Timothy Norton

How many fruit trees do you manage? Would you like more? Are they all different or similar?

[applepoll]

If I remember correctly, it is a bit of a goofy process.

You take the total amount of the labor force (Working + Unemployed) and then divide that by the unemployed who are seeking work. This however is based off of an estimate of both figures that is gathered from periodic surveys of a sample size of the population (Fifty or sixty thousand?).

I have a hard time having confidence in the process so I might be missing some important steps here but I deep dived it about a year or so ago.

I utilize pine shavings as my bedding material of choice for both the coop and the laying boxes.

I've found that I actually prefer a super-fine consistency of bedding because the surface area of the material helps mitigate issues with moisture. A quick mix with a hoe or rake buries any exposed manure and keeps down any smell issues.

I find chicken keeping to be rather low maintenance for the majority of chicken rearing tasks.

I can fill a feeder and waterer that will last around a week at a time for my flock. Coop bedding gets changed either annually or biannually depending on the state of their deep bedding. I keep an automatic chicken door on their coop that opens up at first light and closes a little bit after sunset (The chickens know the schedule).

The main task that 'requires' daily checks is gathering eggs. If you miss a day, it is not the end of the world but you have a higher chance of an accidental broken egg.

Professionally, I train a safety segment every year on heat exhaustion that turns into a conversation about how to measure your body's own conditions. Urine can be a great laymen indicator for both your body's hydration level and health.



Urine that is brown, cloudy, or red can indicate that something is going on with the body medically. Liver issues, urinary tract infection, or something else could exist. The amount of times you urinate could indicate either a medical issue or tip you off that you might be consuming too much caffeine.

I find that a large enough hot pile can take care of whole bird deadstock without issue. The microbes make quick work of the organic material and turn it into something that can be utilized for plants in the future.

In one of my chicken paddocks, I have a few peach trees that are establishing rather well. The chickens do scratch around the roots so it is important to protect smaller trees with something like a loop of chicken fencing but bigger trees do just fine with the scratching.

What do I do with surplus Eggs?

When my hens are in full swing, I tend to have more eggs than I can handle! We will eat eggs in a wide variety of forms such as fried, poached, boiled, scrambled and more. I'm a sucker for pickled eggs but I am still refining my recipe to make them especially delicious. Excess eggs tend to signal that it may be time to consider baking a variety of things in order to use them up. Even with selling or gifting cartons of eggs, we tend to be up to our gills!

If we are attending a gathering, you best bet your bottom dollar that we are bringing a platter of deviled eggs.

I am the kind of person who has a zillion ideas but only can get a few put into action. I have started to narrow my list but I will highlight a few that I'm excited about!

The 2026 Garden on Corliss Plan

1. Plant at least two fruit trees on the property. I have been planting successive fruit trees for the last three years and believe I can squeak in at least two more. The squirrels love to decimate my peaches before they can ripen so my answer right now is to plant more peaches! I'm hoping to see another two already planted trees flour this year if I am lucky.

2. Re-woodchip existing chipped areas and cover existing grass in my fruit tree orchard. I'm hoping to get maybe two or three tandem loads?

3. For once in my life, successfully succession plant my garden beds. I've been planting once and then that is it. I want to keep a living root in the ground and keep up the momentum. I've struggled with it before as I would get distracted with other projects but I want to really obtain a yield this year.