Driving through downtown Duvall today we saw a big fluorescent ‘CHICKS’ sign in the window of Rockin E Feeds. The promise of puddles of cute drew us into the shop for a closer look. Chuck at Rockin E had a huge steer trough full of dozens of cute fluffy pullets. All napping, cozy and warm, in the glow of their red heat lamp next to a popping crackling woodstove. “Amerucanas and Rhode Island Reds this week” he told us. Pulling out his spreadsheet of chick orders, he showed us the breeds he’ll be getting in over the next several weeks; Buff Orphingtons, Cuckoo Marans, Barred Rocks and more.

We’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to purchase what will become our flock of laying hens this year, armed with a list of breeds we were excited about; Production Reds, a crossbreed known for their excellent brown egg laying abilities and quick maturity. Amerucanas, with their fluffy cheeks and pale blue eggs. Dominiques, a heritage breed we are already familiar with and admired for their free ranging abilities and personalities. And Rhode Island Reds, famous for prolific egg production.

Well here we were with several dozen babies of our favorite breeds in front of us. The price was right and we felt good supporting a local business, so we left Rockin E with a box full of 14 Amerucanas and Rhode Island Reds.

They are now all tucked in to a more modest feed trough in our mudroom, where the dryer and geothermal heater keeps the room warm and toasty. They’ll live there eating tasty locally milled chick starter for 4-6 weeks until they can gradually start living outside.

Hey look, a cold frame! Steve took a messy design I scribbled on a piece of lined paper and turned it into this beautiful masterpiece. This baby is about three feet long, a foot and a half wide, and designed to get TOASTY. It's actually a smaller box, within a bigger box, with space between the two, to be filled with an insulator (such as hay). The window pane was a $10 buy from the local antique mall. The boxes were made from recycled pallets and scrap wood.

Here you can see the hay acting as an insulator between the two boxes. 

We filled the bottom of the cold frame with, first, a layer of fresh manure. Followed by a layer of hay. The idea was to get the manure to decompose and, by doing so, heat the inside of the cold frame.

 Finally! Seven beds in place in various stages of completion. 12x4 foot beds give us 48 square feet of space each to work with.

A front view of the beds

 

We decided to implement some square foot gardening techniques and grow our gardens intensively. To do this we marked off a grid of one square foot blocks on each bed by staple gunning twine across the tops of the beds. 

 

A view from inside the bed. There's even a few seeds planted!

After doing some research, we found that we could buy plastic clips to fit PVC for $2.60 each. As we needed something like a hundred clips, we decided to make our own for 1/8 of the price. We took 2 foot lengths of PVC (one size larger than our hoop PVC) and cut them, almost in half, leaving a small amount of curve so that they would clamp snugly over the plastic and hold to the PVC hoop. The clips are about two inches wide, with the edges sanded smooth to prevent wear on the plastic. We found that the clips fit a little too snugly, and we were experiencing some tearing when we put them on the plastic. To protect the plastic we put a piece of duck tape between the two. For the most part this was effective. HOORAH FOR DUCK TAPE!

 

The PVC hoops are attached to the beds with two-hole pipe straps and screws. 

 

We put together some sandbags by reusing some waste materials. We tripled up used grocery bags and filled them with free discarded fill dirt we found on craigs list. They aren't pretty, but they get the job done. We've had a pretty serious wind storm since, and found that tying the corners of the plastic to the sandbags with twine will hold up to even the strongest gusts.

 

Mmmm, worms! Thousands and thousands of happy, healthy, wiggly worms.

Well then! Time to fill these raised beds with some dirt! 

We decided to first lay down a six inch layer of organic material; waste hay, fresh manure and a thin layer of compost to inoculate it full of worms and microbes. This layer of material will decompose and in the process release heat which will warm the soil around the roots of our plants, and hopefully radiate some of this heat into the hoop houses. Warming up the garden beds allows us to get a head start on growing things.

On top of this layer of organic material, we're putting another 6 inches of home mixed growing medium; a mixture of compost, coco peat, home mixed organic fertilizer, and occasionally some fill dirt. This is one of my favorite tasks so far. Steve calls me a hippy for it, but I'm comfortable with my healthy appreciation of dirt.

The first step is to rehydrate the coco bricks. They come in dehydrated blocks that expand to several times their size. It takes about eight gallons of water and some elbow grease to break them up and turn them into light fluffy wheel barrels full of coco peat.

Soft, fluffy coco peat is a beautiful red color. Coco peat, or coir, is the ground up husk of coconuts. It's produced mainly in India and Sri Lanka.

Although not a local material, it is a more sustainable choice than peat moss, which is mined from hundred year old bogs that are a non-renewable resource. Luckily, coconuts grow on trees! 

 

We've been fortunate enough to be given access to a beautiful pile of 15 month old organic compost. Black gold teeming with worms! Thank you Easter, Codi and Shina!

    

To mix the soil, we dump it all on a flat surface, add about a gallon of perilite and stir it with pitchforks and shovels until it's all mixed together. The final product is a beautiful, airy growing medium, full of worms, beneficial microbes, bacteria and more! Doesn't that sound great! :-P

 

 

We accidentally dug up this little vole out of the compost pile. Luckily he survived the ordeal without getting hurt. On the downside, he had to set up a new residence in the big tree stump outside our garage. Good luck little vole!

 

 Dear Living Room, 

You have been my faithful home throughout the winter. 
You warmed my backside by your wood stove through those long cold nights. You held me in your big red couch cushions, even when I gained a few pounds from lack of exercise. You encouraged me as I plotted and schemed for the future. Thank you. 

But it is time for us to part ways. 

You see, I've found someone new. Outdoors. He caresses my skin with warm sunshine, and his grassy ground is like soft shag carpet between my toes. 

 Maybe I'll be back in 10 months. In the meantime, let me move all your furniture around, and I hope you don't mind if I keep my seed starting table here while I'm gone. 

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The first seedlings emerge!