The Modern Victory Garden

I did some minor chores in the garden this morning before heading out to get my hair cut and run some errands.  However, once I got home again most of my day was devoted to getting ready for the delivery of the chicken coop and covered run kit.   It was scheduled to be shipped out on Monday or Tuesday and should be making it’s way to us by truck.   It is traveling from Pennsylvania so it will take a while for it to reach us.   In the meantime, we had some site prep work to take care of and we needed to provide a larger run area for the birds.              

Just as a reminder, here is a picture of the coop kit and covered run that we ordered.                            

We will be installing the gate on the run on the other side from what is shown in this picture. The reason is that we will have it open up into the larger covered run that we assembled today.                          

This is a very economical (cost less than $350) and easy to assemble covered chicken run. The prefabricated panels are connected using simple clamps and a socket wrench.   It has a door with a latching mechanism on one end, and on the opposite side a square panel designed to be easily removed to connect it to either a small hutch or (as in our case) to another covered run area and coop.

The other task we took care of today was to level the area that the coop and other run are to be located.   Our backyard area is quite sloped, which is why our back garden beds are all terraced.   Using a good garden spade, I carved a flat area into the side of the slope wide enough and long enough to accommodate both the coop and the covered run.   This next picture shows you the prepped site area.   The square area on the new run we assembled today (closest to the site prep area) is the panel that easily unscrews and pops out.   The entire run will be moved closer to the other run once assembled and the connecting panel will then be removed allowing the gate on the wood covered run to be opened up into the larger run.                                   

Just to give you an idea of how much I had to cut into the slope.

Notice in the last picture there is a pet carrier sitting up next to the house.    That is how we have been transporting the chickens from their pen set up in the shop to the out of doors.   Once the coop is here and assembled we can stop messing around with that, but it has actually worked quite well in the interim and the girls are pretty relaxed about the whole process.   This final picture just shows you how the run and coop/run combo will be situated in relation to the raspberry patch and the back section of the garden.            

With a little work his afternoon we are now all set for the coop kit to arrive.    In the meantime, we can use the larger run area for the birds to spend daily time in without having to move their portable dog pen set up in and out of the shop.   Tomorrow, I am planning to plant the rest of the beans, as well as some dill.   Overall, the garden is growing and doing well. With the exception of some weeding and some watering to take care, the garden is not too demanding of my time at the moment because most everything is planted up and (other than some daily fresh harvests) there is not much else that needs to be done.