Post by horses7 on Sept 18, 2009 8:50:28 GMT 8
About 6 weeks ago I came across a book at the library called the Permaculture Home Garden by Linda Woodrow, brought it home to read, not for the gardening aspect, as I have the proverbal black thumb and find it difficult even to grow weeds, but it had a great plan for a chicken dome, even OH thought it was pretty good, he has now built the frame and is going to put the wire on it this weekend, I thought I was pretty smart as he firmly proclaimed last year he was NOT building any more chicken yards, sheds etc, and I have managed to get ANOTHER pen made, anyway to cut a long story short, started reading the rest of the book and I am now well and truly hooked, she is fantastic on how she explains things and you actually have a bit of a chuckle as you read the book, one thing that did turn me off a bit was how she gets her blood and bone fertilizer for her garden, yuk, keeps a bag and shovel in her boot and if she comes across any roadkill she picks it up and puts it in her compost heap, I dont think I could ever go that far. She tells how to do NO digging, NO weeding, NO fertilizing etc, so I thought I would give it a go, me that could not grow anything now has seedlings growing of, corn, beans, beetroot, cabbage, brocolli plus quite a few other veges all ready to plant in the dome for when the chooks move on. I was that impressed I have purchased my own copy and read it every morning before I go out and it keeps me motivated.
one passage out of the book is Some shires dont help with with predactors eg domesticated dogs & cats, in some areas it is illegal to keep chooks, it cannot be out of concern over cruelty, after all it is legal to keep them in tiny battery cages, with half their beaks cut off and subjected to sleep deprivitation. It is also hard to believe that it out of concern over noise when it is legal to build airport runways that keep half a city awake. It does not seem logical for health and environment reasons to prefer to dispose of food scraps n giant landfills that will remain noxious for generations. All in all, it is hard to think of any reason why at all, your council may have blackballed chicken union labour when they are such skilled garden labourers. I agree emphatically with her I also cant see why some shires will not allow you keep a couple of hens in their backyard as they are perfect recyclers as well. Sorry about the ramble but it is the best book I have come across for a long time and if you get the chance it is well and truly worth a read. ;D
one passage out of the book is Some shires dont help with with predactors eg domesticated dogs & cats, in some areas it is illegal to keep chooks, it cannot be out of concern over cruelty, after all it is legal to keep them in tiny battery cages, with half their beaks cut off and subjected to sleep deprivitation. It is also hard to believe that it out of concern over noise when it is legal to build airport runways that keep half a city awake. It does not seem logical for health and environment reasons to prefer to dispose of food scraps n giant landfills that will remain noxious for generations. All in all, it is hard to think of any reason why at all, your council may have blackballed chicken union labour when they are such skilled garden labourers. I agree emphatically with her I also cant see why some shires will not allow you keep a couple of hens in their backyard as they are perfect recyclers as well. Sorry about the ramble but it is the best book I have come across for a long time and if you get the chance it is well and truly worth a read. ;D