Spring is Here!

Spring is here, and we are busily getting ready for planting! We ordered seeds and split them up for planting. Most of us have started our plants indoors and will transplant them outdoors in the next few weeks. The weather in Colorado has been windy, but nice enough to get the gardens started.

Shannon and Matt have purchased the chickens for the garden, and they are living in their basement for now until we get the pen built and set up. We will be working on this in the coming weeks. If you want to help participate in the building of the pen, let us know so that we can ensure that you are on the list!

We'll have some dirt delivered in the coming weeks, and we will all be out getting our plots ready and planting for the coming growing season!

Chicken Plan Passed!

The Chicken Plan was approved by the Friends Meeting on March 14, 2010. We are looking forward to getting started with our chicken plan, which will include building a chicken run and coop, getting the chickens, and beginning the care rotation. Shannon and Matt have graciously offered to help with the young chicks and to care for them in their home until they are big enough to put outside.

A few additions to the chicken plan include providing hay for the chickens to keep the smell down. We will also be getting the youth from the Friends Meeting to help participate as much as they want. What a great way for families to be a part of the community!

The Garden is almost completely full! We have two more families from the community that will be participating! We have also set aside a plot to plant some perennials like asparagus and strawberries from which we will all share! We have ordered some plants and some seeds, so we are getting ready for the warmer spring days so that we can get our gardening started!

The Chicken Plan Proposal

Chicken Plan for Community Gardens on Vine

Overview:
The Community Garden on Vine is proposing to the Grounds Committee of the Quaker Meeting a small area for raising chickens within the confines of the garden. The area would not house more than 12 chickens for the 2010 year. The chicken area is experimental to determine if the project is plausible and sustainable for this community garden.

Chicken Project Participants:
Shannon
Matt
Kristina Brown
Brad Brown
Luanna Heikes
Karen
Jacquie Adams

Space:
The proposed chicken area is at the back of the garden at the northeast side. Please see the sketch in attachment 1a. (TBD)

Cost:
The cost for the chicken coop, chicken feed, and young chickens will be absorbed by the community garden members participating in the chicken project. The expected costs are as follows:

Chicken coop building materials: approxmately $200 using materials from The ReSource
Chickens: $2.75 each from No. Colorado Feed Supply
Chicken feed for the season: Approximately $.50 per pound

Time:
The time for taking care of the chickens will be divided evenly amongst the community garden participants. The majority of the chicken project participants live within a half-mile radius of the gardens, so the chickens will be cared for on a daily basis. In the event of any persons going on vacation, the responsibility for the chickens will be handed over to someone voluntarily for the time that the person is away to be resumed upon their return.

Use:
The chickens will be cared for daily, and the eggs will be dispersed among the chicken project community garden participants equally. A few chickens will be processed at the end of the season and dispersed among the chicken project participants.

The chicken's feces will be used as natural and organic fertilizer for the soil, and compostable vegetables can be fed to the chickens from the garden as well.

The chickens will be cared for through the winter. They will be closed in with a heater on cold days and allowed out on nice weather days.

City & County Regulations:
Fort Collins City regulations require that residences only house 6 hens at a time; however, the property of the Community Gardens on Vine are outside of city limits, and are, therefore, subject to county regulations, which are much less stringent.

Larimer county does not have a restriction on the number of hens or roosters a residence can have as long as the animals are well cared for. The chicken plan being proposed is only requesting for hens to be raised, no roosters.

Resources:

A great resource that helped me find some of this information was:
http://urbanchickens.org/blog/urban-chicken-keeping-legalized-ft-collins

Also, the Northern Colorado Feeders' Supply on Linden St. were very helpful, and we personally bought five chickens from them for our home. They have a chicken workshop in March to provide information to those who don't know how to raise chickens.

The Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Association has year-round workshops on sustainable living, which includes gardening and raising chickens.