Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Claudia & Linda" <dragonhill2@netzero.net>]

Gail, I'm sorry to tell you that if you let your chickens free range in your 
garden, they will not only eat your leafy greens, they will eat your peas 
and anything else that strikes their fancy.  They will also scratch up all 
your beautiful beds and enjoy taking dust baths in the nice fluffy dirt. 
Better to let your chickens free-range outside your garden.

We planted lettuce, carrots, chard and, of course, garlic, last fall.  We 
kept it covered with floating row covers during freezing weather and snow 
and it continued to grow very slowly all winter.  As soon as we were able to 
uncover it, (late Feb) it took off.  We were eating chard within a week and 
lettuce shortly thereafter.  The rest of our garden was much delayed getting 
in by the return of cold weather but the chard and lettuce have survived 
admirably.  The garlic didn't need any protection and it looks as if we're 
going to have a bumper crop.

Claudia
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gail Hoskisson Loper" <loghillgail@msn.com>
To: "LOL" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 6:09 PM
Subject: [Livingontheland] Question About Chickens


> Ahhhhh!
>
> It's such a good feeling to finally get some seeds in the soil.  Only 15
> square feet in a raised bed but it still feels really good to get my hands
> in that rich soil and think about how good those freshly picked salads are
> going to taste in a few weeks.
>
> Several varieties of lettuce, carrots, swiss chard, diakon and red 
> radishes,
> green onions and endive are just waiting to sprout. Last year that bed was
> dedicated to peas so the soils should be just right for all those leafy
> greens.
>
> Dear husband was also out there building a chicken house for the baker's
> dozen chicks we have here in the house, in a large cardboard box.  The
> chicken house will have to be in the garden surrounded by an 8 foot fence 
> to
> keep the deer out of the vegetables and the coyotes and bobcats away from
> the chickens.
>
> When he gardened in Iowa he had chickens on the farm that free ranged.  He
> doesn't remember having any problems with the chickens bothering his
> vegetables,  However, he didn't grow the leafy greens that I grow.
>
> Our plan is to let the chickens free range within the fenced garden.  My
> question is will I have problems with the chickens eating my leafy greens?
>
> Thanks for any info you might share.
>
> Ahhhhh!  Ahhhhh!  Ahhhhh-choooo!  The pollen levels are sky high this
> spring.
>
> Gail
>
>
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