CheerioLounge - Desert Dreamin'

[CheerioLounge]

That's right! Never give up, never surrender!

Maybe some light shade with sheets or something will be all it takes. You might have to do some experimenting, huh. Usually the neighbors are the ones that can tell you what's successful, right? Except that guy, we hope.

My hens like raw oatmeal. I think the last time I cooked some for the first hens, they were kind of freaked out about the steam coming off of it. It wasn't hot, but warm enough in the cold, cold coop to cause the steam. It was pretty funny.

I gave them some applesauce, oatmeal and lentils today. They just tore it up! (spoiled brats)

I can't fault him too much. He's speaking from some experience. He tried a garden the year before we moved here. Unfortunately, it happened to be a VERY hot summer and everything got fried. I also take most things he says with a grain of salt. When we first got the chickens, he insisted that we would never get eggs without a rooster. I, of course, new that this was not true and told him so. After the girls started laying, I took over a half dozen eggs and he says "Oh, I see you got a rooster." I just laughed and told him to enjoy his eggs. I believe he still thinks I have a rooster out there! He's a character alright.

We had a sort of pergola/shade structure out in the old garden that we recently disassembled so that we could put it up over the chicken run this summer. We used some corrugated metal roofing on it for the garden, because it was primarily to cover a little seating/work area. I also have several different degrees of shade cloth to incorporate into the structure. I think I will move the tall planter boxes over near the run to take advantage of that shade. I need to draw it out. It just might be a nice little oasis from the heat for all of us!

 

[pinkfox]

shade cloth is easy to use and might work for helping... you could simply hook it up to posts on the corners of the beds.

the biggest issue will be direct sun drying everything out super quick so mulching and shade cloth could be the key to proving him wrong

growing things that are heat/drought resistant also a good idea...
and make sure to water early in the evenings and in the late afternoon/evening rather than in the heat of the day.
mulching helps retain moisture too.

dont ya love the rooster thing...i cant tell you how many people insist my parents HAD to get a roo to get eggs...to this day they tell us we MUST have a rooster...quietest rooster ive ever known LOL!

 

[CheerioLounge]

shade cloth is easy to use and might work for helping... you could simply hook it up to posts on the corners of the beds.

the biggest issue will be direct sun drying everything out super quick so mulching and shade cloth could be the key to proving him wrong

growing things that are heat/drought resistant also a good idea...
and make sure to water early in the evenings and in the late afternoon/evening rather than in the heat of the day.
mulching helps retain moisture too.

dont ya love the rooster thing...i cant tell you how many people insist my parents HAD to get a roo to get eggs...to this day they tell us we MUST have a rooster...quietest rooster ive ever known LOL!

Hey Pinky- That's kind of what I had in mind... use the metal roofing over the chicken run and the shade cloth to cover the different planted areas. There are also a couple of eucalyptus trees and a large athol tree that provide some good shade there. I think you mean water early in the morning and late afternoon/evening? And I have plenty of mulch left from last years debacle.

My rooster is not only very quiet, he is invisible!

 

[Denim Deb]

That's the best kind of rooster to have!

 

[CheerioLounge]

So last night "J" decides he's going to make a "sweet potato pie." He had been eyeballing a can of Bruces's Sweet Potato Casserole that we didn't use at Thanksgiving and decided it would be perfect for a pie. Now, you must understand, noone can tell "J" how to do anything because he already knows EVERYTHING! I asked him if he would like me to find a recipe for him, but of course he said he didn't need one. So I just sat back and let him do his thing. He decided that he would use a springform pan and just put a crust on the bottom. He mixed everything together and poured it in the pan on top of his "pie crust" and tossed it in the oven. He checked it after about 35 mins, not done. He checked it again after another 15 mins, not done. After checking it every 15 minutes for about the next hour, it finally started to firm up in the middle. Another 1/2 hr later, I start smelling something burning. He get's up to go look and I follow him. There is clear liquid dripping profusely from the base of the pan and all over the bottom of the oven. He decides that it must be done and starts to pull it out of the oven. I grabbed a cookie sheet to put under it so that It didn't drip all over the floor too. He sets it on the counter to cool and proclaims that it looks delicious. After about 15 mins, he could stand it no longer. He asked me if I wanted a piece and I politely said I would let him try it first. He popped off the form and amazingly it didn't go spreading all over the counter, but the "crust" was looking a little gray and soggy. He took a bite and decided it needs to chill overnight in the fridge. We'll see how he feels about it this morning. He will never admit that it's awful and I will have to throw it away in a day or two. All I can say, is he had better be prepared to clean the oven! Yeah Right! I'll be doing that too!

 

[BarredBuff]

I'd make him clean it up, if you can throw it together you can clean it up too!

 

[CheerioLounge]

I'd make him clean it up, if you can throw it together you can clean it up too!

In a perfect world, maybe... Only I want it to be clean!

 

[Marianne]

I feel your pain. Not that I'm picky clean by any means, but!!!

sorry, I have to chuckle about the pie disaster...just a bit, though.

 

[Denim Deb]

Are you sure it wasn't my hubby over there making the mess? That sounds like something he'd do-and then leave the mess for me to clean up. :/

 

[deb4o]

Hey don't throw it out, give it to your "girls" as a treat they will love it.