This was my first year with chickens (I had started with 6, but now have five), but not my first year with a vegetable garden. This past season was, in fact, my biggest (most ambitious) veggie garden! Some notes I made for myself for next year's garden are as follows...
-Plant at least one cherry tomato, if not two, just for chickies. I can't keep up with cherries, and they split whenever it rains, but the chickies LOVE them. More plum and regular tomatoes for us!
-Plant kale. We don't eat enough to justify planting for us, but they do, especially over the winter when the grass is covered with snow. We've been getting it from a neighbor farmer, and at the grocery store over the winter.
-Plant more beets, and harvest green more regularly, for us and them.
-Plant more carrots. They love the greens (after a frost).
-Plant more sunflowers. I dried all the heads and give them to the chickies throughout the winter. (darn squirrels take off with them, though!)
-Plant even more winter squash. Already my major crop, but they store so well and the chickies love the flesh (good vitamins) and seeds (good protein) throughout the winter. When we cook them for ourselves, they get the skins and guts.
-Plant green beans, for pickled Dilly Beans for us, and chicky snax.
-Plant cucmbers, for pickles for us, and snacks for them.
-Chickies love the blueberries (as do all the birds), but I want to make jam...so I keep them AWAY from the bushes.
-Raspberries run amok on our property, we can't keep up with the harvest, so chickies get regular treats. THEY LOVE THEM!
-They loved the broccoli, brussels sprout and cauliflower greens after the frost hit them.
-If my chickens weren't on grass three seasons of the year, I would probably plant zucchini. Since they are, I stopped that last year. It's just out of control, and we don't care to eat THAT much of the stuff.
-Plant more hot peppers, for pickling as well as drying, especially after just reading about the deworming benefits!
Those are my notes for seed shopping for February. I'm still a chicken novice, but I'm always trying to see things from their points of view.
Think spring!
-Plant at least one cherry tomato, if not two, just for chickies. I can't keep up with cherries, and they split whenever it rains, but the chickies LOVE them. More plum and regular tomatoes for us!
-Plant kale. We don't eat enough to justify planting for us, but they do, especially over the winter when the grass is covered with snow. We've been getting it from a neighbor farmer, and at the grocery store over the winter.
-Plant more beets, and harvest green more regularly, for us and them.
-Plant more carrots. They love the greens (after a frost).
-Plant more sunflowers. I dried all the heads and give them to the chickies throughout the winter. (darn squirrels take off with them, though!)
-Plant even more winter squash. Already my major crop, but they store so well and the chickies love the flesh (good vitamins) and seeds (good protein) throughout the winter. When we cook them for ourselves, they get the skins and guts.
-Plant green beans, for pickled Dilly Beans for us, and chicky snax.
-Plant cucmbers, for pickles for us, and snacks for them.
-Chickies love the blueberries (as do all the birds), but I want to make jam...so I keep them AWAY from the bushes.
-Raspberries run amok on our property, we can't keep up with the harvest, so chickies get regular treats. THEY LOVE THEM!
-They loved the broccoli, brussels sprout and cauliflower greens after the frost hit them.
-If my chickens weren't on grass three seasons of the year, I would probably plant zucchini. Since they are, I stopped that last year. It's just out of control, and we don't care to eat THAT much of the stuff.
-Plant more hot peppers, for pickling as well as drying, especially after just reading about the deworming benefits!
Those are my notes for seed shopping for February. I'm still a chicken novice, but I'm always trying to see things from their points of view.
Think spring!
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