Backyard Gardening

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Posted for Shaunc, pictures of his lovely Chooks and Garden

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Some of my dried summer Calendula flowers have been soaking in hemp oil for the last 2 weeks. I just strained the oil out of the flowers makes a soothing oil to apply to winter dry skin, scraps, and cuts. I give the left over flowers to my chickens, they love the oil and the flower. Especially during the cold of winter.

From wiki: Calendula oil is still used medicinally. The oil of C. officinalis is used as an anti-inflammatory, an anti-tumor agent, and a remedy for healing wounds. Plant pharmacological studies have suggested that Calendula extracts have anti-viral, anti-genotoxic, and anti-inflammatory properties in vitro. In herbalism, Calendula in suspension or in tincture is used topically for treating acne, reducing inflammation, controlling bleeding, and soothing irritated tissue. There is limited evidence that Calendula cream or ointment is effective in treating radiation dermatitis.

Topical application of C. officinalis ointment has helped to prevent dermatitis, pain, and missed radiation treatments in randomized trials. Calendula has been used traditionally for abdominal cramps and constipation. In experiments with rabbit jejunum the aqueous-ethanol extract of Calendula officinalis flowers was shown to have both spasmolytic and spasmogenic effects, thus providing a scientific rationale for this traditional use. An aqueous extract of Calendula officinalis obtained by a novel extraction method has demonstrated anti-tumor (cytotoxic) activity and immunomodulatory properties (lymphocyte activation) in vitro, as well as anti-tumor activity in mice.

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More pictures from Shaunc backyard garden. The black one is an Australorop bantam & the others are called hy-lines, they're not a true breed but a hy-brid used on commercial battery farms, very similar to an Isa brown.

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Garden Greens Collards and Kale, roots potatoes and carrots, canned goods, green beans, pumpkin and chicken. Making a stew for tonight. All food from our Backyard gardens and chickens.

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Last years photo of early spring fiddleheads from Maiden Ferns that grow in our swamp. I steam them like asparagus and make a Béarnaise sauce, very yummy. Cleaning these veggies is about as laborious as cleaning shrimp but well worth the effort. I also make an interesting tasting wine from the fiddlehead. It taste a bit like apple wine with a earthy flavor. If I have to I can live off the food our woods produce. As natives say this is famine food, it will keep you going along with skunk cabbage and assorted other wild roots and greens. But you will need fat and protein as well or you won't last long.

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I will not longer be posting subjects of interested not related to Buddhism on this site.

[shaunc]

We've had some good rain over the last few days & the veges are loving it. The silver beet & zucchini (ain't they the plant that just keep on giving) are making a regular appearance on the kitchen table. The chooks are still laying well, & the I'm almost sure that the neighbors are running away when they see me coming up the road trying to offload excess vegetables & eggs. The tomatoes have finally got big enough to stake (just under knee height) & last week I even managed to sweeten up the missus with a bunch of roses.
Good-luck with whatever you're doing in your yard.
Shaun.

[reddust]

We've had some good rain over the last few days & the veges are loving it. The silver beet & zucchini (ain't they the plant that just keep on giving) are making a regular appearance on the kitchen table. The chooks are still laying well, & the I'm almost sure that the neighbors are running away when they see me coming up the road trying to offload excess vegetables & eggs. The tomatoes have finally got big enough to stake (just under knee height) & last week I even managed to sweeten up the missus with a bunch of roses.
Good-luck with whatever you're doing in your yard.
Shaun.

Shaun is that silver beet what we in the states call Swiss chard or chard? Wait, I just looked it up! It's one of our most prolific here in the spring, summer and late fall. It can't stand hard freezes like Kale and Collards can. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chard… I love that vegetable, it makes the best green smoothies because it is so tender. We can grow tomatoes here as well, although it's a late start because freezes don't stop until almost June here. Many times the weather gets cold late summer and I have to bring the green tomatoes in to ripen on my drying table. Usually I can harvest around 50lbs and I can all of them! I used canned tomatoes in my soups, stews, sauces and smoothies. Here is too Backyard Gardening

[Ayu]

Silverbeet = Beta vulgaris cicla.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chard

In my country it is winter now. Time to light up some candles and to stop puttering around in the garden.

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Silverbeet = Beta vulgaris cicla.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chard

In my country it is winter now. Time to light up some candles and to stop puttering around in the garden.

Same here in Oregon, but I still end up grabbing a shovel and digging up old and new garden spots when the snow has melted and the ground is soft. I like the exercise and fresh air. We have candles too, electricity tends to go out after January from big wind and ice storms that come through.

[shaunc]

Been working like mad this afternoon, shoveling wood shavings out of the hen house. Brenton should be bringing 5 new birds home tomorrow or Saturday & I have to have a clean house & everything including the chooks & the dog has to be wormed out & malawashed. Tomorrow is wash out the house & the birds, old & new & spread some more wood shavings. The next morning will be worming them out. Egg production is likely to be down for a couple of weeks while a new pecking order is established & the girls are all stressed out.

[shaunc]

Coop & pen, cleaned & malawashed, birds tubbed & dipped in malawash, dog bathed, malawashed & wormed out. Old wood shavings sent to compost bin & clean wood shavings spread. Now just waiting for Brenton to bring the new girls home, where they also will be washed, dipped in malawash & introduced to the pen. All birds will be starved of food & water from about 6.00pm tonight & given liquid wormer in the morning. The eggs have a with holding period of 24 hours from worming, but I've got a mate with greyhounds who said he'll take the eggs off me for his dogs.

[shaunc]

The new girls have arrived. They've all been tubbed, malawashed & cooped. In a couple of hours I'll remove all food & water from the coop & worm them all out tomorrow morning. They're all nice looking birds. I just hope they lay well.

[Ayu]

With colour do they have?

[shaunc]

With colour do they have?

We've got 4 hylines, the brown commercial layers & 1 austrolorp standard. My old flock was almost identical, 4 hylines & 1 austrolorp bantam. So all up I now have 8 hylines (brown) & 2 austrolorps, 1 bantam & 1 standard (black). The 2 black hens have started fighting for queen of the coop. I gave them all water this morning that's laced with worming medicine, so far the big black hen won't let the little black hen near it, it's been about an hour, but I'm not too worried, sooner or later, survival instinct will kick in & she'll find a way of getting a drink. The weather here has been hot, the last week or so it's been 35-38 degrees Celsius. We've decided to sell some of our eggs, with 10 birds to look after now the feed will end up being too expensive. I'm not sure what the protein levels are with the new girls, so this afternoon, I plan on feeding them a couple of tins of sardines.

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With colour do they have?

We've decided to sell some of our eggs, with 10 birds to look after now the feed will end up being too expensive. I'm not sure what the protein levels are with the new girls, so this afternoon, I plan on feeding them a couple of tins of sardines.

I don't sell my hen's eggs, but I have friends who do, they sell mostly to friends at work. We have some really cute egg signs in our neighborhood.

[Ayu]

With colour do they have?

We've got 4 hylines, the brown commercial layers & 1 austrolorp standard. My old flock was almost identical, 4 hylines & 1 austrolorp bantam. So all up I now have 8 hylines (brown) & 2 austrolorps, 1 bantam & 1 standard (black). The 2 black hens have started fighting for queen of the coop. I gave them all water this morning that's laced with worming medicine, so far the big black hen won't let the little black hen near it, it's been about an hour, but I'm not too worried, sooner or later, survival instinct will kick in & she'll find a way of getting a drink. The weather here has been hot, the last week or so it's been 35-38 degrees Celsius. We've decided to sell some of our eggs, with 10 birds to look after now the feed will end up being too expensive. I'm not sure what the protein levels are with the new girls, so this afternoon, I plan on feeding them a couple of tins of sardines.

Thanks for this information. I see you as a profecional chicken keeper.

We had some black italian hens on my former work. We had to put them into the coop for the night, beause some animals hunted them. The chicken which was not in the henhouse at sunset was never seen again.

[shaunc]

With colour do they have?

We've got 4 hylines, the brown commercial layers & 1 austrolorp standard. My old flock was almost identical, 4 hylines & 1 austrolorp bantam. So all up I now have 8 hylines (brown) & 2 austrolorps, 1 bantam & 1 standard (black). The 2 black hens have started fighting for queen of the coop. I gave them all water this morning that's laced with worming medicine, so far the big black hen won't let the little black hen near it, it's been about an hour, but I'm not too worried, sooner or later, survival instinct will kick in & she'll find a way of getting a drink. The weather here has been hot, the last week or so it's been 35-38 degrees Celsius. We've decided to sell some of our eggs, with 10 birds to look after now the feed will end up being too expensive. I'm not sure what the protein levels are with the new girls, so this afternoon, I plan on feeding them a couple of tins of sardines.

Thanks for this information. I see you as a profecional chicken keeper.

We had some black italian hens on my former work. We had to put them into the coop for the night, beause some animals hunted them. The chicken which was not in the henhouse at sunset was never seen again.

I'm not a professional in any sense of the word. We don't get many problems with predators. Our coop has been snake proofed & we also have a dog, which keeps cats & foxes out. Last night I took the medicine out of the coop & replaced it with clean water, then this morning I gave them all their first feed of grain since I got them & I also gave them a bit of silver beet. From here on we can eat any eggs we get. We probably won't get a lot for the 1st few weeks as they're all stressed out from being, moved, malawashed & wormed out, plus establishing a new pecking order. For the first few weeks I'll have to keep them all cooped, otherwise getting them all in at night can be a problem, they'll also start laying their eggs all over the yard, instead of using the nesting boxes in the coop. The war between the 2 black hens for queen of the coop still rages, I'm starting to fear for the bantam, she's had quite a few good hidings now & still wants to go another round. The hylines are very friendly, this morning I had them eating out of my hand & 1 perched on my knee as I squatted down to feed them.
In the garden, the silver-beet & zucchini are still going well. I also got our first few chillies this morning & 1 of the tomatoe plants has got its first couple of small green tomatoes on it. It's been hot & we could use more rain, some was forecast for last night but we never got it. It's overcast today, so fingers crossed we might get a shower later on.

[shaunc]

We've had some good rain in the last 2 nights & more forecast for this evening. I went out & put some dynamic lifter on the vegetable patch in anticipation for it. The war between the 2 black hens is almost over & we have a new boss. I took 8 eggs out of the henhouse this afternoon, fingers crossed, they're all starting to settle down. The calcium deficiency the new black Australorp hen had is starting to come good & their protein levels should be up as well through the amount of prawn heads they got on Christmas Day. One of the hylines is a lesbian. It's a trait I've never had to deal with before in chickens, but it doesn't seem to be causing any problems, so I'm not going to worry about it.
Good-luck with what ever you're doing in your yard.

[Ayu]

Congrats for the rain.
Right here it is much too warm. About 6°C. I could do weeding in the garden. But I don't want to! It's Christmas time!!!

[tidathep]

[quote="shaunc"]The war between the 2 black hens is almost over & we have a new boss. I took 8 eggs out of the henhouse this afternoon, fingers crossed, they're all starting to settle down. The calcium deficiency the new black Australorp hen had is starting to come good & their protein levels should be up as well through the amount of prawn heads they got on Christmas Day. One of the hylines is a lesbian. It's a trait I've never had to deal with before in chickens, but it doesn't seem to be causing any problems, so I'm not going to worry about it.
quote]
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Dear Shaunc,

Your hen-war/hen-lesbian stories made me laugh....so funny
My Thai basils died..when I took them out of the pot...they still smelled so good...and my pink roses "Queen Elizabeth" still bloom so beautifully :

In Texas...12 eggs cost $1.59.

tidathep