I’ll say it again, I loved my chickens. Their personalities and their various noises were terribly endearing. The appeal ended there.

I’ve blathered on and on about the destruction of my yard while they were only being allowed a couple hours of free time each day; The poo that mounded up wherever they were able to place themselves; The worries about salmonella contamination in my house.

It was just too much.

Keeping chickens in a typical suburban-sized backyard is just plain crazy if you desire to have fresh eggs from chickens that get to forage for grass and bugs. If you are good with keeping them penned up 24/7, the problem of their destruction is solved but there goes the benefits of their getting to forage.

Anyway: I. Am. So. Glad. They’re. Gone.

I’ve been working hard in my backyard.

Remember when I shared what they’d done to this bed?

Now it looks like this:

Instead of there being chicken droppings under all of the furniture, there is now only dirt and spider webs. It’s funny that spiders webs are now a bonus by comparison.

And do you notice the pretty flowers in the planters? Those would be gone, too.

I’ve also taken this last month to make some much needed changes to a horrid section of walkway at the far edge of the deck (near the flowers at the far end).
Here’s a shot of what that area was basically like.

I spent a couple of days putting in the pavers (which we’ve had lying around for the last few years) and then the ground-cover plants. I also gathered up some of the extra rocks from around the yard and built a planter along the fence. Right now it’s just filled with this crummy sandy soil. Next year I’ll tackle filling it with good stuff.

My hope for the new walkway is that the ground-cover will fill in and keep that area (and the house) from getting all sloppy with dirt during the winter when Lando is tromping in and out.

The ground-cover plants I chose are able to handle light foot traffic and full sun. I chose several kinds. Creeping Thyme (which was already growing in a pot so I moved some to this are), Wooly Thyme, Irish Moss, Corsican Mint, Baby Tears, and Blue Star Creeper. The mint smelled wonderful when I was planting it.

Because I’m frugal I bought 4″ potted plants and gently tore off portions and spread the planting. The goal is for them to fill in all of the dirt area around the paving stones by the end of summer.

I planted the Blue Star Creeper right up against the bottom of the large step so that it won’t get stepped on and will be able to bloom it’s pretty little flowers.

OH! I almost forgot to tell you about the new garden! It occupies the spot where the coop and run used to sit plus the grass area next to them.

We had our first home-grown salad today. Right now my garden conatins mixed lettuces, rainbow chard, kale, tomatoes, zucchini, oregano, cilantro and asparagus.

I need to stop now. My son and I are going out for coffee! Hope your summer is going well!