A fowl state of play

So after a weekend in bed with the dreaded lurgy, my Bountiful Backyard is looking less than beautiful. In fact, like me, it is looking somewhat dishevelled this evening.

The recent rainfall from the summer storms have made everything grow exponentially, and sadly, the weeds are no exception! Momentarily I feel gripped with fear. The fear of weeds taking my garden beds, as they did last summer. You may laugh, but at the time it became quite overwhelming! I remind myself that was mainly a result of mulching with lucerne that was obviously full of weed seed heads. Since then I've gone back to using compressed sugar cane mulch. It's local, affordable and easier to use than the large unruly bales of lucerne I used a year ago.  I tend to use Organic Extra pellets and Searles organic 5 in 1 for added nutrients and nitrogen, as well as topping up my garden beds with my home made compost, which is full of chicken manure.

Eeeek! Don't let the weeds flower!

I grimace, and roll my eyes at the long lawn. It's only been a week since it was mown, but in addition to regular mulching to keep the weeds down, I rely on keeping my lawn trimmed. This prevents any weeds in the lawn from bearing their ugly heads with flowers and subsequently spreading their seeds throughout my garden. It also means less spreading of weeds into other patches of lawn.
I feel quietly confident where this is concerned, however. Since last summer I have managed to halve the amount of lawn by enlarging garden beds and putting in pathways over winter and spring. Surely this year, keeping on top of the grass and weeds will be a piece of cake!

My trusty water timer

The hot sun of recent days is also taking its toll on my leafy greens. The tatsoi and what is left of my silverbeet are seriously flagging. Hmmm... I could erect a shade cloth, but of course I won't have a chance to do this until next weekend. In the meantime I set the timer for my sprinkler to give them a much needed drink. For $15 this timer has been a fabulous asset to my garden, and although I try to be as water wise as possible, I have to admit the sprinkler has also been a great time saver. The reality is growing food requires water. I also catch water from my shower and from my kitchen sink to use on my garden, and I'm currently saving up for a slimline tank.

Lindsay, Paris and Brittney, my chickens, are cluck clucking in the evening sea breeze. I remember that they've been locked out of their coop for the day: Lindsay is broody. And channelling the Exorcist.
I'm new to 'managing broodiness', and when I realised what was happening a few days ago, I tried to move her off the nest. At this point she puffed up to about three times her size, spun her head 180 degrees and began to aggressively peck at me. Needless to say I had to pluck my thick garden gloves and courage from the garden shed before I returned. (Pun intended.)

Lindsay barely leaves the nest to drink or eat!

Apparently one way to snap a broody hen out of their 'mood' is to keep them away from their laying area. I've done that for two days now, and she doesn't seem to be returning to normal. I've also heard that plunging the chicken into a pail of cool water brings their body temperature down and shocks them out of said broodiness.  I might have to give this method a go before work tomorrow, because Lindsay really is out of control! Paris and Brittney get stressed because they've got nowhere to lay, and Lindsay barely gets off the nest to eat or drink, which in this heat is obviously not good. Not to mention she has stopped earning her keep.

Well, one thing is for sure; life is never dull here in my Bountiful Backyard, nor will I run out of things to keep me occupied!