New Gardening Australia host Costa is a man who knows - and loves - his chickens.



Here's a link to Costa's chook tips.

He also talks about makign a chook tractor.

Me, I prefer to have my gals in a run with a secure hutch then let out to free-range when i am working in the garden.

At the moment the gals are loving the sunny, autumnal days, but are certianly fluffing up their feathers when they retire to cluckingham palace at night.

This weekend I will be putting a fresh bale of straw into their run.

It's always such fun to see their joy in leaping about and investigating it for unlucky insects!

Chooks Boost Gross National Happiness Index

It’s almost impossible to be glum when your chooks are ferreting about the garden looking for unwary bugs or a ripe cherry tomato at pecking level. Their ridiculous behaviour, from squawking loudly when they lay an egg in them idle of the pumpkin bed (‘look at me!’) to when stroll about in posse seeking food, looking and sounding for all the world like a group of chattering teenagers, is a joy to behold.

Just as Bhutan has a Gross National Happiness index, so do chooks boost your own GNH levels.

Layne inspects a barrow full of weeds for a juicy bug

In these strange times, when the news is full of doom and gloom, when the pap that TV networks curiously believe passes for quality programming and when we all face so many pressures at work and home, thank heavnes for chooks. Sitting in your garden, no matter how humble with a cup of tea and watching your girls amble about is an oasis of calm and an antidote to all the unhappiness about.

At the moment the cheeky girls are helping but turning over the soil in the old summer veggie beds. Their dedication in digging out the old plants, carefully scrutinizing them for insects and other edible delights is tempered by their short attention span; the moment one spots a passing moth or spies me down by their pen with a bucket, they give are off, soon followed by their friends whom assume that food has been spotted.

Chooks can also bring your a happiness connection to your neighbourhood. Not just in the exchange of eggs for lemons, lawn mowing and fresh home-baked bread as in my case, but by provide a relaxing topic of conversation. My back neighbor is a quiet chap who pretty much keeps to himself but his face always breaks into a smile when we talk about ‘the girls’ and he sees them doing their ridiculous prancing about the garden. Another dear neighbour keeps her grandchildren from grizzling when they argue by reminding them, “don’t whine like that, it upsets Alison’s chooks”. This white lie is backed up by the fact my chooks love it when the young twins visit, eagerly clutching scraps from last night’s dinner to feed the greedy girls.

In a world full of disasters, wars, GFC and more local and personal troubles, take the a few moments to watch your chooks. You'll go back to the rest of your life a happier and more relaxed person.

Adelaide's Ace Garden Expo

The 2011 ABC Gardening Australia Expo in Adelaide was a great day out for experienced and novice gardeners alike.  

While the crowds milled around WOMADelaide and the racegoers were at the track, the greenthumbs made their way to the Adelaide showground’s where a myriad of gardening experts were on hand to solve problems with roses and citrus, advise on mulching and composting and what the pant when and where.

The expo as a delightful reflection on the city of churches; large enough to have a great variety and small enough to be friendly and relaxed.  Yes it is much smaller than the other capital city shows, but here I could actually get up close and hear and meet the experts and there was all of the enthusiasm but none of the frenzy.

Some GA Expo Highlights

Rare Fruit Society of South Australia

Inside the exhibition hall, I met with the lovely people at the Rare Fruit Society of South Australia. If you are in SA, get thee to their website, join up and attend a meeting. The society is a font of wonderful information and a great way to learn more about the delicious and rare fruits you can grow.

 

Josh in the Potting Shed

Josh Byrne was his usual ebullient self as he demonstrated how to make a worm farm.

Josh gives a great demonstration on how to make your own worm farm.

Whirrly Windmills

Danielle and Michael, the dynamic duo behind Whirrly Windmills were selling delightful garden deocr inlcuding windmills, windsocks, flags and gorgeous garden art.

Michael and Danielle from WhirrlyWindmills

Graham's Chooks

Third-generation poultry farmer Graham Payne of Graham's Chooks was on hand to advise on what type of hen to keep and how to keep her happy and productive.

Graham with a lovely rooster who had many fans at the expo..

Chook expert flocked at Garden Expo

People seeking advice on keeping chooks flocked to meet poultry expert Graham Payne from Graham’s Chooks at the ABC Gardening Australia Expo in Adelaide over the long weekend.

A third generation chicken farmer, Graham and his magnificent rooster ‘chook 672’ were a popular attraction at the expo. Graham had a constant flow of visitors wanting advice on what type of chook to keep in their backyard, how to care for them and the best type of feed. Graham talked about the joys of hens in his engaging and practical presentation in the Backyard Creatures area about how to keep chooks.

Graham and 'Chook 672' at the Garden Expo

Graham’s Chooks provides day-old chicks, pullets and breeding roosters for those wanting poultry for their backyard or small farm. He also offers expert and friendly advice on getting the best out of your girls and how to keep them happy and healthy. I told him that I had been concerned about my girls losing chest and neck feathers and despite a visit to vet, this issue was still unresolved. He instantly diagnosed the problem as my feeders being too high which caused the feathers to rubbed off as the hens pecked their food. This seems to have done the trick!

If you are in Adelaide and considering keeping hens, then Graham is your man. They also sell fresh eggs, fertle eggs, hatching kits, incubators and brooders.

Autumn Joys

It’s an exciting time in the garden. Sure, the tomatoes are looking a little ragged and the corn is drooping a bit but all the rain has meant that it’s greener than normal.

Gidget is already keen to get out and turn over the summer veggie bed.

Now is the time to pull out the old veggies, replenish the soil and get in the winter and spring crops. This weekend I will pull out on bed of tomatoes – the heritage varieties which di so s well and then let the chooks go to work! By giving hem a few hours a day for a week or so in this patch I’ll meet the twin aims of turning over the soil and give the girls some bliss as they eat all the bugs and leftover fruit! Their droppings are also a bonus. Plus I will fork in some compost and then plant the brassicas - there's nothing better than fresh broccolli

The fruit trees will get a light prune, the roses will be have black-spotted leaves removed and I’ll also plant a heap of garlic. We enjoyed a bumper crop last year and I’m going to plant two beds this time as it’s such a popular item in the “local barter swap”. One lovely neighbour mows the grass walkways between my eight vegetable beds in exchange for a few bunches, another swaps me her home-baked bread while another gives me gorgeous nashi apples. Everyone wins!

Nest week I’ll go into the joys of bartering and swapping tools and skills and how it makes gardening all the more fun and productive.

Beat the heat

NYE 2010 was hot and windy end to 2010, taking its toll on some of the pumpkin and zucchini plants.

Not to mention the gardener!

Despite a long sleeved shirt, hat, sunblock and loads of water, the compost chick correspondent felt the heat as much as any vegetable.

Despite a deep watering that morning and loads of straw, we all took a bit of battering with the hot, whippy northerlies.

The chooks were keen to get out and about but I kept them in their run as it was windy enough to give them all the left they needed. I had visions of them flying off over the fence and chasing after agitated poultry was not on my agenda. The girls have a surprisingly quick turn of speed. Not to mention that some of our neighbours have dogs (well behaved I am sure but why put temptation of a plump little chicken in their path?)

Today looks like another shocker ahead. So deep watering, extra straw and mulch is in my arsenal to beat the heat. I’m sure I’ll lose one or two plants but they may have already been suffering heat-stress, so I can live with this.

One positive it that this weather also kills off some snails!

My garden shows the result of NYE hot winds.

Broad Bean Bonanza

Yesterday I harvested the last of my broad beans. I say ‘harvested’ rather than picked, because I reckon there was a good 10 kilos in the box by the time I’d finished. Not a bad result from around 45 plants. We have been eating and giving away the delish little green things for a couple of months now and I really cannot eat enough of them. After picking the broadbeans I then stripped all the leaves from the stalks and added them to the compost bin underthe fig tree. Now I just have to chop up the stalks and add them to the other six bins. Their garden bed will be gently turned over to ensure the barow-load of chock-full-of-worms compost I added to it is mixed well in the soil – it’s a bit like folding in flour when you bake a sponge cake. Then I will look at planting more basil, lettuce, silverbeet and Asian greens.

Meanwhile, we are enjoying eating broadbean pesto – simply substitute the beans where it says basil in your recipe. Last night my husband made a yummy risotto and used the broad beans instead of celery (I had given the last of it to the chooks, ooops) and it was fantastic! Braodbeans are also wonderful mashed with a little garlic, black pepper and olive oil and spread on hot toasted sourdough.

Summer Love

Well it’s summer now and the sultry days are already drying out the sodden soil. Time to start giving the garden more love - tough love, that is.

This means mulch, mulch, mulch. And donning rubber gloves to remove the zillion and one slugs and snails that are relentlessly skulking through the veggie beds. Every couple of days I collect a bucket or two of the varmints and feed them to the girls who react as through they are being fed nirvana (perhaps they are) and gobble them down. It’s also important to water the veggies in between the rainy times to ensure that the tomatoes avoid blossom-end rot.

I’m also forking the soil in between fruit trees and veggies to ensure that the rain penetrates the often dried up mulch and dirt and gets to the roots.

Remember to add liquid fertilizer every couple of weeks to keep plants lush and growing. Weeding is also a critical task, but when you love your garden it becomes rather fun to dig out the weeds. (A good weeding soundtrack is anything by AC/DC as it keeps you going!)

With summer days here it’s also good to relax and take the time to wander about and smell the roses, admire the passionflowers, nibble some basil, pick some salad greens and enjoy the different varieties of apples.  Enjoy!

Open the POD bay doors Hal…

Even better than cult SF film 2001: A Space Odyssey is joining a Sustainable Gardening Australia POD. There are PODs all over the country  chock-full of people looking to share ideas and their passion for growing great food! If there’s not one in your neck of the woods, then take a deep breath, contact SGA and start one. I did, so it must be easy! There are so many advantages to meeting new people and having fun swapping seeds, plants and ideas. I’ve just cycled back with a basket of bok choy and broccoli seeds from one of the Jan Juc gals whose garden is a Monet-like swirl of irises, vegetables, fruit trees and lush vegetables. Live dangerously. Contact Liz and get involved in SGA today.