New to this forum

[slystr]

Hello,
My name is Slystr and I'm an urban self sufficiency fan. I live in Dallas TX with my husband and daughter (11), a cat and 2 guinea pigs. We had a flock of Delaware chickens until last June when they were killed by feral dogs in the neighborhood. My garden had been abandoned for the past 2 years due to some life challenges but I'm back in the saddle this year. The in ground plot is in need of drastic measures to reclaim it (I have to Round Up the bermuda grass:( ) so I have started several boxes of veggies in milk crates I have been toting around for the past 30 years. One can never have too many milk crates.
I'm really excited to find this forum and hope to get to know many of you in the next few weeks.

[MoniDew]

we are so delighted to have you here.

may I suggest an alternative to the round-up? Perhaps you could cover with layers of cardboard and old newspaper and attempt a lasagna garden? It would be a much more sustainable alternative to the chemically intensive approach.

[slystr]

Monica,
I have tried that and all I got was a garden full of cardboard and bermuda grass. This stuff is tenacious and wicked. It is against my nature to use Round-up, but I want to use this plot for gardening vegetables, not Bermuda grass. This plot was originally a lasagna bed but the bermuda broke through and took over despite my best efforts. I have asked on several forums and the concensus is that Bermuda is almost impossible to irradicate with out intensive methods. I've even asked at the local Master Gardeners Organic help desk and given the extent of my problem, their suggestion was Glyphsote (round up) then procede with the lasagna process. This is what I have to contend with.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/slystr/100_1261.jpg
Thanks for your suggestion though. I hate to use the stuff, but I kinda have no choice.

[gardengirl72]

Rabbits or chickens will take care of that problem, I promise, put them in a pen over the spot and the Bermuda grass will be gone in a month!

[slystr]

That's why I have this problem! I had chickens and they kept that spot clean but they got killed by dogs this past june and I got so depressed I gave up on the plot. Those chickens were the best!

[Backyard Permaculture]

I have had this experience. Patti, Bermuda grass is the worst weed we have in warm climates. If the Rysome roots are not killed as well, the grass will not even be killed by chickens, unless you leave them there for a couple of years.

The greatest success I had killing out bermuda grass, when I was converting part of a backyard from a bermuda grass lawn to a vegetable garden, was by rototilling the whole area, erecting my portable chicken fence panels ( See photos on my profile) to separate the garden area from that which was to remain lawn, and turning about 3 hens loose in it. The chickens thoroughly enjoyed scratching through the deeply loosened soil, eating the bermuda, roots as well as stems and leaves. After about 4 months, the grass was gone.

Obviously, that takes some planning ahead, but it is worth it. The chickens also eat a lot of weed seeds, insect larvae, and fertilize the soil at the same time.

[iheartchkns]

We moved to the family farm in mid-2008. Last year I jumped into hatching my own chickens in a small incubator -- Buckeyes straight from Ohio. I also grew my first vegetable garden since my childhood days. What a great year of learning it was!

So far, we have 1 Buckeye rooster, 2 Buckeye hens, and 1 Dominique rooster. The Dominique protects the two hens from their "brother," but I will be trying to get more Buckeye chicks from the hens this spring, if I can corral the three Buckeyes together for a little while. :o)

I grew the following veggies in the garden last year: Blue Lake green beans, kennebek potatoes, cucumbers, about 5 different kinds of tomatoes, and zucchini. I had much bigger ambitions, but learned quickly that this was all I had time to do, since I work full time and have active kids. Getting yukon gold and kennebek potatoes ready to grow this year and hope to get some cold weather veggies like peas and spinach in this year, as well.

We also have two indoor cats and about 9 outdoor "farm" cats that are all so much fun to watch and hang out with.

My boys have learned so much and really enjoy having the animals and garden.

Kim