Progress on the Chicken Coop

Today more progress was made on the chicken coop. Admittedly, we haven't touched it much in the last week or so...I have put some paint on, but not all, as we hadn't even had all the panels attached yet.

So today's post will be mostly photo-graphical.
To look at our previous work on the coop click here.

Today we put the back on, which consisted of 6 pieces. 2 of which were doors. One for ventilation, one for cleaning. 

The lower door opens all the way up for ease of cleaning the coop.

This is the upper door, which will provide venting in the hot months.

Next we cut out the space for the nesting boxes. 

Built the nesting boxes, and attached to the exterior of the coop. 

The interior of the coop as seen from the front windows 

(which still need to be closed up)

At dusk, so the green roof is letting in plenty of light. 

Benefit the Bees

I had a friend tell me that she was concerned about our dwindling bee population. and wondered if there were any plants that would be beneficial in attracting bees, and encourage them to increase their population.

As you know, bees help pollinate, and without our plants being pollinated, we would have less flowers, and even less fruit, as pollination is key, to some plants providing fruit to us. 

So What can we plant to help out bee population? 

In my personal experience, my pussy willow bush, when in bloom is TEEMING with so many bees, that it literally buzzes when you walk past it!. But that is all that came to mind when I thought this question. 

So, I had to do some research to be able to offer more suggestions for you. 

Some general gardening advice quoted from gardening.about.com says: 

"Don’t use pesticides. Most pesticides are not selective. You are killing off the beneficial bugs along with the pests. If you must use a pesticide, start with the least toxic one and follow the label instructions to the letter.

Use local native plants. Research suggests native plants are four times more attractive to native bees than exotic flowers. They are also usually well adapted to your growing conditions and can thrive with minimum attention. In gardens, heirloom varieties of herbs and perennials can also provide good foraging.

Chose several colors of flowers. Bees have good color vision to help them find flowers and the nectar and pollen they offer. Flower colors that particularly attract bees are blue, purple, violet, white, and yellow

Plant flowers in clumps. Flowers clustered into clumps of one species will attract more pollinators than individual plants scattered through the habitat patch. Where space allows, make the clumps four feet or more in diameter.

Include flowers of different shapes. There are four thousand different species of bees in North America, and they are all different sizes, have different tongue lengths, and will feed on different shaped flowers. Consequently, providing a range of flower shapes means more bees can benefit.

Have a diversity of plants flowering all season. Most bee species are generalists, feeding on a range of plants through their life cycle. By having several plant species flowering at once, and a sequence of plants flowering through spring, summer, and fall, you can support a range of bee species that fly at different times of the season.

Plant where bees will visit. Bees favor sunny spots over shade and need some shelter from strong winds."

*everything in green is quoted from http://gardening.about.com/od/attractingwildlife/a/Bee_Plants.htm
I found simialr information in quite a few articles and blogs.

gardening.about.com also has a nice list of plants that attract bees that can be found here

Some plants that attract bees are: 

Apple Trees
Aster
Basil
Black-eyed Susan
Currant
Dandelions 
Elder
English LavenderGoldenrod
Green Beans
Honeysuckle
Huckleberry
LavendarLupine
Marjoram
Oregon grape
Purple coneflower (Echinacea)
Radish 
Rhododendron
Rosemary
Sage 
Squash
Sunflowers
Wild buckwheat 
Wild-lilac
Willow 
Zinnia

And much more! 

As I write this list up I realize I have quite a few of these plants in my garden. Including Lilac, willow (my pussy willow) Honeysuckle, and apple trees. This makes me happy...My only fear, it that the bees that visit my pussy willow tree live IN the walls of my house, as we found a dead hive when we remodeled 8 years ago, and another dead hive after a kitchen fire about 3 years ago...These are some of the perils of living in a house that is over 100 years old. Not that they have ever hurt me if the ARE living in my walls, it just freaks me out! 

 I also found a listing of beneficial plants that came from garland nursery:

http://www.garlandnursery.com/Handouts/plants_that_attract_bees.pdf

 

Growing Broccoli

I have tried to grow both Broccoli twice. Each time I have not had much success.
So I am going to turn to Google before I try again.
So, here is what I have found out from various places.

Broccoli likes a neutral ph soil. around a 7. on the PH scale. Allow about 18 inches in spacing between plants.

• In cold climates, start your seeds indoors about 6 weeks before the last frost. OR direct sew 1 month before the last frost.
• In warm climates you can direct sow the seeds in the spring. 
• If you are transplanting a live plant, you can plant it up to 1 inch deeper than it was in its container. 

Broccoli shouldn't need any feeding, but if it looks like it needs some help, fish emulsion works nicely.
Keep your plant well watered and it will grow nicely.

Broccoli is susceptible to certain pests such as the cabbage looper, cabbage worm, and cabbage root maggot.

Don't wait until your broccoli has a large head to harvest like at the store, most varieties of broccoli do not form large heads, only select breeds do. Your plant can be harvested about 45 days from planting. (from seed-so if you buy a live plant, subtract some time) If you try to wait for a large head like at the grocery, you risk your plant flowering. If you cut the head with 4" of stalk remaining, more heads will start to grow.

These are all basic tips. For more in depth tips visit weekendgardener.net/vegetables/broccoli.htm

Impatience

Today I am feeling very discouraged in my gardening projects. This spring I am so excited, I can't seem to muster the patience required for my garden. I want it to be SO much further along than it is! My winter sown pots are starting to sprout nicely, even tomato plants that I DIDN'T plant are starting to grow. But I want more results!

I find myself spending a LOT of time online looking at different gardening sites for reference  and inspiration, and it just makes my impatience grow. I want that heat of summer when my garden is going full blast. where the fruits of my labor are becoming visible! But that will not happen...I will have to suck it up and be patient. I have plenty of projects going on right now, including the chicken coop, the new fence, and actually building those flower beds so I CAN grow my garden.

In addition to all my outdoor projects, I am also a student at the local college and taking classes online, the month of April alone, I have 6 family Birthdays to celebrate, 3 of which are in my immediate household. At times I feel like I am drowning in projects, but others, I feel like I sit around on my bum all day...I don't know how I do all these things sometimes! Maybe I have ADD & just need to have something to do!

I should go out and weed my front garden. The weeds are already threatening my herbs and strawberry plants, but the Canadian thistle in this garden is the bane of my existence  I have taken to calling it they hydra weed...If you don't get the root pulled out, and it breaks under the dirt, it seems that 2 come back in its place! It is very frustrating! I am tempted to bulldoze the yard at times, and make the attempt to start fresh out there!

Busy Little Bee

There is a lot going on at the "Green Thumb Estate" We officially started building the new fence yesterday. Having rented a one man post hole digger for the Mr. to use for the 18 fence poles we need to place. We got to work (well, HE got to work) and drilled all the holes.

I also noticed the peas that I planted on St. Patrick's day have started peaking out of the dirt. Along with quite a lot of my winter sown plants in their containers. Especially the collard greens, and Kale.

The area where I planted my tomatoes last year, (and left the plants sit over the winter-causing a few small 'maters that were left to fall into the dirt & spend the winter there) has started sprouting a TON of little tomato plants. More than I will need this year! (I will be taking some and putting into starter pots to see if they survive and get big enough I may just give them to family and friends for their yards)

I also have a row of hybrid willow trees along the back of my property, that I trimmed last fall and tossed into a bucket of water, which also just sat all winter, with at least a half a dozen rooted cuttings to plant into that fence line, filling in where some didn't make it last year.

\

The chicken coop has gotten a first coat of paint on the body of the building (not the trim yet-will tackle that soon) 

I am also happy to see that my RedBud trees are nicely budded up, as well as my lilac bush, and will be blooming soon! My pussy willow tree is in full bloom, and covered with honey bees, collecting pollen. (Always happy to support out bee population!)

I LOVE SPRING TIME WITH ALL IT'S FLOWERS!

Sweet Potato Starters

I have a box of "seed" sweet potatoes that my grandpa gave me 2 years ago, that I forgot to plant last year. They were kept nice and dry in their box, in my laundry room, so they also had a nice steady temperature. 

So when I found them again this year, I left the box open a bit and they have started to grow roots.

One of my VERY strange looking "seed" potatoes, growing roots.

 Now I need to be sure to plant them, and I want to be sure to do it right...so it's RESEARCH time...

HOW TO GROW SWEET POTATO SLIPS? 

I don't know...YET

So off to Google I went and searched it out...

I found numerous postings about growing sweet potatoes, and various blogs about the subject...One blog in particular put it in a way that I think I can handle it! It was called outlawgarden.com
Their posting on how to grow your own sweet potatoes was very educational.

Basically what I learned about how to start your own sweet potato slips is this...

1. Take an organic sweet potato (or one you have
   previously grown) and cut it in half.
2. Submerge about 1 inch of the sweet potato in water
3. Set the container with your potatoes near a window and wait
   ...keep enough water in it of course.
4. They say after 4-6 weeks, you will have tiny little sweet potato plants growing off of your parent plant. 
5. Snap the new plants off the parent plant where they meet. If any of your new slips do not have roots, soak them in some water until they have some roots. When they
   do have roots,just plant them.*

*it is best to wait until  after risk of frost and the ground warms up, if you need to, plant your slips into small pots, and keep moist until that time comes.

So now I will go do this with my sweet potatoes that I have, and I will let you know how it turns out! 

I also need to get my seed potatoes started, so I will jump on that today too!

My seed potatoes in their water. I will let you know how they turn out!

Ever the Deal Seaker

My house is in a perpetual state of construction...at least if feels that way!

With building the chicken coop, building the raised beds, and other things INSIDE the house breaking and needing fixed. I should know better than to go to the home store...today we went to get the material I'd hoped to purchase over the weekend, and when we got there we discovered a "black Friday again" sale on the material to build privacy fence, which we'd discussed doing a few times in the past. Since we have our tax refund, we decided to go ahead and get it.

It feels good to get one more project that has been on your mind checked off the list.

Once the lumber was purchased, we headed home to figure out where the holes would need to be dug, and all that good stuff. 

I also currently have a black, wrought Iron LOOK fence, that I will be re-locating to enclose my raised bed garden area once the new fence is done.

Yet another project I will be posting pictures of for your enjoyment!