Last week I was invited to attend a blogger event called Bean2Blog at Moss Mountain Farm. This is the home of P. Allen Smith located in Rolland, Arkansas.
The weather was not great that day. I almost talked myself out of going because storms were moving in, but I’m so glad I didn’t. We were able to tour the gardens and the chickens all before the rain started.
The home is in such a beautiful location. The home and the gardens are so inspirational. He creates them using the concept that each garden is a room. I loved this idea and it got me thinking about the rooms in my yard and what I could do with them.
For two years now we’ve been learning how to raise backyard chickens. It’s not as easy as I thought it would be. I have known for years I wanted chickens, but I was still surprised at how much fun they are. I love to sit out there and watch them. I enjoy letting them out to scratch in the yard. They are so entertaining and it is quite relaxing just to watch them.
After the trip to Moss Mountain, I knew I wanted to do more with my chicken room. I wanted it to be more inviting, a place that I enjoy not only watching the chickens, but just sitting and working.
For the past two weeks we’ve been working on improving our chicken yard. The first step was to raise the ground in their current pen. I had it built in a low spot, practically all my backyard is low, but I didn’t realize what a problem it would be. A heavy rain leaves it muddy for days. I did some research and decided to add in a mix of sand and gravel to the bottom. We also added a run onto one side of their pen.
The sand and gravel was a huge help. Now their pen stays dry. But the chicken run is also a winner. Those were my first steps of improvement.
But this weekend made it even better. My husband put up a picket fence around the chicken room, really making it more of a separate place. I’m also going to add plants inside and around the fence. It’s so exciting to me to watch this come together.
