
![]() We typically collect all our chicken eggs for eating. However, one of our hens, Mrs. Black, decided to go broody and start sitting on them a few weeks ago so we decided to let her hatch them naturally. I never got to inspect how many eggs she was sitting on, then when I went to check on her today we found 10 chicks and only one unhatched egg. The last egg could hatch in the next day, but if not it is still a 91% hatch rate which is very good. ![]() Not only have we proven Straw Bale Gardening is an absolutely awesome gardening system that you should incorporate into your garden, farm or homestead, it also creates an additional output besides growing your groceries. After the season is over the cardboard under the bales and the straw them selves decomposes into some amazingly rich and biodiverse mulch that you can amend into your soils, put into your compost, or apply as a mulch in your garden beds. We created about 40 gallons worth of mulch after using about 12 bales at the beginning of the growing season the previous year. We did wait all the way to this spring to collect the mulch. Had we collected it in the fall we would have almost double the amount. We are not only very happy with the SBG but also the mulch it produces. Coe's Comfrey: http://coescomfrey.com/comfrey.html Visit our Facebook page or website to see more about our philosophy, principles and stories. Mayfield Family Farm North Dallas Area - Denton, TX I think it's cool but you wasted a ton of metal. The amount of unused head room and the domed roof makes for a bad design. ![]() The above quote was made to us by a stranger, perhaps those same thoughts have entered your mind. So I wanted to address that thought and at least give some data. I am a numbers guy and believe the data dictates actions. When we decided to build this is was based on a several criteria, cost and waste was some of that criteria, including aesthetics, and growing food on it. So let's compare this structure to a typical wood framed structure. Rectangle Wood Construction vs. Steel Conduit Construction
I appreciate your thoughts. There is only about 18" of unused head room which will be taken advantage of by growing hanging plants. I would encourage you to look into geodesic domes, a dome is by far NOT a bad design, and is actually one of the best designs in nature as well as incredible strong. Any strong winds or tornadoes has an effect of pushing the dome down instead of creating lift. There was no wasted metal, when deciding between tubular steel and wood it was about equal in cost or more in a typical rectangular wood structure. We also wanted something attractive that could also have vines and plants growing on them that would be easier to harvest from. Again, I appreciate your opinions. Below are the links to the two RabbiDome blogs with videos. http://www.mayfieldfamily.farm/blog/geodesic-rabbit-dome-enclosure-conduit-pipe-part-1 http://www.mayfieldfamily.farm/blog/geodesic-rabbit-dome-enclosure-conduit-pipe-part-2 |
AuthorsShaun Mayfield Archives
June 2020
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