Author Archives: jkmcintyre

Building Top Bar Bee Hives

Posted on April 28, 2013 by jkmcintyre

Ready for the next challenge, we have taken on honey bees at our urban farmlet! Two classes from Seattle Tilth and one book later, I found myself building hives (just) in time for the arrival of our bees. The bees … Continue reading →

Posted in bees, DIY, top bar hive | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

How many legs does a momma hen have?

Posted on April 26, 2013 by jkmcintyre

Raising chicks sans hen, you keep them very warm with a heat lamp or incandescent bulb. Guidelines are 95 degF the first week and dropping 5 degrees per week until they are fully feathered or you reach nighttime temperatures. (In … Continue reading →

Posted in baby chickens, broody hen, chickens, nest boxes | Tagged , | 2 Comments

She did it!

Posted on April 24, 2013 by jkmcintyre

April 19 and 20 the chicks hatched. Super Friend Kelly D was on-site to assist while we were biking in Moab, UT (that’s what happens when you purchase eggs, stick them under your broody hen, but do not count ahead … Continue reading →

Posted in baby chickens, broody hen, eggs | 2 Comments

Garden ollas save water in the Pacific Northwest

Posted on April 6, 2013 by jkmcintyre

This is such a cool graph, I had to write a post for it. This is the first empirical evidence that ollas reduce water use in Pacific Northwest gardens. In 2009, I watered our 650 sqft of gardens by hand … Continue reading →

Posted in cistern, olla irrigation, summer, Sustainability, vegetable garden | Tagged , , | Leave a comment