Just me and my kids, off griddin' it - follow along our shenanigans at our YouTube Uncle Dutch Farms.
A build too cool to miss:Mike's GreenhouseA great example:Joseph's Garden
All the soil info you'll ever need:
Redhawk's excellent soil-building series
SKIP books, get 'em while they're hot!!! Skills to Inherit Property
Mike Haasl wrote:My chickens shred wet leaves better than dry ones...
They spend the winter in a protected run. We put all our fall leaves (primarily maple and birch but some oak) in a bunker in there that is 4' by 4' by 16' long. They start out dryish to a bit wet (wetter the better). 2+ times a week I dig a hole in the pile with a pitch fork and throw in coffee grounds from a coffee shop. Of course the chickens are scratching and pooping on the pile too. Each time I dig the hole in a new place. By the time I'm back to where I started, it's starting to break down and heat up (compost). By spring it's definitely broken down a bunch but not yet compost. Although that could be to our excessively cold winter temps fighting the composting process. By mid/late summer it's ready for the garden.
Just me and my kids, off griddin' it - follow along our shenanigans at our YouTube Uncle Dutch Farms.
Bethany Dutch wrote:This is beyond the "lay them out and run the mower over them" volume level, I think.
John Wolfram wrote:
Bethany Dutch wrote:This is beyond the "lay them out and run the mower over them" volume level, I think.
Have you considered a souped-up lawnmower like a BCS or Grillo tractor with bush hog?
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Just me and my kids, off griddin' it - follow along our shenanigans at our YouTube Uncle Dutch Farms.
Bethany Dutch wrote:How interesting! Sounds like mechanical means may not work here efficiently, but I wouldn't mind letting birds do the work. When you say "bunker" what do you mean by that? Like a fenced area to keep the leaves enclosed inside the chicken run?
SKIP books, get 'em while they're hot!!! Skills to Inherit Property
This is all just my opinion based on a flawed memory
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Jay Angler wrote:The OP mentioned ticks overwintering in leaf piles - there are certain breeds of birds that are known to be good at tick control, but I suspect just about any chickens in Mike's set-up will control ticks well enough!
I've know too many people hurt by tick-born diseases to "just put up with them", particularly if you're in a deer-rich area. Deer ticks only spend part of their life-cycle on deer - in my area both rodents and certain amphibians host part of the tick life-cycle.
Just me and my kids, off griddin' it - follow along our shenanigans at our YouTube Uncle Dutch Farms.
Jay Angler wrote:The OP mentioned ticks overwintering in leaf piles - there are certain breeds of birds that are known to be good at tick control, but I suspect just about any chickens in Mike's set-up will control ticks well enough!
I've know too many people hurt by tick-born diseases to "just put up with them", particularly if you're in a deer-rich area. Deer ticks only spend part of their life-cycle on deer - in my area both rodents and certain amphibians host part of the tick life-cycle.
A build too cool to miss:Mike's GreenhouseA great example:Joseph's Garden
All the soil info you'll ever need:
Redhawk's excellent soil-building series
Some places need to be wild
Bethany Dutch wrote:
John Wolfram wrote:
Bethany Dutch wrote:This is beyond the "lay them out and run the mower over them" volume level, I think.
Have you considered a souped-up lawnmower like a BCS or Grillo tractor with bush hog?
![]()
Oh... a bush hog! Didn't even think of that. That would work, I think!
We can walk to school together. And we can both read this tiny ad:
turnkey permaculture paradise for zero monies
https://permies.com/t/267198/turnkey-permaculture-paradise-monies
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