June 11, 2011 Ameraucana Hen “Tulip” is Sick Our gentle Tulip, the Ameraucana hen, is sick. Several days ago, I noticed that some of the feathers on her back had been picked…
March 2, 2011 Time to Plant on the Central Coast? I haven’t begun planting seeds this year. I’ve weeded and created drainage ditches for runoff. I’ve also been playing with, training, and walking those…
June 12, 2010 Thinning Low Chill Apples June is a good time along the coast to thin apples on your apple trees. Cutting off the 1″ apples growing in clusters (after…
February 17, 2010 Harvesting Worm Castings from Bins I finally got around to harvesting worm compost from my worm bins on this beautiful sunny day. I’ve begun spring planting and I need…
January 27, 2010 Designing a Space for Chickens We do not live on a farm, nor do we want to turn over our garden to foraging chickens, so we designed a small…
January 22, 2010 Choosing the Right Breed of Chickens Deciding which breeds of chickens you want for your backyard chicken project is a pretty important decision. There are books and magazine articles on…
January 15, 2010 Chicks Need a Brooder Brooders can be exotic or as simple as you want, and chicks are not particular if you keep in mind their basic needs.
January 14, 2010 Thinking of Getting Chickens? There has been a movement in recent years to raise a few chickens in the backyards of both city and suburban dwellers. Producing your…
November 10, 2009 Harvesting and Using Worm Castings After your “red wigglers” have digested the bedding and food scraps you have fed them (usually about 6 months) you should have enough castings…
September 28, 2009 A Love-Hate Relationship with Nature Like many gardeners, I have a love-hate relationship with nature. While I enjoy observing and just “being” in the garden, I struggle with my…