Washingtonians

[Rainwolf]

ohh and I'll help but you have to come pick me up and take me back home

 

[Ogress]

With all the rain we had yesterday and today, are snow was just about gone ... a patch here and there, not much. I just peeked outside, and it's snowing again, and the forecast is for snow all week

I was really hoping to build some more veggie beds.

On some good news, I almost have a new covered run!!!! It will be complete on Monday. Remember my 10X10 dog kennel that got mangled in the snow when the roof collapsed? You should see it now! It never looked so good. I'll try and get some photos. We had a handyman working here and I mentioned that I wanted to put a roof on the thing, and told him I was going to put the kids playstructure on CL. He took the playstructure for his kids, and in trade he straightened up the kennel, used some extra wood we had from our deck to build a nice frame to put a clear corrugated PVC roof on it, all we have left to do is cover the panels with 1/2 inch hardware cloth so the raccoons don't pull my birds through limb by limb. I'm going to put my Omlet cube in there till the yard dries out to the point where the lawn won't be stealing mud boots from my feet every time I try and walk across is. Soon I'll have a nice, dry walk-in run for my girls, and I won't have to go on my knees in mud, snow, and chicken poop to fill their feeders.

The kennel currently has 6" of wood chip in it (It is sitting in the kids former play-yard). Is that a good base for the chickens, or should I remove the wood and add sand and gravel? Will it harbor spider mites and lice? can I just sprinkle it full of lavender? (we used to have tons of it as it re-seeds itself all over our yard, but it all froze last winter.)

 

[Illia]

Ah yes, someone asked earlier how I avoid cross pollination in having so many varieties of tomatoes. Two secrets. One is greenhouses. Keeps most of the pollinators out and keeps the wind out. The second and most important is bagging the flowers as soon as there are buds around, then manually pollinating them yourself, but be VERY careful in this, simply brushing against one flower and then another can cross "contaminate." Once done, bag the flower again until it fruits. I usually get little bits of plastic baggies or something, of course ones that are transparent, and simply slip them gently over the flower or bunch of flowers.

I am quite serious, I'd love to help around with swapping seeds and all. I'd love to build a good connection with other gardeners and especially get more people into heirloom gardening and saving seeds. It is a lot like dual purpose, non-hatchery flocks of chickens. It's all about self sustenance and originals. Old breeds of chickens, old varieties of plants.

Looks like our plans are complete for the crops though. We'll be doing some Golden Giant and Hopi Red Dye Amaranth, some beautiful red Quinoa, a field of Sweet Hookers corn and another field of Mandan Red corn, plus a greenhouse of Green Dent corn, ALL of it (the green corn) going to seed for next year since we're short on seeds already, plus a field of Tef Flour. There will also be several beans planted in amongst the corn to help feed it and offer some good snap beans.

After today's final completion of re-assembling our greenhouse from last year, I'll be moving onto a second greenhouse to support even more peppers, tomatoes, squash, and melons.

 

[cackleberrylinda]

I mentioned earlier about the wheat I have that we bucketed up in '87. It's all organic and is definitely from before the days of GMO messing around. I'd like to sell a few of these if anyone is interested. They were packed in nitrogen and still germinate at around 95% or better. I won't be growing it out to replenish. I'd like to have it go to people that are conscientious about these kind of things. We can work out the worth of it, and maybe I'd take chicks or hens of some precious breeds? Let me know if you are interested. The buckets weigh somewhere around 50 to 60 lbs.

 

[Greg Richardson]

SadieSue. Building a coop is part of the journey.
What that link you gave for the same money you could build a stand up coop 4x8.
Much bigger.
I like them standing up as it gives them a place to go under in the rain or heat.
4x8 was my first size then I made next one arm length instead for width which made cleaning easier.
If money is an issue start now searching craigslist for wood.
You'd be surprised with a few tools how simple it is.
You get a lot more satisfaction I think.

 

[SadieSue]

I really like this one since you could make the covered area a run.
http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/grd/2146765938.html

Might have to pay someone with a truck or trailer to get it but it would be worth it.

LOVE that shed - and you're right - the overhang would make the most awesome enclosed covered run. So I showed DH the photo and he's telling me that he and his friend can build something similar. I said, "Yeah, but look at the price!" So he's pointing out I would have to find or pay someone with a flatbed truck, disassemble the shed, get it into our yard, reassemble, etc. Then we'd still have to buy the materials to convert it into a coop, enclose it, dig in around the bottom, yada, yada. All good arguments I suppose.

So for the moment I'll have to keep researching. Cursing the wait, because you know those guys aren't going to start building until the weather is nicer. City boys.

Thank you for those inspiring links though Rainwolf. I'm going to copy that photo. Could come in handy for the near future!​

 

[Rainwolf]

Quote:
LOVE that shed - and you're right - the overhang would make the most awesome enclosed covered run. So I showed DH the photo and he's telling me that he and his friend can build something similar. I said, "Yeah, but look at the price!" So he's pointing out I would have to find or pay someone with a flatbed truck, disassemble the shed, get it into our yard, reassemble, etc. Then we'd still have to buy the materials to convert it into a coop, enclose it, dig in around the bottom, yada, yada. All good arguments I suppose.

So for the moment I'll have to keep researching. Cursing the wait, because you know those guys aren't going to start building until the weather is nicer. City boys.

Thank you for those inspiring links though Rainwolf. I'm going to copy that photo. Could come in handy for the near future!

I'm sure that it could be moved whole well cept for the over hang... and I know people move big stuff like cargo containers for 250 so most likely a shed would be a little less..

 

[Rainwolf]

Quote:
LOVE that shed - and you're right - the overhang would make the most awesome enclosed covered run. So I showed DH the photo and he's telling me that he and his friend can build something similar. I said, "Yeah, but look at the price!" So he's pointing out I would have to find or pay someone with a flatbed truck, disassemble the shed, get it into our yard, reassemble, etc. Then we'd still have to buy the materials to convert it into a coop, enclose it, dig in around the bottom, yada, yada. All good arguments I suppose.

So for the moment I'll have to keep researching. Cursing the wait, because you know those guys aren't going to start building until the weather is nicer. City boys.

Thank you for those inspiring links though Rainwolf. I'm going to copy that photo. Could come in handy for the near future!

PM xoxocammyxoxo
they said could build your coop for cheap...

 

[SadieSue]

Quote:
Thank you for the advice Greg. It looks like I'll just have to be patient for now. I do like the stand up coop suggestion. We'll see how this works out. But I'm always open to ideas, links, etc. from folks, because in the meantime, I'm dreaming of what I want in a coop. Thanks all!

 

[Greg Richardson]

Two things I'm glad I spent the extra time and money on concerning my coops.
First is over hang which hangs where the coop door is and on the front where I open the doors.
So nice to stand there not getting wet .

Second is the linoleum floor.
Much nicer then cleaning with just wood surface.
I've tried both.