Green bean harvest

First harvest of green beans for the season and very nice for dinner. It's so good to be able to start popping out to the veggie garden and picking things for dinner. One zucchini, fried accompanied the green beans, freshly picked tonight as well.

Zucchini harvest, Oregano drying

Anyone with a zucchini plant or two, knows how many zucchini's you get in a very short time. I needed to do something with these zucchini's that was quick.

So I sliced them up...

...and placed in two freezer bags and added to the freezer. Hopefully they will freeze OK and I can add to stews and soups in the winter.

My oregano plant was looking rather big, so I chopped it back and then wondered what to do with the chopped off oregano. I decided to place into one of the netting bags I've been collecting, then left it hanging near my kitchen window for the last couple of weeks. It actually dried really well.

I pulled all the leaves off the sticks

Then stored in an old coffee jar. The smell is amazing!

I can't believe how easy it was to dry oregano. I can't wait to try drying peppermint, basil, thyme...

Another fright, but a good one...

Yesterday as I was walking through the gate to my fruit orchard, a baby brown snake slithered through my legs giving me quite a fright and bringing me back inside....

Today I was picking zucchini's when I found this little fella on one zucchini. I jumped back until I realised what it was. Anyone know what type of lizard it it?

Ducks settling in... Chickens growing up...

Neddie supervising, I have been teaching him to sit on a chair and stay, whilst I wander around the orchard interacting with the ducks and chickens. Tonight was his first test whilst the ducks and chickens wandered free range...

Neddie was a very good boy

Baby chickens will be 5 weeks old on Thursday

I have been told that the spotty ones may be roosters, if that is the case I may have two roosters and 2 hens, we will wait and see as they grow.

The ducks found the corn patch and felt very safe in amongst the corn stalks.

Ollie

Cleo

Poor Ollie received quite a fright tonight. He finally got the courage up to come over to where I was sitting (quite a distance away) to get food, but Hilda side swiped him and completely flattened him, sitting on top. I am assuming Hilda was protecting her babies. I am going to try and allow the ducks to free range on their own for a while to get their confidence up.

Veggie garden update

Green beans

Zucchini

Lettuce looking very fresh and ready I think

Basil

Chamomile

No idea

Poor looking raspberries, but have had a couple raspberries off these canes

Pumpkin

Hopefully the bricks will stop the chickens scratching my pumpkins, the front one has been very badly damaged.

Corn patch

Trying to protect new pumpkin seedlings by using a pallet, it seemed to work tonight

More duck and chicken photos

Chickens are just past the 3 week mark

How to build a very cheap duck house

Lay down chicken wire to fox proof the bottom

Hammer in a couple of stakes and nail a few pallets together

Ask sister nicely to bend any nails back that are sticking through

Then add a couple of bed bases, a section of fence, a little more wire, a tub, a few cable ties and the duck house is complete...

Add a couple of ducks and it is really complete!

All I had to buy was:
2 dog bowls for food and water - $10
bungee cords to hold the gate up and closed and to hold the wire on the top to the sides - $10 (although I only used 2 cords and the packet had 10 or 20 cords in it, which will come in very handy)
More cable ties $2.20

So my duck house cost me $22.20... Very happy!

I would like to extend it in the near future to make it larger, so I am keeping my eye out for extra supplies.

Baby chickens almost two weeks old

I love baby chickens and the way the two mother hens show so much care, protection and love to them. This photo was taken 5 mins ago, so cute...

Plus a few more photos taken over the last few days