PotterWatch
Deeply Rooted
We have managed to make some good progress on our chicken and garden tasks this week. We finished the chicken tractor and the garden boxes for the front garden. My husband is putting in the last of the border blocks on the front garden right now. Then all we have to do is fill in the walkways with gravel and the boxes with dirt. Hurray!
My front garden last year did ok, but not as well as it could have because of a large sycamore tree that shaded most of the area. We talked for a long time regarding what we should do about the tree. We finally determined that we should have it removed. It did shade the garden too much, but it was also raising the driveway and invading the sewer lines. In some ways we hated to see such a grand tree be cut down, but in other ways it was a good decision for us and our house. With the tree gone, we were able to put in four boxes. They are all 3ft wide and range from 13-14ft long. There is a space near the sidewalk that is about 2ft x 13ft where we will plant flowers. I will also be using the blocks in between the boxes to plant flowers or garlic or something else that doesn't need much room.
The front of the house two years ago before we started using some for garden space. The big tree is the sycamore we had removed.
My 9yo putting mulch in one of the walkway areas. We have a bunch of gravel leftover from a previous project that will go on top of the mulch (I think).
The view of the new garden space from the house looking out at the street.
This is the chicken tractor we made. I put the meaties in it yesterday afternoon and they seemed like they did just fine. The biggest drawback is that there isn't any way to open it to give them fresh food and water. You have to lift the whole thing. It's light so it isn't hard to lift, just inconvenient. I think we will be figuring out how to make a door in the top so that I can reach the food and water more easily.
My front garden last year did ok, but not as well as it could have because of a large sycamore tree that shaded most of the area. We talked for a long time regarding what we should do about the tree. We finally determined that we should have it removed. It did shade the garden too much, but it was also raising the driveway and invading the sewer lines. In some ways we hated to see such a grand tree be cut down, but in other ways it was a good decision for us and our house. With the tree gone, we were able to put in four boxes. They are all 3ft wide and range from 13-14ft long. There is a space near the sidewalk that is about 2ft x 13ft where we will plant flowers. I will also be using the blocks in between the boxes to plant flowers or garlic or something else that doesn't need much room.
The front of the house two years ago before we started using some for garden space. The big tree is the sycamore we had removed.
My 9yo putting mulch in one of the walkway areas. We have a bunch of gravel leftover from a previous project that will go on top of the mulch (I think).
The view of the new garden space from the house looking out at the street.
This is the chicken tractor we made. I put the meaties in it yesterday afternoon and they seemed like they did just fine. The biggest drawback is that there isn't any way to open it to give them fresh food and water. You have to lift the whole thing. It's light so it isn't hard to lift, just inconvenient. I think we will be figuring out how to make a door in the top so that I can reach the food and water more easily.
Don't let the space in that concrete block go to waste. I filled mine with dirt and planted strawberries in them. Turned out great. 
