What did you do with your flock today?

[Shetland lover]

Still a bit cool for the summer crops. I only have garlic, snow and snap peas, beets, onions and potatoes in the ground, spinach in a pot, bok choy in hydroponic gutter downspouts. Picking up tomato plants in a couple weeks. Teaser day. It felt like summer. I don't think I could handle that many tomatoes! Pickle making year, already have dill sprouting in the garden in many places. The girls enjoy all the weeds they are getting.

Dill! Thanks for reminding me - I haven't sown mine yet and the cucumbers already have flower buds on them. We've just had a teaser week! Glorious sunshine and temps in the high 20's (Celsius) but it's set to get colder again from today.

"I only have garlic, snow and snap peas, beets, onions and potatoes in the ground, spinach in a pot, bok choy in hydroponic gutter downspouts."

Wow! That's loads on the go. I'm fascinated by the hydroponic gutter downspout. Please explain more!
I'm growing masses of pak choi, Chinese broccoli and choi sum as well as chrysanthemum greens. I'm also growing Chinese cabbage for the first time. I've not eaten it for years but I recently had sea bass wrapped in it and it was delicious. I bought some and the chickens went wild for the scraps so they'll be getting all the seedling thinnings and I've sown a few extra to grow on to full size for them (hopefully!).
Going to sow my beloved crooknecks today (I'm trialling a white variety alongside the yellow this year) and tromboncini for my summer squash and a number of new winter squash. I'm also planning on starting my pole beans off.
The tomatoes are looking really healthy. I grow a lot of paste varieties to make sauces, alongside the salad types, hence the large number of plants. I'm sure I'll regret it once I have to process them in my tiny kitchen! Note to self - must buy a food mill this year...

My boys and girls are loving all the spring weeds too. Gladys especially is loving a plant called 'Jack in the hedge'. It has a mild garlic flavour. She's also loving all the wild garlic in the hedgerow bottoms. And I found out why my chive clumps are just grazed down stumps. I had assumed it was my cat, Grace, as she will attack anything that looks like grass. Nope, it's Clara! God help us when she and Gladys find the garlic chives

 

[PopoMyers]

Dill! Thanks for reminding me - I haven't sown mine yet and the cucumbers already have flower buds on them. We've just had a teaser week! Glorious sunshine and temps in the high 20's (Celsius) but it's set to get colder again from today.

"I only have garlic, snow and snap peas, beets, onions and potatoes in the ground, spinach in a pot, bok choy in hydroponic gutter downspouts."

Wow! That's loads on the go. I'm fascinated by the hydroponic gutter downspout. Please explain more!
I'm growing masses of pak choi, Chinese broccoli and choi sum as well as chrysanthemum greens. I'm also growing Chinese cabbage for the first time. I've not eaten it for years but I recently had sea bass wrapped in it and it was delicious. I bought some and the chickens went wild for the scraps so they'll be getting all the seedling thinnings and I've sown a few extra to grow on to full size for them (hopefully!).
Going to sow my beloved crooknecks today (I'm trialling a white variety alongside the yellow this year) and tromboncini for my summer squash and a number of new winter squash. I'm also planning on starting my pole beans off.
The tomatoes are looking really healthy. I grow a lot of paste varieties to make sauces, alongside the salad types, hence the large number of plants. I'm sure I'll regret it once I have to process them in my tiny kitchen! Note to self - must buy a food mill this year...

My boys and girls are loving all the spring weeds too. Gladys especially is loving a plant called 'Jack in the hedge'. It has a mild garlic flavour. She's also loving all the wild garlic in the hedgerow bottoms. And I found out why my chive clumps are just grazed down stumps. I had assumed it was my cat, Grace, as she will attack anything that looks like grass. Nope, it's Clara! God help us when she and Gladys find the garlic chives

I have a food mill for applesauce, but for tomato sauce, I have a Vitamix blender, quartered romas, and blend skin, seeds and all until smooth. Then I cook down. You have quite a bit going there, too! My tromboncino did well in Texas. I put them in the wrong place a couple years ago. They need a lot of fencing space. You must warm up before us. We don't plant warm weather crops for another couple weeks, IF it shows a good stretch of warmer weather. Usually ok by month end, but some years we have June-uary, not warm enough until July! I love all the Asian veggies you've planted. Well, I am Chinese. We have a lot of slugs and bugs who like to eat them, too. Root maggots are bad.

We got the downspouts and the corner bend pieces. Used silicone or marine sealant to glue the bends on, open ends facing the same side. Drill 5 cm holes about 20 cm apart along the whole length. I happened to have the baskets, but you can buy pool noodles and cut into 2.5 cm slices to hold your seedlings up. For more info go here https://youtube.com/@keepongrowin?si=LRSzvHw2fqpLpAwp
My inspiration to do this. He has a video on the nutrient solution needed, and more ways.
My strawberries are putting on flowers. Have to transplant my kale and collards tomorrow and also mulch my onions. Weeds are relentless!

 

[Shetland lover]

Oh wow! Going to watch that video and see if I can give it a try. It looks amazing! The main problem I have (after chicken beaks, of course!) is slugs attacking my pak choi and choi sum. Does growing hydroponically help with that? Plus, your plants look really clean. I like that, as I hate cleaning leaf vegetables of dirt.
We managed to almost eradicate our root fly maggots by green manuring for 3 years straight with a mustard crop overwinter. It was supposed to get rid of potato eel worm but hasn't touched that. Go figure!

All the squash I sowed yesterday was inside in fibre pots. Still far too cold and wet in my part of the country for direct sowing into the ground. We had a very poor, cold, wet summer last year and we didn't think we'd get any squash to maturity! The tromboncini did amazingly well just sprawling across the floor between our sweetcorn canes. Think I'll do the same this year. And I was pleased with the pink banana squash, Thelma's sweet potato and crown prince. Not bumper harvests but enough for us. Didn't get a single crookneck though And the busy beaks developed a taste for young squash shoots!

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Just gave them the quick morning look over to make sure they're good.

 

[PopoMyers]

Oh wow! Going to watch that video and see if I can give it a try. It looks amazing! The main problem I have (after chicken beaks, of course!) is slugs attacking my pak choi and choi sum. Does growing hydroponically help with that? Plus, your plants look really clean. I like that, as I hate cleaning leaf vegetables of dirt.
We managed to almost eradicate our root fly maggots by green manuring for 3 years straight with a mustard crop overwinter. It was supposed to get rid of potato eel worm but hasn't touched that. Go figure!

All the squash I sowed yesterday was inside in fibre pots. Still far too cold and wet in my part of the country for direct sowing into the ground. We had a very poor, cold, wet summer last year and we didn't think we'd get any squash to maturity! The tromboncini did amazingly well just sprawling across the floor between our sweetcorn canes. Think I'll do the same this year. And I was pleased with the pink banana squash, Thelma's sweet potato and crown prince. Not bumper harvests but enough for us. Didn't get a single crookneck though And the busy beaks developed a taste for young squash shoots!

No slugs or dirt with hydroponics, or weeding and mulching! Just have to keep an eye on the nutrient solution. Found some leaf holes yesterday. Bugs are out! I started with about 11 liters in these 3 meter downspouts. No refill yet in 3 weeks. Babies don't need much. After a glorious 20 - 23 degree few days, we're back in the teens. Finishing dahlia planting today, and transplanting my collards and kale, of which the girls get all the trimmings. If the stems and roots get maggots, that's dessert for them. I got some bonus carrot seeds with an order, just not sure where to plant them. Darn carrot maggots.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I bought 6 new chicks at the Wilco store on April 2nd, and was given a 7th one that had pasty butt. They are New Hampshire reds, which are supposed to be an improved version of the Rhode Island red. Quick growing and feathering. I think they were about a week old when I got them so they're 4 weeks old now.

I kept them in a box in the house for 10 days, then moved them outside into the chicken coop with a heat lamp, separated from my 2 year old Barred Rocks. Rotted wood chips seem to be the ideal bedding for chicks... poop just disappears.

Yesterday...
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April 2nd...
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Someone's jealous. LOL
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Congratulations! They are beautiful!!

 

[Smokerbill]

Congratulations! They are beautiful!!

Thanks! They're getting bigger by the day and will be cut loose with the big girls in the next week or so. I'll provide them plenty of "hiding" places if they need to get away. LOL

My new rooster chicks will arrive in the mail sometime next week, but they'll be inside in a box for the first couple weeks. Then they'll go outside into the brooding section of the main coop. That will be me having 28 chickens! Never thought I'd have that many.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Thanks! They're getting bigger by the day and will be cut loose with the big girls in the next week or so. I'll provide them plenty of "hiding" places if they need to get away. LOL

My new rooster chicks will arrive in the mail sometime next week, but they'll be inside in a box for the first couple weeks. Then they'll go outside into the brooding section of the main coop. That will be me having 28 chickens! Never thought I'd have that many.

I also wanted to give you a laughing emoji for the chicken math . I hear ya! I read a post of mine from my first 6 months of chicken keeping stating I would never have more than 5 because they were a handful. Oh what fun!!!! ♡♡♡♡
Your new babies are truly stunning and I am super happy for you. You really got this chicken thing down ♡♡♡

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Gave 'em the once over, chk food and water and stole their eggs.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Happy Thursday gang. I have been doing just the minimum chickening lately, so not much to mention about them on this end.

I did lose Nina (my blind adopted chicken) this morning. I saw that coming as she slowed and then just stopped eating all together this last week. I told myself when she got depressed I would cull her, but I did not have the courage. She did not seem in pain, I did not note anything obviously wrong with her and I was not going to prolong her already prolonged life anymore. I think she was 3, I had her for 2 years as a blind chicken when her person was not willing to care for her after the problem he created. Anywho, I enjoyed her a lot and aldo felt sorry for her.

Mazzie has slowed too, and Beetle keeps picking on her, scaring her away from any treats. He obviously does not except her as part of his flock anymore. She was a pretty big butthead matriarch when she reigned, but now I can't help but feel bad for her. I will seperate her into the mini coop if this gets to be a problem, and not just an annoyance.

I ordered chicks back in February, I think, or maybe March... but they won't get here till October. 5 SLW & 5 EE. I was hoping to have chicks for when my grandkids and families came to visit us in early June. So, I will dust off the incubator and hatch a few eggs for them (and me). I'm hoping that will be fun. Chicks, some art projects, a kiddy pool and squirt guns to keep us cool and engaged.

Been doing lots of clean up plus prep still, along with re-engaging in cat world. Last week we were able to work on the yard. That is always awesome in spring . Been letting chooks freerange 3x per week or when DH is not looking. Yesterday was the first day in awhile I only got 5 eggs! Probably because I need to do a nice coop and run clean plus refill oyster and grit. Fresh nesting material ot to keep them from an egg boycott.