Chasing Chickens and Beginning Gardening

Chasing Chickens

So the other day a storm was coming in and the chickens were out free ranging so we wanted to get them all back in the coop before we got dumped on.  So far it's been relatively easy to get the chickens back in the coop when we are ready to do so, half the time they are already waiting inside when we go down there and then just shut the door otherwise it's been pretty easy to just pick them all up and put them in.  Well, this time the big ones were already ready to go in, I think they sensed the weather was changing and getting more skiddish.  We got all of the in fairly easily except for Buffy, she was an elusive pain in the leg! Seriously, look what happened to my leg during one of my attempts to catch her....I didn't see a small tree stump and smashed my leg on it.  

(ok it's not that bad but my skin is so light and scars easily and it's hot here and now I have this ugly thing to show off!)

Oh and yes, our grass in the back yard is actually a mix of grasses and weeds and clovers...but right after we (as in he) mows the lawn, it looks like it might be grass if you don't get too close! lol

She kept hiding under the coop, then running all over the place, darting between trees...I was impressed really, I heard Buff Orpingtons were the most docile and likely to get eaten by an animal or picked on by the other chickens but she's insanely quick and elusive, I think she'll be OK.  I finally had enough of us running after her like idiots...I'm sure we made a hilarious sight, but after bashing my leg I realized "This is stupid!  The chicken is too scared to stay out here by itself, the other chickens aren't trying to come out...I'm done!  I bet if we leave and come back in 2 minutes she'll go in by herself"...and that's what happened.  

Yesterday we had them out again , when Tyler asked me if I would go start rounding them up and getting them in the coop.  I went and checked on them...they weren't done foraging.  It was getting closer to dusk and I was just like, "nope, I'm not doing THAT again...They'll probably go in in the next 20 minutes. I'm not dodging through trees trying to catch them."  And they did.  So....lesson learned...don't kill yourself trying to catch a chicken to put it in the coop.....now I'll probably have a scar on my leg. They will go in on their own if we just be patient.  And if you MUST get them put away for some reason and they aren't ready to go back in, go for the easy ones first and once they are in, if you leave the more elusive ones alone, the will go hop in by themselves to be with the others.  Don't break a leg over it!

Here is the recent progress on the coop....Tyler's working on the run out the back...he got the frame up and a trench dug out, now he just needs to get the wire in place and make a door...I helped a little ;) But really, he's the main man on the job!  GO BABE!

 We are excited to see we have lots of blueberries coming in!  We had one pretty unfruitful blueberry plant that produced 3 berries last year, but I guess blueberries do better if you have at least 3 plants for cross pollination.  A couple weeks back we stopped at some small nursery on the side of the road on our way back from a hike.  We picked up a couple more blueberry plants and some tomato plants.  It was WAY cheaper than getting them at a place like Home Depot, these plants were already a good size and only a couple dollars each!

 Here's hubby checking out the little tomato on one of the plants.  We alternated blueberry plants and tomato plants...We aren't that experienced in gardening, so there was not any reason for this...just did it that way.  My mom is a gardening superwoman and my mother in law is also a big gardener so hopefully we can follow in their footsteps. :)  We want to get more tomato plants, we want tons of tomatos, plenty to eat fresh but also we want to roast and can a WHOLE bunch for making homemade pasta sauce.  So, our beginning garden consists of blueberries and tomatoes so far...But I hope to add more over time and make a real vegetable and herb garden and I also REALLY want to plant lots of hydrangeas, peonies and lavender!  I even got curious today about having a bee colony on the property, I looked it up and 1 beehive can produce 50 pounds of honey a year!  WOW!  BUT for now I'm good with 6 chickens and a beta fish!

Looking at these little blueberries is getting me thinking about making my 

gluten free blueberry lemon muffins with coconut streusel!