Water, Water

This can't be good for the squash plants.

The chicken coop entrance is now a small pond,

...and something tells me we won't be having a fire in this pit any time soon.

The already suffering-from-too-much-rain garden takes another hit. I will be holding my breath over the next few days as I watch to see which of those battered veggies will bounce back.

The good news? Broccoli, just picked, is on the menu tonight!

The Solution

As I mentioned before, our hungry hens have been destroying our garden—scratching, trampling, pecking and eating the already challenged veggies (read more about that here). It was clear, we needed fences around all the gardens but I did not want to spend any more money on this cause.

The solution? Sticks. We had a pile of sticks in the back corner of our yard so we poked them into the ground around the perimeter of the garden. Even though the chickens could fly over the fence if they really wanted, the sharp, twisted branches seemed to be enough of a visual barrier to keep them at bay—until they figured out they could squeeze between them. Imagine our surprise when we found all the chickens on the wrong side of the fence eating the lettuce. Foiled. So we added more sticks, filling in the spaces, and the chickens have not had lettuce for lunch since. Or perhaps I should say, yet.

Attack of the Chickens

Scratched up dirt and rolled rocks...

Trampled tomatoes...

Gravel strewn around the yard...

And one hen who has decided to eat her own eggs (eeewwww!)...

The chickens (more about them here) have been ruling the roost lately—scratching, trampling, helping themselves to the lettuce, and wreaking garden havoc in general. Looks like the time has come to take back the yard. We have our work cut out for us—fencing the rest of the not-yet-fenced gardens, mending trampled veggies, raking dirt and gravel back to where it came from, and replacing the painted rocks back to the borders they make.

As for the hungry hen? We are not so sure. Suggestions welcome.