St. George’s Day – April 23rd

Having paid attention to St. David and St. Patrick on earlier posts, next up (and a little belatedly) is St. George, the Patron Saint of England as well as a few other places such as Germany and Georgia (as in former Soviet Union rather than the Bulldogs) and of soldiers, farmers, and sufferers of leprosy, plague and syphilis.  I have just realized I belong to three of these groups and before you think the worst, they are born in England, former soldier and current farmer.   St. George is also the patron saint of archers which underscores these famous lines from Henry V, Act 3, Scene 1:

'I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit; and, upon this charge
Cry God for Harry, England and St George!'

One cannot mention Henry V without thinking of the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 where 6,000 English defeated 30,000 French (yes, thirty thousand) with the English longbows playing a key role in the battle.  Anyway, I digress; enough of the good old days. 

An early source suggests St. George was a Roman soldier of noble birth put to death under the Emperor Diocietian at Nicomedia on April 23, 303 for protesting the persecution of Christians.  George was adopted as patron saint of soldiers after he appeared to the Crusader army at the Battle of Antioch in 1098.  The banner of St. George, the red martyr’s cross against a white background, became the uniform of the English under Richard I and later became the flag of England.  George became the Patron Saint of England by the end of the fourteenth century. 

One of the myths surrounding St. George is the slaying of the dragon.  There are no dragons at Hereward Farm but there is a dog (or dogs) that killed 11 chickens this week out in the orchard.  Roosters Harold and Edward met their end and it looked like Harold had put up a respectable fight (like his namesake).  The other rooster in the orchard ended up jumping a fence into the chick coop and survived (perhaps a French name for this rooster is in order?).  Five bodies were found strewn across the orchard with enough feathers to stuff a duvet.  The remaining chickens were either taken or met their grisly end in the woods.  This is the second time a dog has got to the chickens.  As a dog owner myself, I am loath to hurt one but the next dog I see on the property will be through the cross-hairs of my scope…  

Body Count: Five bodies found.  Here are Harold, an ISA hen, two Barred Rock hens and a young Barred Rock rooster.  There's about 50 lb of chicken here and nearly a hernia taking them out to the trash.

The Garden

Despite all the best intentions, the early focus on the chickens, pigs, rabbits, and most recently ducks, meant the garden took a back seat.  Based on my reading, other people transitioning to a similar lifestyle have fallen into the same trap (so much for learning!).  That being said, the garden did get a good start last winter with the chickens and pigs helping out with some tilling and some garlic, onions, leeks and shallots were planted.  Since last winter a four foot tall 4x2 wire fence was put around the garden along with some barbed wire at the top and an electric wire approx. 6 inches off the ground.  When deer become a problem the electric fence can be extended up to 8 foot high. 

As winter transitioned to summer (there wasn’t really a spring) the brown turned to green and everything started growing (well, the grass and the weeds mainly). So, the last month was a hive of activity in the garden in an attempt to play catch up.  So far, no major disasters and currently growing are sweet corn, field corn, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes turnips, pumpkins, squash, peas, beans, lettuce, sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, stacks of tomatoes, peppers and a small patch of strawberries.  Some inherited asparagus already growing was rescued and the crowns transplanted.  Sunflowers are growing nicely too.  There is also a small herb garden near the kitchen full of the typical kitchen herbs.

The herb garden

Feeling reasonably satisfied with the progress (even if a little late getting started); so far the learning has been as follows:

As stated on an earlier post – you can never have enough compost

The areas that were tilled and built into raised beds are now full of grass and weeds requiring intense weeding.  The areas where the pigs were kept and then made into raised beds have no weeds – the pigs ate everything.  The pigs will play a greater role in the garden.

The following picture shows the extent of the weeds and grass growing in and around the cultivated areas where the preparation involved only tilling a few times. 

The garden helpers.  This is a mobile pen comprised of four 16 foot cattle panels held in place by T-posts and karabiners.  This is located inside the garden.  The small pigs are kept here and the pen is moved around.  The pigs have been in their current location for less than two weeks and already nothing much is growing.  BTW, these pigs are for hire in case anyone has an inconvenient corpse to dispose of (please remove teeth first).

Rabbit manure is a wonderful addition to the soil but the rabbits are kept a decent distance from the garden.  This requires wheel-barrowing rabbit manure across the property – a less than pleasurable experience, especially if the wind is blowing from the wrong direction.

Similarly, the garden equipment was originally stored a long walk from the garden in the workshop. Out of laziness (justified as efficiency) tools and equipment are left out overnight either unprotected or covered by the ever-versatile blue tarp.  A shed needs to be built adjacent to the garden.  This would double as a feed store for the chickens (freeing up the front porch) and possibly a home for the rabbits.  This will be the next major project.

The mulching of the winter garlic helped.  Very little weeds compared to some of the onions that were not mulched.

Copious amounts of water are needed for the garden.  Fortunately there is a faucet in the field adjacent to the garden.  Without commercially available water it could be pumped from the creek and/or pond but this would be a much more complicated and time-consuming task.

With the ultra-mild winter ticks are already a major problem.  Thirty guinea fowl are arriving the week after next.  Guinea fowl eat ticks but are supposed to leave your plants alone.  More on that in a future post.

A lot of planning went into the garden – what was growing there before, rotation, slope, sunlight, companion planting, etc.  However, little thought went into the walkways.   As a consequence there are some areas quite narrow and difficult to access with the right equipment.  Broken down cardboard boxes work well as a pathway and keep the grass/weeds from coming through.

More updates on the garden later.

The Duck Hut

Having added to the Aylesbury ducks with some Mallard and Pekin ducklings, it was time build a more permanent duck hut.  While the Aylesbury ducks were temporarily living in the chick area, a fenced duck run was built out of 4x2 wire.  The perimeter of the run is 100 feet.  Despite the run being fenced and inside the orchard that is itself surrounded by an electric fence, the ducks still need to be shut up at night to be safe from predators.  The hut needed to be large enough to house a number of large ducks, be robust enough for predator protection and be adequately ventilated for the hot summer months.  

Looking at some of the designs on the internet it is evident that some people have way too much time on their hands.  Rather than building something resembling the Taj Mahal, a simple 4x4 square frame design was used. Dog-eared fence boards were used on most of the outside since a small gap could be left between each board to allow ventilation.  The same boards were used on the floor so that predators could not bury underneath.  Plywood was also used on two of the sides and a large door was built to allow for easy cleaning (a lesson learned from one of the earlier chicken coops).  The roof has a gradual slope to allow for a modest drain and an overhang shelters the feed container from the rain.  This makes feeding easier.  Pressed wood covered by roofing felt and then corrugated tin constituted the roof.  The design also allowed for a ventilated panel at the front to help with airflow.

The ducks seem happy enough with their hut.  Initially the Aylesbury ducks were by themselves.  Then five of the Mallard ducklings were moved out on an accelerated schedule - they were making such a mess in my office it made the chicks look like they were house pets.  While the Mallards kept away from the Aylesbury ducks they all go in the hut at night.  Getting the ducks into the hut requires a little more wrangling than chickens.  

The following pics show the hut being built on site.  Some of the materials were recycled but most were bought new.  The total material cost was around $150 (excluding the obligatory $10 child swimming pool sold at WalMart.  This hut was definitely built to last.  This is just as well since now it is built, the hut is too big to fit through the gate of the run - a slight oversight in the design process!

A simple frame design.

The Barred Rock chicks from last year are now fully grown and look on with disinterest.

 Dog-eared boards being screwed on.  A small gap enables good ventilation.

The extra overhang created by the roofing tin provided a sheltered storage area.