Come join the MAKE magazine Bay Area Makers presentation on urban farming, led by yours truly! I will cover basics for getting started and give focus to poultry keeping, small gardens and making good dirt! When and Where:

Tech Liminal
March 2nd 2010
Tuesday 7:30pm

reMake Lounge
March 9th 2010
Tuesday 6:30pm

Back in December a cool crew from CBS Chow came out to the urban farm to do a series of tips on chicken keeping. The results are amusing if not helpful for newbie urban chicken keepers (Note to Chiraag: notice the backdrop on the coop tip).

Egg Layers vs. Meat Birds- or want the best of both worlds? Get dual purpose!

More Tips (click titles):

What Makes a Good Chicken Coop?

What Shouldn’t You Feed a Chicken

What is the Ideal Flock Size?

Chickens Need Calcium Too

How to Get Fresh Eggs Clean

Does a Chicken Lay Eggs Year Round?

How Are Fresh Eggs Different?

Check out the Terra Verde radio program on issues of urban agriculture, food security, and environmental justice with innovative programs in Oakland and around the country. Hell to the yeah.

Last weekend’s Wolf Moon marked the turning point in the season. No more dormant trees and frosted over lettuce leaves. The days are lengthening and the temperature increasing. I am seeing more bird species in my yard and I recently saw a swarm of ladybugs (above pic).

It therefore seems a perfect time to start germination. Each year I try to be in rhythm with nature when I cultivate. Seeds and starts seem stronger and nature does a load the work. With that, I have thrown myself into the outdoor work in an attempt to catch up with Spring in all her glory. The results:

Major “landscape remediation” project to the front yard. After a summer of significant home remodeling, the front lawn was destroyed. I never loved it anyway. So I decided to attempt a more natural landscape of “no mow” fine fescue seeds with spatterings of wildflower seeds. I may have gone nuts with the Crimson Clover on one section. I’ll find out in a month or so.

Virgil cooling his, uh..heels.

I began my rabbit breeding program. I was waiting for the colder months to pass before starting. In preparation I read about how to prepare and what to expect. There is a simple but helpful series online called the Better Farming Series. I was expecting the pair to be shy and reserved for a few minutes, at least. Apparently the timing was right, no introductions, no delays. A successful connection was made and I expect to have a litter in 28-31 days.

I am also raising two pullets (young hens) to swap out two older hens from my flock that seem to have slowed, or entirely stopped, laying.

I will place the shallow honey frames I removed from the hive for the winter back on. I’ve had the bagged frames sitting in my chest freezer to kill off any moths or other bugs that may have inhabited the honeycomb.

Now I am running off to work on the very unglamorous chore of pulling weeds, lots and lots of weeds. Sources of inspiration: 1) Oakland Public Library’s audiobooks on mp3. I am now listening to my first Ivan Turgenev novel. 2) El at Fast Grow the Weeds and Stefani at Sicilian Sisters Grow Some Food.