What did you do in the garden today?

[CapricornFarm]

Ooooo, how much time you got? lol
I have 5 EE 2 Buff 1Rock and 4 Wyandottes at the moment. Chicken math you know..
The garden is another topic, I actually run a micro farm and my veg varieties are limited to popular salad products, salanova lettuce, arugula, spinach, beets, hakurei, radish, kale, onions, a few different herbs and salad tomatoes. I sell like a CSA if you are familiar with what that is only it is order and cash by the week not a seasonal buy in and you order when you want and don't when you don't. Usually have around 10+ customers a week with the occasional bulk purchase for a juicer.

I am retired and being lazy today, so i have lots of time . That garden sounds like a lot of work. I am having an experimental garden as this is our first year in VA. Lots of digging materials in to break up the clay soil.
No house pets ? I guess maybe you have no time. Do you sell your eggs too? I used to sell eating and hatching eggs. Had dreams of a market garden but i never could keep the weeds down
Too busy tending livestock. Chores used to take hours every day.

 

[chickmom3941]

I like their iridescent purply-greeny feathers. They make a nice foil for other colors. I like their graphic shape-color combo. Yard candy.

Purple Laced Lavendar anything would send me over the moon! Or black and white on lavendar. Salmon and lavendar splashed Faverolles? That'd be interesting. Lavendar crele legbars? I know, I'm beginning to sound like some of the old Palomino people that bred for color and forgot they were breeding horses, not colors. Can't ride a pretty color. But I see no reason I can't have healthy pretty birds giving me a decent number of large nutritious eggs. Too much to ask?

I don't even know what an ayam cemanis is - I'll have to google it. I really would have loved to order a few lavender orpingtons, but they are too expensive for us right now. Maybe next year... Or maybe they'll breed some of your purple laced lavender anythings by next year. Problem is, I'm sure they would charge a LOT for those! I'm not ready to give up an arm and a leg for a few fancy chicks - lol.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Lol. If I could get a vacuum cleaner thrown in, I would have ordered from Hoover, too - haha. We ordered from Meyers, the same place we got our original flock from. I was happy with them, so just ordered from them again. What kind of chicks do you have coming? When will they arrive? You're going to raise 24 chicks yourself? I was thrilled with how much easier it was when Bertha raised her brood last year, than when I had to raise all the original ones myself. No fuss, no muss with Bertha taking care of things, and I was also glad I didn't have to worry about integrating the chicks into the flock. So much easier letting Bertha deal with everything! I just hope there's no problem getting her to adopt the chicks. I've heard it usually goes well with experienced momma hens. Anyone here ever tried the adoption route?

I didn't know they sold small numbers of chicks there. Hoover has a 15 chick minimum. I am getting 24. I hate to get only one roo of a type because if a chick dies then you can be out of luck for hatching eggs. Always good to have a back up roo. So i ordered 12 (10+2) Polish and (10+2) Speckled Sussex. They are pretty easy to raise with a brooder box. I have not tried to put chicks with a hen, i just give them the eggs to hatch out.
Oh, and my chicks ship the 14th. After we get our new storage sheds and husband is back from his trip.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I like their iridescent purply-greeny feathers. They make a nice foil for other colors. I like their graphic shape-color combo. Yard candy.

Purple Laced Lavendar anything would send me over the moon! Or black and white on lavendar. Salmon and lavendar splashed Faverolles? That'd be interesting. Lavendar crele legbars? I know, I'm beginning to sound like some of the old Palomino people that bred for color and forgot they were breeding horses, not colors. Can't ride a pretty color. But I see no reason I can't have healthy pretty birds giving me a decent number of large nutritious eggs. Too much to ask?

Sounds good to me. The Silver Sussex i used to have were great that way.
See, listen to me and you have great imagination too. I liked my Lav Sussex but they seem so plain with no contrast. Maybe i will try making my own Speckled Polish!

 

[chickmom3941]

Ooooo, how much time you got? lol
I have 5 EE 2 Buff 1Rock and 4 Wyandottes at the moment. Chicken math you know..
The garden is another topic, I actually run a micro farm and my veg varieties are limited to popular salad products, salanova lettuce, arugula, spinach, beets, hakurei, radish, kale, onions, a few different herbs and salad tomatoes. I sell like a CSA if you are familiar with what that is only it is order and cash by the week not a seasonal buy in and you order when you want and don't when you don't. Usually have around 10+ customers a week with the occasional bulk purchase for a juicer.

Oh, that sounds like fun! Do you raise everything in a greenhouse?

 

[CapricornFarm]

I don't even know what an ayam cemanis is - I'll have to google it. I really would have loved to order a few lavender orpingtons, but they are too expensive for us right now. Maybe next year... Or maybe they'll breed some of your purple laced lavender anythings by next year. Problem is, I'm sure they would charge a LOT for those! I'm not ready to give up an arm and a leg for a few fancy chicks - lol.

AC are all black everywhere, even the meat i think. Though how you would know if it were overcooked is a puzzle.
Pretty sure it takes years to develop a new variety of chickens. I know what you mean about money. Prices come down as supply increases.

 

[chickmom3941]

I didn't know they sold small numbers of chicks there. Hoover has a 15 chick minimum. I am getting 24. I hate to get only one roo of a type because if a chick dies then you can be out of luck for hatching eggs. Always good to have a back up roo. So i ordered 12 (10+2) Polish and (10+2) Speckled Sussex. They are pretty easy to raise with a brooder box. I have not tried to put chicks with a hen, i just give them the eggs to hatch out.

Yes, Meyer's has a 3 chick minimum in the warmer months. I'm pretty sure the minimum is higher in the colder months, though. So how many roos do you have? Do you have to keep them separated from each other?

 

[lazy gardener]

I processed 3 cockerels today. Not exactly gardening, but the feathers and "gore" have been buried in the sheet compost area. That area is adjacent to the north end of the HK, and will cover approx. 15 x 30'. Should be ready to plant next season. May do a 3 sisters with bush or pole beans (on poles) with some cucurbits here and there, also on poles or tee-pees. And intersperse some corn hills here and there. I don't like traditional 3 sisters b/c it gets too jungle'y. Makes it hard to harvest anything. Didn't plant anything in the HK this year b/c the little bit of top soil put over the logs has sunk down through the logs. Will continue to build it up with yard/garden debris, and hope to plant brassicas there next season.

Picked an other qt. of raspberries. All berries are being cleaned and immediately frozen... unless we eat them. I've found that they simply don't keep in the fridge at all. Will have a jamming session later when weather cools. Picked first green beans. Potatoes, with garlic and green beans on menu for tonight.

 

[NorthTexasWink]

Been juggling computer files while it's so steamy outside. We are losing an iPad here due to HE changing jobs (one belonged to work), so having to deal with iOS vs Windows and competing Clouds and storage limits and . . . I'm over it now. Got to get used to using the laptop again.

Got some gardening chores done early. Kitchen is squared away. Laundry in progress, using the dryer since it's so humid yet again. Sun came out HARD. Everything is wilted looking in the garden, even though it's sopping wet soil. Okra looks prehistoric!

 

[CapricornFarm]

Yes, Meyer's has a 3 chick minimum in the warmer months. I'm pretty sure the minimum is higher in the colder months, though. So how many roos do you have? Do you have to keep them separated from each other?

Actually, i don't have any chickens at the moment. Just young guineas
. But when i had 200 chickens i kept two roosters in most coops together and didn't have much trouble with them because they grew up together. What i meant by (10+2) is ten pullets and two cockerels. You might have trouble if one roo was much bigger than the other or if they were really crowded. Or if you just up and introduced a new rooster suddenly. You need to have a good number of hens so two roosters don't over breed them.