North Canterbury News: September 05, 2019

SPRING GARDENING
North Canterbury News, September 5, 2019
31
The art of creating achicken-friendly garden
For the sake of your chickens and your kitchen, consider
creating aforaging garden, writes Wendy Megget.
If there is one thing chickens are
good at, it’sstealingthe greens
from your vegetable garden.
So, I’m switching things
around. I’m goingtogrow greens
specificallyfor the chickens, and
then,when we needour own for
the dinner plate, we can steal
some fromthem.
This planmeans my chickens
not onlyget moregreens,but
they’ll be able to indulge in their
naturalforaging behaviour­they
love to digand scratcharound for
bugs,seeds,greensand more.
This provides them with valuable
minerals and vitamins,aswell as
extraroughageand protein.
Thereare severalways to
approach growinggreens for
chickens,depending on the
nature of the gardenyou have
available and the restrictionson
your chickens’ space.
If you havealarge space, a
greatidea is to create several
separate foraging areasoff your
chookhouse.Whileyour
chickens are grazing on one
space, the otherareas can be
recovering and growing new
greens forwhen it’s theirturn.
If space is limited, youmight
want to strategically place greens
on the other sideofamesh fence,
just within the reach of the
chickens.They can pop their
headsthrough and pick bits off,
without getting the opportunity to
completely stripthe plant.
Speaking fromexperience,
please test therequired distance
with some handheld greens. It is
gob­smacklinglyamazinghow far
they can reach!
You can also try growing
greens in aseparatearea (or
containers), and then pick them
as needed. Alternatively,
container greens can be popped
into the chicken run and
removed again beforethey are
depleted. If youchoosethe right
plants, they should growback
quickly to be eaten another day.
If you wanttokeep things
simple,consider growing
wheatgrass on the windowsill.
You can just snip someoff and
add it to your breakfast.
You are not limited to just
growing greens. We have
eliminated codlingmoth in our
apples since we’ve had chickens
to feast on the larvae in thesoil.
Some chickens will eat fallen
fruit, but I’vefound that differs
from chicken to chicken. It can
help if you cut the fruit in half so
that they can peck outinnards.
Feijoas areagood example.
Our first chooks left them alone
unless we cut the fruit open for
them.Our current girls won’t eat
them at all.
Ahandy hint: Pop asquareof
old carpet over the rootarea
undersmall treesifyou have
foraging chickens. It willstop
them digging aroundthe roots.
Alternatively, consider
growing fruit or vegetable vines
on the mesh of your chicken run.
This not only provides funfor
Caring and sharing... Why not share your greens with your chickens? PHOTO:NZGARDENER
your chickens, whowill haveto
jump for hanging produce, but it
can alsoprovide valuable shade
in summer. Some suitable plants
wouldbepeas, beans or banana
passion fruit.
If you wanttogrow fruit for
your chickens, check they likeit
first. Ithought our eatinggrapes
wouldbeafavourite, but ourgirls
won’tgonear them. At least the
blackbirds enjoy them.
When choosinggreens for
chickens,provide avariety but
keep it simple.Remember, you
need to provide greensthrough
different seasons. Some great
winter options include pak choi
and silver beet­my girls love
them both.Don’t dismiss the idea
of planting greens considered
weeds, suchaschickweed,
dandelions and puha. If you are
picking them regularly and don’t
let them go to seed, you won’t end
up with them all through your
flower beds.
Often, thegreenschickens
enjoy are the sameones we eat ­
lettuce,Asiangreens, silver beet,
kale, celery leaves, watercress
and spinach.Inaddition,
plantain and chicory are tasty
perennials for extra diversity.
Usually, chickens prefer green
leaves over tough stalks. Isave
the silverbeet stalks and dice
themupinthe blendersothat the
pieces are smaller. While it’snot
their favourite, it stillseemsto
disappear by theend of the day.
Unless you particularly wantto
growthe aboveplants for your
kitchen, you may find it easier to
simply buy amix of seeds.
Kings Seeds has aChicken
Green mix containingplantain,
minutina,cocksfoot,sorrel,
dandelion, subterranean clover,
red clover, beet blend and
chicoryblend. Most of these
plants havegood root systems,so
if you or yourchickens pick the
leaves, they should regrow and
recoverquickly if given the
chance. —Published courtesy of
www.gardener.kiwi.
Tidying up
the garden?
As well as using the
kerbside organics bin,
you can turn excess
garden waste into
compost by dropping
it at the Southbrook
Resource Recovery Park.
Southbrook Resource Recovery Park
284 Flaxton Road, Southbrook
Kiosk: 03 313 5499
ReSale Store: 03 313 5798
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Mon-Sun 8.30am-4.30pm
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