We have 13 chickens. They have a coop inside our shed. The concrete floor is covered with about 3-4 inches of pine shavings, and we add to that as needed to freshen the coop, and turn everything each week. About once a month we shovel the dirty shavings out into the chickens' run and replace the coop's shavings. We feed the chickens kitchen scraps out in the run, add leaves and grass clippings, straw and more pine shavings. We mix in food grade diatomaceous earth as well. The chickens scratch and aerate the layers, and every 2-3 months, we rake off the top few layers and shovel out the rich compost on the bottom. We've been adding that to new flower beds we will plant in this spring, and to our currently empty raised beds that we will have edibles in this spring. Overall, the compost will have between 6-9 months of age before it ever touches a plant. There is no way I'd put fresh chicken manure anywhere near edibles without it composting properly. Used properly, chicken manure makes an amazing fertilizer/amendment.

Lisa- About the wood for raised beds, I'm in the planning stages on my new beds too. A guy on craigslist is selling railroad ties for $8 each. (avg dimensions 9 foot long, 9 inches wide, 7 inches tall) I'm a little iffy on using them for edible plants, since they were treated with creasote, but if he's got some older/weathered ones (so most of the chemicals would have leached out a long time ago), I think that's my plan! Hanover County dumps also do the free mulch thing. Anybody know where to get inexpensive wire for putting under my raised beds to keep the moles out?

NH NOFA does bulk orders which are due by 2/28 for March pickup. One of their suppliers is Vermont Compost which makes a manure compost http://www.vermontcompost.com/products/manure-compost/ It's a mix of manures, animal bedding, etc. If you go to the website you can check on retailers that might not be far from you. Non-members can order thru NOFA NH but that's not practical for you. Google to see if there's a CT organization that is doing a bulk order. I was curious about what Pete and Gerry's Egg farms do with their manure since there is a new farm near us but unfortunately, there are none in CT. I wouldn't be surprised if they trucked their chicken manure to Vermont.

Dear Trish! Ouch!!!! I can just see the whole event happening in front of my eyes! Yes, kids can get into the the most interesting situations at times. This little lady also broke her ankle on a swing at school about seven months ago, just a few days before her fourth birthday. So it was the whole process of rushing to hospital and dropping her three-month old baby sister and my eldest off at someone's house along the way while at the same time trying to comfort her and keep all calm. At that time my husband was gone for work so it was quite a challenge. After the whole stint in hospital, we had to carry her around for the whole time while she was recovering as she could not mobilize with crutches (too young ). In the end, she got so frustrated and she started to bum-shuffle, which was hilarious. :-) I found her one day trying to water my pots outside while still shuffling on her hands and buttocks, dragging the hose behind her :-) :-) :-) At least it is a bit easier this time around (that is, after surgery and the visits to the wound care nurse to clean the finger), and I know she is getting better the moment she starts watering the garden, which she has :-). She has a great affinity for soil and dirt and I must just try to keep her away in order to keep the finger clean until it has healed appropriately. Easier said than done :-) Moses and Lisa, I had a good laugh about your initial confusion about the word "kraal" My apologies! One tends to forget that local vernacular is not always known internationally. But well done on your investigations! Lisa, If I remember correctly you also have some Dutch heritage? I initially thought "kraal" might have had its origins in Dutch (where Afrikaans originated) but after reading your posts it struck me that the word might have come from the Koisan or other indigenous African languages - it indeed refers to an enclosure for cattle although, in centuries past, I think it was also used to refer to an area where groups of dwellings of particular tribes were constructed in a circular pattern which were then closed off with thorny branches etc. in order to keep wild animals out. We have so many languages over here and we all eventually "borrow" words from each other so "kraal" is an accepted English word here as it is in Afrikaans (our home language) and several other languages as well :-). One tends to forget that it is not necessarily known internationally. Moses, I think our mushroom compost might be similar to yours although I believe (I stand to be corrected) that we use coir peat instead of peat moss, which is not such a sustainable resource over here. We also have mushroom growers, possibly in greenhouses? They are readily available in our supermarkets although prices can be slightly more expensive at times. I used peat moss for my roses the previous time I amended some garden beds but was not satisfied with the soil quality a year later, that's why I considered the "kraal manure" Thanks to all of you I think I might get the recipe better this time. I really can't wait to get all my roses in the ground. The previous time was a bit easier as I had to start from scratch so I could design everything as I wanted. This time we have moved into a much bigger but older house with a large established garden (although not a single rose apart from 5 iceberg tree roses (we call them standard roses) at the gate. There are many trees providing lots of shade and it is a bit more daunting to think what must be moved / removed/ altered as there is already a basic plan and I don't want to simply redo the whole place right now. :-)