotia? Does your area look like Prince Edward Isle? I loved the Anne of Green Gables movies/books when I was younger.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It will sprout if your grass has gone to seed, but most people mow the lawn before it reaches this stage, the clippings will smother most weeds, apply little but often, as I said earlier, don't put it to thick or you will be slip sliding through your garden as it rots as opposed to breaking down. The dryer the clippings the thicker you can go, but only as deep as can dry out in a few hours, and any weeds will pull out easier because your soil is moist under the clippings.

I live in zone 4, if your seasons are different you may have to see what works, if it's a shorter season I might try planting in large pots, or old horse troughs, or buckets, that is actually what I was going to be trying next year, I do like trying new things and working the glitches out.

I did want to add that we plant our potatoes in plastic barrel cut in half with no bottom set on the ground, I read about this one year, they said at the end of the season pull the barrel half off and harvest your potatoes, we did this and we found ourselves staring at messed up mounds of soil, we had to reset the barrel halves and put all the dirt back in, I didn't like that, now we put on a pair of brown cloth gloves and dig like dogs to get out potatoes, than top dress the barrels, quick and easy here's a photo of them they are drying down and getting close to harvest.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I agree they are the curse of the earth!  However, I thought they were the worst until we discovered we had poison hemlock where we wanted to have our chicken run    So, yes I hate brambles and thistle, all the thorny nasties we have growing in abundance - but I really hate having poisonous plants in abundance where we want to have runs and pasture. Ugh.  This property was so overgrown when we got it we didn't know the poisonous stuff was under the brambles. Oh, and we have nightshade growing up the steps to the dilapidated deck.  I ripped it out once but it's back.  I think I will spray those.  I can have my husband mow down or brush hog the future garden and then we can cover it with something.  Would do that to the pasture but it's too big of an area.

maybe you need goats

 

[ladyearth]

yeah, I thought of that too as our property had and has so much wild sticker blackbrerry bushes ......but then goats would eat all my leaves from all my fruit trees and bushes etc...
. Goats supp are Leaf eaters not grass......
wish I could have rented a goat to have gotten all the wild honeysuckle too LOL

 

[JulesChicks]

I am considering goats- but we would need to improve fencing first and I don't think we should get larger animals without being here full time. But it's a possibility for sure- well once we get rid of the poisonous stuff!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Good discussion!

There are the normal resources for information on this type of gardening...

But I wanted to tell you all about a little booklet that we heard of. I can't find any web site so I'll have to give an address. My husband heard these folks interviewed at the TV station he works for and told me about it. I immediately wanted to get their book so we ordered one.

The book is very interesting because it covers SEVERAL different models for "no-till" and/or "sustainable" based on various climates. Apparently these folks go into other countries and help them set up systems that will work where they are.

There are some things in it that I wouldn't use or recommend, but it is an interesting "education" on some of the methods they're using to help folks become sufficient in the areas in which they live.

The book is called"

The Food Mission - Sustainable Food Production
A Manual of Sustainable Methods of Plant Production Helpful in Meeting Food Needs Everywhere

By Don and Lois Sokoviak
SAND International

When we purchased it the book was $10 with a $2.50 shipping. Not sure if that is still good. Has mostly drawings to illustrate what they're doing.

Purchased from:
693 Naoma Dr.
Crele, IL 60417
[email protected]

PH: 706-367-1605

SAND is an acronym for
Social, Agricultural & New-life Development

Since I can't find a website I've scanned the covers and the contents. If you click on the photos they will come up large enough to read.

Front cover:


Back Cover:



TOC

 

[Leahs Mom]

I also purchased the book: "Secret Garden of Survival" which is quite fascinating. http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Garden...754&sr=1-1&keywords=secret+garden+of+survival It is the "permaculture/food forest" idea which I love... planting perennial food crops that you don't have to replant every year as the mainstay, then the annuals go around them. Now THAT'S the lazy way to garden!!!

That's one of the reasons I'm looking for a nut producer that I can plant as one of the main ones. I'm wanting to learn more about the hazel nuts for that as they sound like more of a shrub height which would be more manageable.

Someone asked if the chickens could harvest the hazelnuts themselves. I don't know the answer to that. I was thinking that if they drop and then soften over the winter like for sprouting, then maybe they'd eat them in the spring when they're soft?

Seems like nuts in any form would be a good perennial as they'd provide "non-legume" protein source if you don't have an animal source handy.


Does anyone have any experience with the perennial food plant model? "permaculture/food forest"? I'd love to see photos and ideas on that too!