Coop Du Jour

The last couple of months have been full of the hustle and bustle of searching for a house of our own. While patiently searching for the right home, I took a stab at my first chicken coop. I say first because I began with the intention of giving it a new home once complete. It was one of those things that you do, just to see if you can do it.

While the finished product wasn’t all that attractive, it was a good springboard for similar undertakings in the future. In the end, the finished product was just what a kind Chapel Hill police officer needed to house her bullied pullets.

To see how others in the area house their chickens Liz and I happily took part in the Bull City Coop Tour this weekend – a self-guided tour of chicken coops in, and around, Downtown Durham. We started with our regular trip to the farmer’s market, but this time with an added purpose. We wanted to add to our OKC emblazoned bag – already half full of squash, tomatoes, peppers and beans – a treasure map. It might as well been a treasure map as it held the locations of the 9 coops on the tour.

While we didn’t make it to each of the 9 locations, we did enjoy seeing how others approached housing their hens. We were surprised to find ourselves visiting a coop at the historic Duke Homestead. Another location, just blocks from the house we moved from two weeks ago, housed a pair of very social/humorous hens, raised by a young girl as a school project. At one stop we even got an education on aquaponics, which couples plants and fish in a re-circulating system to cultivate the crops. In this particular case the result was an excellent mint tea provided by the owner. It was a nice way to spend the morning.

Now to check with the HOA to make sure we can have chickens of our own in our new neighborhood. If all goes well maybe we'll be a stop on next year’s tour. 

The Next Fall Garden

This time last year I was planting a Fall garden. Peas, radishes, etc. I remember being most excited about the peas. I had never grown them before as the OK weather was a bit too extreme to for peas to be regularly successful. As a kid, the only time that I had previously seen peas in a garden was at my Grandpa’s, in Pennsylvania. They were quite novel to me and always a treat.

This year I refrained from planting a Fall garden for one reason. I didn’t think I would be at the same property long enough to reap the fruits of my labor. I was correct. Last week, Liz and I got the keys to our new house!

I can’t wait to turn over the backyard soil of our new yard and build new beds.

Summer, Was That You?

Summer was a whirlwind. Vacations were taken. Families were visited. The chicken coop was finished. Whole30 was attempted and successfully completed. All in all, adventures were had.

Above are images from Pennsylvania, Michigan and my home-sweet-home, Durham.

I am still not over how much of a season Fall actually is in North Carolina. Realizing that the last sentence sounds ridiculous to most, those from Oklahoma know that Fall happens in between Summer and Winter when the green leaves are hit by an abrupt frost and wake up on the ground the next morning.

Here in Durham, the invigorating crisp, fall weather has arrived and the leaves are waiting to burst into flames. As they do, I anxiously await with rake in hand. 

Nesting

You can take the boy out of Oklahoma, but apparently a bit of Oklahoma tags along for the journey when leaving. Lately, Liz and I have been talking about where in Durham we want to grow roots and buy a house. Often the conversations lead to what the smaller house in the back yard looks like as well. As we plan for a house, we find ourselves discussing the possibility of having chickens, which are allowed within Durham city limits. The house in the back is where “the ladies” might live. Admittedly, their names have already been chosen. Ella (Fitzgerald), Nina (Simone) and Billie (Holiday).  

After comparing and pricing chicken coops I realized that many of them were designed with function in mind. Functionality in a coop is great, don’t get me wrong, however I found myself looking for a solution that paid a little more attention to the aesthetics of the coop. That is to say, this big box is going to be sitting in a back yard (in a Durham neighborhood in this scenario). At minimum, I would hope that it would not be an eye sore.

Considering the location of our house is to be determined, I thought I would give building a chicken coop a shot in the mean time. Practice for the future. So, I scratched down some less than technical plans and bought some wood. Here is to hoping it takes shape. 

Spring Begins In DURM

As winter changes to spring, Durham events are once again moving outdoors.

This past weekend, on the 700 block of Rigsbee Avenue, Durhamites renewed their commitment to the city’s well being at the second anniversary of Marry Durham. 

The weekend before (as pictured above) a St. Patrick’s Day carnival centered around the filming of a music video in the downtown CCB Plaza. The local rapper, The Real Laww, was shooting footage for his new video "Ninjas in DURM". Lilly’s Pizza shared their pies and Triangle Brewing provided libations. Because of the grey skies and chilly weather, Liz and I bounced from Pizzeria Toro, to the plaza, to Alley Twenty Six, and back to the plaza to take part in the festivities. We made our rounds and took in the ever-enjoyable spirit(s) of Durham. I even made friends with the largest and sweetest pit bull puppy (I use the term puppy loosely) that I have ever met.

My anticipation for future events continues to grow.  I continue to find myself getting more and more excited about this city, about DURM.