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Chicken Antics
Our poor little Betty White is terrified of the older hens, and probably should be. Ruby and Tweedledum charge her whenever they enter a space and spot her. They usually just strike once and move on. There’s not been much feather loss, and there has been no blood, but Betty will see one of the big birds coming and hide her head in a corner. When the big ladies leave the run to lay eggs or go into their backyard,…
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Before the Last Frost (7 Weeks)
This week we are talking about cold frames. A cold frame is similar to a greenhouse, except that it is only used in the cold season to help tender seedlings grow before optimum climate conditions by trapping in heat overnight. A cold frame is not climate controlled. My previous “greenhouse” was really just a large cold frame. Here is a great article explaining the two: The Differences Between a Greenhouse and a Cold Frame Our old cold frame Do you have…
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The Chickens Get Their Own Backyard
The chickens are angry at me this week because they’ve been booted from the yard. I finally got tired of them kicking all the dirt and mulch out of my flower beds, wandering into the neighbors’ yards and getting closer and closer to the street where neighbors regularly walk dogs. Without a fenced back yard, free range was just too free, and with spring around the corner, I didn’t want to have to deal with them uprooting the wildflowers I’m…
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Before the Last Frost (8 Weeks)
Here in Raleigh, we are about 8 weeks ahead of the last killing frost of the season. Last weekend was so cold and frozen that I did no soil prep until yesterday when I picked up some bags of soil on clearance at Walmart. I don’t often have to add new soil to the garden because we compost a good amount of the old plants, but anytime there are tomato vines suspected of disease, the go down to the curb…
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Renee’s Garden Seeds
The following Renee’s Garden seed packets were free for me to sample. These are not affiliate links. Renee’s Garden Seeds Renee’s Garden Seeds! I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve been sampling Renee’s Garden seeds and sharing pictures of the produce for several years now, and every year I anxiously await picking out new seeds to try each winter as I prep for Spring planting. Some of my favorite garden varieties come from this company: Trombeta Squash, Slow-Bolt cilantro, Italian Pesto…
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Before the Last Killing Frost (9 Weeks)
Nine Weeks Before the Last Killing Frost This week is about soil preparation. There are tons of methods to preparing the soil, and some of those resources are listed below along with places you can find supplies locally. I prefer to use Black Kow and Black Chicken Compost and apply them early enough to give the chicken compost time to cool. This year we have our own source of chicken poo! This link lays out exactly what and how much…
