New Row Garden

I thought I would share some progress pictures of the new garden. This garden was built in the field north of my house and was likely used to feed the previous owners dairy cows in the winter (for 65 years). Very pretty soil in this area but lot of weeds now that the earth has been disturbed. I know that if I just keep up on it for the next two years or so, it will become a breeze to take care of. It is always just the beginning that is overwhelming. We have had two weeks of cooler weather and lots of rain. I am behind on my weeding but thought you would all forgive me my weeds.

These little mountains are the hills for pattypan squash, summer crookneck squash and zucchini. I haven't grown squash type plants in several years as I have always hosted some kind of squash vine borer and they gross me out. I gave up and rely on someone else's surplus. It has always worked in the past but since we had a new location, we thought we would give it another try.

These are the bean beds and they aren't looking so hot. The tree limb teepees are for climbing pole type beans. I have yellow wax and Kentucky wonder growing on these three. The other beds are pinto, dark red kidney and green bush beans. Something is attacking my beans and I have yet to figure out what but they seem to come up without leaves and none grow on the stem. If they get past the first week they seem to be OK, it's just the first push through the soil that is problematic for them.

The corn is doing well. We spaced the first two rows to 8 inches and had to replant some bald spots so we over planted the last two rows and thinned. Thinning is hard for me because it feels so wasteful but it does save time.

These mounds are for the cucumbers. They have been replanted to fill in bald spots several times. For some reason they are having a hard time getting started this year. Hopefully they will take off next week. Beyond those are the tomatoes and pepper beds (wide rows).

These tomato spirals are new to me this season. I have always searched for prettier ways to cage my tomatoes and I hope this works, it is prettier to me. The other beds of tomatoes have some other methods going. I will let you know what I like best.

And this is a view from the other end of that area. I am basically standing in the bean bed to take this photo. I am off to a dental convention for the next two days so it will be heavy weeding when I get home. I am still finalizing the trim details on the chicken house and need to finish the new flower garden bed but I am going to get them all done, one at a time. I can't wait to start eating out of this garden.

Miss Baylee and the Goats

Our granddaughter, Baylee, loves the goats. I have mentioned this before. She tries to make goat sounds and knows right where they are when she comes to visit. All she has to do is point and Grandpa takes her to see her friends. Baylee is 15 months old now and pretty good at getting what she wants. She is so cute it's hard to deny her anything. 

After a visit on Thursday I posted some pics of the goats and her mom got on to look at the newest post. Oops! Baylee saw the goats and wouldn't let her mom log off. If the screen went to sleep, she cried. If Nichole tried to log off, she cried. She wanted to see the goats.

 

This funny shot is Baylee kissing Mama Goat through the computer screen. This would never happen in real life, Mama Goat is a big chicken but Baylee does not know that yet.  I just had to share. We laughed till be cried when Nichole sent this picture. Kids are pretty funny creatures.

My Goat Needs Dentures!

Is this not the funniest thing you've seen? I cracked up when I uploaded these pictures and they showed her gummy smile. She is the mother goat, affectionately called Mama Goat. She is also ferral. She was mistreated when we got her and her then 4 week old baby, Clementine so she has been shy the whole year we have had her. She now bites, which is great because it's her way of trying to play and that is a big step forward. Just goes to show that a year of grain and anyone can be your friend.

 

Here is Ollie, who is almost always photogenic. He actually only wants to smell you so he is pretty easy to get a good picture of.

 

And Clem with Doyle and our granddaughter, Baylee. Clem is the sweetest goat we have and really loves it if you'll brush her. She is also our ill goat. She has some kind of lung problem. We have treated her with several things and antibiotics. No dice yet. I am starting to think maybe the poor little thing has allergies. She wheezes like my daughter.

 

Of course Baylee loves the Mama Goat, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her. Baylee just points and smiles at Grandpa and off they go. Back to the goat barn. I know who's wrapped around who's little finger.

 

So this post is for you, Daffodil Planter. You can live vicariously through my goats until you can get your own!

Raised Bed Garden Update

I thought I better make my garden blog look like I have a garden instead of only a chicken house or two. Here are a few current pics of the raised bed garden.

My broccoli is so puny. The plants are beautiful and big but the florets are tiny. Does anyone know why this is? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I amended all of the beds with mass amounts of compost this year so fertility should not be an issue.

The peas are not nearly as tall this year as last year. It got hot here early and stunted their growth. There are lots of peas on though, and all they need to do now is plump up. In the right hand corner of this picture you can see a sad and weedy looking bed. There are beets growing in there, I promise. I think I weeded out some of the actual plants early on. That will teach me to wait until I am sure what they look like before I weed anything. The other bed of them is growing a little better. They aren't big yet and I don't know why but this is my first year growing beets and I will just have to wait and see.

Here is a closer picture of the lettuce bed. I thought I would get decorative with the planting this year and that may have been a bad idea. It looks kind of silly to me and now some growth is disproportionate to the others. We did have our fist salad out of the garden last night and it was very good. This is the lettuce that my daughter assured everyone that came by was the best ever grown. I am glad she likes homegrown lettuce.

And finally I have a shot of the potatoes growing in bags. These were slow to get going but they are growing great guns now. I have 3 different kinds; Red LaSoda, Yukons and Red Norlands. The Yukons were the slowest to start and I was sure they must have rotted. I added a lot more compost to each bag today and will continue to do so until the end of summer.

Last year the summer was cool and everything in the "cool weather crop" category was a major grower. I was so excited as most of it was new to me. This year the heat hit early and hard and I can see the reverse is true for my early season crops. If you don't like the weather in Idaho, I guess you just wait for the next year. They are never the same twice in a row.

Yikes! More Garden Visitors

Ewww, look at this! Doyle said "Don't freak out when you see a snake in the new garden. It's just a big water snake, it won't hurt you." So I diligently looked for it and this morning Doyle saw it again. 

 

Now that I know he is there, I won't pass out when I see him (or her). But I definitely walk with a little more caution when I go down to the new garden. The new garden is just a few feet away from the edge of a parking area outside Doyle's shop. It is based with shale and then coved and compressed in road base gravel. I knew there was potential for snakes, I just hadn't seen any yet.

 

My husband swears it is just a water snake and that they are good to have in the garden. I hope he is right. I am not a fan of venomous snake bites. In fact the thought makes me downright sick to my stomach. But wait it gets better..........

 

He or she has friends. This one was laying a few feet away, tied in a knot and catching some sprinkles from the sprinkler. It must have been napping because it didn't leave as fast as the other one did. A brave snake is way worse to me than a scaredy cat snake. These snakes are not tiny either. Both were at least 2.5 feet long and as big around as a garden hose. Maybe that means they can eat voles whole. One can dream. We watched which holes they went into in the rocks and now I know what to avoid. Maybe they will eat whatever is eating my beans. Do snakes eat grass hoppers? Boy, I hope so!

They Are Finally Here!

The laying hen chicks that I can finally become attached to and they won't become dinner, soon or ever, are finally here and I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!! Can you tell? My dad would have a stroke if he knew I used that kind of a run on sentence. He doesn't read this blog so I am safe. Don't tell him:-D

 

It really is still amazing to me that chicks can ship the day they are hatched and arrive in good shape. Ours came from a hatchery in Texas and all arrived alive and are still that way. The USPS called at 8:45 this morning and told us to come get them. We were ready for them. I had to work so Doyle picked them up and unloaded them into the stock tank that will be home for the next couple weeks. The big brooder is in the chicken house so all our overtime to finish it is for a  good cause.

 

I will say that I ordered 30 girl chicks and only 27 showed up. Someone working in the hatchery can't count. Kind of ticked me off but it is what it is. At least the ones I got are all safe and sound. The other gripe I have is that I am pretty sure they also shorted me some Gold Laced Wyandottes and added more Black Australorps but didn't mark any of that on the incorrect packing slip. Of course I called to express my feelings. But I was nice and they promised to refund the price of 3 chicks. I am anxious to see what I actually got over the next couple weeks. I may be calling again. It wouldn't irritate me if they took ownership of the problem but I had to wait 3 months to get them as it was and now the order is wrong. I also paid extra, almost double to get pullets, which are girl chickens, and the packing slip says that straight run was shipped on at least one breed. That means I will likely have roosters and I don't want roosters. But maybe the roosters will be the life of the party!

 

Aren't they cute? They seem so small after you look at the 4 week old meat chicks. They are not housed in the same place but I still feed and water the others and they look like Baby Hueys, as my friend Brenda calls them.  So I thought I would share what has completely consumed all of our time of late. Seems kind of anti-climactic after all the preparations that took place but their new home is a palace and I am so excited for them to get big enough to check it all out.

The Final Touches

 

Are you all tired of reading a garden blog solely dedicated to the preparations for chickens? I promise plants are coming but this is currently what takes up all of our time. Our son-in-law layed the linoleum for the coop floor this past weekend. Ryan actually does this for a living so expert help is always appreciated! I must admit he lays tile and hardwood more but that wasn't in this chicken house's budget. Maybe the next coop:-D

After the flooring was in we started the 'droppings table'. This is a handy dandy little bench below the roosts that will catch all the night time droppings. That way they won't foul the wood shavings on the floor so fast. It will also make it easier to use a large putty knife to scrape the droppings into a bucket to add to the compost pile. I had planned to paint the OSB on the inside but we used the smooth side out and I am now out of time. I don't really think the chicks will know the difference. 

 

And finally a picture of the roosts in place above the droppings board which Doyle added linoleum to for ease of cleaning. He is really a thoughtful guy. I still need to rub the roosts with used motor oil to combat possible leg mites but that can wait until I have some used motor oil. The chicks won't be needing the roosts for at least 3 weeks so I think I have a little time. The big old feeder is ready and the light will be plugged in first thing in the morning. The chicks should be here via USPS by 8:45 a.m. tomorrow. I have to work but Doyle promises to take lots of pictures. I hate to miss out on all the fun stuff. We have 30 pullets on their way and I will update you all as to how well they survived their trip. I hope as well as the meat chicks did. My fingers are crossed.

The final question I still have to find the answer to is what to landscape around the coop with. Is there any such thing as chicken proof flowers and shrubs? They will free-range on the days I am home and I want them to keep the bug population down but I don't want to spend time planting things they will likely eat. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. The chicken house is located on the edge of the little orchard we have been planting for a few years so I thought foundation plantings might be nice.