Growing Weeds

Every morning my chickens look forward to their freshly picked salad.

Thanks to nature, "salad" greens grow in abundance in my yard! The other day I was showing my husband my newly sprouted plants in the greenhouse and he inquired about the weeds. I patiently explained to him that I had no plans to get rid of the weeds. Our chickens were enjoying them too much, so let them grow! Allowing a part of our yard to weed has also brought us an abundance of wild honeysuckle and two Mulberry trees!  For the past few days I kept wondering WHO was spraying on the perfume. Never realizing that the aroma of honeysuckle was wafting through my open window! What heaven!

 Some of you may remember that I had this REED growing in my yard. It resembles bamboo and yes it is invasive. Yes, I know it's not very popular with the neighbors. Yes, it grows like a weed. No, I don't regret growing it.

 This reed has been serving its purpose, enabling me to save a ton of money in making my own bean poles. Have you priced a simple bamboo stick at your local garden store? Outrageous.

 Some of the reed I've used to help create a gate. This entrance leads into my new enclosed garden. (I'm actually standing in my garden looking out - at the invasive reeds. Most of the reed will be taken down for building some trellises. In the spot that you see where the reeds are, I plan to grow corn!)

 Hut I made from reeds.

 Another purpose I found with the reed is making an overhead roof for the chicken coop. Can't really see from this picture, but draped over the reed frame is a net to keep the chickens from flying out of the coop.

 Sharing a small corner of the chicken coop, I've recently put the 4 youngest of my chickens outdoors. The screen gives them a chance to see and get used to the older chickens. I'm hoping they will all get along after I remove the screen. If not, I have a plan B. We recently had ducks that we had rehomed to a nearby farm, and I plan to use their coop to keep the newest chickens in. This coop will also serve as the rabbit pen.

So far, we have 4 laying hens, 2 that should be laying in about 2 months, and the 4 baby chicks. Last month, we had to rehome a rooster. Wish we could keep him, but it's very important in keeping peace with the neighbors. No pun intended.

Tomorrow, I'm off hiking with a small group of people. We're taking a course in native herbs, that can be eaten and used for medicinal purposes. We'll wrap up the day by eating what we find, and cooking over an open fire. I'm especially looking forward to being able to identify most of what is growing locally. I somehow have a feeling I'll be eating Dandelions tomorrow.