$100 Chicken Coop Budget-- possible?

Given the serious expenditures going on as of late, we were aiming to keep the chicken coop costs to $100. And if you don't count the $450+ we spent on a new fridge on one of our Lowe's trips to pick up coop supplies, we did pretty well.

We were able to find reclaimed lumber at the Reconstruction Center and only needed to buy treated wood for the pieces that will lie on the ground. We also found a giant piece of plywood in a free pile on the curb a month or so ago, and luckily expended the effort to walk it home (a half a mile, probably through the rain...) because it will make up the majority of the henhouse. We had to buy one more piece of plywood and the chicken wire too. When all is said and done we came in around $110 for supplies.

We are extremely lucky in that we live in a neighborhood with a Tool Library--and we were able to borrow the tools we didn't already have. But then Lowe's was having a fabulous sale on drills, or so I am told. So we ended up with a new drill in the process. Ce la vie.

This week in gardening...and poultry

On Sunday we got the chicken's new abode half built. In a drizzly rain, and in the freezing cold. But it's half up. This weekend we'll finish it, though they are still scheduled to be living in the basement for another month or so.

That month can't go quickly enough, for their sake. They are getting quite big, and a bit rowdy. Constantly knocking over their water and making a giant mess...flying the "coop" whenever possible is also a favorite past-time. We put a screen on top to keep them in the brooder box, so a new favorite hobby is flying into the screen and knocking it off. Fun times for teenage chickens?

In between erecting pieces of the coop I managed to get peas and carrots in the ground. The lettuces are starting to pop up. I think. Either that or we have a sudden influx of clovers in the exact spots I planted greens... It's been stormy for over a week, so my time in the yard has been limited. Hoping for a sunny weekend. Or at least one sunny day...

On tap for next weekend: finishing the coop (**hopefully**), continuing to double dig the garden beds, and addressing the growing pile of yard waste in the back yard. It seems all my yard projects entail pulling up, digging up, or chopping down something. And it's generally ivy...

End of March Garden Update

It's nearly the end of March, time is slipping away! But the garden is, shall we say coming together. Last weekend I bought and planted 4 blueberry bushes, got 6 kinds of lettuces (seed) in the ground (just in time for a huge storm and a good soaking...), planted the rest of the potatoes that have been sprouting away in a bag for 2+ months (they are an experiment since they started sprouting early and I ignored them until the last few weekends, and they were potatoes from our CSA not official "seed potatoes"), and planted 2 containers with rhubarb.

The strawberries all took quite nicely to their new home, and the parsley has survived a second replanting in two weeks (thanks to my haphazard planting the first time it needed to make way for lettuce).

I am hoping to get peas and carrots in the ground this week. Then our weekend projects will begin to include some important pieces of the garden puzzle--the raised beds and the chicken coop. Last weekend we installed a new door to the garage, so that we can easily get our bikes in and out and access the garden tools from the back yard. Installing doors makes me very grateful to have my architect/former construction worker husband!!

The chickens are growing, entertaining us with their antics, and so far only mildly sounding like there might be a rooster amongst the flock.

Garden Planning & Spontaneous Planting

I have been walking a fine line between planning and spontaneity in the garden this year. I planned my tomato planting carefully- getting the seeds in under lights Valentine's Day weekend, and then quickly and haphazardly re-potted in the middle of our move.

We had to relinquish our community garden plot a few days before we moved into our new house-- which meant digging up our beloved strawberry plants (and a few other stragglers that made it through the winter- kale and cabbage) and then leaving them in a bucket in the rain all week. So they had to get in the ground this weekend if they were going to make it. Problem was we were cleaning our old house and finishing the move on the same weekend, which meant no time for a well planned out strawberry plot or perfectly amended soil.

So I found a spot that looked like it would get some sun, quickly dug it up and aerated a bit and plopped all the strawberry plants in. The cabbage and kale received an equally quick planting, and the garden is officially started.

I planting Anaheim pepper and eggplant seeds March 7, and they are under the lights now- still no signs of germination, but it's been pretty cold in the house.

The chickens continue to provide more than a healthy dose of humor to our lives, and occasionally a little scare. Like yesterday when Mark came home and found only 3 chicks in the brooding box... the fourth chick, Goldilocks, was huddled in between the brooder and the wall. Stuck. She'd flown out apparently-- time for some mesh across the top I guess. I'm still convincing that Hyper, the Plymouth Barred Rock, is a rooster but only time will tell.

The compost bin has been installed, with a wire platform on the bottom (rodent protection) and we're up and running on that front (which is good since we'd been piling compost up all week in various containers and it was only a matter of time before that got gross.)

Next on the agenda: building 2 raised beds (3 if I convince Mark to put one in the front yard too); the chicken coop; and cutting a new door in the back of the garage for easy access to all my garden tools.