Styrofoam box planter or low fat chook food?

If you are like me and have run out of plant-able garden space here is another "up-cycling" suggestion.
 

 

 

I found this styro-foam box  literally by the side of the road two streets away in a council hard rubbish collection. I liked the size of it – good depth – so I decided to see if I could re-cycle it for seedling planting.

Introducing the chook that lays Blue Eggs

Dear Isabella, (Issy) our South American Araucana, is a funny chook, not just because of her crest obscuring her vision and so making it easy to sneak up on her, (handy when needing to administer medicines or weigh her) or the fact that her breed is the only chicken breed to lay a blue-green egg. (In some countries they are called "Easter Eggers"!).

No I think she is funny as firstly she loves her greens waaaaay more than the other chooks do.

How do I know this? 

She makes an excited chuckling sound in the back of her throat when she sees me carrying a bunch of greens. Then she tucks in like no-body's business, virtually  shoving the other chooks out of her way.

Confused about "Free Range"?

When you go to the supermarket it can be a real challenge to wade through all the different labelling. There are shelves upon shelves of eggs! I bumped into a gorgeous gal there the other week frowning a lot and asked if she was looking for true free range:  “Yeah - I don’t want the bullshit ones!”,  was her answer. Well – that sums it up for me! So I told her what I follow: Organic is definitely good if you can afford it as their requirements are strict and clear.

The short version of the story is to be absolutely sure your eggs are the kind of free range you would prefer to support. One way I have found is to look for these logos:

 

Producers bearing these logos have gone through really strict assessments to achieve this acknowledgement which is one of the reasons they are more expensive. If your 'free range' eggs are cheap, chances are they are not accredited. The longer version of the story has to do with producers "bending" the truth about their product being what most folk would call 'fair dinkum' free-range. The fact is  that the term “free range” gets bandied about almost as much as the terms “healthy” and “organic”. (I will have many posts on these latter topics also...)

Talk about “in the eye of the beholder!”.

In Australia the Free Range definition is encoded in the Animal Welfare Model Code of Practice, 2002 which states that birds should have access to an outdoor range. The code itself notes that the number of birds per hectare needs to be specified but as yet there is no specification about how much access   for how long or whether that outdoor range is bare dirt or edible pasture. The minimum stocking density is 1500 birds per hectare, though some producers opt for even lower density of 750 birds per hectare. The problem is, there is no maximum  so birds may have very differing conditions yet still be labelled free-range. The Australian Egg Corporation (AEC)  are reviewing this and were apparently at one point looking at having 20,000 birds per hectare endorsed. So far QLD is the only state to legislate that 1500 birds per hectare max is the standard  for product to be labelled as free range. Have I mentioned how much I love Queenslander's before? Yay the Sunshine State is all I can say!.

The welfare of the birds and the variables between free range, barn laid and cage in terms of bird health are complex. The AEC has produced an interesting document on their website which refutes claims that free range means happier birds. Free range birds are not as protected from predators and illness and pecking from other birds according to the publication. Here is a link so you can if interested explore this very explosive and emotional topic for yourself.
Your Eggs Your Choice

This site gives a good summary of the categories available and what they really mean in terms of the birds:  The Sustainable Org

One of the most trustworthy places to buy your eggs is

A fact about chickens you may not know...

Chickens need a certain amount of light to lay which is why in the shorter Winter days I will generally get less eggs.  This appears to be nature's way of giving the chicken's reproductive system a rest. A common commercial farm practice to ensure a year round supply of eggs is to provide artificial light sources to keep the girls laying.   This sadly means that after about two years their bodies seem give out and they develop reproductive disorders. This is why commercial farms 'move their battery hens on' at about 18 mths of age and often get "rescued" by backyard poultry keepers. .  

The photo above comes from a lady in the UK who was so concerned about the lack of feathers on the battery hens she "rescued"

Wicked Wicked Salted Caramels

For all the closet-sugar lovers out there who haven't quite yet kicked the habit here is THE most delicious and wicked caramel recipe evah. These are what I now default to when I want to indulge a sugar craving (Sorry Sarah W! ) If you are going to weaken, my motto is make it worth it! (But if you want some sugar free recipes I will be posting some of those too!)

At least with these I know exactly what is in them and if you decide you DO want to indulge, may I humbly suggest that these are THE best way to do it - that is, apart from Darren Purchese's (of The Sweet Studio in South Yarra) stunning caramel sauce which was my gift to all my friends last Christmas!)

( I am SUCH a nice friend :) ).

Enough description - a picture (and in this case a taste!) is worth a thousand words.

Sugar & Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins!

 

Well, I started making low sugar/sugar free stuff  for my darling two year old niece Lucinda Sue, and then realised it may not be such a bad idea to switch to these options for myself :)

Certainly I would not give a lot of the food I used to eat, (and still occasionally indulge in), to my niece, or in fact  my chooks, which tells me something about the quality of food I used to eat a lot more of : white bread, white rice, sugar sugar sugar!.

:(  It is a long road to a completely guilt free diet.

So onto this yummy recipe that I have to say I do enjoy :) despite the lack of sugar!

UPcycling!

This great new phrase in my lexicon was given to me by an ex-work colleague and I just love it! (thanks Stacy F! :)

UP-cycling means that our landfills are being deprived of a few more "things" that our throw away society discards so easily. I don't know about you but I just feel uncomfortable throwing away items that are in perfectly good 'nick' but have simply become a little life-worn or unfashionable. So most of these types of items go to charity or fall into the category of "a Fiona Project".

Latest is a pair of, (well sort of - they don't exactly match!), bedside tables that were plain brown when purchased second hand at an auction we attended to support a friend, and transformed into glam gold and bronze items as part of a Moroccan moment after a holiday there in 2002. But now they are going "shabby chic/French Provincial with a hint of Art Deco" in 2014!

Welcome to the feathered garden



The garden in Spring 2011

This is the view from our kitchen window in Spring. Yes,  it's not Spring right now but it didn't seem right not to share those gorgeous yellow banksia! This photo was taken in October 2011 and the one below this morning.

Late Spring 2014

The Chilean Jasmine has taken over the arch (a self sown plant from the one that grows over our side fence) and the Banksia have finished for this year. The Cumquats need a tidying trim after their cutting back a few weeks ago...and the girls are running around beyond the (height increased gate) eating the abundance of lettuce from our no dig garden.

I have a great view from the window as the "living garden ornaments" are very entertaining. These ornaments are one of the reasons for calling the garden "feathered" as we have a mixed flock of colourful backyard chooks.

However, as well as chickens, our garden is visited by:

• Silver Throated Honeyeaters
• Willie Wagtails
• Wattle birds
• Indian Doves
• Ravens
• Sulphur Crested Cockatoos
• Rainbow Lorikeets

 and once even a Sparrow Hawk and an Eastern Spinebill! Not bad for an inner city dwelling.  

Some have even nested - the honey eaters and doves have raised chicks very successfully right under (or rather above) our noses!

Introducing the "domesticated feathered garden occupants" aka "The Girls" or "The Chooks".

Name: Lottie - Breed: Hamburgh. Colour: Golden Spangled.

Source of name: Laid her first egg day after arrival moving my beloved to dub her "a Hamburgh-er with the lot" and so she became "Lottie". A nice Germanic sounding name also and as my father was born not far from Hamburgh all very appropriate somehow. Anyway with out any further ado our "Glamazon Chook"....da da!!

Lottie the 'Glamazon' Chook

Funny Facts about Lottie:  Lottie likes to sleep up in the Banksia at night instead of the chook house and for all her good looks and size is super super shy.

 She also sometimes utters a vocalisation that sounds as if someone stepped on a cat's tail. A surprisingly 'scozzer' noise to come out of such an  elegant looking bird!.

Name: Little Vegemite - Breed: Australorp Bantam. Colour: Black.

Source of name: Australorps are the only pure bred Australian breed of chook so I wanted an iconic Australian identity for her and her little Blue pal (Whose name is  'Happy'. Get it? If you don't, you are possibly under 45 years of age, or are the right age bracket but weren't allowed to watch much telly or you didn't grow up around here. :) No matter - get someone to explain it to you or go here The Story of Vegemite ..and for some spine tingling angry- making corporate Espionage stuff that builds on the story go HERE ......The story of an Aussie Icon .  Grrr I may have to change Vegie's name...

Lottie and Vegie post the great Rhubarb Raid of Winter 2014

Rhubarb plant post the raid!

Curious facts about Little Vegemite: She is not really a "bantam" but at 3kg somewhere between a standard Australorp and a bantam. The breeder swears she does not know how this could happen. She is our top chook and incredibly good natured and a good layer (a feature of the breed). She has also proven that chooks can eat the leaves of at least one rhubarb plant and still be upright the next day.  Then again according to Wikipedia a 65kg person would have to eat 5kg of the leaves to get a lethal dose so a 3kg chook would have to eat...30g ?  Find out more here:  Is Rhubarb poisonous?

Wheatie, Bluey. Mottley, Honey and Blackie

Name: We haven't named these as some are destined for a new mountain abode very soon so they go by the nicknames of "The munchkins/urchins/ratbags/five musketeer or abbreviations of their colours- Breed: Japanese. Colours (L to R) : Wheaten , Blue, Mottled, Honey Dun and Black .



Posing for their close up in the Convulvulus

Curious facts about Japanese Bantams: They are a true bantam in that their is no big version of them and rumour has it they were bred for the Japanese aristocracy who wanted birds that would not damage their gardens. So Jappies as we affectionately call them have very short legs! They lay a 30g egg which is a fabulous size for kids and small pastry basting jobs!

The brown egg is around 70g, courtesy of Little Vegemite 

Name: Happy - Breed: Australorp Bantam. Colour: Blue.

Source of name: See "Little Vegemite" above. Happy also has a nickname but I won't put it here as I want this to a child friendly blog. Let's just say it's "Miss Bossy Pants". Here she is with chicks she raised from fertile eggs bought at a Poultry Auction (we don't of course have a rooster being in the city!)

Curious facts about Happy: Despite being Ms Bossy Pants she has a very unusual and attractive  trilling vocalisation and is fond of coming up behind me and gently tugging on my clothing with her beak when I have my  back to her hand feeding the other chooks. It reminds me of a kid saying "what about me mum?". She is also a very pretty chook with big brown eyes and a way of cocking her head to one side that is very endearing.

And yet she is truly 'Super B*tch' to the smaller chooks or any chook that gets between her and her food.

As so often is the case, looks can be deceiving.

We have other birds and their profiles will be added as time allows...!