Spring starts in January

Snow is still on the ground, the sky is gloomy-grey with a large dollop of drizzle.  But I just invested in a little bit of hopeful sunshine.  I put in my order for veggies through Territorial Seed Company, a Pacific Northwest-geared company.

Qty	Item #	Description	Price
1	TM901/S	Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry - 1/8 gram	$2.85
1	ON557/P	Guardsman Onion - 4 grams	$5.15
1	MS479/P	Italian Saladini Blend - 4 grams	$4.65
1	LT403/L	Little Gem Lettuce - 1/2 gram	$3.05
1	MS499/S	Miners Lettuce - 1/4 gram	$3.05
1	SW850/S	Perpetual Swiss Chard - 3 grams	$2.75
1	SP779/S	Regal Spinach - 5 grams	$2.50
1	KL361/S	Winter Red Kale - 1 gram	$2.55

Miner's Lettuce (The Atlantic, Mar 2011)

Three lessons learned from last year's vegetable gardening:

1) The garden (and life) is too short for veggies we don't like.  No matter how easy to grow.  That means you, radishes.  You're quick to reach harvest, but not my cup o' tea.
2) Fussy is out.  Tomatoes that require primping and preening, warmth and coaxing in this climate are too much effort for not enough reward.
3) Re-use garden space.  If a spring crop has been harvested, yank it in July and use that space for a fall harvest crop.  Easy peas-y!

Ground Cherries (Smithsonian, Sep 2010)

Ground Cherries, are easier to grow versions of tomatoes for our temperate climate.  I've never grown them before, so we'll see how this goes.

Winter Red Kale will be a Fall crop, which sweetens with the frost.  Yumm.

Miner's Lettuce - high in vitamin C and cold-tolerant, making it possible to harvest year-round.

I'm mainly planting easy-grow greens, which can be plucked for each meal.  I'm lazy about shading things, so I picked out varieties that aren't quick to bolt.

In the meantime, I'm buying greens in the store, but dreaming of later in the year when they're a few steps from the door...

First bounty of the season

One of the great things about going out of town in June is the Seattle weather is still mild enough to pamper your plants, and can even give you a nice amount of rain.  We recently returned from a trip to the Bahamas, and here is the yard that greeted us:

Strawberries, ripe and delish

A couple weeks later, even with weeding and trimming things back, and things are busting out even more. 

I harvested a nice bowl of strawberries that are so fresh, they have a hearty, rich feel to them as I pop them in my mouth.  They're not rock-hard, like strawberries can tend be from the grocery store.  

I also plucked some fresh sugar snap peas from the trellis to snack on.  Yum.

The herbs are threatening to take over, so I'm starting to look up recipes for things like fennel ice cream (yet to be tested), and sage tea (which was delicious with a bit of honey).  

Red Russian kale

The kale is still young, but needed more thinning.  So I took advantage of this and slipped some young greens into my grilled cheese sandwich for lunch today:

The red russian kale has a tanginess, with a slight honey aftertaste.  Perfect with cheddar and tomato.  

All's I can say is, I love summer in Seattle.  Harvesting endless tasty food from your yard is what it's all about.

Rats? Ah, rats.

It finally happened - we have some special visitors to the chicken coop: rats.  I had a feeling this might happen, as I was lazy when we first put the coop in and didn't rat-proof the coop.  I kind of just hoped that they wouldn't smell the yummy chicken feed, wouldn't enjoy the perfect bedding of wood chips and ample fresh water. 
The first sign of them was while we were on vacation.  Amanda, poor dear, was changing the water and a rat scurried out from under the brick platform.  Yikes!
They have been burrowing under the coop in two spots.  The walls of the coop mainly have chicken wire, which they say isn't the best at keeping rodents out.  But I think I'll start with protecting at the base, and work my way up with the hardware cloth if needed.
So now a week later I'm getting around to it.  I was a bit worried about just how to do it.  The internets provided some basic info, but not the comprehensive start-to-finish that I would expect.  So allow me to walk you through a step by step of how I did this in our coop:

Step 1: Gather tools and materials

• 1/2 inch roll(s) of hardware cloth
• garden gloves
• tin snips
• measuring tape
• flat edge shovel or hand edger
• hammer
• poultry staples (not nails)

Step 2: Dig the trench

Start as close to the edge of the coop walls as possible.  Dig about 8" down (some say 6", others say 10", so I split the difference), using the flat edge shovel.  Using a combination of the flat-edge shovel, hand trowel or regular shovel, remove the dirt.  Pile it next to each section, so that you don't have to do what I did and rake the dirt all the way over from one big pile.
If possible, dig the whole trench first before moving on.  This will ensure you can just slap the hardware cloth in without retrofitting.

Step 3: Cut and Fold Hardware cloth

Using the tin snips, cut 11" of hardware cloth off of the roll.  Fold 2-3" worth over.  This will be your top piece that you'll nail to the frame of the coop.  You fold it over to protect the chickens from scraping against it and hurting their cute little feet and legs.

Step 4: Attach hardware cloth
Put the hardware cloth in the trench, folded side up, with folded side facing in to the coop.  Keep it as vertical as possible, to ensure no burrowing can be done by any varmints. Using the poultry staples, nail onto the frame. 
Repeat along the perimeter of your coop, overlapping the pieces so that there are no gaps. 

Step 5: Refill the dirt

This part is easy, but just make sure that the hardware cloth stays vertical, so that you get maximal depth protection.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this keeps the little guys out!

Spring starts in May? I'll take it.

The seeds have started sprouting up in the raised beds.



I love planting beans.  Since they are so easy to grow, you get an instant reward for just popping their large seed in the ground.  They don't need much of anything, and reward you with endless beans at harvest time.





The kale sprouts (blue kale and red russian kale, respectively, above) are busting out too.  This is the part of planting from seed that I get squeamish about: thinning.  I seriously don't like having to pick and choose who lives and who goes.  This time I took all the thinned seedlings and put them in the chicken's food dish.  At least they won't go to waste.

Speaking of the chickens, they LOVE their wheatgrass:



I put it out a couple days ago, and they went crazy for it.  They couldn't stop eating it.  At first only Janet and Chrissy had discovered it.  Henrietta (who might actually be the dumb one, as it turns out) was blithely snacking on some boring old feed when Janet seemed to look up, turn to Henrietta and squawk at her to get the heck over here and try some of this out-of-this-world wheatgrass.  Henrietta ran over and tried it, and you couldn't tear her away after that.

At that point, I started getting curious about how they knew that wheatgrass was delicious.  And how did they find it in the first place?  I know their eyesight isn't the greatest, but maybe it's good enough, particularly when they see new things, like a rectangular black box of grass?  And what about their tastebuds?  Do they have fine palates to distinguish salty from spicy from umami?

The google provided ample information, though some of it was conflicting.  So allow me to add to the mix.  From what I gathered, it seems that most people agree that chickens have a keen sense of smell.  They do have tastebuds, but they are concentrated on the back of their mouth/throat area.  Not sure about their eyesight.  But however you want to look at it, they seem to really enjoy yummy food like wheatgrass.  So as their mom, that makes me happy. :-)



Chrissy getting her snack on.

Very Seedy

The mesclun planted a few weeks ago is starting to come in.  Soon I'll be able to take clippings and add it into the salad bowl.  

Inspired by these little salad sprouts, I decided to do myself a favor and put in a small raised bed in the side yard.  I grabbed seeds from my stash and set to work.

The raised bed is in a small square of grass which is not used for much, but easily viewable from my kitchen window.

I put together that handy diagram on the pic itself because unless I write it down somehow, I easily forget what was planted where until things start growing in.

Beans, two kinds of kale, beets and carrots will thrive in the rich soil.  I can keep an eye on them, and will be more likely to water since I'm looking at it daily from the kitchen. 

I also started on the plants for chickens project: two trays of wheatgrass!  I am keeping the trays outside, so with the weather going up and down, it might be a bit slower going than starting them indoors.  Our house has boxes galore from a recent moving-in of stuff, so the idea of having two trays of dirt in the mix held little appeal.  

Once the wheatgrass sprouts, will the chickens dig it?  I'm excited to find out.  

Gardening Podcasts

I've been enjoying podcasts as a way to entertain and inspire my gardening. There are many different ones out there, some definitely better than others (to my taste, at least).

The not-so-great ones can be rife with self-promotion (one I tried out talked for 15 minutes solid about their products, sigh), jumpy recording levels (ouch, especially on headphones), or poorly organized thoughts/no content.

The gardening podcasts that I enjoy are ones that have solid information, are inspiring, and can meander a bit as long as they are entertaining, fun, or thought-provoking. Since I mainly listen to them out and about, I've stuck to non-video (sound-only) podcasts.

How do I listen to these podcasts? I download them from the Itunes pc application, via the Itunes store. Then I listen to them on my ipod in the car, at the gym, or even while gardening with headphones. Instead of listening to the news, which can be such a downer, I get positive info that can be put to good use!

Here are my current faves...

Coopette.com - Alternative Kitchen Garden
Emma Cooper, a British gal with a great voice, very warm and soothing. Shows are typically 20 minutes in length, giving an update on her own personal garden, and thoughts on gardening today. Trends, gardening in society, permaculture, garden plant ideas, etc.

Invasive plants, posted on 3/20/11, was an interesting discussion, which went beyond the usual, a 'weed is in the eye of the beholder' topic, and went into greater detail on history of UK landscape, noxious weeds such as buddleia (butterfly bush) and japanese knotweed (which I myself have had dealings with, grrr). She also reminded me of rosa rugosa, one of my favorite roses which is similar to a wild rose's scent, and produces fabulous rose hips for the kitchen. Yummmm.

http://coopette.com/

Composting: A Seattle Tilth Podcast
Dry, kind of geeky, but kind of sweet. It's cool to hear people so jazzed about composting. And they do offer a lot of helpful tips on composting.

http://seattletilth.org/

Good Enough Gardening
Two women, Jean Ann Krevelen and Amanda Thomsen, discuss gardening and their lives in general. They are upbeat and funny, but they tend to get off-topic and meander. Not necessarily a bad thing! What I like about them is that they aren't about doing things perfectly. They make gardening accessible. They also have a hotline for questions and comments.

http://www.goodenoughgardening.com/

RadioGarden
Well-produced interviews with interesting topics. Very 'This American Life-esque,' with thoughtful discussion on ideas such as being plant-obsessed, being a garden artist, and one of my favorites, Episode 4 "Ever wish you could check out of the rat race?" featuring Margaret Roach, who did just that.

http://www.hortmag.com/category/horticulture-radio/radiogarden-horticulture-radio

Melinda Myers: Growing Among Friends
Instructive, helpful information on specific gardening tips. She does a good job of clearly explaining how-to's.

http://www.melindamyers.com/

Survival Podcast
Not just pertaining to gardening, but I like his style. I listened at first thinking he might be a wacko, but he's actually pretty common-sense in his take on being practical and self-sufficient. It appeals to my Red Dawn side, and he's a fairly positive person that seems to believe being prepared for things makes for being a good citizen, which I can definitely agree with. Politics-wise we might not see eye to eye on all things, but the permaculture and preparedness tips more than make up for that.

http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/

HerbMentor Radio
Interviews with master herbalists. They provide advice and stories from past generations. I haven't listened to much of this, but so far it seems promising. The interview with Phyllis Light, Southern Appalachian Folk Medicine, was quite cool. Imagine growing up with herbal knowledge passed down to you from generations!

http://herbmentor.podbean.com/

Harvest Eating Podcast
What to do with the food you've created in your own garden? This podcast provides great ideas, very inspiring. This guy is a definite foodie. He has his own opinions on things, for sure. Sometimes I disagree, but it's usually an interesting show.

http://harvesteating.com/

Growing Your Grub
Organic gardening podcast with occasional expert interviews. The 4/24/11 Gary "Tomato Man" Ibsen episode was really interesting. I love hearing stories of serendipity, where people first discovered their joy in gardening. I've recently started listening to this podcast, looking forward to exploring more.

http://borntofarm.com/

The Chickens Have Landed

I was looking at some of my favorite Seattle gardening websites a few months ago, and while I was checking Seattle Tilth's site they mentioned raising chickens. At first the idea sounded like it was not for me. It held no appeal, because hey, am I a chicken person?
My husband and I jokingly refer to being prepared for the 'Red Dawn scenario.' Taken from that 80s classic, Red Dawn, with Patrick Swayze and C. Thomas Howell. We're interested in being prepared for things like an earthquake, power outage, or being taken over by the Rooshkies as they parachute into your town while you're in 11th grade English class. You know, the "yooj."

So the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Raising chickens provides eggs for eating, and manure for the garden. Initial costs are in the coop and feeding equipment. And ongoing you're paying for feed and bedding, which isn't astronomical. It's probably cheaper to just get eggs from the store, but homemade eggs are richer, and you get to enjoy the fun of chickens in your backyard.
After some back and forth, and research via the web (thank you http://www.backyardchickens.com/!) and the library (tons of books on chickens to be found there), I decided to take the plunge.

I found a place in Roy that was selling pullets for 9 bucks a piece (email me if you'd like their info!). I wanted variety, a veritable bouquet of hens. So I got a Rhode Island Red, a Golden-Laced Wyandotte, and a Maran/Blue Orpington cross that will lay eggs with shells the color of rich chocolate.

Naming them was a challenge, but then I came up with the idea to reach out to my friends for help. I sent out the call on Facebook (I guess FB does have its uses, after all). Offering 6 eggs to each person whose name I'd use, I got some great entries for chicken names:

• HENrietta
• Piccolo (Italian word for little, as in Chicken Little)
• Fried, Baked, and Fricasseed
• Huey, Dewey, and Louie
• Chico, Rico, and Suave (pronounced "Swavee" of course).
• Gertrude, Matilda, and Evelyn
• Janet, Chrissy and Jack
• Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
• Skipper, Nutmeg, Ben
• Fried, Baked, and Stewed Rosie, Flo and Maude
• Marian, Wyatt and Rod Stewart
• Fat Albert, Ms. Sprinkles, Fluffy chicken little
• Marsala, Parmigiana, and Cacciatore
• Edith. Crackers. Babs.
• Foghorn
• Minerva and Maceo 
• Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso (assuming they are Italian chickens)
•  Narya, Nenya, Vilya (assuming they are middle earth chickens)
• Tony! Toni! Toné! (assuming they are some R& B loving chickens :)
• Gertrude or Gertie, Bob, Magpie, Lulu
• Chauncey, Buttons, Steve  

The winners were 'HENrietta' for the Rhode Island Red, 'Chrissy' for the Golden-Laced Wyandotte (the blonde),and 'Janet' for the Maran/Blue Orpington cross. Both Chrissy and Janet are from Three's Company fame, and totally fitting since they are the ditzy ones.

Chrissy

Janet

HENrietta

They're not yet at laying age, so I'm fattening them up, and harvesting their manure for the garden.

A few open questions and ideas:

How to keep their food and water clean, free of debris and poops?

So far I've put their waterer and food up on blocks, raised up a bit. This helps some, but Janet in particular is a real pig and throws food around and scratches up a storm like nobody's business.  For a purdy lady with gorgeous grey feathers, she really is a tasmanian devil of a hen.
I'm looking at buying a couple pop bottle waterers, that sit on the sides of the run, maybe that will do the trick?

photo from lcsupply.com

Fake eggs to encourage laying in nesting boxes!

Since Easter just came and went recently, I'm heading to Fred Meyer or Big Lots to get some sale price fake eggs. I've read that fake eggs encourage the chickens to lay in their nesting boxes, making it easier for collection. Coolio.

Wheatgrass!
I read on a webpage (http://www.healthbanquet.com/chickens-eat-wheatgrass.html) that they love wheatgrass, and that it ups the Omega 3 and vitamin content tremendously. Results are better health for the chickens, and more nutritious eggs for us humans.  Wheatgrass is super easy to grow, so this will be a fun project to try out.

How to socialize them with humans?
I've been hanging out with them daily, talking to them, just being physically near to them.  All in the hopes of them becoming accustomed to me and hopefully becoming attached in some chicken-y way. 
I've even been trying to pick them up, which only serves to freak them out and make them scurry away when I get close.  I also tried hand-feeding them, but they look past my delicious treats, and only see the large human crouching there, supposedly ready to strike.
How to get them more linked to me, so that we can become friends?  Not sure yet, but I'll probably continue the smother them with physical attention trick and see if they finally cave.

More on the hens as we progress!

Janet barreling along

Chrissy and HENrietta sharing some girl time

the chicken coop