Henhouse #7 – A Work of Art

  • Post published:10/18/2011
  • Post comments:2 Comments

When I was about halfway through my Henhouse Series, a friend said I had to visit Cosima. Her henhouse was a Taj Mahal of henhouses she said. Look here and you can see the center posts that is key in holding up the green roof. When I finally visited Cosima I had to agree. Her henhouse is a work of art. She said they built this cordwood  masonry henhouse using Robert L. Roy's books and that this is actually…

Henhouse #6

  • Post published:10/10/2011
  • Post comments:3 Comments

There was nothing photogenic about our chores this glorious autumn weekend - mowing, weeding, cutting back - so I'll concentrate on an exploration of another Heath henhouse.  Joey built, overbuilt he said, this 10x12 foot henhouse for his ten hens. You can see he has a lot of help! He read a lot and looked at a lot of henhouses, and talked to a lot of people before he built his. The forethought shows. His luck shows too.…

Faster and Faster

  • Post published:05/30/2011
  • Post comments:3 Comments

The Holiday Weekend started for me on Friday afternoon when I visited the Heath School's Garden Day. The classes have been working before now, of course, but on Garden Day, the whole day is given over to planting, weeding, mulching - and learning.  I am impressed with their energy, which I expected, but also with the quality of the child-sized tools they are using.  Many hands make light work was certainly the motto on Friday. You may wonder…

Eggs-ellent Days

  • Post published:04/21/2011
  • Post comments:4 Comments

For several days the weather has been chilly, raw, showery, rainy and generally unpleasant. Not gardening weather. We all know we cannot dig wet soil.   However, the chickens remain cheerful and production continues. They are happy to stay inside, maybe because they know I'll give them an extra small ration of cracked corn. Don't forget tomorrow is the last day you can enter the Give Away drawing for Starter Vegetable Gardens by Barbara Pleasant. Just click here…

New Technology in the Hen House

  • Post published:03/23/2011
  • Post comments:6 Comments

It is very hard to get a good photo of the chickens drinking at their new  Avian Aqua Miser waterer, but the first chicken on the right had been drinking and the second chicken on the right is still taking  good long sip.  What you cannot see in the photo are the little 'nipples' that work on a similar principle to a hamster waterer.  The 5 gallon bucket has water and the chickens  poke at the nipples that release…

Snow – And Blood

  • Post published:02/25/2011
  • Post comments:8 Comments

The snow was falling when I woke.  I hope this is the first of the four final snowstorms predicted for this winter. While the snow is beautiful, the view inside the hen house was not as lovely.  For the third morning in a row I went out to find a dead chicken, killed by a weasel. I don't know if it is possible to keep a determined and hungry weasel out of a hen house. I will spare…

Making the Ascent…

  • Post published:01/13/2011
  • Post comments:5 Comments

Snowstorm!   The chickens can't wait... I wish I had a portable chicken house! No joke.

Most Viewed Posts 2010

  • Post published:01/04/2011
  • Post comments:5 Comments

As I review and renew in my garden, I thought I ought to look back at the year on the commonweeder.  The 5 most popular posts were not what I expected. In February Mycotecture got many visitors - and continues to be visited. In March the New York Times had an article about Femivores, women who love their chickens too much. Or something like that. I have chickens so I had to comment. Chickens - and their houses…

Hen House #5

  • Post published:12/30/2010
  • Post comments:2 Comments

When Doug moved to Heath his property came with a big barn, but the only livestock he planned on was chickens.  When he moved his office into the barn he had that space insulated. He also insulated the area where the chickens lived. Only in the ceiling can you see the insulation but it is also behind the wooden walls. Chickens don't need this kind of comfort, but I'm sure they appreciate it.  Even the door to the…

A Treeful of Memories

  • Post published:12/23/2010
  • Post comments:4 Comments

The tree is up and decorated.  Each year I get so much pleasure and I add each ornament. The tree contains memories that go back more than 60 years.  After my mother's death my brothers and I had to empty her condo and split up her belongings. There were no surprises until we got to a big storage closet in the garage that, among other things, held boxes and boxes of Christmas tree ornaments dating back to the…