And here's my little garden...

I must confess I'm a little impatient for my vegetables to grow. The broccoli especially is looking very good! Here's our little square foot gardens, growing fairly well, despite the shady trees on our property. Can't seem to get the grass to grow, but I guess I have a lot to learn!



Anybody know how to get rid of ants in the strawberries? They came right in and made a nest in my oregano, and strawberry patch!! Vinegar? Black Pepper? Boric Acid? What's the best treatment, all you farmers out there? How about some good advice?

Chickens!

Our adopted new family members? Perhaps. Twelve Gold Comet chickens from a small poultry farm northwest of Charlotte. The hens were almost old enough to lay, so we had to scramble (pun not intended) to build an area for them. I would love to let them free-range, but we are too close to a development and that might cause problems.


They seem happy with their food and their run. It's interesting to observe "chicken politics." Clearly some of the chickens don't get first pick of the food or water, but they manage to get by.
The kids like to watch the "chicken jousting." Two chickens line up on opposite sides of the run and charge at each other. Not sure what that's all about. Their beaks are clipped though, so they can't really hurt each other.

We purchase a used coop from a local man through Craig's List. Rajah cut a trap door into the side to allow the chickens access to a small run. He also added three nesting boxes into the coop. For some reason, the chickens use only one of the boxes for laying, the others seem to be toilets? Go figure. They are happily laying about 6-7 eggs a day for us now. Lots of omelets!