Rainy weather, early spring cleaning
A tornado blew through northeast Austin last Wednesday. I woke up in the middle of the night as it was passing through the area. Strong winds, and rains blowing in every direction. Love the rain, but most of the pens got soaked, and two mornings later I walked out to the smell of pungent feed rising from the wet coop floors. There is no better call to action than a wet coop. And no worse smell than wet feed!
So I've been doing an early spring cleaning, removing all the deep litter down to the ground and replacing with fresh peat. The old litter is rich humus, ready to turn into the garden soil, or top dress for a slow release from the top down of microbes and organic nutrients. It has the added benefit of moisture retention. These are great times to be waterwise. I can't wait to put it to use!
This week I started moving fences. I took down a temporary fence to keep the coyote down the hill, and used it to fence off my first "pasture" today. I'll fence off two more areas, one for the "tall" garden of plants I can let them roam under once they reach a certain height. And the "short" garden, which will be full of lettuces and legumes and things I'll replant every few weeks as long as the weather and moisture holds out.
I have potatoes in a paper bag on top of the refrigerator, budding roots. This year I have to try growing potatoes in a feed bag. How hard can it be? It either works or it doesn't. And I'm starting sweet potato vines for ornamental shade I can place where they need it the most. This will be a fun year of progress for my back yard pantry!
-Bluebonnet Eggs
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