Trading out - chicken style

Well, the black and white chicken was picking on the others and actually fairly loud so she was traded out for an Americana or I think really an 'Easter Egger' chicken. She is a golden color and lays green shell eggs. She is a bit timid but that might just be from the stress of being relocated and having wings clipped all in the same day! But she laid an egg on Sunday and yesterday so that is a good sign.

Chicken Run

So I wasn't expecting a lot of excitment on day 2 of the chickens. Well, the first part was my fault. I didn't get the chicken coop latched very well and when I got home today they were in the backyard! (Verses the side yard that the coop is in.) Well, some gentle manuvering and they were back in the coop but not very happy about it. Then I noticed they broke their lower roost bar, again. So I decided it would be a good time to fix it. This requires me to take the roof off. I had just fixed the roost bar and one flew out of the coop. Arghh. So I gently tried to get her back it when she decided that the roof would be better! Now I have a chicken on the roof in the city. Well, I decided to engage the help of my roommate (who had just moved in yesterday) and she got on the roof to coax the bird down. Well the bird thought the neighbors tree was a better idea. Then she flew down to the ground. I knew the neighbors where not home and there was hole in the fence so I got in their yard and caught the chicken. (Much easier than a turkey I admit, never could quite catch a wild turkey, though I have been close.)
So chicken caught and put back in the pen and they are all roosting happily for the night. So much for the idea of letting them free range the side yard. At least not until their wing feathers are clipped back.
So that is the adventure of the great chicken escape and recapture.
I guess it was in honor of independence day.

Meet the girls

It has been a bit since my last post and this is the reason. I have been building a chicken coop. So today I picked up the chickens. One Rhode Island Red, one Barred Rock and one Black SexLink. So they are getting used to their new digs and the heat. They didn't come from very far away so the heat shouldn't be too bad.
I am sure there will be adventures with these so stay tuned....

In heaven there will be no spider mites

I have been really busy with the garden so not too much time to blog. Unfortunately it is not good news. Despite by best try the spider mites have taken over the garden and the whole thing needs to be pulled out over the next few weeks. The sad thing is I never got that many peppers.
It has just been a bad year but considering how hot and dry it is, it might be better to let the ground rest and replant for a fall garden. I have the seed from one company and now am waiting to order the next batch and start planting again in a week or two for an August planting date. So I won't have to water much in July. Hopefully that will save a little bit of time and water.

On another note I am contemplating raising a couple of chickens for eggs. Just two for now. Any more and I think I would be having to sell eggs at Farmer's market so for now, which I am not planing right now. We will start with two but I will probably build the coop/tractor (aka movable) to house up to four, just in case.

Another feature is I want it to be movable (chicken tractor) and small enough to fit on my garden beds so it gives more space/ground as an option when I finish harvesting a bed.

Before you ask, yes I checked city regulations. I am allowed up to 10 chickens but they can't be free range. So the tractor is probably the best option. I can move them around the yard if I want to.

Another option is to have 2 laying hens and then also raise some meat chickens a couple of times a year. With the chicken restriction I could do 8 meat chickens at a time so that isn't too bad as far as numbers. Again it would be a seperate chicken tractor, probably made with PVC pile. I just have to decide. Meat chickens are a bit more messy so I have to decide if that is something I want to deal with. But it would be nice to have some chicken meat that has not been bathed or injected with chicken broth/sodium.

Guess that is the update for now!

Lastest garden pic

Here is the latest pic, not the greatest pic since it is a little cloudy and you really don't get the size dimension as much but it is big. Everything is going well, except if I could only get rid of the aphids on the peppers and eggplant I would be happy. Well, also get rid of the spider mites that are going after the tomatoes as well.

Look, I am a farmer!

Well, I was at Farmer's Market this past Saturday and here is my booth! I actually had a lot of vegetables. I picked a few earlier than normal just because I am out of town this week. There was various zuchinni, eggplant, carrots, radishes, lettuce, cucmbers, dill, rosemary, basil (cut and plants) onions, garlic, cherry tomatoes and zuchinni flowers.
I only had a couple of zuchinni left when it was all done. A good day!

More garden pics

Here is the latest garden pics, the squash is really starting to take over everything. But just in one bed. The other bed it is still fairly small. I think it is just the varieties and I will have to take note of which ones get big. The tomatoes are also starting to get bigger and the corn is starting to think about growing. I know the water is the biggest problem. We have not gotten any measurable amount of rain (maybe a trace) since I planted. It is all city water or some rain water (my 4 - 55 gal drums are all empty now.) And to top it off it is very windy, constantly. I am hoping soon we can get some rain. The only problem is we really need the rain while it was cool. Rain plus heat = perfect situtation for powdery mildew and other diseases.

The heat is also making the aphids multipy like crazy and I can keep up with spraying a homeade soap spray so I have enlisted some help by buying some ladybugs and hoping they don't get blown away and stick around to keep up with the aphid population. Plus the no rain/wind/heat is great for spider mites as well. The ladybugs are supposed to eat them as well. We will see. It is so hot I can't even spray Neem Oil or the other organic oils in fear it will burn the plants.

All I know is I am dreading my water bill this month. :(