Internet of Hens

One man, two kids, two cats, seven hens, eight fish, and forty bees preparing for the zombie apocalypse, one seed at a time.

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

Greenhouse panorama. Mostly tomatoes, some cucumbers, a few climbing beans, a couple of peanuts, a recovering palm, and some sweet peppers that just refuse to grow.

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

Today's installment of "things I've never done before".

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

@joncojonathan It goes in already torn into leaf-sized pieces. So they poop on it, and scratch about in it. Any green waste from the garden goes in there too, and it slowly builds up a layer of top soil that gets strip mined each year.

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

I made a new soil sieve.

Chickens aren't just for eggs. The chicken run floor is where the hens compost all the waste cardboard. Each year it provides a fresh input of nutrients for the greenhouse and other beds.

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

In two years of attempting to grow all the onions I'll need in a year, from seed, I've successfully germinated about...six.

This year, much as it pains me, I'm turning to technology.

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

Today I learned that "off" eggs bounce. A lot.

I tested all the eggs by seeing if the float. The six "floaters" were hurled into a nearby field, but instead of cracking open after a fall of several meters, they bounced...up to four times!!!

Have I invented "egg skimming"?

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

Yesterday I found almost 50 eggs tucked away in a pair of secret nests!

I thought they weren't laying much...

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

Pond thread. Dug in the summer, filled in the autumn.

I'll add pics here as it gets established (or tips into disaster).

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

@rik_ferguson @MarkStockley No idea.

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

@GardenerFliss Wonderful! Here's my @uk_masonbees tubes full of Mason bees and leaf cutters. 39 occupied tubes by the end of the summer.

https://t.co/dZADcDTd2f

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

Suddenly the bee tubes are FULL OF GREEN 🌱… I think the leaf cutters have moved in!

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

@smokeyrgreens One end of the greenhouse. Cucumbers and a few Berlotti beans climb through tomatoes.

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

I’ll get the peppers right eventually. This year is the first time in three attempts I’ve actually got cucumbers to fruit instead of turning to paper.

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

Greenhouse panorama. Mostly tomatoes, some cucumbers, a few climbing beans, a couple of peanuts, a recovering palm, and some sweet peppers that just refuse to grow.

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

Suddenly the bee tubes are FULL OF GREEN 🌱… I think the leaf cutters have moved in!

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

One of the bees doing bee stuff.

Lots of off-camera drama this year. Great colours, lots of capped tubes, but look at the mess at the bottom—tube and leaf debris mixed with pollen. I'd guess something dug out some of the cocoons for lunch, @uk_masonbees?

[Internet of Hens @InternetOfHens]

Look what’s been growing in the raised bed…