4/29/19 Monday

I stopped by Golden Hill Nursery today and bought this pretty red rose named Oklahoma. It has a good strong fragrance, a major requirement for me. I also bought some ladybugs to release into the garden. I haven’t had any here since the Pinals burned so maybe adding some will help. 

Sunday Sunday

Fresh cut peppermint

Today’s tea flavor is peppermint. It’s been hot but not miserable yet. I managed to get a coop cleaned out, another compost pile started, some laundry and dishes done. I remember to eat and drink.

Vintage incubator

I managed to get some more of my desk cleaned off and rearranged some piles in the living room so I could plug in my vintage 1950s incubator. I had set some eggs in my small table top but it malfunctioned and cooked them. I would rather have had chicks 2 months ago because they grow better and faster when it is cool, but just couldn't make it happen.

73 eggs going in

So in the top carton the 3 lefthand rows are Black Copper Marans, the row of 3 are true breeding olive eggers and last is Buff Orpington. In the bottom right carton at the right top are 3 lighter BCM eggs and some more Buff Orpington. Then 21 silkie eggs. The right hand carton are a more olive eggers from a different cross.

4/26/19

I spent the morning putting shade cloth up. I think Giotto approves. About a minute later the chickens in the big house were sounding off and Giotto started growling and sniffing the air. I didn’t see anything and started to open the gate when he lunged for it. I got his collar just in time. He was in full bore growling and barking. A coyote on the opposite hill broke cover and ran over the top of the ridge. Good boy Giotto!!

I got some tomatoes put in. 

It was hot so I went inside and tackled my desk. 

After 2 hours I can almost find it. 

65 eggs today. Wowza. I’m going to need two buckets if they keep going!

4/25/19

Yeah. I did. I bought some silkie chicks. 

I cut herbs for the chickens to eat. Here milkweed and clover. 

Some white horehound

 And calendula.  Also known as pot marigold. 

And catmint. Aka catnip. All mints are good for the chickens. 

I also clipped herbs for the nest boxes and got some of them cleaned out. This is mugwort. It smells like vanilla. 

Rosemary. I also added sage and tansy. 

A Few Things Done

So on Sunday I painted at our local art fest. 2x2’ board. Not quite done here. 

My thornless red flowered locust is blooming.  They smell so good. 

I think it’s at least 15’ tall now.  That fence is 6’. Only been in the ground about 3 years or so. 

I did get the bolting kale and chard out and planted some squash in its place.  

Today in between short bursts of rain I set some posts and got some tomatoes put in. The chickens enjoyed the lambs quarters   

More work

So on Wednesday I worked on the lower hoophouse. I pulled and reset the 3 downhill Tposts and the worst leaning one on the uphill side.  To fix the other two would require moving the panels totally out of the way. So it’s still going to lean a bit. Hopefully it will be ok once the end walls are in place.

I hiked up on the hill above my house. This is the view from up there of all the chicken houses. 

These irises are up on the hill.  I planted them there years ago to help with erosion control. 

Some purple iris growing by the driveway. 

A yellow Lady Banks rose. This is 2 years from a cutting. 

Giotto just cracks me up. That’s a sleeping bag with a broken zipper from the thrift store. 

March 31,2019 the day’s work

Some flat leaf parsley volunteers. 

A purple iris. 

The apple trees are blooming. I actually forgot to take pictures of today’s work. I got some birds moved over from moms house.  I unloaded chain link panels and set up another pen in the front yard. It still needs wire over the top and some tarps. I’m working a full day tomorrow so won’t get a lot done then. 

March 29, 2019 the day’s work

I cleared out part of the bed of bolting kale while salvaging as many leaves as possible. 

I picked even more Purple Sprouting Broccoli than last week. 

Discovered some huge gnarly beets hiding under the row cover. 

Put a set of nest boxes in the upper hoophouse and added more straw. 

Delivered eggs and ran errands.  Moved Giotto back up on the hill. He’s been down by the big chicken house since the first snow collapsed this hoop house. Now I can get some things planted in the area he was in.  

The Days Work

Here you can see how bad the lower hoophouse is leaning.  What you can’t really tell is that the Tposts on the upside are also leaning and that the upper hoophouse crept 4-6” down hill so it is now sitting on the bottom of those Tposts.  What to do?

Well I added some boards a few inches below the bottom hoophouse to help build up some support. I’m going to uncover it, reset the Tposts and put in some end walls. 

In the meantime in the upper hoophouse I added some scrap metal to fill in gaps on the uphill side. 

I put in a couple of roosts. I also added a board to help hold dirt and make a more level area. 

And I started hauling in some straw for the chickens to scratch through. 

And in the house I managed to get a couple of shelves put up to corral egg cartons on. I even managed to wash some dishes and a load of laundry. 

Chicken Work

Worked a little on the hoophouse.  Put the tarp back on. It’s ripped a bit but will work for now. Also seeded some lettuce and snapdragons in the house. 

Spent yesterday morning filling waterers, putting out oystershell and hauling grit for the girls out of the creek.  Like all birds chickens must eat small rocks because they don’t have teeth. The grit goes to the gizzard which is a strong muscle and that’s where their food is ground up.