Chickens in the Suburban Backyard

The old joke is that urbanites and suburbanites think that their food really does come from the grocery store, but if that was ever true, it's not anymore. Since I've started this blog, I've been learning about gardens all over my neighborhood. I've recently been invited to attend a meeting of my local garden club and am looking forward to hearing the speaker discuss urban gardening.

One of the more unconventional grow-it-yourself stories in my neighborhood comes from a friend who is raising chickens in her suburban home. Currently, she has a mother and daughter (Roxey and Daisy). Previously, she had a couple (Duke and Daisy). Her community wasn't too keen on the rooster, so the pair were retired to a farm in Indiana owned by friends of mine.

Recently, my suburban chicken raising friend brought me some eggs:


Fresh eggs from chickens whose names I know



Mistakes I've Made (Already)

Almost Fatal Mistake with my Strawberries

I think I've settled on the reason why the strawberry leaves were turning brown through a combination of an elimination process of what it's not (under watering) and additional research.

My thinking is that since the strawberries have been watered quite a lot, by me and then by a huge downpour, it cannot be under watering. I considered overwatering, but then noticed that the leaves were turning dark and brittle. Even thought the plant got very wet in the recent storms, over watering would not create brittle leaves.

Trouble in Happy Berryland

I had put the strawberries, blueberries and cranberries outside on the balcony and decided to leave them there. It rained during the night and that left me with a problem with pooling water in their drainage trays:


Overnight rain caused water to pool in the
drainage trays

 You might think that's no problem, but take a look at my balcony (above) the spaces between the wood planks allow water to stream down onto my downstairs neighbor's patio.

An Interesting Question: Can a Person Live Off their Condo Garden?

I went to a business networking breakfast this morning sponsored by the Small Business Advocacy Council. I mentioned to the group that I started this blog along with my interest in local and community grown food.

One man asked me if I think I could based my entire diet on what I can grow on my condo balcony.

My initial answer was  no because I'm not a vegetarian, but it left me wondering if one planted correctly, could a person fulfill their fruit and vegetable daily requirments from what can be grown on a condo balcony, at least during harvest season.

Since much of my garden is comprised of herbs, I don't think I've planted correctly for such a project. However, you can grow tomatoes, lettuces, kale, eggplant, broccoli, zuchinni, eggplant, green beans, peas, peppers, onions in addition to several kinds of berries. You  can even grow root vegetables such as carrots with the right varieties in the right containers. Parmex carrots (pictured left) have short round roots and can be grown in a container that's as short as 12". It's also possible to grow a dwarf Meyer lemon tree indoors in a container. So, now I'm starting to think this is possible.

Strawberry Engineering

In a catch-up post from last week, I described my strawberry planting saga. I didn't mention my watering and drainage system in that post, so I'll do it here.

Strawberries can be planted in regular old pots, but that's no fun considering that there are these really cute strawberry planters with little pockets on the sides to accomodate new runners.

A typical terra cotta strawberry pot

The problem with strawberry pots is when you water the plants from above, the water often leaks out of the little pockets. This happens a lot early on when the pockets are relatively empty, before the plants and runners take up the room.

Swimming in Bush Blue Lake Green Beans. Extra Red Onions Swimming in a Beer Glass.

Not as nice as yesterday, but not too bad outside today, so the strawberries took another field trip to the balcony that will be their summer home. They seem to really like it, but it's supposed to storm tomorrow, so I'll probably bring them in again.

I'm swimming in Bush Blue Lake Green Bean plants. The seeds germinated well and the plants seem to grow in anything. I've got them all over the place. Some are even still living in the seedling kit tray and they're happy as long as I keep watering them. I'm looking for friends to take the extras off my hands.

The extra beans hanging out with
the extra red onions.

As you can see above, I also have extra red onions in a glass that need homes.

Nice Day Big Day

Today turned out to be a nice day and a big day for the condo garden. It was mostly sunny and in the low 60s. The wind died down by afternoon. So, I was weather inspired and there have been several additions to the garden.
I bought a bundle of California red onions which I planted with the spinach seedlings that grew in one of my seedling kits. I purchased a 30" window box planter with tray. The container is only about 8" deep and I only put in about 6" of potting soil, but this is supposed to be enough as the onions don't grow that far down and they're planted only 1" deep. I lost one of the spinach seedlings--may it rest in peace--during replanting.

California Red Onions and Spinach