Sustain Myself

At last, after months of convincing, years of unit dwelling and a decade since my last chooks, I am please to introduce the Pecker Sisters, Pamela and Rosanna:

They are two Isa Brown chickens around 18 weeks old and are beautiful. They are so soft and already very friendly (apparently the breed is known for being more relaxed). Abbey loves them to death and is constantly asking to go and see the ‘Chitcha’. The dog also loves them but in a very different way, initially they were terrified of her but now they just ignore her and I think she doesn’t like it.

They are living in the coup I made (Casa de Chooks) and have also got a big ‘run’ down the back of the yard that I leave them to explore during the day.

As you can see, their run is completely fenced off, so they are happy and safe in there. They retire to their crib at dusk so I go and lock them in there and then let them out again in the morning (they’d probably be safe over night, but I am worried about cats or war-hungry possums getting to them).

Now, anybody that can tell me what popular 80’s big band had two hit songs that these chooks were named after, gets an egg. (We haven’t had one yet, but when we do – its all yours).

Well, my amazingly cool chook coup is now complete (bar a small addon that needs to be planned a bit more.

(No, the dog is not part of it)

I know she doesn’t look like much, but this is the greatest thing I have ever built. I’m not great with wood work, so I am extremely happy with the outcome.

This end opens to allow the chooks to roam free (which they will do during the day). The coup is also bottomless and I still need to add wheels to it at one end so I can wheel it from place to place.

The roof is slopped to one side to allow for easy water run off, which will soon be collected in a gutter and used to keep the chookies’ water container filled. This is the part that still needs planning, I haven’t worked out how to do it yet.

The nesting ‘box’ is actually just a long bedding piece to allow for the 2 chooks to have a bit more room and will be filled with hay. Its also removable for cleaning.

The whole coup uses stainless and galvanised metal bits to prevent rusting and the coup is also painted in a few coats of weather shield (by far the most expensive part at around $40).

It didn’t come in much cheaper than buying one, but I did it myself and I am seriously happy with the results.

If anybody is interested, I could draw up the plans in Google Sketchup and provide a list of the tools I used.

Next step: Find some chooks! (I can source some Isla Browns from

RentAChook, but if anybody else knows of where to get some other varieties in Sydney, I’d love to know!)

What you are looking at in this picture is a sub-week old Australian Yellow Leaf Lettuce. Planted on the 9th of February and left in last weeks rain (that was an error on my behalf but it doesn’t seem to have upset it).

This is one of two lettuce seedlings to have sprouted. Its so exciting. I want to eat it now, but I don’t think that’s too wise. Its in a seeding tray with another 3 lettuces, a Chilli and an Asparagus. In my eagerness to start growing my own food, I did not notice that the asparagus wont produce squat for over 2 years… Oh well.

I also have a little ‘Green House’ that I bought from bunnings with the same plants in it. I was seeing which one they preferred but it seems they like open air more.

Please take no notice of my labels. My daughter thought it’d be a hoot to draw all over them after I had finished writing them (I’m not even sure if they are in the right slots – that was her next trick).

Btw, the seedlings are sitting on my beautiful DIY, Luxury-spec chook coop which sports a Polyurethane roof and gutter (which fills the chooks’ water). When its finished and ready for a population, I’ll take some snaps and show you how I made it (cause, there will no doubt be people wanting to copy it).

A lot has been going on in my garden recently and as it all surrounds my efforts of making myself more sustainable, I thought I would update you all on it.

I never used to consider myself a green thumb until I got my own garden. I used to enjoy the idea of gardening but couldn’t see myself really taking it seriously. Now, I love every moment I can get in my garden, I love my compost, my worm farms, my citrus tree’s, my lawn and everything else out there. It’s something that a lot of people take for granted but its all so beautiful.

My Compost

Initially I had just a single Tumbleweed compost bin, I wrote about my initial composting experiences in a post back in October 2008. Well, that bin got full very quickly once I started putting my lawn clippings in and if I wanted it to break down, I had to stop adding to it.

The compost in there is looking great but because the bin is in a shady spot, its not happening quite as quickly as it could if it had full sun. So, because it was full and because I continued to get about 150L of grass clippings every 4 weeks from my lawns, I went and bought a second ‘cheapie’ 240L compost bin from Bunnings (for only $40! Bargain!). This is taking a little bit of our food waste, but mainly the grass clippings which I am turning every few days.

I am also reading Tim Marshall’s “Composting: The ultimate guide to recycling your garden” to help me make my compost as best I can.

My Worms

My worms. I love my worms. These little blighters are so fantastic. We feed them all sorts of stuff, they just keep on chewing and reproducing and giving in return nothing but fantastic nutrient-rich castings. What amazing little creatures they are. When I first started my worm farm, I got a little discouraged as it seemed like the worms were staying down below the food and not coming up very often. I think its because they weren’t too strong in numbers (although, I did introduce 2000 of them). These days they are covering the food in there, they never stop! We are putting more and more in at a time (over-feeding can be very bad for a worm farm) and they continually keep up with the demand. I am going to grab a few and pop them in each of my compost bins to help with the breakdown process.

Because of our worms and compost bins, we don’t throw out anything organic. They are all working a bit much at the moment, so once the chook’s arrive, they can have a breather. I am reading David Murphy’s “Organic Growing with worms” to better educate myself on these little fella’s.

My Plants

Our garden here was beautifully landscaped when we bought the place. Lots of palms, ferns, a pond, teirs, steps, paths, everything. We loved it, but now I am starting to think that while all these plants are beautiful, they don’t produce anything except shade and privacy. So I need to start introducing food producing species’ to our garden. The whole garden is hooked up to a drip irrigation system too, but I don’t like turning it on as its still on town water. Need to wait for my water tanks (post on that coming soon). So far, we have a Cumquat tree, its beautiful except my bloody naughty dog pulled the biggest branch off it last night (with the most mature cumquat on it too) – so cranky!

But how can you get angry at her?

We also have a nice little lemon tree that I got for my birthday last year. Its been planted in full sun on our fence so it will eventually provide yummy lemons as well as some privacy (not that Harold and his wife are intruding…). See the 2nd pic in this post for the lemon tree.

We also have some potted herbs that we brought from our unit. They now get very little wind and a lot more sun so they are growing extremely fast. We have mint, parsley, Shallots and Chives.

Anyway, that’s my garden. I am getting my water tanks soon and will need to plumb in my down pipes etc, will post about that soon. Also, I have built a chook coop and will write how I did it soon.

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE! She is my sister and turns 23 (give or take a decade or so) today. Go and check out her blog at herheartmyhands.com NOW!

About 4 weeks ago I put the last grass clippings into my compost and have been patiently waiting for the day that its ready to use. We have also been stuffing the worm farm over this period as you cannot add more to the compost bin or it will never compost, you need to have a ‘cutoff’ period. Unfortunately, the worms are now backlogged and that’s not a good thing. Worms should not be over fed as it can produce pests and mould, bad smells and the like. Our worms have been eating very well and I don’t think they will have a problem getting through this excess food.

But, now we have a problem. We simply cannot get through our vegetable waste any quicker. The compost is waiting to break down, so it cant go there and now the worms are full so it can’t go there. Enter the chooks!

Chickens are a mans best friend (well, besides Baci) and it surprises me that more people don’t keep them. Chickens are very self sustaining. They require very little assistance from you and will in return provide fresh eggs, chicken poop (which is fantastic fertilizer) and a way to get rid of your vege scraps. Chickens eat crap loads and will very happily take over when the compost and worm farm are full. They can even keep bugs and other critters away from your Vege patch.

Rent a chook is a great way to ‘ease’ into chicken keeping. You ‘rent’ the chooks for 10 weeks and if you dont like them then you give them back and get a refund minus fee’s and delivery charges. I have kept chooks before and I know that I’ll be keeping them but for folks who do not know what they’re doing, then what better way is there to try before you buy?

There is a lot of valuable information on the Rent a chook site and its worth reading. I think most families with the space should keep chooks. Its easy and extremely beneficial to yourselves and the environment.

I cant wait!