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Working On My HOA To Allow Chickens

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Is it possible to overcome an HOA and have backyard chickens?

Currently, the city in which I live allows backyard chickens, but my Homeowners Association does not.  I am endeavoring to change that.  Phase one of my plan was attending board meetings whenever I was in town so that my face would become known.  Phase two is to actually make a presentation to the board.  Here are some points that I will be making in that presentation.

 

What do Martha Stewart, Russell Crowe, Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts have in common? They all are a part of one of the smartest trends going, in that they all have backyard chickens.

When our original HOA guidelines were written, which as far as I can tell was in the early 70s (correct me if I’m wrong) I’m sure that Article 8, Section 6 which refers to poultry, was standard boilerplate language added to every neighborhood without really thinking it through. Plus, backyard chickens in residential areas weren’t really a “thing”, but now they are.

And, they’re a good thing.

The City of Austin is giving residents classes on keeping chickens and will reimburse $75 per household for backyard chickens. This is a step toward their “Zero Waste” initiative.

SB 1620 passed the Texas Senate in the 2017 legislature which would have made it illegal to restrict backyard chickens to fewer than 6. The bill didn’t get to be voted on by the House of Representatives before the end of session, but I’m sure it will come up again.

Besides the well known nutritional advantage that backyard chicken eggs have vs even the most expensive store bought eggs, Chickens also reduce pests, household waste and improve the fertility of soil.

Many people who have never been around backyard chickens, and who perhaps have been exposed to commercial chicken operations have some understandable concerns. Chief among them, smell and noise. Let’s unscramble those myths now. (Get it? Unscramble?)

A well kept backyard chicken coop will never have an offensive odor.

As far as noise, laying hens — at their loudest — have about the same decibel level as human conversation (60 to 70 decibels). Hens are so quiet that there have been cases of family flocks being kept for years without the next door neighbors even knowing it. Roosters are not a part of a Backyard Chicken flock and are not allowed by (City) Code of Ordinance.

Don’t we want (neighborhood) to be known as a progressive, forward thinking neighborhood? Isn’t that the kind of place where we want to live? I think so.

I would therefore like to propose that I be allowed to be a trial for (my neighborhood) in keeping backyard chickens.

I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas and experience in the comments.

My Quest to Defeat Squash Vine Borers

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I’ve heard that people run from gardeners because they don’t want to be given any more zucchini? Well, that never happens to me. I’m guessing it’s mostly non-organic gardeners that have extra squash to pawn off.

So far, every time I grow zucchini or any other squash, I get a few fruits, then the squash vine borers get to the plant and it dies.

I’ve read that there are no squash vine borers on the west coast of the United States. I’m guessing that’s where the organic summer squash I see at Whole Foods comes from. Maybe trying to grow it here in Texas in a sustained way is a fools errand. But, I’m committed to figuring this out. If you have any tips, please let me know in the comments.

Here is a summary of what I’ve tried and the results:

Aluminum Foil:

I’ve seen several places online where I am advised to wrap the stems of the squash plant with aluminum foil so that the borers cannot lay eggs in or near the stem. I did try this, and I may not have done it correctly, but it was not effective for me.

Squash Surgery:

Once you see the damage of the dreaded squash vine borer, you can cut into the plant and remove the offenders. This is recognized as a last ditch effort to save the plant, so it isn’t surprising that I haven’t had convincing success with this method.

Floating Row Covers:

This is what I am trying right now. Here is what it looks like:

My first attempt at a row cover to overcome squash vine borers. Hello, Loper!

I’m not sure if I have it covered securely enough because the row cover material I had is not really wide enough, but it is what I had. Also, if you choose to use a row cover, you have to remember to hand pollinate your squash. Plus, you’ll have to water your plants yourself since the rain won’t get through.

Planting Near Aromatic Crops:

I read somewhere that planting the squash where cucumbers would grow over the top of them would confuse the borers and protect the squash. Also, if you plant the squash near other plants like onions or herbs, the strong aroma would do the same thing.

This year I planted squash near cucumbers (which didn’t do very well) and near my big oregano plant.

The plants did stay in tact longer than in previous years, but the still succumbed to borers pretty quickly.

Here are some methods that I found doing research for this article that I haven’t tried yet:

Planting “Trap” Crops. Pick a variety of squash that is more succeptible variety of squash and plant it nearby the variety you’re actully trying to produce. (Blue Hubbard Squash is said to be the most attractive)

Black Pepper. Sprinkle black pepper around the vines as a repellant.

Continuous Planting; One article I read said to plant squash every three weeks so that you could just harvest a bit from each crop and always have a supply before the plant dies from squash vine borers. Who has space for that though?

 

Other Tips:

Hygiene. Clean up all debris after you harvest your squash plant for the last time and are removing the plant. You don’t need to leave anything there to attract more pests.

Crop Rotation: Don’t plant squash in the same place two years in a row. Some places said to have a three year rotation schedule.

I will persevere. I think as long as I travel as much as I do right now it will continue to be a challenge. The borer eggs are visible and can be removed, but that’s a lot of consistent effort and if you are away from the garden for a few days you can’t keep that up.

My quest for a great squash crop continues!  I’d love to hear your comments and suggestions.

This Week In The Garden: August 12, 2017

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It is summertime in Texas. The dog days of summer. You could fry an egg on the sidewalk or bake cookies on the dashboard of your car. (Insert any other summer cliche here.)

No matter what time of year it is, I love working out in the garden. Here is a video of the state of things in the garden this weekend.

This weekend, one of my goals was to take down this broken PVC frame on which I draped bird netting to protect my blackberry bushes.

The broken down PVC frame I took down this weekend.

Everytime there is more than a slight breeze, it falls apart and is a pain in the neck. I bought some stands on gardeners.com that are made to suspend bird netting that I intended to put up and re-drape the bird netting, but while taking off the bird netting I had to cause so much damage to so many branches of the bushes that I really didn’t feel like putting it back on there. Birds are such a nuisance, but then so is bird netting. I’m starting to think that the solution is to only plant bushes with thorns that hopefully make it harder on the birds. So here is how the blackberry bushes look now.

Blackberry bushes in my organic garden
Blackberry bushes. Planted in my yard several months ago.

 

I also intended to plant the two beds that are empty, but after I reviewed this list from Northaven Gardens, I decided to wait until Labor Day weekend to plant the beds. The timing will be better, and I won’t be staring down the barrel of several trips away from the garden.

I’m harvesting a lot of peppers right now.  Here is one I’m particularly proud of.

Homegrown Red Bell Pepper
Look how big this is!

I’ll be on planes 6 out of the next 13 days.  While I’m gone, I’ll write a post about how to manage a heavy travel schedule and still have a thriving garden.

Until then!

Gardening in the Summer Heat

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Here in Texas we have two main growing seasons.  Spring and Fall.  We plant things as soon as the fear of frost is past (and sometimes before, if we’re feeling lucky).  Then we hit a dry spell during the dog days of summer when it is too hot for many plants to produce.  Take tomatoes, for instance.  Once the nighttime low temps are above 70 degrees, tomatoes can’t set fruit.  Once the hottest part of the summer is past, we have another growing season before there is any threat of frost.

The plants aren’t the only ones who suffer in the heat.  Hard work in the garden in the heat of summer can be dangerous for the gardener too.

So, what is a gardener to do?

As far as your own safety is concerned, early morning is your friend.  Thankfully the sun rises earlier in the summer so you can get up very early and do all of your garden work before the rest of your family is up (and before the mercury goes up too).  Drink lots of water, wear a hat and loose clothing.  Be careful.  Leave really heavy tasks for the fall when the weather cools down.

Your plants are going to need vigilant watering while it is so hot outside.  The water evaporates quickly so it’s important that you don’t miss a day of watering.  Pots and other containers especially need regular watering.

Mulching helps keep the soil cooler and slows down the evaporation of moisture from the soil.   Dried yard clippings and ground leaves make a great mulch abundantly available free of charge.  (If you use herbicides of any type in your yard, don’t the clippings as mulch in the garden.)

While you do need to be vigilant about watering, you should avoid watering your plants with hot water.  You know how the water standing in the garden hose gets so hot during the day?  Don’t water your plants with that water.  Let it run into the yard or into the pool.  Also, try not to let water stand on the leaves.  Do you remember as a kid using a handheld magnifying glass to concentrate the heat of the sun to burn something like a bug or a piece of paper?  Well, a drop of water on the leaf of your plant can act just like that magnifying glass and burn those leaves.

On top of all that, know that there are crops that do better than others in extreme heat.  Here’s a list:

Basil

Peppers

Summer squash

Okra

Purple hull peas

Black eyed peas

Water melon

Cantaloupe

So, be careful with your health.  Be choosy with your plants, and keep the water flowing.  Happy summer!

Keeping Your Worm Bin Cool

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How will I keep my worms cool this summer?
How will I keep my worms cool this summer?

It’s about to get really hot here in Texas for a few months.  This means it’s time for me to consider how I’ll keep my worms happy and eating and pooping.  Worms like temps between 40 and 90 degrees.  My worm bin in the garage is already right at 80 and we’re not even in the dog days of summer yet.

The school worm bins are going to be even tougher because they’re outside.  So, what will I do? I’ve done some research and this is what I’ve found.

For one thing, you could move your worm bin inside when it gets really hot.  Mine is right inside the garage.  It’s a matter of moving it maybe 5 feet to right inside the house when it gets really hot.  I’m sure I’ll do that when we start having 100 plus degree days.

Over at the school, I moved the worm bins to where they are in the shade.  This isn’t quite as optimal as moving them inside, but it’s the best I can do over there.  Maybe it’s the best you can do at your house too.  Having direct sunlight on your worm bin is a sure route to crispy worms.  Move your bin at least into the shade.

Moisture is also helpful.  Have you ever sat outside at a restaurant that had a misting system?  The evaporation of the moisture from your skin felt cool?  The evaporation of moisture from your worm bin will help keep it cool too.

Something else I’m going to try is that, before the school year ended, I got buckets of scraps from the school cafeteria and ground them up in my food processor, put them in ziploc bags and froze them.  I’m planning to feed these chunks of frozen food to the worms.  I believe the coolness of the frozen food, not to mention the moisture of it, will help alot.  I’ve read of people putting frozen water bottles in their worm bins and I’m sure I’ll do that too.

Do you have any other suggestions for keeping a worm bin cool in the summer?