Installation of six 10' tall poles in Garden

 Today we installed six 10' tall 1 1/2" dia. poles to support a cover over the garden. Holes were dug, poles placed, and concrete poured.  60 lb bags of concrete were used in the pour.

Irrigation lines ordered from Modern Irrigation

 The 11 new raised planter beds that students installed during the 4th quarter of the school year will be getting irrigation lines.  The students built the raised planter beds and installed a 3/4 inch PVC threaded ball valve at each planter location. I submitted a material list to Anna at Modern Irrigation and Cassidy with UUSD Food and Nutrition indicated that the material cost was within budget!

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Compost Pile Turned by District Tractor

 The HHS Compost pile was turned for the first time in a really long time. The pile was turned and mixed with some fresh green leaves and some browns. I will be placing a thermometer on the pile to see if we can resurrect it.  When the COVID shut down hit on March 13, 2020, I lost the weekly service from the UUSD maintenance crew tractor to stir the compost pile. We will start updating the COMPOSTING  and RECYCLING efforts at HHS the next school year.

The HHS Compost pile is located in the south end of campus. The pile is contained within a block wall that measures 16 feet wide by 20 feet long. The pile can reach a height of 10 ft.  In 2020 we had the pile running at 140 degrees for over a month.  We used the compost product in the current HHS raised garden planters.

Valencia Chicks

 Lat April 12 eggs were given to two Valencia Elem. School Teachers to incubate in their classrooms. Of the 12 eggs, 10 hatched. Two hatched with some problems. After about a week after they hatch, the new chicks were brought to HHS. The chicks were kept in room 1 for about two weeks before being placed out in the Chicken Coop in a cage by themselves. After about two weeks in the coop, the chicks were released into the general population.  These chicks are extraordinarily friendly. The chicks love to walk among people withut fear and let you pick them up.

Update 6/10 

We have one white, two black, two orangish-brown chicks in the coop. 

Strawberry Planters out of 1/2 Gal Milk Cartons

 Students installed a total of 4 1/2 gallon milk cartons with strawberry plants in them inside the bean trellis. This was done for a couple reasons. First, it's artistic, second, the plants should now be safe from the chickens being placed four feet off the ground.

June Hatch

 I placed eggs in the incubator for a hatch to occur the last week of school. The other reason for the hatch was to retain some of the gene pool of the recently departed four BCM roos. I had to reduce the rooster population from 12 down to five. I removed two roos about two months ago and removed an additional four later in May.  I wanted to make sure I had some DNA from the Roos that were removed. All of the hatched chicks appear to have genes from the BCM Roos. All of the chicks have feathers down their legs to their claws. Both Godfather 2 and Red do not have this characteristic, though Godfather appears to be a Brahma Leghorn Mix. And all of the chick's colors match the Roos.

Repair on Farm

 Today repaired a broken irrigation line 3/4 pvc with valve that had been cracked at an elbow.  Also installed a 1/2 gal plastic container , attached it to the fence inside the bean trellis and placed a strawberry plant in it.  Placed it at about 4 elevation.

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MISC.

Placed the mice traps out again. I have noticed an uptick in the amount of mice. Also last night  I observed a cat on the premise and today found a squirrel in the coop.

Two nights ago I placed two new hatchlings under a broody hen. In the morning I could not find the chicks. I will not be doing that again.  Also lost one of the Valencia chicks, one of the white ones. It appears that it did not get back into the coop before the auto door closed.