Every fall I wait for the grapevines by the garden to change into brilliant fall colors. Years ago, I planted two small grapes on either side of the gate to the garden. Over time, they have grown up over the rebar arch and have made a lovely shaded entrance.
During the summer, the vines are thick with grapes. Last summer, I thought I would be all Martha Stewart-y and cut the grapes and do something lovely with them. I’m sure the wind was blowing through my hair as I sort of skipped to the garden :). As I was poised to cut a large cluster of grapes, a swarm of bees flew out into my face, and stung me on the nose. If you’ve ever been stung on the nose before, it’s quite the experience. I started uncontrollably sneezing, my eyes were watering so much that I could hardly see to stumble away and get into the house. My nose got rather large and I looked like Jimmy Durante for a few days. The children thought it was funny. So much for my Martha Stewart moment. So, the grapes now stay on the vine.
Last week I went out to the garden and was completely shocked because the grape vine looked completely dead!
Upon closer inspection, I found hundreds of black and yellow caterpillars. They had eaten all the green parts of the leaves and left the veins only.
Reluctantly, I hand picked off the bugs and filled a big plastic cup with the little boogers. They are called the Western Grape Skeletonizer and the caterpillars line up and feed in groups, creating a net-like appearance. Gross. These are the larvae to the adult moth, which is blue-black and about 1/2″ long. The adults produce masses of yellow eggs in early May. I must remember to look for these next spring and destroy any I see.
So, no fall colors from the grapevines this year 🙁 Thankfully I have a picture from the previous year…
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Raising Chickens
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Raising chickens does not take a great deal of maintenance. Providing a shelter, food and room to range is about all that they need. One of our original reasons we have chickens is to manage the bug population here on our property. Since Bella Terra was in a deteriorated and overgrown state for many decades, the bugs moved in and stayed. Chickens and guinea hens do a natural job of pest control. To see read more about our home restoration process, click here.
Hen House Design
Initially our chickens and guinea hens would freely ambled around the yard. And then we got a dog…who liked licking the chickens in places I don’t want to mention. And he would chase the chickens, surely thinking they were his new toys. Coupled with birds of prey and coyotes, it was evident that we needed to secure our birds. So I designed our hen house, which sits between the garden and barn.
The interior of the hen house is a mirror image of itself. This symmetrical layout is to have the ability to utilize both sides independently-for an injured chicken, or baby chicks. There is definitely a pecking order, so it’s difficult to safely put chickens of different sizes and ages together.
Inside the hen house
Each side of the hen house has access to the nesting boxes where we gather eggs daily. The blue rolling tubs contain the chicken scratch and feed.
Handle to the nesting box
Fun themed handles add a bit of whimsy to the building.
At dusk, the chickens march their way inside the hen house, where they roost for the night. If we sense any predators finding their way into the screened-in area, we can secure the door for additional protection. Currently the 9′ x 12′ hen house can easily accommodate 25 – 30 chickens.
Security door
Outside Run
There is an outside run in the back so the chickens can free range safely. Here is where the food and water is located. The ground is dirt which allows the chickens to bury themselves during the heat of the day. Also these dust baths are a natural way the chickens get rid of any body bugs.
Today, we have 14 chickens (and one duck) and a variety of breeds-brown, white and blue/green egg layers.
Since our sweet chickens provide us with the best tasting, fresh eggs, we, in turn give them treats and high quality food.
Being located right next to my vegetable garden, often the chickens get Swiss chard and other greens. During the hot summer months, frozen corn, peas, squash and chilled watermelon are favorite snacks.
We also feed them black soldier fly larvae by Grubblies. These treats provide protein and calcium and the chickens LOVE them! And they are made in the USA and can be found here.
Bedding
I am experimenting with a mixture of dried flowers and herbs to add to the nesting boxes. Inspired by Lisa from Fresh Eggs Daily, this mixture is instrumental in keeping the hen house bug free. And who wouldn’t love laying eggs on rose petals?
Pot pourri for the nesting boxes
To line the bedding boxes and flooring, we alternate between straw, hay and alfalfa. The straw is changed out weekly or as needed.
Access to the nesting boxes
And by the way, we only have our chickens for the eggs, not meat.
Egg Laying
During the year, the chickens lay the most eggs in the Spring and Fall. The hot summers slow down the process. In the winter, a hen needs 14 hours of daylight in order to lay an egg daily. We do have a light to illuminate the hen house during the winter months.
Do all chickens lay eggs? The answer is no. Only hens (females) lay eggs and they do not need a rooster (male) to do so. When a rooster is introduced into the flock, then you can get baby chicks from a fertilized egg laid by the hen. Certain types of chickens lay more or less eggs than others.
If you are considering raising your own chickens, check with your local government to make sure you are allowed to do so. Here in Phoenix, you can have hens, but no roosters are allowed within the City limits.
Baby chicks can be sourced locally or online. Our latest batch of chicks are from McMurray Hatchery. Through this website you can choose different attributes like the type of chicken, egg color, and age. Seems a bit strange to get a box of live baby chickens in the mail, but that is how it is done.
I cannot say enough about fresh eggs. They taste better. Unlike the eggs you buy commercially, we retain the protective coating on the outside of the eggs and wash them prior to use. Ours are always fresh and delicious.
To read more about chickens, here is a post of frequently asked questions.
Happy Wednesday, my sweet friends! Tomorrow my son arrives home and I cannot wait. There is something about having the family together that just feels right.
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Planting Vegetables and Herbs
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My vegetable garden is comprised of 5 raised beds made from concrete blocks and edged with brick. I like raised beds because it’s easier on the back and you can control the condition of the soil. The PVC pipes are hooped over the beds to allow for bird netting or shade cloth to protect the plants. My garden is adjacent to the hen house where abundant crops can be fed to willing chickens.
When vegetable planting in the fall, I generally use a combination of plants and seeds. For example, I have never grown strawberries from seeds. Some of my herbs are perennial so they regenerate themselves year after year. I still haven’t figured out the right number of plants to produce the right amount of vegetables for my family. One year, I stopped counting after picking the 85th eggplant. You can only donate so many eggplants before your friends stop taking your phone calls. Another year, as an experiment for the children, we left the zucchini on the vine to grow and grow-one ending up with a final weight of 8 lbs. Big photo op.
Growing food is a bit hit and miss-all your good intentions can change based on the weather, critters, soil conditions and water. But the joy of picking something you have started is very rewarding….and it tastes so much better than store-bought produce.
Two weeks earlier, I amended my soil with our own compost made from recycled kitchen and yard waste. I do this to let the soil settle in. Composting adds a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers. It’s free, easy to make and good for the environment. Here is more information on composting.
I purchased the plants at Whitfill Nurseryand was pleased to see a very large selection of non-GMO (non-genetically modified) plants. Here’s the list of vegetables I planted last weekend: Tomatoes- Roma, Sweet 100s, Early Girl; brussels sprouts, spinach, romaine lettuce, Boston lettuce, arugula, strawberries (Eversweet), radicchio. Herbs: garlic chives, Italian basil, cilantro, and dill. I already have an abundance of rosemary, marjoram and mint.
My kale, bell peppers and a few heirloom tomato plants survived the summer. We are a bit “kaled-out” so the chickens get to enjoy the balance.
It was the perfect morning to go to my favorite nursery to select flowers for the planters and vegetables for the garden. We love to go to Whitfill Nursery, not only because it is close to our home, but it is family-owned and has operated in Phoenix for over six decades. It’s a delightful place to be this time of year. Once you enter their property you feel transformed to another place that inspires you with all things Fall!
Whitfill just received a shipment of new items this morning so it was busy with like-minded souls wanting to finally plant after our long, hot summer.
They had a gorgeous selection of geraniums in reds and corals and numerous selections of annuals and perennials in a variety of colors.
Our front planter,which has an eastern exposure, is in desperate need of color. In front of the raised planter, we have a row of Purple Heart plants (Setcreasea) which helped determine our color scheme of pink, lavender, crimson and white. We selected plants of varying heights to create interest and depth.
For the back row, we picked Lavender Laceleaf (full sun to light shade) which will grow up to 3 feet.
Two different color snapdragons, Sonnet Carmine and Liberty Classic Crimson will go in front of the lavender. Both have a growing height of 18″to 24″.
The front two rows will be an assortment of petunias in a deep purple, white, bright pink and dark fuscia. Allysum in white and lavender will edge the borders.
If you would like to know what flowers to plant now or over the course of a year, I always reference the Bedding Planting Guide for the Valley of the Sun. I don’t recall where I got this, but I use it every year and have made numerous copies for friends. Here it is: beddingplantingguide.
Happy Planting! Tomorrow I hope to start my vegetable garden!!
Whitfill just received a shipment of new items this morning so it was busy with like-minded souls wanting to finally plant after our long, hot summer.
They had a gorgeous selection of geraniums in reds and corals and numerous selections of annuals and perennials in a variety of colors.
