Category Archives: chickens

double-digging is worth the pain…

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Remember when I was double-digging all the beds in the garden in 2010?  Aside from marrying D, that was probably the best decision I have ever made.  (I’d count E in there, too, but she was a gift, not a decision.)

Today I weeded, broadforked (for deep aeration), and used a regular garden fork over the top of one of the beds to prepare it for spring planting.  The broadfork is heavy so requires some full body effort, but the entire job was manageable in two hours — even on a 100 square foot bed.

bed ready to plant

I found few rocks, hundreds of worms, and great tilth.  After planting, I’ll put some top dressing on it, but this particular bed needs no ammendments this year.

hen in the garden

The only thing it really needs is for me to figure out how this particular hen keeps escaping her luxurious digs down by the creek.  Hens are *not* helpful in a just-planted garden.  Today I put her back over the fence four times.

hens a-layin’

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chickens on a stumpMore signs of spring arrive every day!

I’m happy to let you know that the increase in light has encouraged the hens to lay eggs according to a predictable schedule again.

Here’s more information about eggs from Curious Farm.  Send email or give a call (971-248-0717) if you’re in the Cedar Mill neighborhood and need eggs.  (We don’t bring eggs to the Beaverton Farmers Market because there are so many other wonderful egg vendors there.)

 

light, dirt, and hope

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garlic greens

I am ever more aware of the power of light this year in the garden.  I watch the hens respond to the short days…  when we have a string of cloudy days, they lay much less.  When the sun comes out even in frigid cold, egg production increases.  Thankfully, they’re beginning to feel the longer days, and they’ve been laying in a more predictable way again.

It’s been so cold here — frosty crust everywhere — and we probably will get some snow tomorrow evening.  Still, I notice how spongy and welcoming the soil is right now.  I think the soil itself responds to the change in light, and I never noticed that before.

That’s garlic coming up in the photo above.  I planted much more than before and wish I would have planted even more — next year hopefully.  I’m anxious to offer garlic greens soon.

Here are the leeks, still standing proud and strong in the winter garden.  To be a leek!  They have such humble courage!  They grow even more sweet in the cold.

leeks

the things we do…

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chickens on a stump

Do these girls look bored to you? 

The things we do to keep our hens happy, for gosh sakes!  We even cut down a tree…

cuttind down the doug fir

…so that the girls could play Queen of the Hill…

birds on top of tree chunks

Well, actually…  not for them, really, but they will take any opportunity to amuse themselves.  Here we’ve been grieving the loss of this old Douglas Fir (diseased, but not with blight, as was feared), and the girls want to turn it into a jungle gym!

Each of those rounds weighs 300 pounds or more.  It’s a very good thing that David has a tractor.  The wood and the chips smell divine.  A chicken’s nervous system is sensitive to aromatic oil in cedar chips, but they do fine with fir.  We’re putting the chips from the branches into their run.  Dumb me…  at first I was trying to spread the chips out evenly over the whole run.  Then I realized that they’ll do that work for me in a heartbeat.  Good hens!

glorious growth

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We’ve come so far this year.  Really.  I don’t care that the lettuce has bolted, the potatoes suffered some, and the basil got such a late start.  Look at this wonder:

The tomato jungle:

tomato bed

The cucumbers are just getting started, but they’re growing well and already have baby fruit on them:

cucumbers

Shhhh…  don’t tell this gorgeous cauliflower that it’s August!

huge cauliflower

We loved meeting more of our neighbors during our first open farm hours this last weekend.  Thank you, neighbors!  We’ll host open hours on Fridays (4 – 6 pm) and Saturdays (9am – noon) most weekends for the rest of the harvest season.  Please come by and say hello.  We also will pick vegetables (and reserve eggs) for you on other days — just call (503.245.1507) or email.  We won’t pick them until you request them, though, because we want them to be as fresh as possible for you.  We notice a difference, and you will, too.

(psst…  five hens are laying…  the rest should start laying eggs in the next couple of weeks.  the eggs are wonderful.)

garden in august

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I went down to San Francisco this last weekend to discuss business with an old friend.  While I was gone…

  • the weeds grew
  • the beans began to produce
  • five hens began to lay eggs
  • the bird we’ve been watching with interest finally began to crow

How lucky am I to be a “wired farmer”? Yesterday, I posted a quick note to the PDXBackyardChix mailing list about a Buckeye Roo available in Cedar Mill. Today a nice woman came by to pick up our boy to give him a home farther out in the country.

Now we are down to 14 hens. Give us another week or two for the girls to get used to laying eggs, and we’ll have some nice eggs for you all.

We have enough bounty growing out there — greens, beans, squash, and herbs — that I will start some regular hours on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings so that you can stop by for fresh vegetables.

If you want produce or eggs on another day of the week, that’s fine, too.  Just give us a call (503.245.1507) or send email so that we can pick what you want and have it ready for you in a cooler outside our garage for when you stop by.  We want you to have the freshest produce and eggs possible.