In the hen house

A fabulous find in one of the coops today. One of the older hens who has not laid an egg in ages is apparently producing again. Out of 7 hens we now have 6 who are laying eggs. Looks like the old ladies are trying to keep up with the youngsters. In human terms, this is like Helen Mirren giving birth.

112 Degrees in the Shade

Ugh! It is going to get up to 112 degrees today and I am outside tending to the chickens and the solar oven. God Bless the person who invented the portable mister system that Ace Hardware sold me, I think I would be passed out right now without it.

The good news is that despite this unbearable heat, the chickens and the gardens are doing quite well.

Our youngest hens are now 25 weeks old and they are all laying several eggs a week in various hues. We had a over 5 dozen eggs in July. Considering the hot days, that's not too shabby. We had enough eggs that we were able to share them with friends and our (oh so understanding!) neighbors. Not once have they complained about the "hen party" in the backyard when things get a bit noisy.

Lucy soaking her feet. Or is it Molly?

Lots of eggs!
Our front garden has really worked out beautifully. Over the winter we lost the Lantana to a bad frost so we tore it out and replaced the flowers with a vegetable garden. This turned out to be a fabulous idea. The area is shaded until the afternoon and the plants are doing much better that the backyard veggie garden.

In the front garden we have several Better Boy and Early Girl tomatoes which are still producing. The Sweet 100 tomatoes were very tiny but make perfect chicken snacks. We have a single zucchini plant which, as anyone who has grown zucchini can tell you, yields more than enough zucchini for 2 people.

The backyard gardens contain some heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons. Not much to say here as we have more crabgrass than garden at this point. On a lark I threw in some seeds from and Armenian cucumber that I purchased at Lee Lee's. I completely forgot about them until the big monsoon in July uncovered this. . .

I have no idea how long it had been growning under the grass and weeds but boy was it delicious. From now on I am only planting these babies.

More good news - the bell pepper curse is finally broken. My inability to grow peppers is legendary in my family and it's quite funny since I can manage to grow just about anything else. This season I finally was able to grow 2 red bell peppers in the front garden. Believe me, they are nothing to brag about and certainly wouldn't win any prizes at the county fair. Heck, they were barely big enough to add to a single dinner salad. Still, just the fact that I was able to keep the pepper plants alive and harvest a vegetable that could be clearly identified as a pepper - that is HUGE for me and I owe it all to chicken poo water.

Yes, I said chicken poo water. It smells and looks just as disgusting as it sounds but the plants love it. You see, it is so hot here in the east valley that chickens find it very difficult to cool off. Heat related deaths of backyard hens are quite common here. Thanks to the folks at Valley Permaculture Alliance and the people on the Arizona board over at BackyardChickens.com I have learned about different ideas to make life more comfortable for my girls. One way is to provide the hens with a shallow pan of water to wade in and cool off. They love it! HuzBen refers to the pans (actually cat litter pans) as the Hen Spas.

Now about the part where the "poo" comes in. Chickens are not unlike small children and won't get out of the pool to do their "business." By the end of the day the pan of water is less foot bath and substantially more chicken toilet. But - when life gives you lemons. . . or in this case, chicken poo water. . . use it to your advantage. It's free liquid fertilizer and it's fabulous. (But OMG - the smell, yuck!)

Time to go and get the bread out of the solar oven - see you soon!

I was trying to get a nice photo of our cherry tomatoes for an entry on the front garden. Then Danica showed up. Our little leggy supermodel.

Our Very Own Backyard Chickens

We thought about it for years and this weekend we finally took the plunge and got our very own chickens. We are now the proud owners of two Black Minorcas and a cute little Blue Old English Game Bantam. The girls started work right away and we had 2 eggs in the first 24 hours. Nice!

When I say we thought about it for years I am not exaggerating. I first learned about keeping backyard chickens like most city folks did, in an issue of Martha Stewart Living. At that time I was single and living in an apartment so all I could do was look at the fabulous photos of the beautiful hens and their multicolored eggs.

Fast forward to 2009 when I discovered the Valley Permaculture Alliance (then the Phoenix Permaculture Guild). I was looking for info on veggie gardens in the desert but I was thrilled to find a group of people chatting about raising hens all over the valley. That's when we figured out that it was "do-able."

We finally got serious about chickens after participating in the first Tour De Coops where we met people just like us and saw how they incorporated chickens in their suburban neighborhoods. We stopped looking at chickens as pets that lay eggs and started considering the benefits they would bring to our gardens and compost pile. Oh, and they eat kitchen scraps and bugs? Bonus!

Our next step was to take the "Raising Chickens In Your Backyard" class taught by Rachel Bess with Valley Permaculture Alliance. Rachel's class is better than any book you can read. Most books are general but Rachel has been raising chickens for years in the Valley so she understands the needs of a desert chicken. She's also honest and says that having your own chickens is hard work and it isn't for everyone. Her class waaaaaaay under priced at $10.

In Rachel's class we also learned that you could purchase custom coops from people advertising on Craig's List. Bingo! We found Kyle, who not only builds custom coops, but he delivers too! He asked us about our needs and made suggestions about things we might like. He was fabulous! Three days after speaking to him on the phone he pulled into our driveway with our new coop. (see below for you can find Kyle's Craig's List ad "Chicken Coop for the Valley" or call him at 480-363-5775)

That brings us to this weekend when hubby bought me a trio of hens for my birthday. We are already planning a coop addition with Kyle. and we hope to add an Ameraucana to the flock soon.

In The Garden

The corn is starting to get silks on top so it won't be long until we're happily munching on corn on the cob. The zucchini are plentiful and about 3 inches in length. I'd love to stuff and deep fry some of the flowers but when my cardiologist said to increase my vegetable intake I don't think that's what he had in mind. :-) The temperatures are increasing so it surprises me that the remaining lettuce is doing great.

The parsley we have growing in a big pot in the yard went to seed within weeks of breaking through the soil. I must have planted the seeds of a variety that doesn't like the hot Arizona spring because we usually have no issues growing parsley year round here. Ben uses lots of parsley in Chicken Piccata so we planted a bunch in a clay pot on the screen porch. It's cooler there because of the added shade and seems to happy in that spot. I am surprised the cats don't bother with it. I had to bribe Posh with some kitty treats to get her in this photo.

Danica Sue at Play

Photo op while plant shopping. . .

Went to A & P Nurseries to get some tomato and Italian parsley plants for the garden. We ran into this big guy sleeping the ornamental grass. He looked very comfortable.

A sad day. . .

I wanted to keep this blog as a fun and hopefully uplifting account of our lives. Sometimes you've just got to accept some bad with the good and yesterday was very bad. A sudden infection claimed the life of our little Chopper. Our wonderful vet, Dr. Funk, did what he could but bunnies are fragile creatures and go downhill quickly.

Since we have no children our animals are our babies and Chopper was no exception. He was pampered and spoiled and we loved him like crazy. Like all our other pets Chopper was a throw away that no one else wanted. He lived with us for a year and a half and he always brought smiles to everyone he met. Posh and Danica are meowing and looking all over for him. It's breaking my heart. I hope he felt the love we had for him during his much too brief time with us.

"All right Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my close-up!"

Salad from the garden

We grow the most beautiful and nutritious greens in the garden. Most get fed to Chopper but about once a week we put together a big salad with low fat dressing to share over dinner.

Radishes

Here are the radishes that I picked from the garden today. Love that purple one! Most of what we harvest is given to family, friends and coworkers. Today's bunch is going to Patrice. Chopper will be eating radish tops for dinner along with some red bell peppers. It's much cheaper to grow our own greens for him and I know they are organic.

Backyard Visitors

Now that the weather is warmer, the animals like to spend time on the porch watching the birds at the feeder and bird bath. Sometimes they get a visit from a friend. Chiquita stopped by to say hello today. She's a bit camera shy. Chiquita's mom is our neighbor Stephanie.

A Chopper Runs Through It

Chopper runs through the house with his favorite toy, the wrapper from a tube of Ritz Crackers. Last night we had a 2 hour game of "keep away" between Chopper and the kittens. Somehow the wrapper managed to survive intact. I have $$$ worth of animal toys and THIS is how they entertain themselves!

Merry Christmas!

Chopper supervises as Posh decorates for the holidays.

From our home to yours, Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday!

From The B Family - HuzBen, Leanna, Pearl, Foster, Chopper, Posh, and Danica

Buyer Beware

I took a trip to Joann's on Sunday to purchase some contrasting fabric for the pockets of an apron I'm making out of this fabric from my kitchen curtains.

On the remnants rack I can often find small amount of fabric at a big discount so that was my first stop. I didn't see anything that would work for the apron but I did spot a colorful fleece fabric, just perfect for a blanket for Chopper. This is what it looked like when it was all rolled up at the store. Cute, right?

Back in the quilting department I found a suitable fabric for the apron and I found an awesome flannel print that will be turned into a Christmas present for someone. (I'll post about that after the holidays) I took my purchases home and started to launder everything when I unwrapped the fleece for Chopper and discovered that it wasn't exactly what I thought.


OMG!!!

Even Danica had to get a look at it. I did not imagine there would be skulls all over the print. Skulls for my sweet little Chopper?! There is no way to return remnants so it looks like my bunny is going hardcore. At least he doesn't seem to mind.

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Today is one of those perfect Arizona days that we all moved here to enjoy. It's sunny but breezy and I have all the windows and doors open to enjoy the fresh air. Posh and Danica are in the window of the guest room looking at the sparrows chirping in the bougainvilla. When they get bored with the sparrows they run to the screen door and watch the hummingbirds in the front garden, flying around the lantana. Foster is out on the porch entertaining himself by watching the activity at bird bath in the backyard. Oh, the easy life of kitties!

Psalm 105:1-2 – "Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts."

Chopper's BunSpace

Yes, Chopper was a bit jealous of our MySpace and Facebook pages so we got him his own. I'm sure the cats will be complaining tomorrow that they feel left out.

Ugly Chair Becomes A Swan

Time to talk about Ugly Chair. Ugly Chair has been a fixture at our house for years. We found it beside an empty lot in downtown Mesa more years ago than I care to remember. It was peeking out of a big pile of junk that someone illegally dumped. We were driving by in the truck and I instantly recognized the sound bone structure and limitless potential in Ugly Chair. Ok, really - we just needed a chair for the porch where HuzBen could sit smoke his ciggies away from my asthmatic lungs. It fit our main criteria of not costing anything. I wanted to do the "green" thing by recycling someone else's junk. We took it home.

Ugly Chair spent the last several years going back and forth between the yard and the porch, depending on the weather and the need for space. It got to be sort of a joke that I never seemed to get around to refurbishing Ugly Chair. As rough on the eyes as the chair was, my husband put cardboard and newspapers on the seat, covered it with an old blanket and spent many confortable hours in Ugly Chair while reading on the porch.

When my mother would visit from New Jersey I would tell her about my grand plans to re-do the chair and make it presentable. Bless her heart my mother never has a cross word to say about anything but her eyes were saying "Seriously? Hello! Put that thing out at the curb where it belongs!" In direct contrast, my father actually said on many occasions, "Seriously? Hello! Put that thing out at the curb where it belongs!" And at least once he tried to do just that when I wasn't looking. If it wasn't for our superb neighborhood block watch I'm sure he would have snuck it off to the dump while I was in NYC.

That's all behind us now because this week Ugly Chair had it's makeover. I took a Home Depot gift certificate I'd been saving and I purchased some almond colored spray paint. Joann's had leather beading cord that I used to replace the leather strips that had rotted away. The folks at Mesa Sales helped me pick out a foam cushion and some marine grade thread for the seat and the pillow. The vinyl was found at a steal for 80% off when Hancock's closed a few months ago.

Ugly Chair is now back on the porch and HuzBen and the kitties are thriled with the makeover. While no one is going to mistake it for being redone by a professional, I think Ugly Chair approves.

Happy Birthday Chopper!

It's not exactly his birthday - we don't have any idea when he was born or how old he is. . . but this week it's one year from the day I found him in the front yard, lost and scared. Thankfully the family who mistreated him (according to the neighbors) never came looking for him and we've had him ever since. He'll always be our little Halloween bunny!

Cooler Weather = More Kniting!

The weather is beautiful today! Our doors are open and the porch got a much needed sweeping. Knitting and crochet projects are bought out of hiding when the weather cools off. I need to work on a scarf and maybe another tea cozy - you cannot have too many tea cozies! As you can tell, Posh appreciates a nice tea cozy too.