Use it twice

It depends on your set up, but if you can work towards using your feed-grain, allocated to chickens, twice, you'd be crazy not to! In our permanent coop, any spent grain makes it to the floor, and basically turns into dust. I clean it out, a few times a year, and use it in the garden - but it's a poor return on what I spent on the grain.

In our movable chicken tractor however, any spent grain which makes it to the ground, reshoots - and if left alone, turns into a green crop. Which means we get to double the return on what we initially spent on buying the grains, in the first place.

Our lone chicken was recently turned onto this patch of primarily brassicas, wheat grass, and a few tufts of corn and sunflowers.

She looked a little confused at first, with all that greenery around her. But she quickly cottoned on to the element of "food". Especially since there were bugs hiding in all that greenery too.

Jungle terrain is actually the natural terrain of chicken fowl, but domesticated chickens rarely get to see such delicacies. Mostly because gardeners want to keep their plants in the ground.

We're no different either. In the past, wandering chickens have destroyed the mulch under our citrus trees, which in turn, invited pests to attack them. So it's a balancing act. Where we can integrate plants into the chicken's domain, however, by cleaning up grain waste, its a better use of resources all round.

And that patch of corn I'm intending to plant in spring, is all the more achievable, now our chicken has knocked down the plants. You can see the path of the tractor. The yellow area was the place she was at, before being released onto the green manure crop. She didn't get all the plants down, but reduced them substantially.

Sure, I could have turned that green manure crop into the ground, myself, but I get to save money on feed, and get the chicken to do the work for me. Sometimes it just takes, avoiding mowing the lawn, to let the seeds germinate. And moving the chicken around other areas, as the plants grow.

It gives me ideas for developing other areas around the place as well. Food for chickens, as well as food for thought!

Are chickens expensive?

Keeping chickens can be expensive, especially if you have a high predator load to contend with. Or they can be expensive, in the same way you might treat a pet - forking out money for things which aren't really necessary.

The key is to find a workable balance, which meet the needs of the animal, the investor (you) and let's not forget the land and inputs. Natural resources would like a return, for expending energy, keeping your animals alive. In fact, if you ignore that last part, keeping chickens will become infinitely more expensive, as time goes by.

 Greenery, where chicken tractor used to be

Which is why I like to find as many ways as possible, to grow carbon, where I keep animals. I have a permanent coop, for most of our layers - but I also have a nifty little chicken tractor, which doubles as a fertility spreader. A broody or sick hen, will often find themselves in it.

How expensive are my chickens, when what I spend on their seed, sprouts on the lawn? Which I will slash to the ground, before planting corn into it, for spring.

If I had to spend extra money on top of their feed, without this tractor dispersing the seed they didn't eat - my chickens, and corn, would ultimately be more expensive to grow. It's how you use your animals, which can increase the return on your investment. They're still going to cost you "that" amount of money, but you've gotten more than just eggs, from the deal. You've developed a means of acquiring nature fertility, as well.

The acquisition of inputs, didn't require a trailer to cart, or petroleum to ferry either. Just two people, to lift and walk a chicken tractor, 1.8 metres, at a time.

Pea flower

Although, the seed I purchased, did come with a carbon footprint - I'm turning it back into carbon, as well. Some variety of pea has sprouted (above), also sunflowers, wheat, corn and what seems like broccolini. I've been picking the broccolini leaves, for the guinea pig too.

This is system stacking, on a small scale. It's perfect for this little strip, 12 x 3 metres, right out the back door. In some places, I'm running the tractor, back over the spouted seeds - so I'm extending the feeding capacity from the same bag of feed.

The insects which are attracted to these little forests in the lawn, is amazing too. I have a miniature prairie, at work.

Brassica flower

All those insects will contribute excrement and decaying bodies too. I've noticed a lot of lady beetles (aphid control) and predatory wasps (caterpillar control) attracted to the broccolini, bolting to seed. In winter, if you please.

Which tells me, this strip will be perfect for corn in the growing season ahead. It will get enough warmth, and thanks to my chicken fertility dispersal, enough nutrients to feed the crop.

The answer to how expensive are your chickens, is how many functions do you intend to stack around them? If it's just for eggs, they might be very expensive chickens to keep. If they're going to help you grow stuff, feed the garden or dispose of your waste, then they're actually valuable to keep. Because they save you money, in other areas.

I have a post lined up, about my permanent coops too. How I harvest the fertility from them. Having a permanent coop, and a mobile tractor though, allows more flexibility with livestock and land management.

The great exchange

David's employer kindly allows him to take the food scraps home for our chickens. It's not always consistent, but it helps curb the cost of feeding them. We've also received surplus from the same employer, who has a veg garden in town. As well as another employee, who gave us surplus veg too. We eat some of it, but the chickens get a healthy portion.

With nine new layers, we hatched and raised, joining our existing four layers, we've had a surplus of eggs to get through recently. When our fridge started exploding with full egg cartons, it was time to return the favour.

Fried eggs & fresh tomatoes - ones I can actually eat!

We've given away 4 dozen eggs, to 4 people in David's workplace. The first two said, "are these REAL eggs!" We were happy to inform them, yes, they were indeed, real eggs. And the chickens who laid them, were indeed grateful for their food offerings.

Recently, we received two large bags of tomatoes from David's employer's garden. Several kilos worth. They were big, red, and tasted like REAL tomatoes! No astringent after-taste, which I find comes from store bought ones. I can't normally eat tomatoes, as they're from the nightshade family. I tend to have reactions with itchy skin, bloating and twitches. I could eat these however, without any problems.

 Home grown tomatoes

We can't seem to grow tomatoes here, but we can grow chickens who lay eggs - where David's employer doesn't have the time or space to keep them in town. So a good exchange of produce, from two productive households.

None of us "expected" these acts of generosity. It just seemed the right thing to do when a surplus came alone. Use it up. Don't waste it. That's what a community does - keep it in the loop. We also help David's employer, by taking buckets of coffee grounds home to put in our garden. It saves them from having to pay to throw them out. Plus it helps our garden!

Haul of coffee grounds - December 2016

We even started giving some of the empty 10 Litre buckets of ice-cream away from his workplace too. They accumulate, after we empty the coffee grounds. But an acquaintance, we met at playgroup, thought they were perfect for planting their daffodil bulbs. So we've passed on, at least a dozen their way too. They said to keep them coming!

I'm happy to report, all our chickens managed to survive through the scorching heat over the weekend. They predicted 42 degrees Celsius, for our area - but I recorded 44 degrees  (111 Fahrenheit) on the verandah at 4pm. So I don't know how hot it got during the day!

With the new tank we installed last year, and the rain that filled it, we were able to hose down the coops, on both days. Which probably made the difference in their survival. Instead of sitting still with their beaks open, attempting to cool down, they would come over to the wet ground and start clucking. They even rolled themselves in the cooler, dirt - despite the fact it was wet.

Birth bath

You should have seen our birdbath yesterday though. The above picture was taken back in November, last year. With 2 rainbow lorikeets, having a drink. I didn't take photos yesterday, when the kangaroos, brush-turkey's and every imaginable species of bird, wanted to take a drink.

It was full, they just had to wait their turn. I even put an extra bowl out there at ground level. But I still had birds come up to the house, near the verandah, as if to say, "come on human - bring the water!"

I'm relieved it's a lot cooler today though, and I pray we get that predicted rain! The ants have become really active, which is a good sign.

Weeds as feed

Last Spring, I received a request to post about the weeds I feed my chickens. I already fed most of them to the chickens, by that point, but intended to post about it, when a new flush of weeds made an appearance. So here I am, finally writing that post about the free weeds I feed my chickens.

Chickweed

The most prolific weeds I feed them, would have to be chickweed (aptly named, of course). It only makes an appearance when there's moisture and the temperatures are low. The higher temps will send it to flower and escalate it's decline. Which doesn't make them as palatable to the chickens. Although, they'll still eat them, if its the only greens they have access to.

Chickweed will die off in the hotter months (late Spring to early Autumn) so while its prolific, its also temporary. I grab swathes of it, by the handful, and throw them into the coop.

Dandelion

Good old dandelion is a tasty treat too. It prefers the same conditions as chickweed, but is more palatable than chickweed, after setting flower. I pluck individual leafs where I can, and the chickens will break pieces off by shaking it in their beaks. Or they'll pull it apart between each other, when there's a tussle for ownership.

While dandelion will have a longer growing season than chickweed, it's not as prolific. I find my numbers of self-seeding dandelions are reducing every year, as I improve the soil. Dandelions love compacted soil, and are nature's tillers, with their large tap roots.

Milk thistle - Prickly Lettuce

If there was candy for chickens, this would be it. Milk thistle, not to be confused with the Scottish thistle, with large purple flowers. I call it milk thistle, since that's what my grandfather introduced to me, on his farm. He said the milky-white sap was a great cure for warts, and it was. In terms of chicken food, this is their absolute favourite. No wonder, as it's the closest relative of the cultivated lettuce.

More so than the dandelions, however, I've noticed they are becoming rarer in the garden. That's because the kangaroos and hares all think its herbivore candy too. Their favourite stage to eat them down, are young, like the image above. I'll pull the whole lot up by the roots, preferably when its bigger than in the image. The chickens peck at the leafs, and they break apart easily. They do prefer milk thistle before it flowers, but will still eat it, after it has.

Ribwort

The next weeds are a little more bitter, so the chickens will eat less. But I still pop them in, because its medicinal and adds variety. The above is Ribwort Plantain. Bitter weeds can help stave off worms and other nasties which can sometimes enter their stomachs. They just don't need a lot of it though. So an occasional food, not a daily one.

I pull the whole lot up by the roots, and throw into their coop. It makes it easier for the chickens to pull apart, when there's more mass.

Dock

Another of the bitter weeds I feed them occasionally, is dock. It looks a little like horseradish, and is often confused with it. Dock is a relative of the buckwheat family though.

Like ribwort, the leafs are tougher and bitter, so chickens won't delight on them as much. I notice the native herbivores will eat these down too, if the grass isn't growing. So its not really a weed I can rely on, most of the time. It's best eaten when young. Not easy to pull up by the roots, so I will pluck several leaves and give them to the chickens with a bunch of other weeds at the same time.

Cobbler's pegs - Farmer's friends

What I feed the chickens the most, because its prolific nearly all year round (and isn't too bitter) is good, old-fashioned cobbler's pegs. Also known as farmer's friends. I can feed them young and tender, like the swathe of new ones emerging, in the image above. Or I can pick them when they're bigger, and have gone to flower. They're very easy to pull up from the soil.

Flowering Cobbler's pegs

This image, is the cobbler's pegs, most people are familiar with. They have tiny yellow flowers, which turn into black, sticky seeds, that catch on your clothes as you brush past. I don't know why they're called "farmer's friends", but I'd have to say, they're a popular source of free feed, I can pretty much rely on throughout the season. So they're kind of like a friend.

When everything else has bitten the proverbial dust, I can be certain to find these somewhere in the garden. The only annoyance they really give me, is in autumn, when they've gotten away on me. I'll know it, as soon as every piece of clothing comes into the house, with scratchy seeds attached.

They annoy me, only because I could have turned them into eggs sooner. As I patiently pluck them out of my clothes, I think of attacking them better next year, to feed my hungry egg makers. I know I'll never eradicate these weeds, and I won't be poisoning them, so relegated to egg making, it is.

More chickweed

There's only one weed I didn't get to take pictures of, because it takes longer to produce fruit. The chickens eat the fruits, not the leafs, as those are quite toxic. They are the black fruit of the deadly nightshade. One bush can produce a lot of fruit and it's not just the chickens that love them. Every native bird here, comes to rely on the self-seeding deadly nightshades.

I pluck the fruit and throw in handfuls. The chickens go nuts over them. Be sure to only pick the black berries however, as any with green, have higher doses of solanine present, and overdosing can be unpleasant. All the weeds I've outlined here however, are all naturally occurring. I haven't done anything, but glean the harvest. These weeds can also be fed to guinea pigs (except the deadly nightshade) who often get several helpings from me, a day.

So next time you think a weed is getting in your way, turn it into a free source of chicken food, instead. 

Chicken scraps

Every winter we have a family tradition, involving roast chicken. It's our special meal of the week. We're not the only ones, who get to enjoy this family tradition however. Our chickens, get to help us clean up the dishes afterwards too.

By that I mean, they get to enjoy our scraps, the next day. Not only do we turn those sticky, fatty, leftovers, into another hearty meal for our chooks, but it's also, a more environmentally friendly way to clean up after ourselves.

Roasting pans from the night before

If you have stale bread, or crusts too thin to eat, put them aside and use them to wipe out the roasting pan. We generally use two roasting pans to feed our family of four. One used pan collects all the scraps, and the other is washed out with boiling water first. Then the water is tipped into the other pan, and wiped over with some bread to make it clean. No need for kitchen towels.

We like to dice our bread afterwards, using a large chef's knife, to make it easier for the chickens to eat. Though you don't have to, if only planning to feed the bread to the chickens.

All traces of fat are gone

You will find bread is a lot more absorbent, than paper towels. So it sucks up all that fat, leaving very little residue behind. We're fortunate to get our bread scraps from David's workplace. They do a lot of sandwich trade, and ditch all their crusts. We have six hens and one rooster, so we roughly portion them each a slice.

This substitution trick, using bread instead of kitchen towels, can also be used elsewhere.

Just add water

David always smears the skin of our roast chicken, in a blend of oil, flour and various spices. It's dried in the bowl by the next morning, so we pour in some boiling water and swish it around to clean. Once poured into the other roasting pan, you can clean out the bowl with more bread.

You can even use the bread to clean up the dinner plates, because a slice of bread can soak up a lot of residue

As we have a septic system to treat all our water, we need to avoid putting any fats or oil down the sink. That's if we want it to last. Feeding our chickens this way, however, helps us in that endeavour. If we weren't using bread, we'd be using kitchen towels.

Bacon rind

When making up our chicken scraps, we always find other things to put in their food as well. Like the bacon rind we cut off our bacon. The chickens always enjoy looking through their food for any bits of meat. It's the first thing they do.

We also like to use vegetable leftovers as well. Which is where David's workplace, comes in handy again.

Dicing tomato ends

With a lot of sandwich trade, you're going to use a lot of tomatoes. So when David is prepping the tomatoes at work, he puts aside the tops and bottom, in a bucket. Then when they arrive home, I chop them up and disperse among the chicken food. When there's an extra large surplus of tomato scraps, I'll put some in the fridge to keep from growing mould, and use it the next day, and so on.

Ready to grate 

Whenever there is reduced produce at the store, we grab it for us, or the chickens. In this case we had carrots which were marked down for quick sale. I gave the chickens the carrot tops the day before, and grated a few carrots to go in their daily mix of food. I did this when I realised we had better carrots in the fridge, and the chickens could have these.

When making up food, we like to use a lot of vegetable scraps. It gives them a more balanced diet.

Ready to chop

Which is why I'll always include some form of green vegetable as well. In this case, it's flat leaf parsley, which is growing wild in our yard at the moment. I might as well put it in the chicken food, if we cannot get around to eating it, before it goes to seed.

Other options for greens, are celery leaves if I have them, grated zucchini in the glut season, and the stiff outer leaves of lettuce, which I slice thinly. I've even been known to cook our frozen peas, if I don't have any other green vegetables to put in.

Cooked for 2 minutes in the microwave

Just as a winter treat, I feed the chickens, a cup of cooked traditional oats too, which I purchase from the supermarket. Oats are a warming food in winter, which is why I will only give this treat during the cooler months.

All these bits and pieces, are gradually added to the original scraps pan, before mixing it all together.

Adding ingredients

You may be wondering why we go to so much trouble to feed our chickens like this? There are several important reasons. Firstly, we invested in chickens to grow our own eggs, and during winter they have the extra chore of keeping warm. So by feeding them hearty meals, we continue good egg production throughout winter. In fact, its summer, where our chickens go off the lay. As it's too hot and stressful for them.

Another important reason to feed our chickens this way, is because they live in a permanent coop. They only get the nutrients we feed them. If we don't feed them a balanced meal, they cannot go anywhere else for it. A meal like this is also a lot more interesting to chickens, than a feeder with layer mash or grains - even though ours still have one in the coop.

The reason its more interesting to chickens, is because they get to hunt around for their favourite morsels, and compete with each other in the process. Which helps to keep them mentally stimulated. If your chickens can free range or are moved around in a chicken tractor, it's not so important. For those with chickens in permanent coops however, we have to bring the stimulating environment to them. Sharing interesting and varied meals, is how we do that.

Ready to serve

Besides all those reasons, it's more environmentally friendly to feed our chickens, by getting an extra meal out of the food miles, we purchase for ourselves. The rubbish collectors, don't even get to cart our food scraps away, because we're turning them into eggs at home.

Our chicken scrap meals, vary with the seasons too. In winter, its a lot of roasting fats and vegetables. In summer it's more fruit, veg and seeds from the excess produce we consume and grow. Between winter and spring, it's the season for prime weeds here. That's when they are at their nutrient best anyway. We get weeds year round (therefore, so do the chickens) but between winter and spring, is when they are at their prime.

I'm always looking for new ways to feed our chickens, so I'll probably always have something to share on this subject. Do you feed your food scraps to the chickens?

Somewhat of an odyssey

I had a general plan of what I wanted to achieve for this growing season. The first was to get the old vegetable beds, back in operation. The second, was to restore the beloved choko vine, near the chicken coop.

Hilltop 2015

The renovations of Hilltop chicken coop, required we rip the old vine out. But before putting in the new vine, I had to deal with the immediate space around the chicken coop. We tried putting down small bricks previously, as garden edging, but being so low and we hardly ever got up there with the mower, it was easy for the grass to take over.

So it was time to employ a different design, with the resources available.

Getting started

First task, was to clean the area around the run section. I removed the huge tufts of grass with the mattock, and moved the scrap, roofing-iron out, which I stored against the coop. It offered some wind and sun protection for the chickens, but it was never meant to be permanent.

The roofing iron was a skip bin find, thanks to David. It was the sections left over from cutting the angles, to fit the gables of a roof. They were all odd shapes, perhaps of no use to a professional builder - too time consuming - but I had an angle grinder, and an idea!

Boxed and raised growing area

Of course, it was a simple idea - but in practice, I had to find adequate pockets of time, someone else could mind the toddler. Because I wasn't going to switch on the angle grinder, without being able to hear what little gardeners in the making, were up to.

With Dad and big Sis, helping on alternate days, I was able to measure up and cut all the roofing iron, to build the raised planting box. I hammered hardwood stakes into the ground, to keep the tin in position. Missing, at the time I took the above image, were three other stakes, placed for wall support.

Not quite finished

I got a little excited when I finally finished the box! David said it looked like something you'd buy in a kit from the garden centre. But I had the satisfaction of knowing, we were using recycled materials at no cost (other than the hardwood stakes). Worth all the effort.

Then, of course, there was the issue of the trellis, for the choko to climb.

A couple of seasons ago

I reused the original concrete rebar (formerly over the run) which now has roofing iron, in its place. The rebar, was left over from our house build, and would be perfect as a vertical growing trellis. I just had to cut it to fit the box.

This western side, really needs the shade during summer.

Trellis support for vine

Thanks to David's efforts, pulling star pickets out of the ground, recently, I didn't have to purchase supports for the trellis either. I attached the rebar to the star pickets, using simple plastic cable ties. These were left from building the run on Middle Ridge, all those years ago. And they haven't decayed in the sun, in that time either - roughly seven years ago.

Newly constructed 2009 - Hilltop chicken coop

Hilltop chicken coop, is about one year younger than its now retired, sister coop, Middle Ridge. The picture above, was taken of the new run - see the pavers of the original growing area? The rebar on top of the roof, is now the trellis on the raised bed.

Visit this link, if you want to take a nostalgic look at the original Hilltop.

Hilltop 2015

Welcome back to the present day again! I'm sure this won't be adequate space for the choko vine, as it will ramble everywhere. But that's part of the jungle environment I'm going for. Even though my chickens have to live in a permanent box, for their own safety, I can still provide nature right at the edges for them.

I know, living in a rectangular box myself, having nature right on the very edges, has a calming (and cooling) effect too.

Curious chickens

In order to plant though, I first had to source soil. I made up barrows, of mixed coffee grounds from David's workplace (6 x 10 litre tubs worth) with dirt from the old, since retired, Middle Ridge, chicken coop.

It took 6 barrows, to fill the beds.

Planting material

All that needed to be done now, was to plant out the space - and what kind of obsessed gardener in Spring would I be, if I didn't have excess plants to go?

The only things I purchased in the barrow, was the choko fruit and leftover celeriac, from what I planted in the main vegetable beds. Oh, and the sugarcane mulch.

The kale, and large tomato plant, I removed from the growing area in Middle Ridge. I needed the soil anyway, so they had to come out.

Perplexed residents

And weren't the girls excited to see me plant the kale so close! All four of the new hens charged at the chicken wire, and wondered why I wasn't hand feeding them, as per usual. Some beaks were left out of joint, and I may be voted out of the hen house, if they don't forgive me soon.

Using the space

This is what its all about though - a better design. Easy pickings for my hens, and for me, the keeper of chickens. I don't have to walk down the hill to pick their kale any more, because its right at their doorstep!

No doubt, it will get caught in the tangle of choko vine, as it grows, but I'm sure the kale will be thankful for the shade during summer.

Transplants from Middle Ridge

What I love about volunteer tomatoes - is there are always so many to choose from when you want them. I'm growing this one up the side of the trellis - thank you pantyhose! It will also be smothered by the choko vine (along with even more kale I planted) but they will all be better for it.

Jungles, lose less moisture to evaporation, and create a greater cooling effect in the surrounding environment. Just what my hens need, living in a partially enclosed metal house.

South facing bed

At the back of the coop, I planted the leftover celeriac, and hopefully some sunflower seeds - if the opportunistic bush rats, don't dig them up like everywhere else.

Right at the end, which is closest to the roosting post (inside the coop) is a herb called Lemon Scented Geranium, or Pellargonium Citronellum.

Scented Geranium

It will hopefully, deter some pests, as its reputed to do. I will plant some wormwood, to deter pests also, when I can strike another cutting. I kept these two herbs near Middle Ridge coop, when it was operational. Tradition required I keep it going at Hilltop, now I have the growing space.

You might think I'm a little crazy, to go to the extremes I have with this particular chicken coop. And this latest raised garden bed caper, would be no exception.

How a choko germinates

To prove how crazy, I actually am - this is why I did it. The humble choko. I blame my mother, because in my youth she kept a choko vine in the backyard. Then tempted me with delicious homemade choko chutney, on my sandwiches. Once you get a taste of that, you go a little balmy - to the point you will turn the world on its axis, for a choko vine of your very own.

The ceremonial planting of the choko fruit, with the captive audience watching close by, just made the madness, all the more dignified. It's the details which matter.

Ready to grow!

So be sure to have your choko sprout (mine was about 3cms long) before planting, and cover in the earth, with the shoot poking out. You want the dirt in contact to where the roots will form, but you also want the shoot poking out of the ground.

Then you too can tempt your family and friends, with a lifelong obsession with choko vine growing. Chicken coops are optional, as my mother's vine grew over the side of some ugly wire fencing. Although, it was technically shading the quail's run, mum had also built for me - where I grew generations of pint-sized poultry.

Hmmm, there's a pattern here.

Look carefully

Meanwhile, did I tell you about the avocado, banana, orange and passionfruit?

I probably have, on different occasions, but as I was retreating to the shade of the orange tree recently, to take the last photos of the coop - I suddenly saw them all together.

The orange tree (left) and passionfruit vine (growing on the fence post - amongst the grass) are all on the same level as Hilltop chicken coop. The banana (middle) and avocado (right) are on the lower section, where the vegetable beds are.

There are the bare branches of an apple tree in the middle also, but I suspect the golden delicious died, and its the rootstock which has regrown. It is still welcome as a shade tree.
 

Wee orange in the background - 2009

Now a tree, taller than me

As I listened to the bees smothering the orange tree, and getting drunk on orange blossoms, myself - I suddenly saw what I've been doing with my life, for the past eight years. I know I tell you this all the time, but here it was - a garden. I've been building a garden.

As the trees get bigger, they will join together to build a canopy. And I will finally have that Grove, I've been dreaming about. The very namesake of my blog. So a jungle laden choko vine, is hardly out of place.

May this journey be a reminder, to all those who toil, believing what they're building is not quite up to the job. It can always be revisited, modified, designed better, added too and just plain crammed with plants. Everything is made better with plants. Those tiny steps though, are just the beginning.

Out the back

Out the back of Hilltop chicken coop, before it was even built, was our first attempt at building compost bins. They were just pallets and star pickets. Crude, but mostly effective.

Former compost bin

There were two problems with this design however. Firstly, it was too far away from the house, and secondly, we'd always get compost stuck in parts of the pallet, which we couldn't get out. So we eventually abandoned the bins, dismantled them and built elsewhere.

When I say dismantle, I mean, except for the star pickets.

Star pickets (and David), left...Hilltop (and Peter), right.

Click to enlarge

As anyone knows, who has tried to remove star pickets, its somewhat physically challenging. Especially when the ground sets like concrete. So we left them in place for many, many, many, years. That is, until recently.

I had plans for this area, so managed to pull out one star picket, by myself. Then I decided to employ the big guns, aka, David.

He did war with the six other pickets, and I'm glad to say, he finally won!

Arrrrrrgah!

You will not curse the ground with your metal barbs, again!

Except, I plan to use the star pickets a few metres over, next to Hilltop. It will hold up the trellis, for my new choko vine to climb up. Gee, I hope we don't plan to move the chicken coop, any time soon. Hell would have to freeze over first, but even then - the star pickets will remain!

What I needed to clear the area for however, is to grow chicken feed. I've planted some Buckwheat, French millet, Barley, Amaranth and Sunflower seeds and covered with a fine sprinkling of mulch. I just need the rain to help the germination process along.

In the meantime, I hope the large family of quails which frequent this area, don't find them!

Grevillea, Honey Gem

In the background of the last two images, is a beautiful Grevillea. One of the first plants we actually put in the ground. It's in full flower at the moment, and all the nectar feeding birds and bees, just love it!

It was a lovely Spring day in the yard together, and I hope the rains grace us with their presence, some time soon.