As soon as the snow melted, the chickens escaped the penitentiary–I mean, chicken yard–and had a swell time scratching in the mulch. (If you look carefully, you’ll notice the chicken wire in this photo is much newer than the previous photo.) Also, you can see weeds poking through the mulch. Not only was the layer of organic material too thin and the paper layer perhaps too gappy, but there is nothing stopping the grass from insinuating itself into the bed from the other side of the fence. But the plants made it through the winter, despite being planted very late in the fall (for around here) and the chickens uncovering their roots as they hunted for tasty morsels.
About Kathy Purdy
Kathy Purdy discovered the joys of writing in fourth grade, when she started corresponding with a former classmate. She's been writing letters ever since, first on looseleaf, then electronically, and now as weblog entries. That makes you, the blog reader, her pen pal. Her first independent (though frustrating) attempts at gardening were made in high school, though the gardening bug didn't bite hard until her mid-thirties, when she found herself mistress of a rural home on 15 acres. • USDA Hardiness Zone:4 • AHS Heat Zone: 3 • Location: rural; Southern Tier of NY • Geographic type: foothills of Appalachian Mountains • Soil Type: acid clay • Experience level: intermediate • Particular interests: colchicums, narcissus, cottage gardening, NY native plants, gardening with/for children
