Ouch!

It was a long hard weekend and I am missing a good portion of skin off of a few knuckles and have some nice scratches, but the good news is that the hardware cloth/wire mesh is all on the coop! I also was able to get the door built and the mesh on the door. My dad came today to help put the upper section of hardware cloth on which was a huge help - it is pretty hard to hold up a big length of the hardware cloth by yourself while nailing in poultry staples - so I cam really glad he was able to help. After he was gone I finished up the lower wire, my son and daughter helped stain the door (which still needs to be hung) and I back filled around the coop piers. I decided behind the coop by the fence I should put in some pavers to keep it from being a weedy mess since the space is too narrow to mow and would be a bear to weed whip. The limestone pavers and crushed granite I used to fill in between the was left over from a garden project last year and I need one more bag of granite, but I think it is going to look very nice. I have some pavers not too far from this around one side of the house - so at some point I may connect the two areas to try to tie it in and make it look a little more finished.

I did some work on the garden as well, things are doing very nicely and growing really well - I am hopeful that I may start to see florets on the broccoli soon. I did a little weeding and spread a layer of compost around all the plants in the fall veggie bed to add a little more nutrients to the soil to see if I can't kick those veggies into production! I have a lot of yard clean up around the beds to catch up on once the coop is done - but for now I am focusing on the coop and keeping the veggies going - the rest is going to have to wait. Although I did manage to at least mow my front yard Saturday so it doesn't look like I have also taken to growing my own hay!

I have to do some traveling this coming week for work, so other than what I can get done tomorrow night after work I have to wait until the weekend to be able to do any more work on the coop. I am determined to get the exterior siding on the hen house next weekend, but I think I am going to have to call in the reinforcements to get that all done in one weekend. There is still a lot to do after the siding goes on, but I am hopeful that the chicks will move out of the house and into their new house by April 10. I love watching them grow and watching their antics, but the dust in my living room is unreal. I dust one day and three days later there is a layer of dust on everything that makes it look like my house got hit by a dust devil.

I am exhausted and will be happy for a long nights sleep tonight - I am hoping to get the door hung tomorrow evening, but I also have to pack from my trip so I will have to play it by ear. Wish me luck everyone!

Happy gardening!

Wired - but not for sound

Well, not totally wired, but at least it is a start. The hardware cloth is on to the bottom half of the front of the coop. I need to cut out around the door, but figure that I can do that once I finish stapling it down the rest of the way around. So for those of you who haven't built a chicken coop before, I will share that you can't use a staple gun, not even with large staples apparently. You have to buy special "poultry net" staples and hammer them in, so of course they bend and mash and don't all go in straight. For someone as Type "A" as myself bent mashed staples are really annoying, but considering how many of them I have to put in, I am learning to give up on the idea of perfection and go with "its good enough." :) I am hoping that I can finish wiring all the way around the bottom half tomorrow, between swimming lessons and other things planned. Hopefully the top half on Sunday when I have recruited my dad to come help again.




The chicks are still growing and eating like mad and I think I have basically two more weeks max before they outgrow their new larger brooder, so I need to pick up the pace a little on the coop. The picture on the right is Pouf - I think she (he?) is funny with her (for now I will go with her being a hen) big cheek tufts and the little light colored feather "spikes" on the top of her head - almost like little horns!



The spring flowers are starting in the yard which is a nice touch of spring too - the first rose bud is on my roses, the irises are blooming, the salvia (center picture) is blooming (which will hopefully mean hummingbirds soon) and the mountain laurel with its grape candy scented blossoms (picture on the right below) is also adding color to the yard.

The never ending project...

No rain today meant I could do a little more on the coop tonight after work! Yay - trench digging! Seriously - the things that make my day are starting to scare me :)

The plan calls for either a 12 inch deep trench to bury the hardware cloth OR "burying" 12 inches of hardware cloth on the surface by bending it away from the coop at ground level - to help keep out predators. I chose the trench option, but I didn't dig down 12 full inches - more like 6 and I will bend the hardware cloth so it goes out across the bottom of the trench too. Hopefully this works OK. I don't really have the right equipment for digging a 12 inch deep trench. I may look into a post hole digger tomorrow, or I may call it good and start putting on the wire tomorrow night.

I was also able to get dirt into the last bed I put in - I planted some of the overage red peppers in one end and Yukon gold potatoes in the other end. I think I am going to try to add some blackberries along the fence in front later this summer, but it depends how far I can stretch the garden funds :)

The chicks are really amazing me - they grow soooo fast. They are starting to get feathers on their backs and breasts now in addition to their tails and wings. They also eat like machines. I filled the quart jar of food for them last night before I went to bed and before I left for work this morning I had to fill it again - it was nearly empty. By the time I got home tonight it is nearly empty again! I clearly need to get a feeder that holds more than a quart! They still don't really seem to be bonding to us - I am afraid they think Oliver, our cat, is their mother! He sits by the brooder all day and watches the chicks so they are used to him standing guard. I guess that is OK - they know we bring food, I am not sure "lap chickens" are really what we want anyway. I am starting to think Pouf (behind Cadbury in this picture) may be a rooster - how funny would it be to have a rooster named Pouf! :)

Slowly but surely...

It may be hard to see in the picture, but the hardware cloth (1/2 inch mesh wire) is installed in the ceiling of the coop and the other side of the hen house frame is in place. I couldn't have done it without help. My son's best friend came for a play date after school and his dad offered to come by after work and help with the coop when he came to pick up his son. I have to say nailing in poultry staples basically upside down is not an easy thing to do. I am so glad this part is done! I have a lot more wire to put up, but the rest gets nailed in straight ahead instead of overhead so I am hoping it will be easier. Unfortunately I now have to dig a trench around the coop so the lower wire can go down into the ground - but it is supposed to rain the next two days so that means probably no progress again until the weekend. I have said it before but this is both good and bad - bad that I won't make progress but my hands are killing me. Between working on a keyboard all day at work and then all the hammering, painting, drilling, etc. after work - my hands are really really sore. Anybody know where to get a good hand massage? :)

The garden is really getting exciting - I can't wait for things to get big enough to eat! The carrots are all starting to sprout, I saw tiny shoots from the dill and fennel, the potatoes are growing (but I'm pretty sure I didn't plant them with enough space though so the harvest may be pretty limited), and the yellow straight neck squash and cow peas (like black eyed peas) have all sprouted. It is so exciting to know that if you have some good soil, add a few seeds and some water and sun - soon you have all kinds of things sprouting up and growing. A few months of watching them grow and then you get free food! How cool is that? In my book it is pretty darn cool!

Tonight - I actually picked a few leaves off of the lettuces that I planted about a month ago to add to our store bought lettuce for a salad! The leaves were from the outside of the red and green lettuces in the picture on the left (with a potato and some shallots in the foreground), I read that for head lettuces you can harvest the outer leaves and the head will keep growing, so you can take little bits here and there and still keep a growing head of lettuce to harvest later. Of course, there wasn't enough to make a salad on its own - but it was fun to get a little tidbit to add to the salad and feel like we are starting to get some payback for the hard work. I think I may try to grow lettuces under my grow light in the house as the weather gets hotter and they die back outside... certainly worth a try! :)

Time to get myself and my kids to bed - I hope you all are enjoying spring and getting out in your gardens!

We have a roof!

Yes - it took me Sunday afternoon and today after work to get the roof panels on. I had the wrong screws, I had the wrong drill heads, I had split wood that I had to replace and I needed "mending plates" to join the wood into long enough pieces - but VICTORY!! The roof is on. It looks like a metal roof in this picture, but it is actually a clear gray polycarbonate roof (like what they use on greenhouses. I got help putting the roof panels up from my dad - but mostly he held the ladder so I wouldn't break my neck and I did the actual assembly. He also helped me get the right attachment for my drill to drive "hex head" screws - I didn't have the right equipment for that so he made a quick trip to Home depot to get me a set of hex driver attachments for the drill. My dad is in his late seventies and I have to say I don't think there are a lot of men his age that still are as active as he is - and without his help I'm sure the roof would have gone even slower, so thanks Dad!!

The garden is doing well too - I had to cover everything the last My mesculin salad mix is coming up nicely - in a few weeks hopefully I will have baby greens enough to make salad! I think I need to plant more though - these three little rows will probably only make a few salads worth and we eat salad almost daily so I really need tot plant some more lettuces. I'm not sure how long into the season I will be able to keep harvesting lettuce though, it gets pretty hot here and lettuce is a cooler weather veggie but I will see how long I can keep it going.

My peppers that have been under the grow lights in my living room are about ready to go outside too. I am hoping to get them in one night this week if I can. If not they can wait until this weekend. It is supposed to be rainy Wednesday and Thursday - so it would be perfect if I can get them in tomorrow evening.

Tomorrow I am also signing the contract to have the gate put across my driveway which will finally fully enclose my yard and keep the deer from finding my garden. I just hope I can get it in before they find it! Last year everything was growing well and one morning it was all mowed down. Unfortunately, even though I am only two blocks off the main street of my small town, there is a herd of deer that is land-locked into the area. Right now I see them on the property of a local nunnery - so hopefully they will stay there and now venture out and find my garden before the fence goes in!

This weekend I also moved the chicks into a new bigger brooder. It is made out of a large plastic storage box with a top made out of wire. It allowed me to put the water up on a block so they don't get quite as many shavings in the water quite as fast. Now that they have more space, they are trying out their wings and actually able to fly short distances in the brooder. It is amazing how quickly they act like big chickens and not like chicks. They are two weeks old today and they are taking "dust" baths in the shavings, preening and cleaning their feathers and working out who is in charge. Right now I think maybe Pouf is in the lead to be the lead/alpha hen (I don't think you call it an alpha hen - I need to look up the right term - but you get the picture).

The St Patties day party was a lot of fun and even though it reduced my productivity for the weekend, I think it was well worth it - after all - you know what they say about all coop and no play!! ;)

Rafters and Corned Beef!

The last two days have been very busy so I only had a few hours this evening when I was able to work on the coop - but I got another part of it checked off the list! Today was my first time using a Skill Saw and I think I did OK - I was able to make the cuts needed for the rafters - and I only cut into the saw horses once! I have to say Skill Saws really kick up a lot of sawdust. I don't have safety goggles so I just wear my sunglasses - but I would be willing to bet that is the first time someone has worn Prada sunglasses while running a Skill Saw!

I'm having some friends over for my annual St. Patty's Day bash tomorrow - so probably no coop work until Sunday - but I am hoping to get the roofing on and MAYBE some of the wire on - but it all depends on how fit I am for work after a night of Guinness and Irish festivities! In case anyone else is going to make their Irish dinner this weekend - I have a great Corned Beef recipe to share that is adapted from one found in Sunset magazine many years ago.

Recipe (Serves 12):

• 2 very large sweet onions
• 8-10 large carrots, peeled
• 2 heads green cabbage (enough to cut into 6 wedges each)
• 3 Lbs small (2 in.) thin skinned potatoes - I like red potatoes for this
• 6-8 Lbs Corned Beef
• 2 c. malt vinegar
• 2 large cans Guinness (the kind with the nitrogen cartridge in the can)
• 1 Tbsp mustard seed
• 1 Tbsp coriander seed
• 1/2 Tbsp black peppercorns
• 1/2 Tbsp dill seed
• 1/2 Tbsp whole allspice

You will need a very large stock pot - 15-20 quarts. Using a sharp knife cut away as much of the fat on the outside of the corned beef as you can - this keeps the dinner from ending up very greasy. Put the prepared meat into the pot. Coarsely chop up enough carrots and onion to make 1 cup chopped of each and add it to the pot. Add vinegar, Guinness and all the spices to the pot. If the liquid does not cover the meat you can add water to cover - but I personally like to add more vinegar and Guinness - sticking to roughly the same proportions listed above. Cover the pan and put it over high heat (it will take about 20 minutes to come to a boil). Simmer for about 3 hours until the meat is tender.

While it is cooking, cut the cabbage and onion into wedges so that you have at least one wedge per person. Cut the carrots into 3-4 inch long pieces and scrub potatoes. Once meat is tender - add onions, carrots and potatoes to the pot and put the cabbage in on top of everything. Bring back to a boil (about 20 minutes); reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the cabbage and potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

Remove everything to a platter, cut the corned beef on the diagonal across the grain and serve with coarse grain or Dijon mustard (some people like both - I prefer coarse grain).

SLAINTE!! (cheers in Irish)

On the chick front they are growing so fast it is hard to keep up! They nearly empty a quart feeder full of food and also a quart of water a day - its really amazing they can eat so much. Of course, some of it gets spilled into the bedding in the brooder, but I think they eat the majority of it. I put the last food in today so I HAVE to go to Tractor Supply tomorrow and get another (bigger) bag than the one I got when they arrived a week and a half ago.

I did some checking on the backyard chicken forum and everyone seems to think the chicks being skittish is still pretty normal - they said we just need to keep at it and do our best to make time to hold each one for a little time each day.

So tomorrow I am off to the farmers market in Leon Springs to check out the produce, then Tractor Supply and then the whirlwind to prep for the party begins. I should have more coop pics by the end of the weekend!

Coop frame up!

Victory!!! I took another hour of vacation time to try to give myself enough time to do some work on the coop tonight and I managed to do quite a lot! I moved the back row of concrete piers, got the frame up and all connected (and the corners are actually square - yes!), and managed to also get the last remnants of limestone chop block into place for yet another small veggie bed.

Yes, my back is tired, and no I don't care - I am thrilled that I was able to get all this done - all on my own!

Now I just need to decide what to plant in the new bed. I still have some Yukon Gold seed potatoes that I need to put somewhere, so maybe those can go in this new bed. I also have been thinking about getting an artichoke plant - those get quite big so that might be better planted on its own. Another option would be something like raspberries which my daughter and I absolutely love, so I need to think about it and figure out what would be best. I still have one other small area out back where I could potentially put another bed, and I have a front fence that has nothing on it that might be great with raspberries growing on it. So I need to think through the space I have left and figure out what's best.

I have a friend who owns a nursery - so maybe I will ask him what he recommends. He also offered to come help me put some siding on the coop for the hen house - and although I am pretty proud for my progress on my own, some help might be good to get things finished. I think in another two or three weeks the chicks are going to need more space, so getting the coop finished sooner rather than later would be great.

The chicks are doing really well - they are getting very bold and don't hesitate to come running for strawberries. They still don't like being picked up - but once they are picked up they settle down. I'm not sure if they will ever like to be picked up; there must be some way to teach them not to mind, but I am not sure how to do it. I may need to ask on the chicken forum to figure out what we aren't doing that we should.

So generally I had a busy evening and now I am off to relax, make myself some dinner, pour another one of those martinis and watch a movie!