So here is the chicken coop, almost finished. It's all made from scrap and recycled wood. I'm trying to get the caging finished around the bottom, so I can plant some cover crop around it. We are supposed to get rain in the next few days, so I'd like to be finished by then.

The hens will be able to go in and out of the coop as they please, while still secure. And they will have access to dry ground under the house, even when it its raining. And I plan to build a chicken tractor that can be moved around the yard to let the hens work in the raised beds.

Fall is Coming

After one last burst of bonus summer it seems fall is settling in. The tomatoes and beans are starting to look a little tired, cucumbers have slowed down. And Ive been clearing out faded flowers and planning my cover crops.

Cover Crops are plants you can grow in the off season. The goal is to protect the soil from errosion and to enrich the soil with organic matter. Many cover crops will also fix nitrogen, which means add nitrogen which has been depleted during the growing season back into the soil.

The idea is that you grow the cover crop in your gardening beds and before it goes to seed you till the cover crop into the soil. In just a few weeks the soil will be ready for seeds or starts.

Suitable cover crop plants include:
Buckwheat
Clover (especially white clover and crimson clover)
Annual Rye Grass
Fall Cereal Rye
Austrian Peas
Fava Beans
Common Vetch
Hairy Vetch
or a blend of several cover crop plants

Try it in part of your garden to start. You will probably find that you can use less compost and fertilizer by using cover crops as part of your sustainable practice.

Chicken Coop Under Construction

Here's the coop under construction. I'm making it out of pallets and recycled wood. I hope to house 3 happy, productive hens. It sits at the back of the yard.



So you see not all of the zucchini have ended up as bread. Meet Grave Digger or The Widow Maker, I haven't settled on a name yet. It's almost 2 feet long...so far.

HELP! I'm drowning in zucchini!

Every year it's the same thing, the plants start out small and then they take over. And the zucchini are the worst. They hide under their own enormous umbrella leaves. Don't blink, don't look away even for a minute...they will be double in size when you look back.

I have one in the backyard right now that has totally gotten away from me so we're just going to see how big it gets. It's as big as a thigh now. I'm calling it WIDOWMAKER. I intend to set the record.

But for the zucchini that don't get to epic proportions what can you do? Well you can give them to your neighbors. My neighbors are nice people, but these days they draw the drapes and turn off the porch light when they see me coming.

Zucchini bread? Yeah, that's another god way to get rid of it. But how about something you can pull out of your freezer in the dead of winter? Something that will make you feel like you are out in the garden on a warm day harvesting nature's bounty. Something that will warm you from head to toe?

Inspired by Viana La Place's Cucina Rustica I whipped up a batch of summer vegetable stew. I sauted onions, zucchini, eggplant, green beans, garlic, tomatoes, basil and oregano, salt and pepper. I let the mixture cook together for a little while, then cooled it and divided it up in freezer bags.

I envision pulling it out of the freezer and serving it with crusty bread, a piece of cheese, and a glass of wine. Or as a pasta sauce, or stirred into risotto right before serving, or as a topping for bruschetta, or as the base for a rustic soup, or with Italian sausages, or for slow cooking chicken in, or...

I love having versatile, delicious, healthy foods on hand. Now is the time to put some goodies like this in your freezer or in canning jars.

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Housing Chickens (and their friends) in Style

So this past weekend I toured some of the finest in poultry accomodation in the Portland Metro area.

Without exception the coop owners were a gracious, gregarious bunch. Most of them had a whole sustainable, green gardening scene going on in their backyards.

Here are some of the highlights.

This Japanese / Craftsman coop was ingeniously constructed and the hens seemed to love it.



Lovely hens.














And not just hens, but ducks too. Runner ducks and French geese.

All hard working employees of this remarkable mini-farm. They all help control kitchen leftovers and slugs. And they all contibute fresh, delicious eggs.

Tour de Coops

Here's what I'll be doing next Saturday. Checking out the city chickens in Portland.

And then I'll be adding chickens to my own backyard.

More info here
Tour de Coops

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Are These Bees Italian?

Besides the Borage in my garden, the bees really seem to go for the oregano. I have a big oregano plant that keeps coming back every year bigger and bigger.

Once it goes to flower it is bee heaven, hundreds of them swarm on it all day.

Bees like small flowers, like the ones on dill and fennel and this oregano has tiiny white flowers in abundance. So I let it go to flower for the bees and then I let it go to seed to make sure it will come back next year by reseeding itself.

Before it flowers I harvest lots of the leaves and dry them so I will have oregano to cook with all through the winter.

So plant some herbs for yourself and for the bees they will undoubtedly attract.

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