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Lindsaylew82
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Location: Upstate, SC

Re: Lindsaylew's 2014 Garden - Upstate, SC

Did yours hatch out?

I was going through family related h*ll at that time...I missed my big garden last year. :(

n8young
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Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 11:39 am
Location: Eliot, ME - zone 6a

hendi_alex wrote:Get chickens! No more squishing bad garden critters. The chickens just love them. Three to four chickens don't take much space or much care, plus give lots of eggs and a bonus of manure for the compost pile.
Not sure if anyone commented on this or not......here's my take. I have 6 chickens, and I cannot let them out anywhere near my garden....I have carrots, kale, peppers, green beans, tomatoes, onions, basil, dill, black beans, butternut squash, and chard growing, and the only thing they have not eaten is the dill and the onions.......they will peck into any fruits(tomatoes, squash) and will eat leaves off all the other plants. They can wreak havoc in a big way, in a very short amount of time. On top of that, they will scratch through the garden, removing any mulch you may have put down, and potentially damaging the root structures of plants.....they are great when the garden is not growing, Fall/Winter/Early Spring. I also have found that most pests eat the new growth off your plants, which is generally at the top(read high and out of reach for the chickens)......the eggs are great, the chickens are cool as heck, the manure is great for the garden, but the chickens are by no means expected to be a pest removal method from a growing garden......

That's just my practical experience with it, feel free to experiment on your own, but I would advise against it.

FYI - tomatoes are their favorite....

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Lindsaylew82
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Location: Upstate, SC

I have the opportunity to get some quail, 4 weeks old, for free... Like 20 of them! I'm thinking about it. I need more research. Man said no, right off the bat. "They have nice eggs!" I told him.. He didn't seem to care and asked me how I'd feel when the neighborhood hawk makes another feather explosion...( I witnessed a mockingbird get dive-bombed at the new bird feeder....I felt extreme guilt.) I could never use the birds for food.

Having something like chickens in the fall and early spring would be nice. I need something like them to pick over my soil and mulch.

I've been reading up a lot on guinea hens, and I'm very interested.

My neighbor raises chickens for meat and eggs. He seems to get so many roosters! When they figure out they can make noise, they practice all hours of the day and night. It's really annoying. In recent years, I've started putting chicken recipes in their mailbox. The noise stops after that.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I used to pack hard boiled quail eggs for daughters' field trip and kindergarten lunch. I didn't pre-peel them for better keeping (and they knew how) but for a parents night pot luck get together, I took 20 peeled quail eggs. It was fun to see the look of wonder on the other kids faces since most of them (and parents) didn't know what they were. My kids preferred them to chicken eggs for a long time because of the milder flavor.

We dyed them for Easter, too.

I'm not supposed to keep chickens,but have often thought quails might be less conspicuous.... (or bantams) and more suited to stealth chicken :lol:

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Lindsaylew82
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Location: Upstate, SC

I've heard they're higher in protein, by weight, than chicken eggs.

Eta:

I've not gone to any lengths to see if that information is accurate...

JPNguyen
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Location: California

Your home grown veggy look very tastey. What's the biggest tomato you've harvested from your garden?

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Lindsaylew82
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Location: Upstate, SC

This year's Black Krim! 1 pound 8 ounces.
I've had several really large black Krim this year.

I also had large Amana Orange, Yellow Brandywine, Chocolate Stripes, Cherokee Purple. and Park's Whopper. Most have given me fruits over 1 pound.

Image

The 3 in the background are all over a pound!

Meme
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Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2014 3:37 pm

Your garden is a credit to you Lindsaylew82. I so enjoyed looking at your photo's. Not just a green thumb do you have, but fingers as well. :D
I was amazed at all the variety you have grown, as well as the stunning Marigolds, how lovely.
Hope not too many bugs/slugs/critters come along, but at least you are on the look out, regular patrol. :D

So sad about the loss of your cat, but how lovely you made the Memorial Bed.

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Lindsaylew82
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Thank you so very much! How sweet of you!



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