I just had to share my little babies with you. This is a photo of them at 2 days old. Their feathers have fluffed up and they’re alert and absolutely gorgeous.

Aren’t they ever so cute? We bought an incubator just before Christmas and these little ones are are first to be hatched, so we’re all pretty excited  

Not sure how many roosters and hens we have, but we’re just happy they’re healthy. It’s really amazing how quickly they get up and walk around. But just like human babies, they take a lot of naps.

If you’re interested in keeping some chickens (they are a great addition to every organic garden), take a look at this great book.

Happy Organic Gardening, Healthy Living…

Trouble is, they can eat things you don’t want them to, unless you protect it well. Below is a photo of one of our raspberry plants, with our rooster eyeing it off. You can’t tell in the photo, but the fruits are starting to form now and I don’t want to share any of the plant with the chooks.

You see, I grew this plant from a couple of sticks….  oh, all right, several divisions that I took from my husband’s grandparents home.

I clip the right hand wing of all of my chickens. This stops them from flying over the fence, but they can jump / fly enough to make it to their perch each night.

We have also run some budgie wire along the length of the fence. It’s only about 45cm (20inches) tall, but it’s enough to stop the chooks from sticking their heads through or under the fence and eating whatever they think looks good at the time.

Now we can plant all the way along the fence line, without having to worry about the chooks decimating our hard work – CAUSE THEY WILL!!! (if they can)

Again, if you’ve got the space to include chickens in your organic gardening system, then I highly recommend you get some. They’re truly wonderful!

Happy Organic Gardening, Healthy Living…

They have a run as part of where they are locked up at night, but they love to get into this part of the yard. I don’t weed it or grow anything here. It’s exclusively for the chooks to enjoy scratching around for grubs and other insects. Plus they get as much green feed as they want.

I usually let them in here about an hour or two before sunset. They have a good scratch out here and them put themselves to bed (roost) as the sun sets.

They are an integral part of my organic gardening system. But they can’t get into my organic vegetable garden beds. They would destroy them in just an hour or two. So I make sure they have their own area and the rest of the garden is well fenced off from their free-ranging area. Everyone’s happy

If you’re thinking about getting chickens, here’s some great info on poultry.

Happy Organic Gardening, Healthy Living…

Now we only get mild frosts here in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. But it was enough for the grass (weeds in my case) to freeze. I don’t let my chooks out before about 9 am ususally (we have a fox hanging around), so the sun had been out for a while. But the sun hadn’t reached my veggie plot yet.

So anyway, the broad beans were all limp and I thought “that’s it for them!!!”, but as it turns out, they are pretty robust. By lunchtime they’d straightened up and were looking as perfect as I’d seen them the day before. What extra-ordinary plants!

So if you live in a frosty area, don’t despair if you should see your broad beans suffering from frost. Most likely, by the time you’ve clicked your heels together and whispered “there’s no place like home” three times, your broad beans will have been done with their trickery.

I didn’t think to go grab the camera… ’cause I was still in shock, but if it happens again I’ll take a snap to show you!

Happy Organic Gardening, Healthy Living…

Julie

But it’s not just people that can benefit from including herbs as an integral part of our diet. Did you know that chickens will self – “medicate” if you give them herbs to pick over? That’s right… they know what to eat, for what ails them. Or maybe they choose certain herbs because they have a deficiency in something.

I heard recently that when we crave some particular food, it’s usually because that food will give us the vitamins or minerals that our body is low in. Aren’t we clever?

So whenever I’m tidying up my organic garden, or dividing herbs, or even just walking by and it occurs to me – I throw some into the chook yard. My chickens just help themselves. And whatever’s left over just breaks down over time.

I don’t limit my veggie growing area to just vegetables. I have herbs growing throughout my organic garden, even in the flower beds. In fact, some herbs are so pretty that a lot of people don’t even know they’re herbs – they compliment the flowers so well!

Happy Organic Gardening, Healthy Living…

Julie

• I use the leaves as an activator in my compost heap
• the chooks benefit from a few leaves being thrown into them to “self medicate” every now and then
• The deep roots mine minerals from deep in the soil and help break up the soil
• As a barrier to grasses encroaching on my garden beds (needs to be planted thickly)
• Crush the leaves into a poultice to put on burns or grazes
• Add a few leaves to a casserole (just a few – too many can be toxic)

This is a healthy plant that I divided and potted up from my main plant. Comfrey likes to be kept fairly moist. The leaves die down over winter, and push through again in spring.

It can be propagated from division, and even root cuttings.

I recommend anyone interested in organic gardening practices to get comfrey for their garden, propagate it so that you have plenty of plants and make use of it’s wonderful properties.

Happy Organic Gardening, Healthy Living…

Warmly,

Julie

My girls provide us both with eggs, chicken manure and entertainment. They really are quite funny animals in a quirky way. Anyway, we’ve recently bought a paper shredder. Most of our paper waste ends up in the compost heap – and shredding it first speeds up the composting process. But I thought I’d share with you the other way we make use of the shredded paper.

This is a photo of where our chickens lay. They get nice and cosy now in the shredded paper. When it eventually gets messed up with manure I’ll gather the paper/chook poop up and throw the lot on the compost. The compost will end up on the organic vegetable garden, feeding our plants.

So if you have the room, please consider getting some chickens to enhance your organic gardening practices. They really are wonderful birds and are quite easy to manage.

Happy Organic Gardening, Healthy Living…

Julie

It’s not that difficult to make your own organic fertilizer – you just need to make sure that whatever you’re using has not been exposed to chemicals. This is pretty easy if you’re using manure from your own chooks or plants that you’ve grown yourself.

For liquid fertilizer that is chicken manure based you’ll need to scoop up about a (9 litre / 2 gallon) bucket full of chook poop! Place the poop in a hessian bag or similar and loosely tie the top of the bag. You’ll need a large tub (preferably one with a tight fitting lid) filled with water to rest the bag in for about a month.

When it’s ready, remove the bag from your tub and add the remains to your compost heap. Dilute the solution til it looks like weak tea, then spray on your organic vegetables, herbs or any plants that need a little boost.

If you want a plant based liquid fertilizer, substitute the manure with plants. You’ll need more plants than you did manure. You can even fill the bag right up. Good plants to use include comfrey, yarrow, nettles or even weeds will do.

If you can’t be bothered making your own there are some great organic liquid fertilizers available on the market. You could try seasol, fish emulsion or worm juice.

Either way your organic garden will reward you with improved vigor, so the little bit of effort is worth it.

Happy Organic Gardening, Healthy Living…

Julie

It’s very handy to pull up spent plants and just throw them over the fence to the girls. They are often waiting to see what goodies I have for them.

Anyway, last night it was a bit late when I went to lock them in their inner cage area – about 11.30. I had the torch (as usual) and was checking out my veggies as I walked past. Then when I aimed it at the gate of the coop there was a small fox standing right there as if it was waiting for me to open it for him. Bold as brass!

I started screaming at the top of my lungs like a crazy woman (lucky we don’t have any close neighbours). It barely moved. I couldn’t believe it. I kept screaming and it just kind of casually strolled away.

By this time my husband had run out to save me from who knows what and the fox had disappeared into the night. I locked the girls up securely and crossed my fingers.

In the morning they were fine, but the fox had come back and tried to dig under the outside fence. So I didn’t seem to terrify it too much.

So please be extra vigilant in keeping your chickens safe and sound each night. It seems to me that foxes are far less shy than they used to be!

Warmly,

Julie

The pic to the left is before we got the chickens. The yard hasn’t been used for anything for a long time.

And on the right is the yard after we’d had the chooks for just 2 weeks. They’d totally cleared all the greenery from the yard!

They are a wonderful addition for anyone with an organic garden. For starters they eat all of your kitchen waste and turn it into several products. The obvious one is fresh, organic eggs. The other is fertilizer. You can decide whether you want to use the manure straight on your compost pile, or you can turn it into a liquid fertilizer – ready to use in around 3 weeks.

Your organic garden will be greatly enhanced with the addition of a few chickens. Plus they’re great entertainment to watch and are easy to look after. If you don’t already have some, give some thought to getting a few.