Author: bluegrassbackyard

rotted blossoms.

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Or really, Blossom End Rot- when the ends of the veggies you’re growing (most commonly in tomatoes and squash) don’t develop properly.  It causes a large brown lesion to develop on the vegetable itself, and usually before the vegetable matures a large part of the veggie is lost to the disease.  It’s most commonly caused by a lack of available calcium to the plant- so either your calcium/magnesium balance is off, you’ve not provided adequate calcium in the soil or “bedding” you’ve set the plant in, or the root system is too small to support the plant.

To correct the problem you’ve got to determine what you believe the cause is.  We started to see the Blossom End Rot in our tomatoes and our zucchini which were planted in our straw bales. We assumed, since we had conditioned the bales ourselves- that the calcium within the bales was too low.  To correct this, we decided to try a calcium foliar spray that we could brew at home.

The batch called for 20 eggshells and about a gallon of water.  I cut this back since I didn’t have that many egg shells (my hens are freeloaders after all).  It’s quite simple- you boil your eggshells for one hour and let the mix sit for 24 hours.  After it has rested, you can take your mix and funnel it into a spray bottle.  Spray liberally on your plants that are plagued by the BER (I always do a test spray to make sure something hasn’t snuck its way into my mix that could damage my plants) You can apply the mixture on a weekly basis as you fertilize.

We’ve seen a bit of improvement, almost immediately, with our zucchini but the tomatoes are still struggling.  We will probably start to experiment with bone meal tea to see if that will stabilize them a bit.  We had no problem with the cherry tomatoes, probably because they’re a smaller fruit.  What is your experience with Blossom End Rot?  What worked for you?

chickens, chickens everywhere-but not an egg to eat.

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I have come to the conclusion- that my chickens will never lay eggs.  Not really, I’m just impatient- but it feels like they should be laying by now!  I check the nesting boxes every morning and night, in the hopes that I will come across my first egg.  In my estimation, the first egg will have cost around $1,500 in investment- but hey, who’s counting!  Chickens (depending on breed) begin laying around 6 months. Heavier birds take a little longer, lighter birds a little sooner.  My girls are about 5 months now, and I am (im)patiently counting down the days as they age.

a straw bale, what?

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This year we knew we wanted to expand our garden, but wanted to do so as easily and as cost effectively as possible.  We stumbled upon straw bale gardening, and after a bit of research decided this would be the method for us.  The straw bales could be placed outside of our existing garden, didn’t require any additional building of raised beds, and would cut down on the amount of weeding we’d need to do (all big positives for us).

The unfortunate thing, is that you can’t just stick your plants in a straw bale and expect them to grow- the bales take some conditioning before they’re ready to plant.  Roughly 10-15 days before you’re ready plant, you need to begin a fertilizing and watering protocol to promote decomposition of the bales, and to put “food” into the bale for your plants to munch on as they grow.   Once this is done and you’ve got your plants set into the bales- you can continue on with any fertilizing program you choose to use.  To condition our bales, we chose to use Organic Plant-tone Plant Food from Espoma. This is a 5-3-3 mix, that we felt would give the bales the jump they needed to break down. This is mainly comprised of feather meal, chicken manure and bone meal- your dogs will find this concoction tasty-so make sure to keep it in a safe place (we learned this the hard way).

So far we’ve been really happy with the results.  If I were to do anything different- I would have staked each bale from end to end to keep them together.  As they break down, they get a little loose and start to wash out.  The bales that we planted tomatoes in, we staked at each end, knowing we’d need to tie up the plants.  These bales have held together much better and I think they hold water better.

My Personal Pros & Cons for Straw Bale Gardening

Pros:

  • Decreased influence of weeds
  • Plants seem less susceptible to rotting and slugs, as they’re elevated off the ground
  • Easy to maintain and prune-everything is raised
  • Low investment for the planting materials
  • Can be put anywhere

Cons:

  • They seem to dry out quickly and take A LOT more water (we had a hard time starting seeds due to this)
  • If they’re not staked, they’ll slowing spread and break down a bit faster
  • Not very aesthetically pleasing (we tried to plant marigolds and mulch around them for the look factor)

Overall I think we are pleased with our results.  The tomatoes have done really well, along with our zucchini, jalapeño peppers, pak choy and kale.  The most beautiful thing of all- is that we can turn around and move the bales to the compost pit for the winter, and use them as fresh compost next season!

Bales first planted with zucchini and tomatoes, using marigolds on the end caps!
Three weeks after planting
The zucchini has taken over!

natural, curly girl woes.

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About a year ago I made the decision to transition all of my cosmetics and body care products to organic products, that were better for my body and the environment.  It wasn’t that hard to do with my makeup, deodorant, etc. but the one thing that I just couldn’t let go of- was my hair styling cream.  I had been a loyal user of Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious Defining Creme for years, it was the only product that seemed to tame my 2C/3A curls and I was hesitant to give it up.

I started looking around and found several natural products to try-none of which I liked, or felt did anything for my hair type.  Then I came across Yarok Feed Your Curls, Defining Cream. What a game changer.  I’ve been using this for about 3 months, my hair feels more conditioned, my curl holds better and the ingredients are about as clean as you can get! It’s pretty pricey, but I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for, and the product really does last a long time because “a little bit will do ya”!  The jar I purchased about 3 months ago, is just about out-with daily use.

The instructions state to: “Work in three quarter-sized amounts or styling crème to damp hair after shampooing/conditioning. While still wet, twirl hair into medium-sized sections to create defined curls. Blow dry with diffuser attachment, or free style and dry naturally.” I kind of just take a dab in my hands and scrunch it through and diffuse. Done!

I’ve shared a link to their site up above, and will post the ingredients below. It always amazed me that such a great product can be made from whole ingredients-not chemicals.  It makes me ask the question-why isn’t every company doing this?!

 

the who’s who of the chicken coop.

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When deciding on which chickens I wanted to fill my coop, I knew that I wanted breeds that were different and that I could buy from a local hatchery.  I lucked out and via Facebook, found a young girl who started hatching chicks for a science project-but then continued doing it for extra money when she enjoyed it so much!

She had several varieties and I decided to get a good sampling.  Her chickens were sold sexed-so I had the expectation of only hens. Sexing chickens is pretty tough-so now that I have 12 out of 13 that are hens, with only one rooster, I was pretty impressed with her work!

The Girls of Cluckingham Palace:

Ameraucanas: These are blue/green egg layers. From my experience, they’re the most flighty-which means they’re probably pretty smart and cautious.  They’re not the prettiest to look at, and have little beards and tufts of feathers around their ears.  If you let your chickens free range all the time, or really want pretty eggs- these may be a good bird for you!

Wyandottes: I have both the Silver and Gold Laced varieties. One of my chicks ended up being a Gold Laced Wyandotte Rooster.  These birds are super pretty, lay brown eggs and are a hearty bird.  Seem relatively smart and curious.  They’re definitely the nicest to look at in my coop.

Barred Rocks: These girls are the most friendly and a little silly! They are totally gluttons and will do anything for a worm.  They’re by far my favorite to interact with- but are not too predator savvy.  They will lay brown eggs as well and are known for being good layers, and cold weather hearty birds.

In picking the birds that are right for you and your family- it’s import to do your research.  Know your climate, your environment and the predators that will always be trying to weasel their way into your coop.  I recommend, if possible, buy local- the birds are probably suitable for your environment, and they will have less stress of travel and risk of disease.

Ameraucana
Barred Rock
Silver Laced Wyandotte
Gold Laced Wyandotte

 

 

what comes first, the chicken or the coop?

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I feel like I know the answer to this one now, it’s a solid “Coop“.  But alas- in my chickenignorance, on a cold and snowy February day, a friend and I drove an hour to go pick up 13 (a cool-bakers dozen) mixed breed, week old chicks.  I was fairly certain, that we could complete our semi-finished coop by the time the girls were going to need to be moved outside.

I was blissfully unaware at the rate of which chickens grew- and within a week, they were flying the coop (or brooder).  In an attempt to contain them, that unfortunately failed, I split the brood into two separate brooders.  I believe now, that this essentially gave them more room for a running start to leap out of their confinement, but hindsight is 20/20. I guess at some point, I should mention that the chicks were living in our spare bedroom, which made the room less inviting for guests.

When we finally decided that the girls had overstayed their upstairs welcome, we built a large and tall temporary brooder in our unfinished basement.  This made all of us much happier, and as the girls continued to grow- I continued to drag my feet finishing the coop.  Then the inevitable happened: they began escaping their new, larger brooder and chicken coop crunch time began.

The coop interior, door and run was completed within a couple of weeks without major incident, and we moved the girls outside.

My advice to anyone wanting to get chickens:

Do it! They really are so much fun, but plan ahead.  I tend to like to do things a little bit spur of the moment, but with chickens that isn’t the best approach.  Have your brooder, coop and run all set before you bring them home.  More importantly, you have to understand your city and neighborhood laws before you begin the process.  The startup is costly, and it would be a shame to go through it all-to then have your girls get the boot out of town! If you’re really set on having chickens and its not allowed in your neighborhood or city- get to work on educating the neighborhood committee and city council to get the laws changed.  A simple google search will get you started in the right direction.

a quick hello.

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A collector of all things fuzzy and fluffy.

An organic gardening fanatic.

A lover of all things local.

I hope to share my journey and adventures through my own backyard and spread the message of locality and sustainability, encouraging others to get out and really explore what their community has to offer! I am a true believer that everyone should get to experience the joy that a fresh-off-the-vine tomato brings, and shake the hand of the vendor that produced their new favorite purchase!