Square Foot Garden

I went to a couple square foot gardening classes this spring and decided I wanted to try the square foot gardening method. The idea is that you plant in squares instead of rows and you can utilize the space more efficiently. It requires less water and you get less weeds. You start out with perfect soil which is 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 peat moss. It holds in the moisture better and gets air down to the roots. I made my garden boxes 4 feet by 7 feet and I have bird netting over them. The bird netting keeps the birds (and chickens) out of my garden. This year, I am growing lettuce, broccoli, spinach, carrots, beets, corn, cantaloupe, watermelon, sweet potatoes, zucchini and tomatoes. I tried transplanting some of my transplants that I grew this spring, but was too impatient and didn't harden them off properly. So the tomatoes were starts that I had to buy at the store and my pepper plants didn't survive. I may go and get a few other starts to fill in the rest of my garden but this is what I have so far.

Playing house

Alex and Hannah have come to enjoy catching the chickens. The hens are actually not as scared of us as they used to be. They let us pet them and pick them up. Alex and Hannah have actually enjoyed holding them and carrying them around the backyard. Today I walked out onto our deck and saw both of them with the hens on the deck. Hannah had the hen on the porch swing and was swinging her on the swing and Alex was right behind her with "Max". It was not surprising to see the kids with the baby chicks in their rooms playing house but it was surprising to see them with the hens.

Shed progress

We weren't able to work on the shed on Saturday because I was working and it rained all day but we did try and sneak a little progress after Jeremiah got home during the week. We have all of the walls up and now we have to do the roof and then do the door and the siding. It is getting closer. I am hoping that by next week it will be done. Cross my fingers.

3 1/2 weeks

The Rhode Island Reds and California Whites (aka: Henny Penny, Big foot and Ice Cream, Wonder) are 3 1/2 weeks now. The Brown Leghorns (aka: Voltemort and Brownie) are 1 1/2 weeks. Here are some pictures of them today. They are sure getting big! They are not as cute as they used to be. They are at that awkward stage.

Our egg count is up to 32 eggs so far. Each chicken lays one egg a day. At least they are earning their food. It will take a while before they earn their coop but it should pay off in the long run. They are not eating as much food as I thought they would. They like to forage for bugs and weeds. But either way, they are very entertaining. When I am outside weeding they will come up to me and start scratching in the dirt. It is nice having their help. :)

Our Shed

We started working on our shed this weekend. We finished the flooring and got out first wall up. I was kind of bummed that we had to stop working on it at 4:00 pm on Saturday but we had plans that evening. I am hoping that we will get it finished next weekend. Jeremiah will take off Friday so we can finish it up. We won't have much time during the week to work on it with me working and he has a school and a test he has to do so I am crossing my fingers that Friday will be a nice day.

Outside Time with the Chicks

Today the kids and I took the chicks outside to play. All six of them. We have the two white chicks which are California Whites, two Rhode Island Reds which are the light brown color and our new additions are the two Brown leghorns. Those six chicks are in addition to our hens which are a hybrid called "Red Legs" which are a combination of Rhode Island Reds and White Leghorn. The chicks seemed to enjoy being outside. Their feathers are coming in nicely but it will still be a couple of weeks until they can be outside all of the time.

Playing with the chicks

Here are some random picture of us playing with the chicks. They are very playful and will jump up on our laps and climb up on our arm. They are so fun to play with and have fun personalities.

Brown Leghorns

I wanted to introduce everyone to out new additions. We got two new chicks on Wednesday. They are two Brown Leghorns that the kids named Brownie and Voltemort. Voltemort was mean at first and kept trying to eat everyone's feet. Then I noticed she kept trying to eat her own feet. She would peck at her foot and as soon as she got a hold of one of her toes, she would tip over and fall down. She has since ceased to do this. Voltemort has the darker back and Brownie is more brown. You can see in these pictures that they are quite smaller than the other chicks. The other chicks are almost 2 weeks older.

Easter Sunday

Here we are on Easter Sunday. You can see our tulips in the background. They are even more in bloom now.

Spring play time

It was such nice weather yesterday that we decided to bring some of the chicks out to play with the kids. The chicks had so much fun. They would hop up on our laps and wanted to be wherever we were. The kids even brought out some of their food and had them eating out of a plastic Easter egg. Here are some cute pictures.

Jeremiah and "Gold"

Jeremiah has a way with chickens. He has an ability to talk like a chicken and get them to come to him. Here is a picture of him holding "Gold" and he had her eating out of his hand.
I also wanted to post a picture of the inside of the coop. There are nesting boxes in either end for them to lay their eggs and then there is a long roosting bar where they sleep at night.

Eggs are rolling it

We got out first egg on Friday and they keep coming everyday. We have got one egg everyday since Friday, with the exception of Sunday and today when we got two eggs. This is what I woke up to today.

Oscar and the Chickens

Well, I was a little worried how Oscar would do with the chickens but he is really good with them. He really doesn't care about them. Although we were outside today and Jeremiah thought he would have some fun and chase the chickens and that gave Oscar the idea that chasing the chickens is fun. He did chase the chickens and they went a-running with wings flapping. Jeremiah just stood there and laughed. I didn't think he should egg Oscar on and when we told him to stop, Oscar quit chasing them and just wagged his tail. He was just having fun. Although I don't think we are quite ready to leave Oscar alone with the chickens out of their coop. Who knows what he would do if he was bored.

First Egg!

Well after all of the commotion with the chicks, I decided to check on Max and Gold (the hens). I checked the nesting box and lo and behold I found an egg! Last night was the first time I started using a lamp in their coop to see if the extra light will help them lay. I got a timer so that the light goes on at 5:00 am and off at 8:00 am after sunrise and then it will go on again at 5:00 pm and off at 8:00 pm. They really seemed to like the light in the coop. I am just so excited that we got our first egg. Here are some pictures of Hannah holding the egg. She was the one that helped me discover it.