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Hello 2016!

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2016snowCan you believe it’s been over a week ago now since we celebrated the start of a new year!? I can’t. I guess 2016 weeks are going to go by just as fast as 2015 weeks did 🙂
Like most people we’ve been reflecting on what we got done last year and what we want to do this year. While we did get many projects accomplished last year, some need improving and there are still many we want to do.

So here are a few we’re hoping to accomplish, and you can read about here this year.

– Duck pond. Last year the pond never sealed the way we’d hoped, so we had to dump, clean and fill the small tub we had meant to be a temporary pond. Also the ground around the pond has turned into a hardpan that only grew thistles. The entire area needs reworked and planted.

– Bees. One of the two hives made it through the summer, and we’re hoping through the winter also, we’ll see in the spring. The plan is to add a couple more this year.

– Herbs and Flowers. I’ve been going through our flower and herb seeds to plan some bee-friendly and culinary-friendly spots in the yard.

–Garden. There are lots of plans here. Dig some water lines to reduce water hauling distance, start lots of seeds, expand our growing area and increase our production, to name a few to-dos. Easy to say, we’ll see how easy it is to accomplish this spring.

– Clean up the garden shed, experiment with the grow tunnels, and maybe even post some videos are also on the list.

It’s going to be a busy year!! Of course things don’t always go the way we want, but learning to work with nature and life is part of the adventure.
So let’s get to it!!

Chicken Pasture

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A chicken pasture? What is that you are probably asking. Its an area which the chickens can have access to fresh vegetation but are not able to tear it up. Their natural tendency to scratch usually means the land they are kept on, if left there for an extended period of time, becomes bare dirt. Unless you have a large plot of land to move the chickens around you can expect to have bare dirt around the chicken coop. Unless you try a chicken pasture that is.

Our chicken pasture is a simple set of 2×4’s screwed together into a large square with a wire screen stapled across the top. The grass is able to grow through the top, the chickens walk across the screen without catching their toes and eat the exposed grass. It works well.

What about the poop on top?- you ask. The rain washes it to the ground, or we take the hose over to spray it off. No big deal. The grass, so far, shows no signs of nitrogen burn from all the manure fertilizer. In fact, it seems to grow faster and greener as the weeks go on.

A great thing about the chicken pasture is how much cleaner it is. No walking in the mud, or poop.  The grass uses the fertilizer and creates a healthy environment for the ground, bugs, and chickens. Everyone is happy.

Starting with Ducks

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Having heard many praises from podcasts and others who keep ducks, we made the leap and added 4 ducklings to our mass of new chicks early this spring.

They have grown fast and been entertaining, but there are a few things we have learned just in the few months we’ve had them.

  1. Ducks need lots of water. They need to be able to keep their beak vents clean and water helps them get food down.
  2. They like to play in the water. This obviously creates a mess, which needs to be cleaned up unless you like the smell of wet bedding (and other stuff).
  3. They grow fast. This happens with all things small I think. You need to be prepared to give them room to wander and move as they grow.

Bees

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This year we gave ourselves the title of beekeeper by purchasing 2 bee hives.

 

Not sure which hive style would work best in our area, we got one of each. A Langstrom hive and Top-Bar hive.

 

The bees were purchased as packages from a beekeeper 100 miles away.