Tag: micro gardening

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Caring for Christmas Cactus

I love it when I do something right without even really knowing what or how! I recently posted pictures of my Christmas Cactus that I started many years ago from a 100 year old plant. That brought about some questions about what I do to make it bloom. Uhhh, water it occasionally, let it sit comfortably in the window sill and give it a little fertilizer in the spring. That’s about it! Seemed like kind of a lame explanation and evidence of my total lack of understanding, so I decided to educate myself a little better on Christmas Cactus…after all I have two plants.

Christmas Cactus Flower
The vibrant blossoms will generally last from 6 to 9 days.
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Container Gardening

Along with my regular in-the-ground garden, I also include some container gardens. There are many reasons to include containers in your gardening efforts. They allow you to grow plants in small urban areas where an in-ground garden is not possible. There is less chance for spreading disease. Some plants that spread quickly, do well in containers where they can be controlled, like mint. They can be less labor intensive, there are generally not as many weeds in container gardening, and they conserve water. Containers can also be moved about if you want to change locations, and often the soil in a container garden can be worked before in-ground gardens. I’m sure you can think of other reasons that a container garden could work for you.

I have many container gardens and some are larger than others. I have two containers in my chicken run where I plant herbs, which the chickens keep beautifully trimmed for me. I have another herb garden in an old metal water trough and I have several large containers lining the edge of my in-ground garden fence. You can grow almost anything in a container: vegetables, flowers, herbs, and even trees and bushes. I happen to grow mostly vegetables, chicken friendly flowers and herbs.

Metal trough garden
A variety of herbs planted in an old water trough.
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Sprouts for Chickens

I am a firm believer in variety! I know that a chicken’s sense of taste is nowhere near as refined as a person’s, but it seems apparent, if you watch your chickens eat, that they seem to prefer some foods over others. In my flock for example, fresh raspberries are devoured a lot quicker than tomatoes, and they prefer spaghetti noodles over rice. It is also a fact that different foods contain different vitamins and minerals and in different amounts. I think that as long as your chickens are getting a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, greens and herbs, in addition to their formulated feed, they will enjoy their diet and live long, healthy, productive lives.

One of the things that I like to feed my chickens is sprouts. Sprouts are easy to prepare, inexpensive, nutritious and my chickens enjoy them! They are especially good in the winter months when there is not a lot of grasses or garden produce available.

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