Yates Vegie Growing Challenge - Part 4

It felt like a good start

Time for action - The old chook run removed

The old chook run minus its fencing

A hidden nest of eggs

Well it seemed I was beginning to lose the garden and its produce with the hens being a nuisance, so it was now time for action. We needed to keep control of the hens so they could only roam when we wanted them to, not just for the garden but also to be able to find their eggs.

They still prefer to lay in a secret place hoping we wont find the eggs.

The new hen run

This shot is a nest we found last week around the front. One hen has been sitting so the others hold on and lay somewhere else when they are let out.  



We bought a dog run from RD1 but it was square when made up. Harry modified it to fit the basic size of our gardens. He also cut an opening for the hen house to fit on the outside so that the hens had full run of the pen.
 
Before we could move it to the new spot for the hens we had to prune some of the branches off a tree but still allowing some shade for the hens. The branches will be added to the fire wood supply for next winter


Because Harry had mounted the frame on wooden planks it was quite heavy but with Katrina helping we managed to move the run across to the new spot. Harry also modified the hen house so it would sit snugly in the opening he had made.

The chooks locked away but the garden still not safe

Oh what joy for me to see them finally locked up unable to escape. I must admit even though there was fresh greenery for them to scratch in, it wasn't long before they realise their new predicament and would watch us from within their confinement.

This still didn't solve the problem of them getting at my garden when we let them out for a roam. We like to do this each day just so they have a bit more freedom and they do help keep the bugs at bay aground the place. How ever they will scratch away at any exposed ground especially liking freshly dug or weeded spots as it makes finding the bugs so much easier for them!





Harry made up a fence all around the garden space with the old chook run fence adding a couple of gates and a path. He will dig the area between the veges and the chook run for potatoes and I can extend the vegie part further back to the right.







With this now completed I was able to plant out some lettuce seedlings, rescue the seedlings of cabbage and broccoli I had grown myself and had survived the attack of the hens, and also plant a couple more rows of seeds for a continuation of carrots, beetroot and parsnips.

You have no idea of the joy this gave me. I love vegetable gardening and the last two years have been disasters because of the hens. I felt like we had accomplished so much in the redesigning of the gardens, not just control but abundant supply.

Roll on summer.