Viva Skyfarm!
Friday May 30, 2008
Categories: A Sense of Place, Architecture
This is a great story about a family in Los Angeles who created their own semi-rural garden of Eden inside the city by reclaiming a ramshackle dump. Excerpt: In their minds, they saw a magical outdoor space for their growing...
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Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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For keeping chickens on a city plot, also check out http://www.TheCityChicken.com. They have designs for a small coop called a "chicken tractor" that will keep a few hens safe. And it's designed to move, so they won't tear up too much of your yard at once.
Like,awesome! Will they marry me?
We're looking into chickens as well. As you can imagine, they are illegal in the city. We're slowly transforming our small city plot as well.
I recommend bantams. Small eggs (though you get used to the size, and supermarket eggs start to look like 'roided-up mutants), but they're much quieter than standard breeds, which will keep you in the neighbors' good graces.
If I recall bantams are a bit more aggressive than their larger cousins when it comes to nesting. Make sure you approach the nest with a good set of gloves and long sleeves.
Also, unless breeding them for fun and profit do not get a bantam rooster. Evil, nasty things, those I've met up with. But, on the bright side, I learned I'd have no problem doing a chicken in, if necessary. I recommend the "waterpail-to-the-head" method.
You should know though that just because you have hens, it doesn't mean they won't crow at dawn. All 3 of my bantam hens crow, especially at this time of year (early light, not too cold out). Also, not all hens will lay eggs. One of mine has never laid in the 3 years I've had her.
Is that hen named 'dinner'? *chuckle*
LOL!
Yeah, that's another tip - don't give a name to anything you might want to eat later.
Yeah, we had a couple of piglets picked out for butchering. Libby named them 'ham' and 'bacon'. Made it easier to not get too attached. Especially since, unlike chickens, there's no real uncertainty about their fate.
Just keep in mind that this is Southern CA - and I wonder how much water they have to use to keep everything looking so lush and green.
That's one thing that pretty much disappoints me as I've been looking through garden books - there's not all that much devoted to the blistering, thunderstorm-ridden Midwest ...
Or icy cold most of the year. Where I am now, the length of a dependable growing season is only a few months. More than four is wishful thinking, as we have had snows in May AND in September. April and October snows are downright common.
So, that leaves us 4-5, at best, for growing.
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