What did you do in the garden today?

[jawilliams509]

Does anyone know what kind of tree this is? Thinking of putting the pigs in this area & wondering if the nuts would be ok for them to eat.

 

[Sequel]

Does anyone know what kind of tree this is? Thinking of putting the pigs in this area & wondering if the nuts would be ok for them to eat.

My iPhone plant Id thing says it’s hickory.

 

[igorsMistress]

Good morning all. @Sueby the dahlias are beautiful! I still don’t have any flowers that I can cut and bring inside sadly. It’s something I plan to work on when other projects are done though. I decided to wait to wait a few days before transplanting the dragon fruit; our temps are 10 to 15 degrees above average right now. Hopefully the cooler temps in our forecast will actually materialize and I’ll feel better about moving the plants. I left the first one in full sun for a day and a half and it has sun scald, so definitely need a spot in the shade garden. I have a large pot that I’m using. I drilled bigger drain holes in it and I’m still debating about adding some perlite to the soil mix I got. Since it has been warm I haven’t done anything outside this week but plan and dream. Really hoping it cools off so I can get out there and do stuff!

 

[igorsMistress]

That's what I thought. Although, with the LED shop lights, I could provide more daylight hours than a full sun out in the garden.

BTW, I got my 4 foot long LED shop lights on sale at Menards this past winter for less than $10.00 each. They work so much better than the old light bulbs I used to have, and at a fraction of the cost to run. All I did was to make sure the light spectrum on the LED shop light was within the growing range for the plants.

Or, you can buy "grow" lights for $80 each in the garden center that do the same thing.

I got my lights on sale, 40% off, and one was damaged so I got it for half off the sale price on that one. Shop lights don’t work in my set up well, but I wish they did. We tried those first, but they’re too big and cumbersome; now they’re going out to the garage for more light in there.

 

[Sueby]

Your county or state conservation district might offer the same, or at least point you to a local farm that rents out equipment, or allows you to bring birds to their place for a fee?
If not, maybe you could ask around at "farm-to-table" restaurants who could locate the equipment and get a co-op together?

I did quite a bit of searching for anything around here & came up empty handed, except a coworker who's mom was excited to teach me how to do it! & I was excited to learn. But then of course surgery happened & my plans for meat birds went up in smoke. Surgery technically 'fixed' me, but I don't feel any better a year later. Looks like a spinal cord stimulator implant may be my next venture, I have high hopes it will help & if it does meat birds are back on the table. Literally.

Sorry, I feel like I explained more than I needed to. LOL

 

[jerryse]

Does anyone know what kind of tree this is? Thinking of putting the pigs in this area & wondering if the nuts would be ok for them to eat.

Hickory. Not sure which species. Nut does not look like shagbark or shellbark. A thin husk could be bitternut or pignut. In any case good pig food.

 

[chickengr]

Seeing your coop, I'd bet the deep litter works well because it's so open and well ventilated.

In the 2 cases from my experience I mentioned before, both buildings were built like a shed with 4 walls and solid flooring. Even though they both had generous amounts of ventilation, with the deep litter method, it CLEARLY wasn't enough.

I still use the goat house for my goats but chickens are not allowed to roost in there overnight. I have straw bedding in there all the time. It doesn't stink and doesn't have flies but goat berries aren't nearly as stinky/gooey as chicken poop. The only change from the stinky deep litter method from before is that the chickens roost in their own coop now.

when I had a concrete floor in my coop it stinked like hell.

 

[akroberts1085]

Yes, me too. Climate really plays a big part in each system, doesn't it?

How does he get rid of the tannins? Actually, what is the entire process, and does it work with any acorn? I have gobs (and gob, and GOBS!) of acorns.

Wow, sorry you had to go to that extreme. But that should take care of the pests! Are you going to rebuild?

I will get my dad to explain how he makes the roti flour and post it.

 

[Sally PB]

Does anyone know what kind of tree this is? Thinking of putting the pigs in this area & wondering if the nuts would be ok for them to eat.

Yes, I think it's hickory, but not certain as to what kind, as others have said. I don't think it's bitternut, which looks like hickory, but the husk is much thinner. We have both here.

 

[igorsMistress]

My understanding with deep litter is that it does compost down in the coop... It's the heat from that composting process that makes it so useful in cold winters which is one of its primary benefits. With deep litter, you are still adding a thick layer of new bedding on top which is dry & clean. Once that starts to get yucky, you add another layer...

My issue was that the poop, dirty material at the bottom contains enough natural moisture that it would rot and promote mold & bacteria. I'm sure rot and compost are close to the same process but the difference to me is the moisture. For example, I haul shavings, manure, dried leaves, straw, etc to my outdoor compost pile for the garden. If I were to dig down 10 inches in that pile, you'd see material in various stages of decay but it wouldn't be slimy, moldy, stinky, and....well...rotten. It would smell earthy and might be moist but not slimy. In the deep litter in my first coop, if you dug down, it would look like material you pulled out of a swamp. It stinks, is black and moldy, and slimy. It was often crawling with maggots too because it attracts flies due to smell. Even if I put 4 inches of clean bedding on top, the chickens would inevitably kick up the nasty stuff. The materials I used for deep litter was straw and pine shavings...

Please note that the goat house did NOT have a problem with mold in the litter... Just stink and flies. The mold issue was just with my first coop. I still have this coop but don't use it now except for short term transitions and I don't use deep litter with it.

I’m sorry, for clarification was this on concrete or a dirt floor?

I use deep litter in my coop, straw and pine shavings. Definitely don’t have a problem with it being wet. I clean my coop in Spring and let the litter stay pretty dry through summer. When it’s chilly at night I start wetting it down and tossing treats in there to encourage the girls to stir it up for me. I still have to turn it with a fork from time, but it’s well on it’s way to compost when I clean it out. Then I move it elsewhere to finish to start again.