compost update

The compost in its new location is doing very well. I use the loader on the Kubota to turn and aerate the compost. In the above picture you can see the steam rolling off of the pile as I stir it. The compost should be about 150 degrees in the center of the pile. The Pallets we use allow us to stack the manure and garden debris in at least a 3'x3' heap. If a compost pile is much smaller it is difficult to reach hot enough temperatures for a long enough time to kill weed seeds and disease. The compost to the right is ready for the garden. When I stir the finished compost there is very little heat, it has an earthy smell and the compost is a good crumbly texture, I need to cover it from leaching, winter rains.

fence line

Himalayan blackberries take over fence lines everywhere in the county. They can grow 7 ft in a season and are difficult to remove due to their large thorns and tangled growth. We started mowing them down along our neglected fences and used a gas powered hedge clipper and a line trimmer with a circular saw blade to remove canes close to the wire. With heavy welding gloves we are able to pull the tangled canes through the wire. After all of that work we only cleared a small section and now we will be sure to keep them under control.

Planting Garlic

This weekend we started to plant our garlic with the help of our cousins Bob, Christopher and Vesta. With their help we flew through planting two rows of about 150 plants each. We saved the best of our garlic from this season and replanted it this year. Anna and I are separating the head of garlic into individual cloves to be planted, only the largest cloves from the best heads are used. We will plant Chesnok Red, Inchelium Red, Red Janice Asian Purple and Asian Tempest.
In the top picture we are getting ready to plant a clove of garlic under the weed barrier in each cut-out. Pointed side up and deep enough to cover with soil. We had some good conversation, we love getting extra help, especially from people as enthusiastic and insightful as Christopher and Vesta. After we finished feeding chickens, collecting eggs and planting garlic we had some of Bob's chicken curry (They brought dinner too!).

covercrop

The cover crop was planted 4 weeks ago and has now germinated. A mix of rye and peas should provide plenty of coverage. The rye should smother any weed. Rye grows quite fast in our cool wet weather and can compete for light and shade out weeds. When rye is established it also releases a chemical that prevents other seeds from sprouting. The peas are mixed in because they also grow fast this time of year and they will provide nitrogen for plants in the spring. Peas are a legume and plants in this family have the ability to take nitrogen that is present in the air and store them in their root system. When the peas are plowed under in the spring, they will release this nitrogen as the break down in the soil. Any crops that are planted following peas will have some nitrogen available to absorb.

Mobile Homes

The chicken coops became even more portable this weekend. We built completely enclosed runs out of pvc pipes we aquired from a friend and after much glueing and twisting and lining things up, we surrounded them with chicken wire and attached them to the coops.

Now when we drag the coops, the runs will come with them instead of moving fences every time we move the coop. Because of the smaller spaces, we will have to move them more frequently to keep them on fresh ground, but the chickens will not be able to escape.

Our motivation came from losing now 7 chickens in the past few days because they were getting out of their fence and immediately gobbled up by waiting coyotes. The hunt is still on for the coyotes, but at least the chickens are more secure. Here they are lined up awaiting their trip up and down the fresh grass.

Coyote trouble

Chickens hiding eggs has taken second priority to keeping chickens alive. We have lost 6 chickens in the last 3 days to coyotes. They are patrolling the field and attacking chickens that have escaped and are roaming outside of the fence. Every chicken lost has been in broad daylight and we return home to feathers scattered around the field. So far they have not broken in the fenced in area, but it is only a matter of time before they become desperate to get at the chickens smart enough to stay in the enclosed area. Our plan of attack is to send Vince out in hunting gear in the early morning and late evening. Our more permanent plan of defense is to build totally enclosed runs attached to the coop and move them more often than we move the current fences. Here is a picture of the feathers left of one chicken...

Potato harvest

We harvested all of the potatoes but discovered a large number of damaged ones. We grew them on top of the dirt under a thick layer of straw, which we continually hilled up as the plants grew. Common practice says that growing potatoes on new soil can attract wire worms, but we did not have that experience. Most of the potatoes that were damaged were rotten or were chewed on by rather sharp teeth, presumably mice. Some of the potatoes developed very interesting shapes as well.

More Fall Harvesting

The cooler weather hasn't hindered the peppers. They are finally turning red and taste very sweet.

Chicken Vent

I am finding it more and more difficult to live in harmony with the chickens. In fact, I am ready to wage war with the ladies. Our mother-daughter relationship is strained because they are deceiving me and hiding their eggs. Even though I am paying to feed them, they are not feeding me. Each afternoon is like Easter morning around here. I troop off to the coop to collect my expected 8-9 eggs and gather 3. Then I have to survey the perimiter weeds and the garden for the remaining eggs, carrying around my half-empty egg carton. All the while they are cackling and chiding me; just daring me to find the latest nest. There are about 4 chickens that have figured out how to consistently get out of the fence surrounding their coop and have declared themselves free-range chickens. This is not as much of a problem now that they can't cause much harm to the mature vegetables, if only they would lay their eggs in the coop. Their nest boxes are clean, dry and sufficiently dark , but aparently it's not good enough. I placed golf balls in the nest to fool them into thinking I wasn't stealing their eggs and that has not worked. I wouldn't mind as much if they laid them outside in the same place every day, but as soon as I find a nest, they make another one the next day. I do not feel safe about selling or eating these eggs, for I can never be sure how long they have been out there; if they have been in the wet fog or bushes for a day, are they still safe to eat? Although we move the coop and fence often, we are looking into electric net fencing and other ways to keep them in. Their wings are already clipped so they aren't going over the fence, but on our uneven surface, they find plenty of room to go under the current fence. It would take a lot of egg-selling to make electric fencing kind of money.

The finer things

Fall is officially here. The weather is changing, the days are getting much shorter, the house is getting colder, and there is a lot more mud. Despite everything going on, it is such an escape to enjoy the finer things nature has to offer (aside from fall produce). This was the view from our porch one morning last week. Sometimes we just stop and take in the beauty that surrounds us. It keeps us going and reminds us who we are.

Curing onions

The destructive winds have encouraged me to perform a few tasks that I have put off and one of them is storing the onions. The tops are mostly dry and after three weeks under the hoop house I think it is time to clean them up for storage. I brushed off dirt and unsightly sections of the papery covering then trimmed off the tops and roots. I will sack them up and hang them in the shed to allow air circulation.

Fall Winds

We had high winds on Saturday that lifted the weed barrier for the garlic and damaged the plastic covering on one hoop house. We need to use more than the few stakes to hold the fabric down, maybe pull some soil over the edge or pile rocks on the fabric.
The ripped plastic on the hoop house will leave the tomatoes exposed to the wet weather we are having. The positive side to this wet weather is that the cover crop that we planted on Sunday should thrive. We seeded austrian field peas with winter rye. Soon after sowing seed, the chickens moved into the field to help themselves.

Compost: great dirt, less flies

We create quite a bit of compost with vegetable matter. Our neighbor also empties his goat, horse and sheep stalls on our pile. One summer of this and "the pile" grew quite large. Vince put old french drain pipes in it to create air circulation so it took on a rather alien appearance. Then when he would turn it with the tractor, the smell was assaulting. The big problem with our pile was that it was down wind and right between our back door and the garden.

It took a couple of months, but "the pile" is now true compost. Vince moved it below the gardens so it is easily accessed and we do not have to walk right by it. It is contained by large pallets and is tidy in comparison to the sprawling pile that used to be. We used it to dress the tops of the new garlic beds and the rest will be used in upcoming plantings. The second pile is now "cooking" and we will keep adding to it. Now hopefully the fly population in our kitchen will diminish.