My Edible Garden

I've been gardening for most of my life and have been a devoted fan of organic gardening the whole time. It just makes so much more sense to work in harmony with Mother Nature than to fight her. Besides which it is better for the planet and better for our bodies. Here you can see what I'm planting and harvesting, with gardening hints and resources thrown in for good measure.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Big News

coop west end
Well I know I have been a terrible blogger! I hope to be able to keep up a bit better in the future. Yay! The major part of the new chicken coop is done! Whew! Almost a year in the making. There is of course still a lot more to do, attach the gutter and set up the water collector, lots of fiddly trim work, a couple of interior partitions to finish, run some wire around on the ground to prevent diggers, a paint job, some shutters for the open side for really bad weather.... But the major structure is done, enclosed and hopefully predator proof!

In the pic of the east end you can see what look like patches on the front wall. Those are just scrap boards covering the openings for the pop doors. Once the area is fenced in, I'll build the sliding doors and take the boards off so the birds can go in and out when they want. In the meantime I just let groups out in rotation.

coop east end




And just in time. I am sooo blessed to have met my friend Cindy and I have been overwhelmed by her generosity and kindness. I have been drooling over these beautiful Buff Orpingtons bred by Vicki Dawson in South Carolina for a long time. I truly thought it would be a very long time before I would ever get the chance to have some of her birds in my coop. Well, Cindy purchased a pair, Claude & Claire and had them shipped. Everything was fine until Claude began to 'sing'. His singing was not appreciated and he needed to live elsewhere. Cindy has now asked me to partner with her and there are times when I still pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming!

Claude, 100% English Buff Orpington


That's Claire in the background, she was being very camera shy today and I could not get any good pics of her before it was too dark this afternoon. (It starts getting dark in my canyon about 3:00 this time of year!) Claire is not laying yet, probably another month or so. Then we will hatch some babies.

Behind Claire in the pic are the layers, checking out the new kids in the coop.

3 comments:

  1. Mary, ha, I totally can identify with the long term projects. I finished my food storage room just last winter after working on it for three years. Now it's done and a great contribution to storing food for future use. I wish I could say that all the food comes from the garden but there is a good percentage of bargain from the big box store food in the storage area. Now the rest of the basement will start on its journey of reclamation. Who knows how long that will take.

    Good luck with your coop plans. Have a great chicken hotel day.

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  2. What a great job you have done with your coop, the chickens look happy and healthy and I hope Claire is soon laying. What a special friend you have there in Cindy! Today while visiting a neighbour he showed me the new door he had installed in his coop, small like a dog/cat door and it works by solar, when it is dark the door drops down shut and the chooks are safe inside. Very good if you are late home or forgetful.

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  3. How nicely your chicken coop will be. Lucky you to receive Clare amd Claude! Nancy

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