VIEWS FROM THE URBAN FARM TODAY

HELLO & Welcome to GARDEN DADDY here at the urban farm! I thought you would like to see a few shots of the 2011 urban garden as well as a promised photo of the now nearly grown little pullets mentioned in earlier posts. As you can see, I try to use EVERY available space in the garden site. I have enough tomato plants to eat fresh from, give lots away, and then even have enough to make sauce to freeze later on as well. I always try to keep my neighbors in fresh summer veggies as I have available as well as adding to what I harvest at the community garden to donate to our local soup kitchen, RIFA. The first photo shows a basic overall shot of the bulk of the garden, the second shows another view and the third shows you those little, nearly grown pullets.
It might not look like it in these badly taken photos, but I have the garden laid out in a certain pattern as I had space and in trying to give some element of moving room as well. It is somewhat tight, but not where I cannot get in and out from between all the rows. You can see as well that I have used wheat straw between the rows. Like I mentioned last year, this not only helps with mulching for weed control, it helps with holding in moisture to a point and it keeps one from having to walk in mud on all these stormy days that we are finally getting. We did have a lot of dry weather for about two weeks but now have had rain for several-several days. By the way, again I have my squash on the outside of the chain link fencing on the driveway side and my cucumbers are on the back of the fence facing the adjoining alley...remember...I live IN-TOWN Jackson, TN.







I leave you today with our ongoing urban farming affirmation and again from yesterday, thanks to you all for following GARDEN DADDY: "URBAN FARMING: ONE EGG AT A TIME!"

LONG OVERDUE HELLO FROM GARDEN DADDY

HELLO & Welcome to GARDEN DADDY here at the urban farm! I would like to take a moment and say THANK YOU to my regular followers for your patience and often WORRY by my long absence. Thank you all! I will not go into details other than I have been busier than a cat in a sand box during these last many weeks. Between the severe, damaging storms and subsequent cleanup here in West TN in late April and many more in May and into this month as well, trying to get the community garden project going, working like a mad man here at the urban farm and my regular job and the fact I joined the choir at church, taking up one night for rehearsals as well as other rehearsals for some solo work I have been asked to do (ah-ha....another surprise about your Garden Daddy...I do TRY to sing a little) my time has truly been used up but I am taking this week off for the most part from at least part of my regular chores and working on some things I want and need to do.
I thought I would at least here this late afternoon catch you up on at least one project from earlier an post this spring. Below is a photo of the little Buff Orpington hen that went broody and set on a nest full of golf balls. Remember, I slipped the golf balls out and inserted, one at a time, day chicks I had already ordered from the feed store. She was so THRILLED with her brood and quite the mother as well. I do not have a current photo today but will add one in a few days but the chicks below are about 10 weeks old in this photo. I had moved Mom and biddies to a larger area, actually into one side of my compost bin I had cleaned out in this photo and glad I did with all the rain we had at that time. I kept them covered for weeks with a tarp. But now, today, these same chicks are really no longer chicks but real little pullets. They are about 15 weeks old now I think is right. They are now integrated into the regular chicken coop with the year old hens and have blended well. I will relate that story later along with the fact I have also raised off a few more chicks the same way as well from the Golden Laced Wyandotte that went broody and sold them & mother and a few more hens to some fellow poultry club members. So as you can see just from this catch up posting that my time has just not been my own for a while.

I will leave you this evening with again, many-many thanks to everyone who follows Garden Daddy and hopefully this new post will start things back again. And as always, remember our ongoing gardening affirmation: "URBAN FARMING: ONE EGG AT A TIME!"

SOUTHERN STORMS KNOCK OUT THIS URBAN FARM

HELLO & Welcome to Garden Daddy here at the urban farm! After a full day earlier in the week without power, a flooded basement, losing my hot water heater for a day as well and loss of all internet usage from Monday night until only moments ago here on Friday afternoon, I am about to get all the limbs and branches and trash up out of this urban farm area. I have worked on helping other friends and neighbors with their issues and effects of this weeks storms. I am not even really traumatized in the least by my issues...other than the loss of internet service. But now I want to give great THANKS for good health, safe living conditions and everything being in tack. I want to also give out my sympathy and sorrow to all of those suffering both loss of life and property in my area and those surrounding states.
Sending all of you my best and a safe weekend. More urban farming updates to follow in a few days....Your GARDEN DADDY...

OOPS, I DID IT AGAIN!

HELLO & Welcome to Garden Daddy here at the urban farm! You know how I love my chickens and everyone I know who keeps them or is involved in the West Tennessee Poultry Club and is again, CRAZY about their chickens...well, last Friday, one week after introducing the new chicks to my broody Buff Oprington hen and removing her nest full of golf balls she had been sitting on, I found one chick had not survived. So this Garden Daddy decided to replace my little lost chick with another one so as to have the full compliment I had planned on.

After arriving at my local feed store to look over the chick selection, I came home with not only a replacement but 2-additional chicks. I slipped the trio under little mother and she could not tell the difference in how many she actually had. So again as previously stated, and all you flock keepers out there do not be offended, but chickens are a little on the dumb side, she could not tell any difference in one week old chicks and day old chicks...literally birds of a different feather. These little critters are just thriving, growing and fluttering around their enclosure and following Mother in her scratching and foraging, learning how to be chickens in a natural setting. My best friend keeps calling it my "science experiment" but if it is, it is working! The top two photos below are of Mama Dorothy, the Buff Orpington hen with her babies. I ended up with 2011 chicks to date, 6-Wellsummers, 1-white Chochin, 1-buff Chochin & 1 what appears to be a blue-wheaten Ameraucana, all seem happy and doing well. I am still threatening to add a duckling or two to the mix...or other if I thought I could keep animal control out of my hair here in center city Jackson, TN.

I also thought I would show you two of the molting birds in the coop. I have more than two in molt at present or ending molt in various stages of severity. The bottom photo is of a Silver Lace Wyandotte and the 2nd one up from bottom is a Barred Rock or also called Barred Plymouth Rock. Don't let this scare you but it is a natural occurrence. Not to be confused with parasite issues, which can also cause feather loss. But this is their first year of age and are no longer just pullets...but full fledged HENS! Egg laying has picked up again with molt nearing the end for the most part and now getting 10-12 eggs a day once again, still looking back to getting another 14 or so a day from my 16 full grown hens (I won't mention that I ended up with 9 new chicks under Dorothy...by the way that name came from Dorothy off the tv show, "The Golden Girls").

This Garden Daddy has the community garden well under way this spring, with greens of different varieties, lettuces, cabbages and onions in the mix. Things are in a satisfactory state there with many hours volunteered already on that project. So I leave you today with out our ongoing urban farming affirmation forever in our mind: "URBAN FARMING: ONE EGG AT A TIME!"

MOTHERING BUFF ORPINGTON HEN AND HER NEW CHICKS ALL DOING FINE

HELLO & Welcome to Garden Daddy here at the urban farm! As you can see, mother Dorothy and her babies are all doing fine some 30 hours after putting these chicks under her. She has clucked and clucked and mothered one and all. It is raining and cool here today, in the 50's or so but they are nice and dry and very warm. She allows her chicks to run out and feed and drink and run around a bit but she soon clucks a little louder and they come running back under her wings. I could not ask for a better mother out of her. As she has always been friendly and sociable with me she allows me to move her around, pick up her chicks, pet them and reassure her as well that she is a good mother. All the while, she is clucking softly, day and night to her chicks.
I think probably tomorrow they will venture out a bit more I am thinking into the rabbit cage I have attached to this little wooden box as a make-shift run for them. She is alone with her brood and away from the rest of the flock. This seems to be working just fine and hopefully the raccoons and opossums will not find them where I have them in the yard to cause problems for them. Yes, we have both here in the center of midtown Jackson, TN. Lots of raccoons for sure. I see a lot that are coming and going from around the sewer openings in my neighborhood especially. And you regular followers will remember I had some make a home a few years ago in the chimney here. I even had a baby abandoned and had a professor from Union University sent some students out to retrieve it, as he was already raising a litter of orphaned raccoon kits.
Otherwise, things are the same here this weekend at the urban farm, with much rain for several days in the forecast or cloudy skies at least. So any further spring planting is on hold for now. Just waiting to have what is planted both here and at the community garden start to come up. So, I will leave you this day under rainy skies and baby chick watch with our ongoing urban farming affirmation: "URBAN FARMING: ONE EGG AT A TIME!"

BROODY HEN GETS NEW CHICKS TODAY

HELLO & Welcome to Garden Daddy here at the urban farm! The day has arrived, today, when I got my 5-new little Wellsummer day old chicks. My broody Buff Orpington hen has been sitting on her nest of 6 plastic golf balls for almost a full month now. This morning I decided not to wait until tonight to slip her the little hatchlings. It has been dark, cold and cloudy here today and so at around 8:00 am this morning I slipped in a chick - took out a golf ball. She put her beak to it, turned around in the nest, started preening her back feathers and pulling downy feathers up to make her whole back fluffed up. Then out came another golf ball and in went another chick...this went on till all 6 golf balls where gone and 6 chicks where under her and she was clucking and mothering one and all!
DID I SAY 6 CHICKS? Oops...You know this Garden Daddy cannot resist little chicks. So I added an unplanned baby to the mix, a little yellow chick that will grow up into a standard white Chochin hen hopefully one day. I covered up mother and babies and left them alone only to find myself slipping out there again about an hour later to find one and all doing just fine. As I said, it is rather cool here today, about 30 degrees this morning, warming slowly to lower 50's I think is scheduled but now without having to artificially brood chicks, saving both room and electricity, I think I will take a break from what has been a busy week here, with working at the community garden and planting some snow peas here at the urban farm for my freezer later on as well as fresh stir fry...YUM!
I leave you today with our ongoing urban farming affirmation with a twist: "URBAN FARMING: FIVE CHICKS -PLUS ONE EXTRA - AT A TIME!".....OH MY!

SPRING HAS ARRIVED HERE AT THE URBAN FARM

HELLO & Welcome to Garden Daddy here at the urban farm. I have several things to share with you for a few moments this afternoon. First, I know that true spring must have arrived as my "usual suspect" Mr. & Mrs Robin Red Breast have once again for the 5th season in a row built their nest on my front porch pier tops. I have had around 14 total fledglings soar from off my porch over the last few years. She always starts to build her nest in a high March wind, working through a strong storm, only to have the storm aid her in allowing the nesting material enough wetness with the mud she provides to make it finally stick to the top of the pillar. For several days the couple works and works, only to have another gust of dry wind blow off all materials. Then it starts raining and the material FINALLY starts to stick and then it is nearly concreted to the ledge. Every year I wait anxiously for this sign of some true spring here at the urban farm.

Also I would like to share with you a gift this garden home received from a good friend and co-worker on Monday. I was so surprised to see this lovely gift. I was at work and this wonderful and very talented person came up to me and showed me something in a bag. It was a wonderful concrete leaf she had decorated with glass chips and stones in the shape of a flower. But the very part was she had stamped "GARDEN DADDY" in the center of it! I was so very thrilled to get it and it meant more to me because of the special person who thought enough to make it special for this Garden Daddy. THANK YOU SHERRY R.!

Finally on to my little Buff Orpington hen, sitting all alone in the mostly darkened hen house on her little clutch of now 12 plastic golf balls. I felt sorry for her with her one lonely golf ball and decided that since the other hens had slowed down laying so much due to an extended molt that I would take the "nest eggs" (I told you how dumb they are that they cannot tell a golf ball from an egg) from the other nest and give her a whole nest full of "eggs". Again, I am hoping she will stay broody for another 8 or 9 days till my new Wellsummer chicks arrive on March 25 so that night I can slip them under her at night and hopefully she will accept the little peepers as her own little brood. That is my plan anyway...good luck to me! So I leave you this sunny afternoon with our ongoing urban farming affirmation in mind: "URBAN FARMING: ONE EGG AT A TIME!"