Pumpkin Made From a Book, Deep Litter Method For Chickens

Pumpkin Made From a Book-
What a great idea!!! Book Page Pumpkin  I love both versions... and I'll make one soon...



Deep Litter Method For Chickens-
I tried using straw for bedding in our urban chicken coop early on, but quickly switched to the Deep Litter Method. It's inexpensive, requires little labor, has no odor, is healthy for the chickens and is biodegradable in the garden. What's not to love? Pine shaving in a bale are about $10.00 here, enough for a full cleaning, we just add a little extra. So for about $11.00 you can use it for about 3-4 months. Over time we add another inch or two in the main coop and the upper "condo area" and nesting boxes. I clean the condo and nesting boxes daily, or every other day. Dave emptied the coop today, spread in the garden, all done! Nice and fresh and clean. It's pretty dirty/dusty, but it's only done 3-4 times a year. It took about an hour.

Bottoms up! Molly and Little Blackie (formerly Rose) in the garden during coop cleaning

 Rosie on bug patrol, my little tough girl the only survivor from my original flock.

I covered a Papa Murphy's Big Pep pizza with my tomatoes and a little fresh basil :) Wow, that was GOOD!

1st Freeze, Fall Colors, Charlotte- Claim Your Prize!

 

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1st Freeze-
We finally had our first freeze warning last night, more to come tonite. We woke up to 36 degrees this morning after a cold front blew thru. I actually wore a flannel shirt to my inservice today! I was hoping we would have a few more weeks for the tomatoes/peppers to ripen. I didn't want to risk losing them, so I picked them all. I covered the basil, to see if I can wait til the weekend to make the last pesto for the freezer.

Mostly ripe

These will slowly ripen inside on the counter under the lights

Fall Colors-
With the weather starting to finally cool off (65 today) I start thinking about winterizing the house- closing the foundation vents, we'll deep clean the coop this weekend and put back up the "sun room" for the girls. I also re-do some things around the house- wash the heavy comforter at the laundry, put out heavier sheets. A couple of days ago I put away my summery decor things and broke out my fall stuff. I swapped my summer flowers, for instance, with some fall goodies on my kitchen counter, just a little taste-

I'll probably buy some small pumpkins this weekend and get those out. Luckily I'm off tomorrow on a "furlough day" from work, so I can get a head start....

 Charlotte- Claim Your Prize!-
Charlotte of My Moody Farm won the Blogversary, please contact me with a shipping address. If I don't hear from you by Monday the 8th, I'll pass it on to another contestant. Sorry, gotta get the box sent off....

Blogversary Giveaway Winner Is..., Veggie Garden Review For Next Year

The 200th Post Blogversary Giveaway Winner Is...-
 Charlotte of My Moody Farm! Charlotte- I couldn't find a link to contact you, so please contact ME with a shipping address. Thanks to all with your comments. I'll do another giveaway when I reach 75 followers, so send some friends here :)

Veggie Garden Review For Next Year-
I'm reviewing things and ready for winter.  It was so incredibly HOT here and I got so sick of watering, and the really late harvest. The new plan- no grape/cherry tomatoes/eggplants, as they took to long to fruit, and little harvest. They were also too tall and rangy. Did great with the other tomatoes- paste, yellow and medium varieties. Planted too many hot peppers, plant more tomatoes next year. No more cabbage, took to long and ate up space, but did well with the collard greens, they are awesome! It's good to review what worked and what didn't for better use of space next year....