Free-Range Baby

(Photo Courtesy of Erik Kuykendall)

Our Chicken Coop Awaits Artistic Inspiration

We scoured blogs and free chicken coop designs for months and had friends bring over old pallets and break them down in an attempt to provide us with materials to create one.  Due to time and resource constraints, it seemed wiser to buy a pre-fabricated coop to get rolling.

We have assembled our chosen coop and the the run and will connect the two after we get it painted and sealed.  The coop is well designed, but we had to throw out all of the original hardware and screws due to quality issues. 

Our plan is to get four Black Australorp chicks this next week and we plan on adding an elongated run as the chicks mature.

This week, we are collecting brooding supplies, looking for an appropriate predator barrier for the bottom, and hoping for artistic inspiration for the coop.

Some paper resources on starting up this important component of permaculture: 

The Chicken Whisperer's Guide to Keeping Chickens
The Complete Encyclopedia of Chickens

Keeping Chickens

Chicken Coops - 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock

And you can't forget the Old Farmer's Almanac any time you are doing something with permaculture, farming, or ranching.

Planting Calendar For Travis County

What are the best seeds to plant this time of year?

Here's a planting Calendar for Travis County and Central Texas:

(Feel free to let us know of more plants that work well this time of year)

July	August	September
1-15 Chard Sweet Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Okra Black-eye Peas Pepper Plants Pumpkin Salsify New Zealand Spinach Summer Squash Winter Squash Tomato Plants Watermelon 15-31 Lima Beans Snap Beans Canteloupe Carrots Cauliflower Chard Sweet Corn Cucumbers Fennel Okra Black-eye Peas Pepper Plants Pumpkin Rutabaga New Zealand Spinach Summer Squash Winter Squash Tomato Plants Watermelon	1-15 Lima Beans Snap Beans Broccoli Carrots Cauliflower Chard Chinese Cabbage Sweet Corn Cucumbers Fennel Garlic Kale Okra Black-eye Peas Potatoes Rutabaga Shallots New Zealand Spinach Summer Squash Winter Squash 15-31 Snap Beans Beets Broccoli Carrots Cauliflower Chard Chinese Cabbage Collards Sweet Corn Cucumbers Endive Garlic Kale Kohlrabi Head Lettuce Leaf Lettuce Mustard Potatoes Shallots Summer Squash	1-15 Beets Carrots Chard Chinese Cabbage Collards Endive Garlic Kale Kohlrabi Head Lettuce Leaf Lettuce Mustard Parsley Garden Peas Radishes Shallots Summer Squash Turnips 15-30 Beets Carrots Chard Chinese Cabbage Collards Garlic Head Lettuce Leaf Lettuce Mustard Parsley Garden Peas Radishes Shallots Spinach Turnips

(Chart obtained from the Texas Agrilife Extension of Travis County.)

Areas included in Travis County:

Austin Bee Cave Briarcliff Creedmoor Elgin

Jonestown Lago Vista Lakeway Manor Pflugerville

Point Venture Rollingwood Round Rock  San Leanna Sunset Valley

The Hills Volente Webberville West Lake Hills

Anderson Mill Barton Creek Garfield Hudson Bend

Jollyville Lost Creek Onion Creek

Shady Hollow Wells Branch Windemere

Bluff Springs Cele Del Valle Elroy Kimbro

Littig Lund Manchaca Marshall Ford

McNeil New Sweden Oak Hill Pilot Knob