South Carolina Backyard Farms

This past weekend I went home to South Carolina to visit some real Backyard Farmers.  First Stop:  Mamma B and Dadda B's house (otherwise know as my grandparents).  They have been growing a garden longer than I have been alive.  They have also raised chickens and bees, grown and sold Christmas trees, built their own home, and are now keeping horses.  Here are some pictures from their garden.

Collard Greens

Mamma B sent me home with more of these than I can possible eat.  Will be freezing for later.

A View Of The Garden

Most things here were planted in the Fall and are ready for eating now.  The back of the garden is reserved for Spring planting.  Look at all those compost piles.  They're full of horse manure!

Yummy Spinach

I also have some of this in the fridge!

My Sweet Grandmother

Here Mamma B tells me about her Japanese Mustard Greens.  They are DELICIOUS! 

Some Pretty Lettuces

Onions Poking Up

Inside The Compost Bin

Rebel

My grandpa's first horse!

Next Stop:  Kendrick and Floyd's house, otherwise known as F&K Farms.  Floyd and Kendrick are friends of my mother's.  They raise chickens in their backyard, so I went over to their place to see how things are done and get some tips.  I had no idea what I was in for!  Not only do they have chickens, they also have two garden spaces, one of which is as large as the one I worked this summer in Arkansas (see www.mysummerinthegarden.blogspot.com if interested in reading about it), an orchard, and a berry patch.

One Of F&K's Pretty Chickens

I'm pretty sure this was one of the Buff Orpington chickens.  Floyd and Kendrick also have some Rhode Island Reds and one Araucana (I think that's right) which lays greenish blue eggs.  I was sweetly sent home with six of these beautiful eggs but neglected to take a picture before Erin and I ate them for breakfast.  Yum!

Kendrick Shows Me The Coop

Only half of this coop is actually used for chicken housing.  The other half is where humans stand to gather eggs, disperse food, and store supplies.  You can see Kendrick in this standing area in the picture below.

Inside The Coop

Here you can see Kendrick lifting up a door that is hinged to cover the nesting area.  Just lift the door and there are the eggs!  No battling chickens necessary.  You can also see a pipe to the right.  The pipe continues down to the bottom of the coop and stops just above a feeding tray.  Kendrick showed me how he pours feed into the top of the pipe, and it falls out into the tray at the bottom of the coop.  Again, no battling chickens necessary!  The windows you see provide fresh air and sunlight into the coop.   I learned that it is important for chickens to obtain around 14 hours of sunlight everyday for maximum egg production.  The more sun they get, the more eggs you get.  That is why this coop also has a light, which you can see at the top of this picture.  Having it there helps with light and heat issues during the winter months.

Outside The Coop

Here Floyd is explaining to me his coop cleaning methods.  The door he is standing in front of leads to the bottom of the chicken coop.  The floor of the coop is made of a grid of chicken wire and covered with a bedding of hay or straw.  Floyd tells me that wood chips do not work well as bedding because the chips fall through the wire.  Once the bedding is covered with about a week's worth of chicken poop, it is covered with another layer of straw.  This process continues for a few weeks until the straw-poop-straw-poop sandwich gets stinky (but not too stinky).  Then it is all scraped out through that little door and added to the compost pile.  Floyd and Kendrick occasionally let their chickens peck around in the compost pile because it help the compost to get churned and aerated.  Also chickens are bug eaters.

Little Coop

This smaller coop is where F&K house their baby chicks when they have them.  This coop is probably more like what Erin and I will have in her backyard.  The box to the right side of the coop is the nesting area.  The top of the box is a hinged door which opens for egg removal.  What I like about this coop is that it has three chicken-hangout-areas.  The nesting box, the upper level, and the lower level.  The lower level allows chickens to poke around for bugs and grass on the ground.  The upper level is for sleeping, as chickens like to be high up or "roosting" while they doze.  In this coop the roosting area is the little ladder that you see on the upper level.  Another cool thing about this coop:  It moves.  Notice the wheels on the bottom right and the wheelbarrow-like arms on the left.  Moving your coop allows you to provide lots of fresh ground for your chickens to peck and poop on.  The poop part is, of course, great for fertilizer.  This coop also has a light in the nesting area, which makes it a cozy place to settle in when the weather gets chilly.

Pretty Chicken

This is a picture of a pretty chicken.

Tomato Plants

Floyd and Kendrick grow their tomatoes UPSIDE DOWN.  I thought this was so cool.  I didn't even know you could do that!  Each bucket has one tomato plant which grows out through a hole in the bottom.  Even in the winter time when the plants aren't in bloom, I thought this was incredibly pretty.  You can even grow sister plants like herbs out of the top of the bucket.

Strawberry Plant

Mamma B gave Floyd and Kendrick about fifty of her strawberry plants, which they promptly planted in their orchard alongside some beautiful peach trees.  These strawberry plants have lined my grandmother's garden since I was a kid.  I can remember being a tiny little girl and squatting next to my brother and grandfather picking and eating these strawberries.  "The small, dark ones are the sweet ones," my grandfather would say.  Mamma B sent me home with some strawberry plants, too!  I can't wait to put them in the yard!

I wish I had taken some pictures of Floyd and Kendrick's berry patch.  It was so cool.  They have organized rows of blueberries right next to a wild bramble of blackberries.  They also have peach trees and two garden spaces not pictured.  Floyd and Kendrick were incredibly sweet and welcoming.  They showed me, my mother, and Mamma B all around their 2.5 acres and answered every question we asked.  They also sent us home with some eggs, jams, and the best peach salsa I have ever eaten!

Thanks to Mamma B, Dadda B, Floyd, and Kendrick for allowing me to poke around their backyards last weekend.  It was such a pleasure.  I left both places feeling proud and happy, filled not only with a ton of new information, but also a ton of new inspiration!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I'm bringing Erin back for round two when the Spring gets here and everything is in bloom!