Chickens Don't Just Make Eggs...

...they also make manure.

 We are amending the soon to be herb garden with a mixture of straw, manure and half broken down food scraps. This is a very rich mix and helps hold water as well as bring nutrients to the soil. We are still building up this garden (the one we buried pots in last year and grew chiles) We are planning on planting mostly perennial herbs here.



This photo is of a section tilled with some compost from last year as well as our homegrown manure:

The three sisters garden from last year got a few trailers of alpaca manure but the ranch sold and now we have our own source of manure. We are growing tomatoes here this year and hoping to boost production by doing a few things different. Hopi corn will be planted in the arroyo and barely irrigated.

The gardens will be getting manure spread on them for the next few months appropriately.

On a side note; we ordered fifty one chicks today and they should arrive the second week of February. We are making a box for them to start their farm life in the neighbor's smaller shed. Also, I am making a separate habitat for them once they  leave the shed but before being introduced to the existing flock. It will be roughly seven by ten feet in one corner and they can live in there for a while and get used to each other. Lots of exciting things happening here now. Twenty Eleven is starting out looking good.