Garden Helpers
I’ve mentioned before that we got our pigs partly to do some garden work. They’re workhorses when it comes to moving soil and clearing sod. On Thursday I put them in the chicken run to break up the compost. Ever since we moved here I’ve been adding weeds and grass clippings to the chicken run. I also add any bedding from the chicken or duck house. The chickens have a blast scratching through it and eventually it all composts down into a beautiful soil amendment.
I was contemplating how to dig it all out earlier in the week, then I remember we had our piggies. Into the chicken run they went and they happily softened up all the wonderful compost for me. Now I just need to bring in my shovel and wheelbarrow. I’ll most likely compost this a little further since it will have a small amount of fresh chicken manure in it.
I was wondering how the pigs would do with the chickens, I’ve heard that some pigs eat chickens. Most of the chickens were allowed to roam free, then the pigs were let in. Our guineas and one chicken wouldn’t leave, so I watched closely to see what would happen. The pigs completely ignored them and went happily about rooting.
Next year I’m hoping to add a special chicken composting area. It will be a small coop connected to a big composting area. All the yard/garden waste will be added to the composting area and the resident composter chickens will turn the pile for me. I love using animals to my benefit, not only does it make them happy and healthy, it saves me having to do a lot of extra work! I’m also thinking in the future of training a dog to pull a garden cart for me, how convenient would that be?
Do you have any animals that work for you?
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Friday Favorite: Garden Peas
I’ve always been a big fan of garden peas, they’re just so sweet and tasty. I rarely every have enough for freezing, most of them are enjoyed within a few hours of being picked.
Since I never end up with enough peas for the freezer, this year I planted a ton. Two seventy foot long rows to be exact, along with a few six foot rows in the back potager for fresh eating. I grew ‘Green Arrow’ from High Mowing Seeds as my main crop peas. Other sowings included: ‘Little Marvel’, ‘Lincoln’, and ‘Dakota’.
My plan finally worked, on Wednesday evening we spent an hour shelling peas. After shelling our harvest weighed in at 8 pounds. They were blanched and packed into two cup glass containers for freezing.
Typically I’m not much of one for freezing or canning much from the garden, peas are the exception because winter soups and stews just aren’t the same without them!
We’ve also been enjoying our share fresh from the garden. Mostly, I’ve been steaming them then tossing them with butter and some homemade duck breast prosciutto. I always read about traditional recipes featuring peas and mint, but somehow I just can’t bring myself to put mint with peas. One of these days I will.
What’s your favorite way to enjoy garden peas? Do you like peas and mint together?
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Hello Broad Beans
This is the first year I have ever grown broad beans (aka fava beans). Back in Ohio, our summers got too warm too fast to grow these beauties, or so I’ve been told. I never even tried to grow them because I simply didn’t have enough space.
This spring I planted two varieties of favas and I just harvested the ‘Windsor’ beans earlier this week.
Favas are a lot of work, you have to shell them out of the this furry pods and then you have to blanch them and pop them out of yet another thick skin that covers the bean.
Will I be growing favas again next year? I think so, a small row produces enough for a few meals and that’s good for me. One of the reasons I garden is to be able to make my plate as varied as possible. Broad beans can be hard to come by at the grocery store and the farmers market.
Have you ever grown or eaten fava or broad beans?
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Stay On Top of It
Now that your 5×5 Challenge garden in growing like a champ, the weeds are probably growing as well. The key to keeping your gardening chores to a minimum is to weed often. If you pull any weeds you see when you’re checking on the garden, it is never a huge chore. Weeding will happen without you even noticing.
I’ve been pulling the weeds when they’re tiny, this is the best way. They don’t have big roots and don’t disturb the soil as much when you pull them. They’re also much easier to pull when they’re so small.
Mulching is also a great way to keep weeding chores to a minimum. A couple inches of mulch will help keep weed seeds from germinating and it helps the soil retain moisture. I wouldn’t use that brown bark stuff most people use on their flowerbeds, some shredded leaves or good compost will do. Spread an even layer around your plants, you can skip the lettuce patch and the scallions as they’re probably too close together and too small yet.
Any tips to stay on top of the weeds?
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Keet, Keet, Keet
It’s been a busy weekend as far as baby animals are concerned. First the ducklings hatched out late last week, then the guinea eggs started hatching too. Because of the location of the guinea nest we started taking the keets when we noticed them wandering around outside of the safe zone. A few we had to detangle from the chicken wire fence around the run.
The first one was found late one night when we arrived home. I heard it squeaking up by the coop. Upon further investigation I found it outside the run away from it’s nest. We grabbed it and put it in a brooder we had just in case. We’ve heard rumors about how terrible guineas are when it comes to mothering their young. The next day we noticed a few more and kept our eyes on them. One was found stuck inside a cinderblock and yet another one was found stuck in the fence. After this we took all the keets as we found them.
Yesterday, when the guineas were off the nest I checked and found two smothered keets in it and a few others milling around. We grabbed those and put them in the brooder. Then the guineas abandoned their nest, so I grabbed a few of the remaining eggs that I could tell were close to hatching. I put them under a heat lamp and covered them with a damp towel. Amazingly, as of writing this, two hatched out and a few more are starting to crack the shells.
These little guys are fighters that’s for sure. So far we have 12 keets, two of which are injured from being stuck in the fence. We think one has a broken leg and the other one we’re not sure. We’ll give them time and space to heal and see what happens.
Did anything exciting happen at your place this weekend?
