Organic Eggs

As part of my gardening and feeding my family as healthy as I can, I have always wanted to get some hens.  I was hoping to do it this year but wasn't sure how I would go about it.  A few weeks ago, it just so happened that a friend of mine was going to be moving and couldn't take her hens with her.  We didn't know how we would take them since we didn't have a coop and I had no clue how to take care of chickens, we but decided we would take them.

After some research about what it takes to build a coop, we decided that since we were under a time constraint, we needed to purchase one instead.  It's a nice new coop, wired with a light and outlet and is off the ground.  It's built for six hens so the four we have are more than comfortable.

My husband picked up some chicken wire and made a run for them which we now have attached to the coop.

We also decided that the best place for the coop is next to the garden.  There's a little work to be done in making it more secure from predators but after that is done it is going to be attached to the fence we are going to be putting around the garden.

The ladies are very happy in their new home!  And we are happy to already have a consistent three organic eggs per day.  I know very soon we will have many more than we can eat!

Spring 2013 - Strawberry Planting and Garden Planning

Welcome Spring!  After a long, cold winter I have been really looking forward to the total thaw!  Just as the last of the snow was melting in my backyard, I decided it was time to plan for the year.  I had already placed my orders through Johnny's, Seeds of Change, NOFA-NH and Food Forest Farm.  I also received a few things during the winter as gifts that I was excited about trying out.  One of those things was a broadfork!

Last year I didn't finish off the season very well.  I had a marginal yield and made a note of all of the issues I came up against that I hadn't experienced in the two seasons prior.  I had a major issue with mosquitoes.  I addressed that this year by putting dunks out where I needed to before the snow was even finished melting.  Black flies were unbearable.  This year I am already paying very close attention to the weather and favoring windy days for gardening in my efforts to avoid them.  So far so good in that department!  But my biggest issue was drainage.  That is being addressed with my new broadforks!

Compacted soil

I couldn't wait to try it.  As you can see in the photo, the soil was thawed a couple of weeks ago even before all of the snow was melted.  It also shows how much water was pooling on our compacted soil.  I took a minute to broadfork the area and, as you can see in the next photo, most of the puddle was drained immediately!  I am looking forward to using in on my row where my corn is being planted very soon!

Drainage after broadforking!

In the meantime, I looked over may garden to see that I had countless Everbearing strawberry plants that the wild turkeys were kind enough to deposit in my garden for me which makes last year more productive than I am giving it credit for. 

I have decided to put them in my rather long bed that I had my potatoes fail in last year.  The clover had taken over so I needed to use another new tool, a hand cultivator, and it made quick work of pulling it all out.  I'm not a tiller for reasons I may cover another time and did not want the rather healthy root systems of the clover competing with the strawberries.

It's not much to look at since I haven't mulched yet and I'll have to give you a final count when I am done. 

The cardboard on the left is on my walking path so I can staple it down to prevent weeds.  That will most likely be covered with straw.

I also decided I am going to move all of my full size strawberry plants from next to our deck to a permanent spot in the garden.  I am hoping they will fit in that same bed down the end but if they don't I may just turn into a strawberry farmer!

I know the photos aren't as pretty as my last ones but I'm here to show you the real progress with the before and after.