"Gimmie Chiles!"

Our chickens love chile seeds.  Chickens co-evolved with chile plants to help spread their seeds, so they have no heat receptors that would make eating chiles painful.  They like all kinds and pick open the chiles to eat the seeds first.  There is anecdotal evidence that cayenne powder in chicken feed can prevent worms...not sure if all the chiles I grow could have the same positive affect but it can't hurt and they really relish them.  I pulled the plants out before the first frost and since we have all the hot sauce and powders we need, the extra chiles went to the girls.

New Hampshire, Dominique, and Partridge Rock munch hot peppers

Dominque with hot peppers

In the garden I have several beds seeded with cover crops (pictures are from a week ago, they are taller now).  We had our first hard frost of 27 degrees 2 nights ago, which knocked out the tomatoes, zucchini, nasturtiums, and hurt the peppers but didn't kill them.  Everything else was wilty with cold but promptly bounced back when warmed by the sun (parsnips, napa cabbage, cover crops, lettuce, arugula).  The kale laughed and just kept growing.  

Cover crop mix: forage radish, Austrian field pea, winter rye

cover crop

Aji Cristal

Veg from the garden

salad from the garden

Harvested my first cultivated mushrooms ever.  Wine caps from some spore I put on woodchips under our Sweet Bay Magnolia tree in early summer.  Score.  I tried them because I read they were fairly easy to grow - a good beginner mushroom.  Seems to be the case.  

first mushroom harvest ever: wine caps

Prepping Chickens for Winter Outside

"What do they do in the winter?" is a common chicken question.  Well, these birds don't give a crap, they want to be outside, come what may.  Snow? Rain? Freezing temperatures?  No problem.  The coop seems to be for sleeping, eating, laying eggs and not much else if they can help it.  The truth is the mix of birds I have are hardy breeds that can handle cold as long as they have wind and rain protection.  Last year I waited too late and rigged them up a wobbly plastic tunnel when it was already winter, (which they spent ALL their time in) so this year I am being proactive.

Chickens on compost with winter hoop in background

My ideal would be to make a walk in winter chicken run that could double as a spring hoop house for plants....something like this http://www.farminginmyfifties.com/how-to-build-a-cattlelivestock-panel-hoop/ and maybe that will happen in 2016, but for this winter I decided a small hoop that I can put up quickly will do.  I also made a "compost shelter" area out of hay bales to contain the garden waste I am giving them now so they don't spread it all to kingdom come with their scratching (and they like the windbreak from the hay bales).  

Now I just need a way to get them from the coop to this area on rainy freezing days...I have an idea for version of a covered chicken tunnel....but more on that later.

strawbale windbreak/compost area and plastic tunnel for hanging out in on rainy and snowy days

compost area

Once the compost area was hastily assembled, I moved hoops from a garden bed I was not planning to cover this winter and covered with hoops with 6 mil plastic we had removed from a hoop house at work.

winter outside area

winter tunnel...I'll likely put some straw bedding down in here.

screwed on fiberglass panels on coop as windbreak

If you want this whole "minimal winter protection for chickens, no heat in the coop" thing to work, you need:

• hardy breeds (New Hampshires, Australorps, Rocks, Easter Eggers, etc)
• ventilation in the coop at the bottom and top (important!)
• no wind blowing on the birds
• bedding that isn't too wet
• enough birds to keep each other warm...I'd say 3 or 4 minimum...we have 11

After learning from chickens for several years here are a few things I take into account when planning their winter quarters:

• they like to be outside during the day...the coop is just for sleeping and egg laying
• they like to feel safe when they are sleeping and egg laying so solid sides on the coop and curtains on the nest box give them privacy and make them feel secure
• they don't like to get wind whipped (duh!  who does?) and rained on when its cold (although they don't seem to mind summer rain) so covered plastic hoops or runs with covered plastic sides for wind protection are good for outside space
• they like new things to check out in their space, although they might be wary at first
• they can move a lot of (soil, mulch, whatever) with their digging so any use of them in the garden or on land has to take that into account
• they can turn grass to bare ground quickly - having 2 spaces they can rotate between is best
• an established raspberry patch can hold up to their scratching and they absolutely love the dappled shade and protection it offers.  it seems to be number one area for chicken nap pile

raspberry patch and farm cart on blocks - fav napping areas

What's Happening on the Homestead this Week

Let the chickens into the pumpkin patch to eat squash bugs

They also liked eating amaranth grain that I threw them (the red seedhead)

The fall garden winding down

garter snake

parsnips for fall and winter eating

napa cabbage

digging potatoes

got about 1.5 bushels German Butterball potatoes from a 25 ft row that received no irrigation

What's Happening In The Garden This Week

We got a break from the chilly weather with a gorgeous day in the 60s today.  After a walk with Ida the Dog in Frick Park, I was gardening til the sun set just now.  Most things are mulched and tucked in for winter, except the greens that are still growing under cover.

Stayman Winesap apple tree in foreground and 2 beds covered with hoops and row cover for fall and winter harvests.

I have picked up a nugget or two of wisdom from all the expert gardeners I have read about.  One of those is keep your soil covered!  Winter winds and rains erode and compact soil, and the sheet mulch beds that we made this spring are indeed covered.  2 beds got seeded with winter rye, which grows in the fall, overwinters, and then grows in the spring.  We will mow it down and fork it in, or let the chickens finish killing it 1 month before summer planting.  Planting in a rye bed sooner than that is asking for poor germination, as the plant puts out chemicals that inhibit germination.

Winter rye in some of the beds

Soil that isn't covered with rye is mulched with straw or dead plant material.  I like the way the straw makes the beds look.  It tidies everything up a bit.  

An old mailbox becomes a garden toolbox for trowels and gloves

This horehound and Aronia (below) are part of a mixed planting of shrubs, trees, herbs, and berries that I would like to become a screen of sorts from the road and neighbor's house.  Its about a 4' wide swath of plantings along our front and side fencelines, and I have a mix of all kinds of things going on.  I have my culinary herbs in a border of sorts closest to the house: oregano, marjoram, thyme.  I have Aronia (a berry shrub rich in antioxidants), Nanking Cherry (These are doing terribly and will need a boost of compost, worm castings, and rock fertilizer in spring), Serviceberry, Paw Paw (the site is too sunny for these trees ideally but they are an experiment here.  I also have them planted in a different spot with dappled sun that they should prefer), comfrey, borage, fig, 3 apple trees (Stayman Winesap, Zestar, Arkansas Black), hazelnuts, and flowers.  It has been great fun to see these things grow this season.  All have been slow, but I think next year, we will see some real growth!

Horehound, a medicinal herb (left) and Aronia, a berry shrub (right)

2 of the 4 hazelnuts I planted are still kicking.

I've read hazelnuts yield the most when grown as a single stem form.  Since part of the job of these plants is to form a "hedgerow screen", I plan to let them just grow wild, no pruning required.

My gaudy New England Aster is still blooming and the bees love it.  Aster actually produces more bee food after frosts hit.

A young buck made it into our yard a few days ago.  We hung up some streamers from the fence to discourage him from jumping in again, although he was so freaked out by being in the yard, he didn't eat anything and promptly jumped out again.  This is the time of year we expect them to make their moves in, so we will just have to see how it goes.  I plan on planting some diversion plants on the outside of our fence in the back.  As far as other munchers, I know we have a lot of voles around here because I see them running around.  The chickens catch some of them, but I protected my apple tree trunks from the ones that the chickens can't get to.

Rodent Guard around apple tree trunk.  Rodents love to chew tender bark.

I rarely sit and relax in the garden.  It doesn't feel quite private enough for that yet.  But I do sometimes sit on this little bench I found.

My little garden bench, found on garbage night in Edgewood.

Asparagus ferns starting to die back

I love this Sweet Bay Magnolia, grown by our friend Nick and purchased from Tree Pittsburgh.  Now, it has a fancy belgian block ring round it!

Lil kitchen herb garden by the back door

Raspberries

What's Going On In The Garden This Week?

This week has been all about radishes and impending cold weather.

We have had 2 light frosts in the past week here in the Pittsburgh area, but these were the first of the year.  In our garden, I am getting the 2 beds I plan to overwinter covered with hoops.  I used 10' lengths of 1/2" electrical conduit bent on a hoop-bender to cover the 4' beds.  The hoop bender is sold by Johnny's Selected Seeds, and is also available locally for members to check out from Grow Pittsburgh's Garden Resource Center.  This "quick hoop" method is Eliot Coleman's chosen low tunnel recipe.  He uses lightweight row cover and then a layer of plastic over that when real winter descends.  I have had luck just using a single layer of the thickest grade row cover available.  Other hoop materials could be used as available.  At Garden Dreams we use gas pipe stuck onto 14" rebar stakes.

Misato Rose Radish & Danvers Carrots (alternate rows)

I experimented with planting rows of radishes alternating with carrots, intending to pull the radishes as the carrots needed the space.  This is kind of working.  I am really loving the radish variety, Misato Rose, available from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.  It is a beautiful, large watermelon radish that grows great in the fall and bulbed up very easily.  However, the greens are much larger than say, a Cherry Belle or French Breakfast radish.  These huge greens shaded the carrots a bit more than planned, and since they are slower to mature than other radishes, they are hanging around in the ground longer.  I harvested maybe 1/6 of them yesterday, the largest bulbs, and thinned the carrots. This batch of radishes is destined for fermentation....this time in a 5 gallon bucket.

Misato Rose Radish and Chocolate Habaneros

I found any washing and trimming I can do in the garden saves mess and time in the kitchen later.  Some day I'll have a tricked-out garden wash station dream sink, but for now a hose and buckets works.  Trimming off the greens stems and giving them straight to the chickens saves me that task later.

3 piles: radishes, greens, and greens stems for chickens

These radish greens are huge!  Might as well cook 'em up.

The greens on these radishes are very large! Think turnips.

Here are my beds, half way to being winterized.  This 1/2" electrical conduit is pushed 14" into the ground and seems very sturdy.  

2 beds that will be overwintered with hoops in place

Whats Happening in The Garden This Week?

It is a beautiful Sunday here with an expected high of 68 degrees.  A hard frost has not hit us here in the Pittsburgh area yet, giving me extra time to get the garden ready for the cold and cover my beds with hoops and row cover for season extension.  

The leaves are beginning to change on the trees behind our house, and the cold nights leave a chill in the air for morning activities.  Mulch is the word of the day.  Organic material coming out of the beds from summer crops either goes to the chickens or gets laid directly on the soil as mulch and then covered with straw for a tidier appearance.  In my commute to work or the store, I am on the lookout for leaves and brush that has been put out to the curb.   I am ready to pick them up - leaves for chicken bedding and brush to add to our pile for when we borrow our friend's chipper.  Wood chips will go to mulch perennial areas and to some paths.  

I have also sowed some winter rye on the empty beds that have been cleared as a winter cover crop, and finally made some rodent guards to keep the apple trees safe from those that would want to gnaw their bark.  

Sheet mulch beds from this spring with their fall crops

Misato Rose Fall Radish coming along nicely and Danvers carrots.  These will go under cover.

Red Russian kale, arugula, various asian greens, and lettuces destined to be covered for winter,

Butternut Squash Patch.  Yield is 40 squash from 4 plants.

Asparagus bed with kale, herbs, and volunteer amaranth.

Straw mulch and 1/4" hardware cloth rodent guard to protect the young apple trees' bark from gnawing teeth,

Fall Pictures

There was a chill in the air today and is a chance of our first frost tonight.  I spent the evening bringing in a few tender potted plants, making a windbreak around my beehives and putting plastic over the open front of the chicken coop.  Now to hunker down into fall.  I love the changing of the seasons.

Fall Honey

Winterized Coop

Goldenrod at Frick Park

I transplanted this aster last fall.  It likes this spot as it has never grown this big.

Delicata Harvest

Jason (left), pumpkins (center), Ida (right)

Sauerkraut that my niece Emma helped make in August is now ready.