Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Chickielady]

Yup, nothing like watching a momma bird puff up twice her size and charge after a dog, we've gotten many laughs and are very thankful the ladies are nice to us people types.

Ooh ! Next time take a video if you can ! That would be fun to see !

 

[Chickielady]

Yup. Any of the cane fruits love that stuff, even the natives like sun (thimble), salmon and black berries. I also like to use prenatal vitamins with chelated iron for my iron loving plants.

I buy a bag of ironite every spring & top dress all the beds in my garden and dust around the rosses & rhodies...other wise everything turns yellow................

 

[Chickielady]

Here's the indigo rose tomato with the help of a mylar birthday banner

cool idea !

 

[Chickielady]

And above all the plants love chicken poo

Oh yeah !!! We do not need any compost or other fertilizers here ! The wood shavings, mixed with poo, make awesome compost !

 

[Cockatrice6420]

Oh yeah !!! We do not need any compost or other fertilizers here ! The wood shavings, mixed with poo, make awesome compost !

Thank you for the post about the tomato

We do use a bit of compost here although it's mostly coffee grounds, we go through coffee like a Starbucks, and egg shells, of course.

 

[Chickielady]

Thank you for the post about the tomato

We do use a bit of compost here although it's mostly coffee grounds, we go through coffee like a Starbucks, and egg shells, of course.

We compost everything except meat & bones.
We have fir shavings, compressed straw and grass hay in the coops, and when soiled, the stuff is carted down the hill to the compost pile.
Poo, and the sand stuck to it, from the poop trays (under the roosts) is gathered 2-4 X a week and tossed in the compost as well.
Household waste from the kitchen all goes in there, too, excpet meats.
It gets turned every so often & can get rather hot...sending out steam plumes on a coold day.
The compost is covered with a tarp, to prevent winter rains from leaching the goodies out, and holds the heat in to help the bacteria stay warm.
In spring, we cart the finished compost back to the garden & top off all the beds, along with ironite and lime for the maters.
Once the garden beds are totally topped off, seeds are planted & plastic tunnels go over the top to help the seeds start...and prevent the good stuff from all leaching out.
Then I planted 20-25 sweet meats squash seeds in the remaining compost, and set 3-4 drip sprinklers in place, attach a hose & stand back !
The sweet meats take over the entire area in 15-20 feet in all directions from where planted (hence why we set up a sprinkler where they are planted) and they grow until frost kills the vines, and are then stored in a cool dark place with the other winter squashes.
You should start a compost pile with your coop debris....and plant winter squash (or gords or pumpkins) on the pile...the piles emits no stink...just steams.
Kids have a blast with the gords & warty knucklehead pumpkins.
We have done well with the Atlantic giant pumpkin here in summers' past.



The picture below is what we get per week off the pole beans: about 14 # a week, and the cherry maters: about 8 pounds a week.
The compost is awesome !
I'll walk down the hill & take a pic of the sweet meats growing right now & be back later to post it.

 

[Cockatrice6420]

Beautiful! I'm replanting my fall crops. One of the ameracaunas decided that her job is to till and peck anything resembling a seed. Lol, just for her we're going to cover the whole area with fencing.

 

[cooliechick]

Thanks for the information, it prompted me to do a little reading and as result I've learned a few more bits and pieces for our gardening. This was interesting.... hardwoods that are young, like new branches have about twice as much potassium than the older wood. Never would have guessed. And ash from the bbq briquettes are not helpful in the garden. Rats. oh well.

That is probably because briquettes have petroleum products in them. If you used lump charcoal, it should be good for potassium. It is hardwood, and, no petroleum has been added. The food tastes way better too and you can use it sooner as there is nothing to "burn off". Yumm... now I'm hungry for a good chicken or turkey baked over a slow lump charcoal fire.

 

[Cockatrice6420]

That is probably because briquettes have petroleum products in them.  If you used lump charcoal, it should be good for potassium.  It is hardwood, and, no petroleum has been added.  The food tastes way better too and you can use it sooner as there is nothing to "burn off".  Yumm... now I'm hungry for a good chicken or turkey baked over a slow lump charcoal fire. 

Agreed and a person could get crafty with fruit tree prunings and make home made lump. There are instructions on line.

 

[cooliechick]

I prefer a mix of oak lump and some alder which becomes lump in our "eggalike". Just cook a fast burger or steak, then shut it down so everything goes out. Next time around "voila" alder lump charcoal.