Category Archives: Flowers

Hen House Migration

Twice a year we have a migration of the hen house. The chicken coop goes in the greenhouse in the fall through winter and it comes out spring through summer. It works out well because inside the greenhouse it can be 40 degrees warmer than the ambient air in the winter when we aren’t growing anything in there. If it’s still cold in the day or snow’s on the ground they have a dry spot to peck around in. It still gets cold at night, but with the coop inside the greenhouse with a heat lamp and blanket insulation really our chickens are more spoiled than most.


Britton moving the coop with the help of Kitty (standing looking into the coop), Greenfoot and Football

But then we have to drag it back out (by we I mean Britton of course) in the spring. This is nice because we get our greenhouse back, but it also kind of stinks because that means opening them up in the morning and shutting them in once the sun goes down. We didn’t use to do that but we learned our lesson after the hen house attack last summer.

But all the hassle is ok because like daylight savings, it’s a sign of finally moving out from under winter’s long grip, and I’m all right with that!


Another sign of spring: white crocus

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Fall, Freezes and Feathers

We had a pretty hard freeze the other night and so all our beautiful flowers out front, our basil, peppers and tomatoes all just turned black and shriveled up into a mess. The same thing happened in our greenhouse. We also had some horrendous winds and so most of the yellow and red leaves have blown off the trees. Still, in true Colorado fashion the weather shifts between mid 70s to 30s depending on the day.


Front after the freeze…all withered and wilted

The chickens have been laying a lot fewer eggs and Henrietta started molting which means no eggs from her at all until that’s done. Some people put a light in their coops for about an hour at night to increase their laying, but we don’t. We figure it’s a good time for them to rest and follow nature’s rhythms. I know that I want to sleep a lot more too!


Henrietta’s Spikes


A close up

Pretty soon we will be moving them into their winter home: the greenhouse. After the freeze I went in there to check it out and so did they. They helped clean it up by eating some of the over-ripe tomatoes for us. Also, don’t miss Kitty’s cameo 🙂

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Fall Around Our Yard

The shift to our Colorado autumn is in full swing. We usually get about one to two weeks of glorious weather with the trees changing colors and the temperature in the middle of the day maintaining at about 75. Up in the mountains the leaves have all changed and dropped, but here where it’s a little warmer we still have some.

At night we have had a few light frosts and our tomato plants, basil, and peppers probably have about a week left till they are toast. We’ve started cracking out the cold weather foods like hot spiced apple cider, chili con carne (with Fritos and cheese of course) and an evening chai latte or hot cocoa. Still, during the day you can where short sleeves and take walks in the changing colors.

Here are a few pictures of fall around our yard.


Fog over the lake behind our house at dawn


The chickens enjoy our white birch trees’ new colors


The flowers out front still look great!


And a few bees are still out working!

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September, Spiders and Stuff

Everything is blooming well in the yard. I can’t believe it is already September! Wow. This early part of September we are starting to see the change in the seasons as the days are hot but the nights are really cool. The front yard where we planted new seeds and plants has filled in really well. We also have a lot of insect life! Here are a few photos from around the yard.


I thought this zinnia was cool how it grew to a double decker


This spider was HUGE! And so strange looking. Click to see a larger view


Nice pink zinnia


Another flower from the front with bugs mating I think


This is a really black one-legged grasshopper on my basil! He was soon hereafter chicken food.


The front yard filling in with flowers

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