Budget Chicken Tractor

Earlier this month I found myself engaged in what has become a February ritual around here over the last ten years: kneeling in the middle of the crushed granite garden path trying to yank all the little clumps of fescue out of the ground before the warm temperatures cause them to go to seed and guarantee next year's spring weed crop. Suddenly I thought, "Wait a second...why am I doing this? I have chickens now and this is their job!"

In fact, the chickens have done a fantastic job keeping their fenced part of the yard free of the usual spring fescue carpet. I haven't seen any green weeds pop up at all, which tells me they must have gotten all the seeds before they even had a chance to germinate. Problem is, we can't let the chickens free range in the other part of the yard because they will hop into my veggie beds and eat all the tasty produce, therefore they haven't had a chance to scour the rest of the yard for weed seeds. The solution? Build a chicken tractor out of scrap supplies and use it to confine the chickens to the foot path where they will eat fescue to their heart's delight and do my weeding job for me at the same time.

There are endless design possibilities when it comes to chicken tractors. Since free sounded really good to us, we decided to let our scrap materials dictate the design. What we had on hand was a bunch of four-foot-tall green temporary fencing, lots of 1x2 redwood boards that had been part of an old patio cover, and enough random hardware (hinges, handles, etc) to finish the job. Mr. English used basic carpentry skills and tools to put together a box with a simple door at one end, and the whole thing took just a couple of hours to make.

Cutting the boards to size

Adding braces at the corners to strengthen the tractor

Extra long top rails serve as handles for moving the tractor

Basic door swings open at the end

Bellatrix and Professor McGonagall earning their keep

So far so good! At first the chickens weren't too keen on being in the tractor, but they got used to it quickly and have almost completely taken care of the weed problem on the path in the picture above. Even though they're only in there for short periods of time (less than an hour), we added a water dish so their needs are met. We also added a simple hook latch on either end of the door, because we discovered the chickens could push their way out if they really wanted to.

We've found we need to pay attention to laying times--each time we've put Bellatrix in the tractor she has let us know within a half hour that she wants out to go lay an egg. It's best if the chickens go in after they've produced the day's egg, so they don't get stressed about it.

Can't wait to move this thing to other parts of the yard, so the chickens can take over even more of the weeding chores!

February is All About Seeds

Aaaack! How is it already the end of the second week of February? The fact that my most recent blog post title has the word Christmas in it is evidence enough that I've been in a state of semi-hibernation for the last couple of months, at least when it comes to the blog and only slightly less so when it comes to the urban homestead. But suddenly it's nearly 70 degrees out and spring seems to be right around the corner (or already here)--it's time to emerge from the cave of December and January and get back to work on the mini farm in earnest.

I haven't been a total slacker this winter, though. I did manage to browse the January seed catalogs, which if I'm honest is not really work and is actually just an excuse to salivate over new veggie varieties and dream about a bigger gardening space. I even got my seed order taken care of and a couple of seed trays sown. Incidentally, there's still plenty of time to sow seeds for your summer garden in Davis. If you don't want to wait for a catalog, just grab some seed at one of the local nurseries or even at the Davis Food Coop, which sells Redwood Seed Company (Tehama County, CA) seeds. Or, you could attend the Spring Seed & Culture Swap hosted by the Davis Seed Savers Alliance this Sunday from 11am-2pm, at Sunwise Co-op in Village Homes.

Catalogs from my favorite seed houses

Box of summer seeds, some old and some new

This time of year I'm very thankful for my greenhouse. Before it was installed I started seeds on the countertop in the laundry room, with great results but at the expense of space available to complete basic household chores. It's nice not to be in that situation anymore. An indoor light setup might mean seeds germinate a bit faster than they do in the greenhouse, which still gets pretty cold at night, but I'm happy to wait an extra week for germination if it means my laundry room is available for, well...laundry. Besides, on these sunny days the greenhouse gets much warmer than the inside of the house, about 85 degrees today, so maybe there's no lag time in germination after all.

So far I've sown only the real heat lovers--peppers, tomatoes and eggplant--plus a bunch of flowers and another round of lettuces.

Seeds started in the greenhouse

"Gourmet" variety of bell peppers, already germinated

Next on the seed-starting list will be lots more flowers, more beets, spinach and chard, and this summer's crop of basil, other herbs, cucumbers, melons and summer squash. Charlie took charge of the radishes and sprinkled those throughout the garden last week, right after another round of carrots went in. Corn and beans will go directly in the ground in April, and I'll direct sow winter squash (grown in summer in spite of the name) shortly after that.

Winter crops have been trucking right along these past few months without any help from me. Spinach, chard and kale plants are now thriving and supplying us with the raw materials for hearty soups and salads. Merida overwintering carrots are sizing up nicely, shelling peas are thriving and will be harvested in April, and several beds are filled with the all-important onion and garlic crops that will be picked and cured from May (onions) to June or July (garlic). These goodies are spread throughout the front, side and back yard growing areas, but here's a peek at what the back looks like this month:

Backyard raised beds (click for a larger version)

One thing I experimented with last fall was Crimson Clover as a cover crop. I'd never grown "green manure" before, and I've been happy with the results so far. The bed in the left foreground in the above picture was full of lush clover until I cut it last month and turned it into the soil (I guess I did something in the garden this winter.) Now it's full of decaying organic matter and a fresh blast of nitrogen, and will be ready to plant with seedlings soon.

All in all, February feels good, in spite of the moment of oh-my-gosh-it's-February! panic. I feel like an expectant mother, obsessively watching my seed trays for signs of newborn sprouts or babying my still-emerging pepper seedlings with afternoon mistings from the water bottle and constant management of greenhouse temperatures.

How is February going for you?

Christmas Cabbage (and Cabbageworms)

On the first day of Christmas my garden gave to me, a cabbage for Caldo Verde.

On December 24th we harvested this beauty from the brassica bed along with some kale, sliced up a chorizo, and transformed it all into a traditional Portugese soup. Because it was a red cabbage, the Caldo Verde turned out more like a Caldo Verde y Rojo, but no matter.

Ruby ball cabbage

Caldo Verde--"green broth" in Portugese--is often made with collard greens, but many people substitute kale. Potatoes are another main ingredient. The soup is commonly served at Portugese celebrations, and given that Mr. English has some Portugese roots, it was a fitting Christmas Eve meal for our family. We served it with roasted garlic and dry jack toasts, for a hearty and filling night-before-Christmas dinner. The next day it made a perfect Christmas Day lunch.

The chickens got a Christmas present as well this week. For reasons I can't understand, given that I haven't seen a live cabbage butterfly in the yard for at least two months, there are still loads of cabbage butterfly worms on my cabbage plants. Those eggs must have a long shelf life! Even with the near-freezing nighttime temperatures we've been having, these worms somehow survive tucked up against the ribs of the cabbage leaves.

Cabbage worm on a cabbage leaf in late December

I collected a nice handful for the chickens, who are always eager to snap them up. The chickens have been confined to their run more than usual lately with all the downpours we've had, and they haven't had much foraging time, so I'm sure they really enjoyed the "verme verde".

Chicken snacks

Yum!

It's quiet in the garden this time of year. That's a good thing, not only because the rain makes me want to stay inside with a cuppa hot cocoa and a bowl of buttered popcorn, but also because I started working part-time in the classroom last month. I haven't had as much time to work in the yard (or write about it!) as I get a handle on my new responsibilities and get to know my students. By the time I'm really settled in next month, it will be perfect timing to think about starting seeds for next year's veggies.

In the meantime, kale and spinach are ready to harvest as needed, carrots and lettuce are growing slowly, garlic and onions are coming along, red clover is doing its job covering otherwise resting beds and providing greens for the chickens, and a bounty of shelling peas are in the forecast for spring. All that means I can take a worry-free break from the garden this week, enjoy time with family and friends, and make plans for the New Year.

Happy holidays, and I hope you're getting some rest this winter season, too!

Banyan Café: Curried Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

Butternut squash is plentiful and cheap this month and is the perfect veggie to make into a quick, frugal and cozy soup during this cold, rainy weather. Farmers markets are full of winter squash and if you're in Davis, Nugget Market has organic, local butternut on sale this week for $0.75 per pound. Better yet, you might already have a harvest basket full of butternuts in storage, in which case your main ingredient is free.

Butternut squash from the garden

Growing our own squash (and onions and garlic) means this soup costs us just pennies per serving. The grocery store supplied the chicken stock, cream, butter, celery, apple and spices (under $2 if you portion it out.) Once our newly-planted apple trees start producing, I'll have the apples on hand, too. For stock, I buy organic Better than Bouillon at Costco, which means the 4 cups called for in this recipe cost a total of about 30 cents. The most expensive thing in the soup is the cream, and you can leave that out if you're allergic to dairy or want a lighter soup.

Gather:

1 yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 T butter
1 T curry powder
1 clove garlic, minced
1 two-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded & cubed (save seeds for roasting)
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
4 to 4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Put it together:

Melt the butter in a large soup pot on medium heat and saute the onion and celery until soft (don't brown), about 10 minutes. Add curry and garlic and saute for 1-2 more minutes. Add the squash, apples and 4 cups of stock to the pot; bring to a boil and then turn the heat to low/med-low, cover and simmer until squash and apples are soft (about 20 minutes).

Turn off the heat and use a stick blender to blend the soup in the pot (or carefully transfer small amounts to a blender and blend, returning to a large bowl or pot.) Add cream and stir. Adjust the thickness as desired by adding 1/4 cup more of broth at a time. Salt and pepper to taste. Makes about six dinner servings, more as a first course.

Curried butternut squash and apple soup

Enjoy!

Don't Throw Out Those Cute Little Pumpkins!

Was your Thanksgiving table decorated with pretty little orange pumpkins this year? Have you had a small collection of squash welcoming visitors on your front porch since Halloween? Are you done with them now? Wait! Don't throw them away! You can eat those things, you know.

Walking through the neighborhood, I keep seeing groups of small pumpkins sitting in the gutter or perched on top of leaf piles in the street, waiting to be picked up by Davis Waste Removal and taken to the landfill. I'm not talking moldy, old carved jack-o-lanterns here, but whole, unblemished and still perfectly good fruit that in many cases would make a tasty pumpkin pie (or two or three).

Good pumpkins in a leaf pile

Those big pumpkins we all buy for carving at the end of October aren't the best for eating (except maybe for the seeds), but the small sugar pumpkin varieties are grown for just that. Their flesh has a light, flaky texture perfect for turning into dessert, as opposed to the stringy insides of a large carving pumpkin. There's a good chance those 1 to 3 pound little pumpkins you bought to set on the mantel this month are good eatin'.

Pumpkins will stay fresh for at least a month and up to two depending on storage conditions. Ones that have been sitting on a shaded porch out of the rain and in the mild temperatures we've been having are probably fine. I just pulled two off our porch last night and baked them in preparation for some pie making.

Lil' Pump-ke-mon Hybrid (l) and Sugar Pumpkin (r)

With pumpkins this small, I remove the skin like I would do with an orange. Slice off the top and bottom, stand the squash back up on the now-flat bottom, and then take off the skin by curving your knife down the sides of the pumpkin the same way you would cut the peel off an orange. Then cut the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds and pulp, and cube.

Cubes of fresh pumpkin

For a side dish, I prefer nearly-dry roasting because it browns and carmelizes the cubes and brings out the sugar. For baking (including freezing for use later in pies) I prefer to spread the cubes in a single layer in a baking dish, add a 1/4 inch of water to the bottom of the dish, and cover. 15-30 minutes in a 400 degree oven will do the trick, with larger chunks taking more time. When they're done, just cool, mash and use or freeze.

Of course some people think the best part of the pumpkin is the seeds, and my sugar pumpkins had loads of them. Some of what I baked yesterday I had just pulled off the vine, and I couldn't believe how easy it was to extract the seeds. None of that sticky, slimy mess you get when trying to remove seeds from a carving pumpkin. I'm not sure if it was the variety or the fact that I had just clipped it from the plant, but separating those seeds was a breeze and they were very clean. To roast them, toss with a small amount of oil, salt to your liking, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet, and put in a 250 degree oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Seeds from sugar pumpkins, before roasting

So go rescue your cute, little pumpkins right now! With a bit of work you can have a pumpkin pie on the counter and some crunchy, tasty and healthy snacks for the lunch box.