The Productive Backyard 2012 January to June

A place to share garden and outdoor spaces plans and activities.
BookSaver
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The Productive Backyard 2012 January to June

Postby BookSaver » Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:52 pm

copying Harriet's intro from last year:

The Productive Backyard

Here’s a space to discuss the chores and pleasant efforts that bring something from the land into your kitchen and home.

Vegetable garden harvests,
Egg gathering,
4-H projects,
Canning/freezing/putting up,
Orchard fruits,
Composting and
Livestock appreciation!

BookSaver
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Re: The Productive Backyard 2012 January to June

Postby BookSaver » Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:01 pm

This afternoon I ran into a link to a blog called The Art of Doing Stuff. Hmm, looks like I've been sidetracked over half an hour reading her funny posts.

Her "fella" gave her some baby chicks for Easter last year, and she has several photos and videos of them growing up. There was a video of them as babies which I can't find now, but these 2 are lots of fun:

http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/see-a ... ay-an-egg/

http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/the-chicken-dance/

Ok, now I have to go read her posts about things to do with Mason jars ...

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Harriet
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Re: The Productive Backyard 2012 January to June

Postby Harriet » Sun Jan 22, 2012 1:25 pm

Those are such fun, BookSaver! I believe she has Rhode Island Reds there - much redder than my New Hampshire Red. Yes, she is very funny. Hope you learn lots about mason jars!

It makes me remember I never shared the names dd13 gave the two new Black Ostralorps. The plumper one is Hoshi (Japanese for "star" and the name of the communications officer on Star Trek Enterprise) and the slimmer one is named Cicely, for the express purpose of dd being able to nickname her Cici. (But I think Cicely is a great hen name, so that's what she gets from me!)

We are still getting 1 or 2 eggs a day from our three. Yesterday, after a few days of thinking that production :) was going down, I walked through and saw what I'd hoped I wouldn't :roll: they were laying in the far corner beyond the roosts. This won't do, because it is so difficult to gather the eggs. Also, it meant I lost those 5 eggs, not knowing how old they were or which was oldest.

I knew what I'd done wrong. Back with their first eggs, I had "taught" the new girls to lay near the people door by placing 2 of their own eggs there and marking with an X in sharpie marker so we wouldn't gather them. It's cold wintertime so the eggs won't rot, but still it was time to throw those away. I was going to let that be the end of it, but we did have one commercial egg of the same size left over from the egg-cracking science fair project, so I marked it and placed it there to keep their training wheels on a little while longer. Well, they knew better. They thought it was a scary object and wouldn't go near it! Sigh.

So now, after dd managed to retrieve the unusable eggs, I had her stand a plastic 16-oz bottle, very shiny, into the far corner where I do NOT want them laying and used 2 unusable eggs, marked with the sharpie, to make their nest look normal again. As of this morning, everyone is happily using the nest near the people door again.

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Nancy
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Re: The Productive Backyard 2012 January to June

Postby Nancy » Fri Jan 27, 2012 12:44 pm

Great blog on raising keeping chickens in the back yard!
http://keepingchickens.blogspot.com/

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Harriet
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Re: The Productive Backyard 2012 January to June

Postby Harriet » Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:09 pm

Our Rural Electric Cooperative's magazine here has done a wonderful 4-page layout called "Amazing Sheds". It's really worth seeing for ideas for outdoor settings and storage, and ways to make a utility building look more attractive, or feel more personal.
Here is the digital edition.
The cover and part of the interior contents page each have one shed and then there are 17 more beginning on page 16. You can click on a page to take closer looks. Some of them are so well-built, neat or clean, but I believe my favorite is the one titled, "my getaway"!

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Nancy
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Re: The Productive Backyard 2012 January to June

Postby Nancy » Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:47 pm

I was just telling hubby that I wanted to remodel the play house I always did want it 4' bigger!
Loved those sheds in that link Harriet shared!!!
Got the 3 rosebushes transplanted and one sage move today.

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Nancy
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Re: The Productive Backyard 2012 January to June

Postby Nancy » Fri May 25, 2012 11:42 am


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Re: The Productive Backyard 2012 January to June

Postby Nancy » Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:13 am

Dgd & I planted seeds of lettuce, carrots and beans in the garden and by the play house more beans, and sun flowers in the front, thyme by the back gate then it rained in the night love the timing of that.

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Nancy
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Re: The Productive Backyard 2012 January to June

Postby Nancy » Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:10 pm

I've been weeding this week and watering too with the warmer weather we need it. So glad I posted what I planted was trying to think if we'd put in any carrots or not beans are up a couple inches now.

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Re: The Productive Backyard 2012 January to June

Postby Nancy » Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:23 pm

Onions I have lots of Egyptian Onions also known as multiplier onions in the yard I've been harvesting them to cook with :idea: some are for keeping pests away from roses. I have some I harvested from before that are sprouting and need to be planted I'll share with neighbors & friends. :mrgreen: They seem to do well here!


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