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9:14 am
May 21, 2011
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I just love your post showing your herb garden design. I have a question though about keeping chickens out of the garden. My chickens like to fly over the wire I have around my garden and fluff and scratch in the dirt. How do you keep yours from flying over the wire?
9:30 am
May 14, 2005
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Hi, Wilda! So far, they haven't flown over. It's kinda small and narrow, so maybe that deters them. But, we have thought about that, because they =could= fly over if they want to, and our plan if they start doing that is to go ahead and bring the fence up and over the top. It would have to be high enough for me to stand in there, so we aren't doing it unless we have to.
9:21 am
August 6, 2010
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You can clip wings if your girls are flying the coop! Get a good pair of scissors, go into the chicken house after dark while they are sleeping. Spread ONE wing out, and clip those big flight feathers right off. As long as you don't clip into the wing itself, it doesn't hurt.
They do grow back, but it takes a while, and the girls may have lost the wanderlust by then. The older and fatter my hens get, the less they want to roam. (Wait, I resemble that remark!)
10:32 am
December 28, 2008
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So far my girls are being discouraged from attacking the herbs by those little cheap wire fences around the herbs themselves. I placed some very old, rusted sections of that short fencing kind of woven among the herbs so that the girls could easily jump up on the fencing, even hop in among the herbs, but the way the little fencing is configured, there really isn't enough room for them to get a good scratch in should they hop in!
So far, it's working. I left room for them to roam behind the herbs, and they can peck at the ground around the herbs through the fencing. Not really sure whether it is the small space or the fact that the fencing itself isn't particularly substantial – they COULD just knock it down, but haven't. Yet.
We are also finding that plants labeled "Deer Resistant" are less appealing to the chickens than those which are not, so we have planted a few of those around the edges of the herb garden.
12:53 pm
May 5, 2011
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I clipped the wings on my 30 girls to keep them inside the 4 foot fence, but four of them keep hopping over somehow. I'm going to try confining them and fattening them up a little, but if that doesn't work they're outta here. Chickens are harder on my garden than deer and rabbits combined!
5:07 pm
May 21, 2011
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thanks for all the ideas . can hardly wait to change potted herbs to an herb garden. having fun now watching a momma goose and her 12 baby guineas. she wants them to swim and graze and they want to eat bugs and run around. 
7:06 pm
December 27, 2008
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LOL Wilda. I'd love to hear more about the mama goose and baby guinneas!
I LOVE my herb garden! It just keeps getting bigger and bigger! Collecting more herbs for it is getting to be a fetish! lol!
3:11 pm
July 22, 2010
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I used to clip my girls wings, but just on one side . . . . it was kinda funny to watch them try to fly – sorta side-ways hop! I'm having a problem with my herbs. Every one of them has failed. The only thing that has even tried to grow is a few miserable, stringy parsley! I figured, if anything, that the mint would go crazy. Maybe I put it out too early? Any suggestions? Can I plant again this late?
5:23 pm
December 28, 2008
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Kinda sorta depends on whether you are talking about from seeds or settings, and annuals or perennial herbs.
My own experience is that herbs pretty much don't care much when they are set out. And if you are doing yours from seed, why not give it a try, if you already have plenty of seeds.
Have herbs done fine in this location in previous years?
10:02 pm
July 22, 2010
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This is the first year for them. They were from seed. We had a pretty cold and wet spring. I wondered if that had anything to do with it. I'll try from some more seed, but put it in a corner of the garden (better dirt, I think). We are in such a rural area that it's hard to find a place that sells the plants.
7:35 am
December 27, 2008
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The perennial herbs should be fine. I put my perennial seedlings out in April and they were fine. The catnip really took off, at least until my cat discovered it growing out there. Parsley is pretty tender and doesn't like frost but it should be ok now. Did you harden them off?
2:09 pm
May 21, 2011
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oh brother but it is HOT out. we have very hi humitity in va. beach, va. i get up early to work in garden and with chickens. hate to let hens out to early because of predators . we have so many chicks this year. i love this site.
2:43 pm
February 10, 2011
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Our chickens are free ranging and our garden fences aren't that great (homemade wooden… pretty but not terribly practical). Once a year (usually spring), after dusk some night the kids will go out and raid the chicken coop with a pair of scissors. They only trim the feathers on one side. The chickens seem to know that flying attempts would be pointless after wing trimming day and don't try it. We never clip the guinea hens though, as their presence in the garden is welcomed (they don't scratch, only eat unwanted bugs) and their ability to fly is better than the chickens to begin with, so it's nice to see them able to soar! 
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11:25 am
September 2, 2008
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I need help! I have started a herb garden and for some reason I bought a pineapple sage plant, smells beautiful and is very large. Now– how do you use pineapple sage??
2:02 pm
October 10, 2009
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O Jeannie I love pineapple sage. I haven't seen any in quite a while but when I grew it I put it in pork dishes, apple pie (I know – weird but it was good) and under the breast of roasted chicken. It probably would be good julienned and sprinkled over a fruit salad which included fresh pineapple. Gotta go find some pineapple sage.
4:01 pm
November 9, 2010
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I was given a pineapple sage plant last year for mothers day. I loved it, I used it in everything that I would use sage in but it just had a little sweeter taste to it. Unfortunately I am not too good at wintering plants so I need a new one but I was awesome while it lasted!
7:25 am
November 20, 2009
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Last year I grew Summer Savory and it smelled wonderful and was good in quite a lot of recipes however it is an annual. This year I decided to grow Winter Savory which is a perennial (therefore easier to keep going) thinking it would be like the Summer Savory, but it is strong and rather peppery and hot does anyone else use this for cooking?
9:00 am
February 6, 2011
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This is my first year growing herbs. I am growing savory, chamomile, lemon balm, thyme, and three kinds of basil. My rosemary didn't come up, but everything else is doing great. They all smell so good! 
1:29 pm
January 19, 2011
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I have an herb related question. My container herb garden is doing very well, but my intention has always been to move the perinnial herbs to a permanent bed behind the garage. I will keep the mint, and any other invasive herbs in pots, in the current location, as well as the annuals.
My question is, can I move the herbs in the fall to their new permanent bed? Say in early September? We don't usually have really hard freezes until October, but I am not sure if that gives them enough time to establish a bit so that they will come back next year.
If this is not a good option I could repot some of them in a smaller pots and put them in a sheltered but unheated location until spring, like the garage.
I am concerned that the herbs that I have planted in the old tub of the washer wont survive the winter planted in something that is made of metal no matter how well I mulch and wrap.
3:23 pm
November 11, 2010
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I wouldn't hesitate to do this in my former Texas garden, but in WV, not sure. I would try to move them as soon as the most severe, hottest summer weather is over. What is your August weather like? Or will your permanent bed not be ready at that time?
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