Projects Summer 2013

Some people do that Gita. They have what they call a chicken tractor that you drag around from spot to spot. There are a lot of different ways to build a chickie pen. We will put down nice fresh hay for them to play in and pick thru.

We used to free range our hens, they were great pest controllers, till the garden started to ripened, then they wanted their share. You just can't teach a chicken to eat a whole strawberry or 1 tomato, they want a taste of each and every one. LOL After they tasted the forbidden fruit they'd range no further.
I have been considering trying a few Khaki Campbell ducks in the garden, if I get an attractive perimeter fence up. They are friendly, eat pest, and are good layers to boot.

,,,and you get BIG eggs!

.... so, you want a bunch of ducks wearing khakis walking around the garden???

Hehehe

No, not walking!!! If they're wearing khakis, they had better be MARCHING !!!
You know,


are you ready for this?




"Get you Ducks in a row"

Oh, You meant Guardin Ducks!.

I heard their eggs are the size of soup cans.

Are YOU ready for this, Ric?

They better have their "Ducks shoes" on too....

Left...right...left...right....

Judy--
NO! Duck eggs are NOT the size of soup cans....I have had them.
They may be as big as 2 x the size of a Jumbo chicken egg.
About 3" + long... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjzBzXzXfZY

And--that ain't no "Joke".....G.

Almost finished. Ric sprayed the foundation with some left over concrete paint made it look much better. The pen is in place just the roof for the covered area needs put in and inside the nest boxes and perches for them to roost on. The chickies should all be in their new home tomorrow. Today I had a different breed of chickies in there. You can see in a couple of pics how the cage top opens for easy access.

Holy---

Do you plan to plant any kind of herbs, sedums or ground Covers in the
Cinder block openings? Seems to be asking for it....

It would look nice....
Another crazy idea just passed through the sieve of my brain.

Could you use the Cinder Block openings as a protected cubby-hole
to over winter some tender perennial starts or seedlings??
Just tuck them in with some leaves or Sphagnum Moss......

Gita

Looks great, Holly! Love your human chicks. ;-)

Gita, The side openings in the cinderblocks will provide drainage. There is a heavy gauge galvanize wire glued to the inside so nothing can crawl in there to get at the girls. There are a couple upright holes on the high side of the yard and I was thinking maybe something in those for the chickies to pick at but I am not sure.
Thanks Catmint those are my Grands. Lily and Lucas, they came down to help me feed and water the chickies and collect the eggs. Our oldest hen Sally lays fewer and smaller eggs than the other chickies and they are highly prized by the grands.

They're adorable, Holly! :-)

The bedroom project is as done as it is going to get for now.
I have an old dark wood dresser in there and I want to either paint or replace it, also a job for later. Ric still needs to get the ceiling fan fixed and up and the door on the small closet needs replaced so it is doing without for now. Both his jobs will be done later as well. We still have plenty of toys but really not as many as before and I decided that I really didn't need that big entertainment stand that I was using to hold the toys. So it and another small stereo stand went down to the barn for Ric to use. Some of the toys are just stacked in the corner till I find a smaller replacement for the big stand. Here are the finished pics

On to the finished chickie coop. It's all done, doesn't really look like all that much but it was a good bit of work and there are some nice little things that Ric did to make it nice and efficient. Half of the outside pen is roofed to keep out some rain and snow. They should have some dry outside space this winter. The other side of the top has two panels that open for easy access. The water buckets hang from the roof panels to keep the girls from kicking dirt in their water. The cinderblock foundation that I laid is designed so rain can drain thru it and there is a heavy gauge wire glued to the inside so nothing can get thru the holes.

Here is the coop. Ric built it in a corner of the barn. Where I have light water and electric outlet for a heated water pan this winter. He had to clean out the old stall area as he had a good bit so stuff in there. About 2/3rds of the top is a removable plexiglass panel. So I can easily see in without opening it up. There are 4 roosts for the girls to sit on (2 on each side) and the floor under the roosts is heavy gauge small wire. So the droppings just fall thru. There are two pans under the wire floor to catch the droppings, very easy to clean. Then there are 4 nest boxes that sit right in front of the door. It can be easily removed when I need to get in the coop and I can collect the eggs just by opening the door and reaching in the back.

Couple more.

That bedroom is just gorgeous, Holly! The chickens all look happy, too! :-)

Good work, well thought out chicken place- you guys have been so productive- why dont you take a couple weeks off and go to the beach lol

Holly--

That bedroom is a water-lovers dream. The furniture looks like it is floating in the waves...

Back in the late 40s, I saw a movie called "Miranda"--and after that--(silly me) I wanted
to be a mermaid...Just daydreaming....I was so impressionable back then--a dreamer...

Your BR would have been perfect for me at that time....

Here is a short synopsis of the movie from Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_%281948_film%29

And here--you can watch the whole movie--in glorious black and white.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwFx0pNULtc

Holly--you are half mermaid too......Gita

Thanks everyone. When we first did the bedroom 20 years ago the floor was covered with light beige carpet that looked like a sandy beach. Of course that illusion soon vanished with all the kids and dogs dragging in and out of the room. That wall paper sure did hold up well for us.
Gita that sounds like a fun movie I will check it out when I get the time. I love old movies and especially those about mermaids.
Sally, You sure are right I do deserve a few weeks of beach time, think I will spend today packing. LOL

My husband really wants us to get chickens!

They are really fun. Depending on where you live there are different restrictions. Some towns allow chickens (female only) no roosters. Hen's aren't noisy. There are a lot of breeds some large some small. Many different colors and they lay all kinds of different types, sizes and colors of eggs.
We have 1 Buff Orpington, 2 Red Sex Link, 4 Rhode Island Red, 2 Black Australorp

I want chickens too! I wished we had gotten some this spring, since we haven't really gone anywhere this year after June. I know nothing about their care. And I don't think they will make eggs cheaper than Aldi store. I suppose they are better eggs.

DG has a Poultry and Livestock Discussion Forum
all kinds of good info there. They are pretty easy to keep but there are a few things you should read up on before you get them. You are right Sally for just a few hens you will spend more $$ for your eggs. Setting up a pen and coop even if you free range them you still have to provide shelter. The chickies are pretty cheap but depending on what you buy baby chicks or starter hens you could feed them a whole summer before you get any eggs. We got baby chicks in the spring, more fun that way. But our little girls probably won't start laying for another month.

My grandmother had chickens and I always enjoyed feeding them and getting the eggs. Between the gorgeous bedroom and the chickens, your home must be heaven for the grands when they come to visit, Holly! :-)

For myself, my small boxwood hedge project is trundling along. I got them all removed last weekend and have been staring all week at what was left; it looked like dry garden beds with some surface sandy dirt. I thought well, guess this needs some conditioning. Stopped at the store yesterday for Leafgro, and then put a soaker hose on the new beds. Came out about 30 minutes later to see how the beds were doing with their new-found moisture. Went to move the soaker hose and put my foot on one of the beds, expecting a little mud followed by hard ground resistance--and imagine my surprise when my foot went into marshmallow fluff mud almost to my knee!! oh my! Took some time getting the mud off my jeans and out of my shoe--ick--and off my foot/leg. :-o

So next phase of the project: what should I plant in my two new beds?? One is right next to the house so I don't want to put any trees there--which leaves lots of other possibilities!! I'd say it's a full to partial sun location--on the west side of the house. The 2nd bed is also west side, but also gets late-in-the-day shade from the wooden fence it's next to. I was thinking of putting my Rose of Sharon there, but am wondering if it's too shady...

Rose of Sharon will do pretty well. I have one in between a dogwood and two maples so its high but all day shed, and it blooms. It'll grow faster and fuller maybe in more sun.
A lot of possibilities. How is the moisture? my west side is my drainage side and even with west, end of day, sun I have moisture loving shrubs there.

How wide?

Thanks Sally! Both beds are about 5-6' square. I've been keeping track and the one next to the fence gets sun between about 11 and 4 and the one next to the house seems to get a full day of sun beginning in late morning.

The one next to the fence does get drainage moisture from a downspout!

Because of the part sun moist conditions I was thinking of putting the Rose of sharon there and maybe my Joe Pye weed 'chocolate' which I just can't seem to keep watered enough.

I put my new canna lily in the other full sun.

Sally maybe the full sun bed would be a good place for that peanut butter shrub??

That all sounds good! But plan on helping fill out the PB shrub bed for the upcoming year as it is now one or two stems about 18 inches tall. You could put lots of daffodils around the edges, and in a few years when the shrub is 4-5 feet tall and wide, it will be time to thin them anyway.

Yes great place for lots of daffodils! :-) Do you think the roots from the peanut butter shrub will be okay near the house?

Cat--You can have a couple bags of the daff. bulbs I have dug up and are
available....

Go to the Chat Thread and see....
G.

I'm wondering if you might want to put a few Astilbes in the bed area near the fence... like, maybe in between other, slightly larger plants? That way the other plants could sort of shade them a bit; they would really like that additional moisture from your downspout!

CONGRATULATIONS on your marshmallow fluffy soil, I am soooo happy for you!! < =D Soil like that is sooo much fun to play in, Wheeee!!!!!!

I can't even imagine having soil that fluffy. WOW!

The best part is when you're ready with a new installation. You take your shovel... stab it into the ground... and WHOOOSH!! It's down into the soil all the way up past the blade in the blink of an eye with NO effort! Aaaaaah, how sweet it is! Your back will thank you. < =D

Thanks all! :-) now that it's drier it's more like normal soil. ;-)

Gita I ordered a ton of bulbs for the fall bulb buy but heck what's one bag more. ;-)

Astilbes are a great idea but I think it may get too much sun for astilbes? Don't they like lots of shade? Or do they prefer dappled sun?

I don't know of any particular concern with Peanut butter shrub near foundation. Remember to have the soil line high by the foundation and slope away from the house.
THis baby PB shrub won't make much shade next year, but eventually, looks like it wants to be a vase shaped thing.

Cat, yes Ma'am, Astilbes do prefer more shade, or even dappled sun, but that's why I was thinking maybe you could stash a few between or behind-ish other, slightly larger, plantings; to let the other plantings give the Astilbes some shade. Just an idea. =)

Off with it's head! We cut down an elderberry bush today. It was too big, and very few berries due to poor pollination, I believe. Besides, I have other things that need the space. Survival of the fittest here.

Oh Nooooes, Sally is "that" queen!!!! < =/