5 chicken lessons (see you in 2017!)

This is going to be my last post of 2016. I'm looking forward to spending the last half of December focusing on family and the holidays and hopefully enjoying some new, deep snow on my fat bike. I will, of course, still be tending to the urban farm's chickens and indoor plants, and starting in January I will officially kick off the new growing season, so there will be a lot to talk about next year!

So now for my chicken lessons learned:

1. Chickens hate snow. I let them outside to run around after we got a few inches the other day, and they immediately ran under the big evergreen tree and refused to walk back to their coop. (I chased them, caught them--eventually-- and carried them one by one over the irritating white stuff!). I'm glad that we built a covered run so they can get some sunlight and hang out snow-free.

Until we can find some hen-sized snow boots, the chickens aren't having anything to do with it.

2. Chickens love to stand on top of things. I now feel extra sorry for the factory farmed chickens who have to walk around on the ground all day. Chickens love being high up and playing queen of the hill. The "playground" equipment in their run should keep them more entertained over the winter and will hopefully keep them from trying to stand on top of their feeder.

This wood from a friend's cut tree works great!

3. Providing water in freezing temperatures is a challenge and having electricity in the coop really helps things out. We have finally settled on a system (until I can find a better one) where there are two sources of water. The first is a Hen Hydrator with a bucket heater. The water in the bucket stays thawed, but the nipples freeze overnight and don't thaw until quite a while after sunrise-- this doesn't mean that the day has to get warm, but when the sun comes up there is usually enough radiant energy to thaw them out. I'm going to really like this hydrator once spring arrives. It's easy to fill and see-through so you know how much water you have. It's also keeps the water source very clean!

FFA-approved (except, apparently, in freezing weather).

The backup system is a heavy, shallow, rubber bowl that I put fresh water into each morning before the sun comes up. This water (surprisingly) has been staying thawed throughout the day, even when the outside temperature stays well below freezing (see item #4). We'll see what happens when the high temperature is 0F. If it gets too cold I will remove the Hen Hydrator and put the bucket heater into the rubber bowl.

It doesn't stay as clean as the hydrator, but it won't tip over and if I need to put the bucket heater in it over the coldest winter days I can.

4. Coop winterizing is essential. We keep hardy breeds, but protecting their run from wind and snow has proved very worthwhile. The plastic not only keeps the run dry, but it's significantly warmer than outside in the wind. And since we have a source of electricity, a heating lamp can be used in the run if needed. I've also installed temporary weather stripping in the coop, so they can stay warm over the long, cold nights.

The run is covered on three sized by thick plastic sheeting. The hens like sunning in the open south side.

5. Hens like having a sand box. The chicken run is built over an old children's sand box, so the soil is very sandy in some areas. They hens love to take dust baths, and over time they dug a 6 inch hole in one spot. Today I filled it in with some new sand. This will give them something to dust with and dig around in over the long, snowy days when they'd rather be foraging for worms and grass in the yard.

I added new sand so they wouldn't dig themselves out of the run!

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Peace on Earth! See you back here in 2017!

Indoor/Outdoor

Last of the outdoor harvests

The upper Midwest is getting a very late start to winter this year, so I was able to harvest salad greens and kale through end of November! But it's freezing at night more consistently now, and this week our hardy Swiss chard finally gave in to the cold. So even though tomorrow is supposed to be up close to 50F, I'm calling it-- winter is here! Time to bring in the last of the fall veggies.

These are the Short 'n Sweet variety of carrot that does well in shallow beds or heavy soil. They are also very sweet and I like to roast them whole.

The hens love eating the leftovers and scraps! I'm also working to winterize the chicken run with plastic on the north and west sides to protect from wind and blowing snow.

Last of the outdoor greens. Frost-sweetened and delicious! I could use a double walled tunnel to continue to grow outdoors, but since I have the space and interest, I have decided to move production inside for the rest of the winter.

Oregano has been a very productive herb. It is very hardy, disease resistant, and saves beautifully. I harvested it today, picked off any bad leaves, washed it and air dried it on a towel.

Then I then bunched it up and hung it to dry. Once it's dry (a week or two), I'll break up the leaves with my fingers and put it in an airtight container.

Setting up and testing out the new indoor grow space

I've always had an interest in indoor growing-- greenhouses have been a part of my entire adult life until very recently. But since we currently don't have a greenhouse, I'm exploring indoor options. The main purpose of this growing space will be for seed starting. It will allow us to save money on plants (seeds are much cheaper to buy than seedlings) and will allow us to produce interesting and more well-adapted varieties on the urban farm.

The new lights reflect a lot of the light produced, saving energy and providing the bright light needed for young plants.

The test basil is looking good! I can't wait to eat it!

Another test is with tomato seeds/seedlings. We want to make sure our transplants next spring are sturdy and healthy, so I'm looking at different distances between plants and lights.

I've also started growing lettuce indoors for my own wintertime salads. Perhaps someday I'll be able to produce enough to sell. For now I'll share it with dinner guests! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! It's a great time of year to visit family, catch up with friends, or spend some time with yourself doing something that you love!

No leaf left behind

Fall has not typically been my favorite time of year. I'm not a huge football fan, I really miss the warm and bright days of summer, and fresh tomatoes are missing from my salads. But autumn does bring one gift-- leaves! I do love the beautiful trees, especially the maples that turn brilliant red, orange, or yellow.

Our red maple provides cool shade all summer and then its naked branches let light into our south-facing windows all winter long.

When the leaves have just fallen, they are like a colorful carpet!

But what to do with all those leaves? Our neighbors, for the most part, rake them up and the city hauls them away to a compost facility. In the past I have done this as well, but I realized I could put them to good use (and save money, too).

I could also go on and on about how much fuel the giant trucks use to drive around and suck up leaves or how many leaves end up in the lakes because they get raked into the street and go down the drain. And those things are indeed true, But really, when it comes down to it, I like to pinch pennies until they scream for mercy, so I just can't see throwing free mulch/compost away and then turn around and buy it at the store.

And using leaves is really easy, especially if you have a bagging lawn mower. Just set the lawn mower on the highest setting and run over dry leaves. Then use the bag to move the chopped leaves where you want them. Alternatively, you can wait until the leaves are brittle and put them into a bin and crush them (or stomp them like grapes!).

A few ideas on how to use your leaves:

• Mulching around perennial plants
• Spreading over garlic
• Raking into existing vegetable or flower beds
• Using as a "browns" layer when sheet composting/lasagna gardening or in a traditional compost pile or bin

Because my lawn mower is broken, I've been picking them up in buckets, crushing them by hand, and moving them around. When the lawn mower is back from the shop, hopefully the ground will not be snow covered and I can mow them up into smaller pieces. If not, no worries. Nature is amazing at breaking things down.

These leaves were spread over the garlic about a month ago and are already composting nicely.

In other news...

A big shout out to my friend for letting me babysit her Red Wigglers and learn all about worm composting. Hopefully I'll learn a few things and blog about it later this winter!

So enjoy fall everyone! Watch football, get your favorite sweater out of storage, or do what I do and go for a nice crisp bike ride. 😊 And think about putting at least some of your leaves to good use. You may be pleasantly surprised!