Coffee's Ready, Come and Sit on the Porch

[The Porch]

Bring your cup of coffee and relax
Just chat about everyday life


​

 

[Britesea]

Wow! you certainly have me beat on the herbs! Between the deer and the free ranging chickens, everything that isn't behind a fence gets eaten to the ground. I don't want to pen up the chickens because they do such a good job on all the bugs. We used to have major problems with carpenter ants every year, but since we got a metal roof and started letting the chickens range over the entire property (a pocket size- only half an acre) we don't see them anymore.

Like you, I prefer low-tech solutions. My husband got me an instant pot with an air fryer lid and I am really enjoying it, but I still have my old pressure cooker (not to be confused with my pressure canner!) and I'm definitely NOT getting rid of my cast iron pans... but it's nice to have, especially during hot weather.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I love your chicken wire over the beds. Good job. Nice looking soil. You need some ducks, if slugs are a problem. I'm thoroughly enjoying my ducks.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Slugo is a good product. I have used that A LOT in the past. But, my ducks/chickens have done a great job clearing up that problem in the last year. I run electronet in a 10 - 20' perimeter around 3 sides of the garden. The ducks spend their days in that "duck moat". During the off season, I turn chickens and ducks into the garden. Have you by chance run across "the chicken chunnel man" in your computer browsing? I love this guy:

 

[Lazy Gardener]

As for predators, fox is my worst... but I've also been decimated by dog, coon, and hawk. I find that putting fence posts in random places to clutter up their electronet area keeps the aerial preds out. Of course, YMMV, especially with eagles! But... IMO, birds of prey don't like to fly into an area where they might clip a wing. Depends on how desperate they are. If they are not desperate, they will likely go where the buffet is easier.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Supper was an easy affair tonight. I wasn't moving towards "making it happen" so, hubby hauled out a pk of mac and cheese from a discount store, spiced it up with some sharp cheddar, and I made a salad. That mac and cheese was actually pretty good.

 

[baymule]

Wow! Your herb list is awesome. You could write a book with pictures! I’m beyond impressed. That’s a long garden list too. I love to garden. We’ve only been here for 7 years, the soil is pure white sand. We’ve done a lot of amendments to the garden and have some good soil now.

Supper was chicken wings. I like your coffee pot!

 

[baymule]

We have chickens, sheep, horses, and at the moment, 3 feeder pigs that go to slaughter in August. I make use of the chicken and sheep manure in the garden, horse manure in pastures. Actually we use the sheep manure in pastures too and I have a moved daily chicken tractor with 23 Cornish Cross chickens in it right now.

 

[Britesea]

We had some leftovers- andouille sausage (our local butcher makes AWESOME sausage) sauteed with some cabbage and onions, and a salad of mostly purslane and a bit of lettuce.

We have lots of aerial predators here too. In fact, Klamath County boasts the largest bald eagle population in the lower 48. But our property has lots of trees, bushes, structures to break up approach patterns; plus our LGD keeps her eye on the sky and warns them off. Sometimes we'll lose a hen to an owl because the silly thing didn't want to go into the coop, but that is rare.

We've discovered an alternative to coffee... brewed cacao. It has theobromine, which gives you a boost of energy but no jitters. Tastes like bakers chocolate.

 

[LilacSpring]

Grandma DeKorte

I am also an early bird. 4-4:30.
We just lost our last chicken two weeks ago. She was nine years old and still laying eggs a couple of times a week.
Not sure we will get more. At least for now.