[Diana in Wisconsin]

“...& a great way to use up an abundance of eggs.”

I have Chicken Fever so bad, I can’t hardly stand it! I thought I would be totally ‘over’ raising laying hens, after doing it on a huge scale for so many years, but I really miss having those chattering biddies around, not to mention the eggs, which are so awesome when compared to store-bought!

My ex came from a family of 14 and when he was a kid he was in charge of their hen house that held 200 hens at a time. He wasn’t too keen on my chicken enterprises which he refused to help with.

(Yet another reason he’s my ex.) *SNORT*

[Diana in Wisconsin]

For giggles. We have a Wisconsin-made product called 'Purple Cow' (similar to Tubebender's beloved Fox Farm products) and they make some really luscious stuff: fertilizers, compost, potting mixes, etc. When I was managing the Garden Center, we had a promotion with them and their life-sized 'Purple Cow' statue came to stay with us for a week or so. So much fun, and so many customers had their photo taken with her. We had a naming contest, too. I think she ended up being called 'Violet.'

I really miss that job some days. Such a fun, creative outlet and I had such an amazing crew working for me. And everyone was a great cook, so our Break Room was always full of yummy stuff to eat. But then, I remember the blisters, getting soaked with exploding hoses, unloading semi after semi after semi of plants each spring, sunburn, battling woodchucks and aggressive birds, waterline breaks, outbreaks of toads after rainstorms, dealing with WINTER...and I sober right up, LOL!

[deport]

I was raised having some 300+ layers around. Gathering eggs,
washing, and cleaning up chicken poop. These weren’t free
range so the rest of the area was clean but gathering eggs and
feeding was a mess to say the least.

[deport]

I was raised having some 300+ layers around. Gathering eggs,
washing, and cleaning up chicken poop. These weren’t free
range so the rest of the area was clean but gathering eggs and
feeding was a mess to say the least.

[Qiviut]

My niece had to move to a guesthouse on her in-laws property after her house was sold and they are waiting for their dream house to be finished. The new house is on property that has no fencing or buildings so they will have to build a chicken coop this fall. My SIL next door got my niece’s 10 hens, all of which are currently laying machines! She also has two old hens that lay an egg now and then. When you are getting 10 eggs a day, it’s hard to use them all up. I suspect she is giving some away to the ladies she works with, but I can get eggs whenever I ask for them and sometimes she just brings them over when she’s totally inundated. My little great niece told her mom the other day that she really misses her chickens and she also wanted to know if they could take their garden with them. Once she sees a new chicken coop going up and they get a new garden laid out (going to raised beds(, I think she’ll be happier and feeling better about the move.

[Qiviut]

Took a couple of pics this morning ….

I must say that this trellis is one of the most satisfying projects I've made in years. Every year, I would try to figure out what my cukes could grow on & now I don't have to deal with that issue any more. The trellis is movable so it can go to wherever I need it when I rotate crops. I would like to make another one – need to find the lumber in the scrap piles – too expensive to buy lumber right now. The lumber in this trellis was re-purposed from an old structure, which adds to the 'satisfaction' of the project. I did splurge on new bolts ( under $7) – couldn't find the size I needed in the sheds.

My Cardinal Climbing Vines are “out of control” LOL! I am cutting back the long tendrils that are trying to attach to my compost pile, but I'm letting the rest grow & wave in the breeze. The flowers will be tiny, red, trumpet-shaped & are supposed to attract hummers .... looking forward to lots of flowers.