Third season keeping laying hens and every spring plays out the same way. I put in a small herb bed close to the coop thinking they'd leave it alone, and within two weeks it looks like something exploded in there. Dust bathing, scratching, pecking at anything green. The whole bed is just dirt now

Tried fencing it off with scrap wire but they squeezed under it faster than I expected. Someone told me to plant things they naturally avoid, but that hasn't held up in practice at all. They ate the rue. They ate the lavender. They ate a pepper plant I put in as a test.

What I'm actually trying to figure out is whether anyone has found a layout that works long term. Something that keeps a productive garden patch close enough to be convenient without getting wrecked every few days. Not a full separate garden far from the coop, just something functional right there in that zone.

The chickens themselves are great, good layers, easy to manage, but this one thing is driving me up the wall. Feels like I reinvent the wheel on it every single year.

My property is home to a network of old rock walls (likely 200+ years old). I know it's hard to see them in the pictures, because they are under ferns, raspberries, and various trees. Does anyone have any advice for clearing them out? I intend to leave most of the trees, but would love to reduce the raspberries to a manageable level (hah-if that's even possible for raspberries.) I'd rather not use fire or chemicals, as there's lots of critters living in the rock walls.

Does anyone have any magical solutions, or am I looking at a massive amount of sheer physical labor?

It's not *that* far. I want it lined up on the pad there. Any tips?

I was thinking maybe just jacking it up and letting it fall crooked over and over?

Maybe getting some steel cable and chain and trying to pull it? There isn't really much that's in a good spot to anchor the line too though.

I'm hoping there's something obvious that I'm missing. Idk.

Looking for advice on how to prep a large garden (60x48ft) for planting next spring. I havent used any of the space for a couple years but prior to that I only used two 40 feet rows for plants. I want to prep the ground to use all of it this coming spring for large patches of sweet corn, and vining plants as well as the usual abundance of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Most of it was overgrown, I recently mowed it all down and want to make sure it has the nutrients needed to perform well next year. Anyone have advice on the best way to get it ready without use of heavy equipment?

New property has a ginormous ficus and a **** ton of palms . The ficus drops an incredible amount of leaves and it may be a hurricane risk but it’s staying because it provides much needed shade. Shredding the palm fronds sounds like wishful thinking so whats my best bet for shredding ficus leaves to convert them to mulch?

I have about an acre maybe a little more of woods that I’m looking into clearing out. I mainly want to clear out all of the brush and understory and leave the main established trees. Would like to do it the cheapest route possible and I’ve seen some people use animals like goats or pigs to do the job. Does anyone have experience in this? How long would it take? Another concern I have is getting in to put adequate fencing to keep them contained. Really would like to have someone come out to do it for me but from estimates I’ve seen around looks like that could get pretty expensive quick.

Now Im sure theres going to be naysayers and poo poo'ers because "well reddit" and TBH I can not take the credit for this because the other half sort of came up with it just as a way to save water (were on a well) but a while back we made mashed potatoes and before dumping the water from boiling she asked if I wanted it to use as mix for feeding the bees, because I was in the middle of starting that and I usually use hot water first to melt the sugar. At first I wanted to poo poo the thought myself but then decided all that juicy juicy sugar and starch in the water might be beneficial.

I tried it and BOY did the hives love it. they will suck that water down and I also noticed they seem to use it to push out more comb. If you have stubborn bees that refuse to comb frames try this. It seems to work just as good with pasta water as well. Seems to blow up laying as well.

This is now 2 diff years and sets of bees Ive tested this with and I plan to keep doing it.

Just an FYI tho. this stuff WILL FERMENT! and Hard if left too long. bees dont seem to mind, in fact bees are known to love fermenting things and will go for it but left too long and it starts to become straight methane moonshine so remove it if not finished after a few days and clean the feeders thoroughly.

Id love to know if others do this or are willing to try and see if they get the same results or possibly this is something regional. Im in the northeast.

UPDATE:

PLEASE PLEASE

Save this thread and if you decide to try this come back with your insight and observations

The bees are looking good! The honey is very light colored this year! It has a much sweeter floral taste than the darker fall honey. Any other beekeepers!?

I have some land I recently cleared that has some rather deep vine and other foliage roots. The chickens currently reside in that area but I was hoping / thinking that a little pot-bellied pig would help dig up the area a little. I know that pigs can eat chickens but this pig I'm going to get is still a baby. And I have a fierce rooster.

Am I crazy? What do you guys think?

First exposure to agroecology could be this

I made another harvest today off my bushes . Probably around 7-8 lbs . There are still tons more left that hant ripened yet so ill post up the next harvest soon . Side note I take all the overripe ones and ones I find on the ground and give them to my dogs . They love them and healthy for them too .

Hey everyone,

I’m looking to get some honest feedback from growers on a problem I’ve been trying to wrap my head around.

I'm trying to figure out if organic growers are genuinely satisfied with how they source, buy, and manage their fertilizers and soil amendments (especially with organic compliance and finding high-quality bulk inputs), or if the current ways of doing it are actually a massive headache.

(Note: I have a quick, 3-minute anonymous Google Form if you're open to sharing your feedback that way—just let me know in the comments and I can send you the link!)

Farm Update. Sedum, Hosta, and Lilac

Can I cut down black locust tree’s into posts and drive them in the ground right away? Or do I have to let them dry out for a time then drive them in.