I’m loving the selection of greens in my garden this time of year. There’s such an abundance, I pick some for us and some for the chook bucket every day. It gives us eggs with glorious deep yellow yolks and lots of Vitamin A.
The lengthening days are starting to show in all the early rounds, after hanging in there bearing and bearing for months, now going to seed. Luckily this year I kept up the successional planting through winter fairly well, so I have young ones coming on to keep the supply up. They won’t last as long but I’ll get a few weeks of bearing from them to extend the season. Which means I can appreciate the beauty of the flowers both in the garden and in salads, without regretting the loss of crops.
Very soon now I will need the space to plant out the advanced seedlings in the shadehouse, but if I can manage to eke out another couple of weeks, I will harvest the gone-to-seed greens as chook food. I shall pull up the whole plant and throw it to the chooks, a couple of plants a day. The seeds are a great high protein feed for them, and they enjoy the challenge of getting them out of the pods. And they round out the meal with the green leaves left on the plant too. Along with household scraps and the occasional box of outer leaves and trimmings I collect from the local supermarket, it means that I am only feeding them a couple of handfuls of bought food occasionally and my eggs are costing virtually nothing. And, though I found the snake sunning herself right near the chooks today, so far the new roost design has kept them safe and I’ve avoided feeding them to the wildlife. I’m beginning to believe I can count my chickens…
I love the mixed structure of your garden here Linda. Pretty much what I am aiming for but it’s not quite as beautiful as yours just yet. Thanks for the inspiration!
I’ve found after nearly eighteen months of chooks that we can count them and count ON them. They’ve never stopped laying, they’re consistently entertaining, and they’re great gardeners!
They love all the bok choy we grew as snail bait (I don’t like it very much to eat), as well as the kohlrabi thinnings. I just wish they’d eat more continental parsley, it grows like a weed here..
So glad to hear the roost is keeping the snake at bay..
Your vegetables are really pretty. I’d love to see a picture of your chicken set-up.
brenda from arkansas
I used to hate weeds and bugs but now I get excited about how much the chooks will love them. Your veges look beautiful, Linda and I am glad that snake is under control at the moment with the roost working.