Monday, July 05, 2010

Tour de Coop!

Life never stands still. (How's that for stating the bleeding obvious?) But, I do declare the slow start to our summer (frozen tomatoes on June 16th!) has the good times so backed up I feel I may never catch up.

Best Coop!
For instance, I just now got around to downloading pics of the annual Tour de Coop ~ a day in the Salt Lake City valley when urban chicken farmers hold an open house for one and all. And, that happened two weeks ago.

There were fancy chickens...
I'm too sexy for my head....

And, selfish chickens...
Unwilling to share one tiny bite of juicy watermelon...

Tour de Coop is the brain child of a great organization: Wasatch Community Gardens. They do such a wonderful job of promoting sustainable living that I almost bought a hen.

This one:
I thought her brown markings were so pretty, though she had some serious ants in her pants. Simply would not hold still for the photo op!

Contemplating laying an egg.

As much as I love this idea, I can't ever see myself owning chickens. Perhaps it's their lack of eyebrows but they always look like they're mad at somebody. (And, if they were mine, I'd assume it's me.)

CHICKEN ART: Half the fun was seeing all of the clever, crafty things chicken lovers came up with:
I raced right over to Homer Depot for a gallon of purple paint after visiting this place.

These pretty stained glass panels are old window frames bedazzled with plastic baubles.


Mood Lighting:  Re-purposed pasta jars with tea light candles decorate the sides of the coops
Best use of an old broom.


And, I soooo want one of these!


29 comments:

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

We had a local Tour de Coop (even called exactly that) that I couldn't attend--thanks so much for sharing your photos, now I've got the feel of it! :)

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Monica;
It was way fun. Do you see chicken farming in your future? Personally, I think 'raising' horses is more fun tho I do wish a neighbor would get into this so I could enjoy the benefits! :D

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

OK, I lied. The event here last fall was called LOOP de Coop! I like chickens, and I can have them in Ann Arbor, but with my 2 cats and all the other wildlife in my backyard--including foxes, I don't think so. Plus, I have a ton of local sources for eggs from happy hens! :)

Gloria Bonde said...

How absolutely fun!! Thanks for sharing such great pics. Frozen tomatoes in June, yikes! We had several "go run cover the tomatoes" storms. We have tomatoes setting on. Not so good for the peppers and eggplant that I neglected to cover. It has been such a busy spring, now summer!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hey, Monica, you bad liar! :)) Loop de Coop is a great name. I imagine some critter would gobble my chickens, too. I would surely love to meet a neighborhood chicken farmer, though. How cool would that be??

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Gloria!
Well, it pretty much ALWAYS freezes the day after I transplant my heirloom tomatoes. So, that late freeze was my fault. Mother Nature was patiently waiting for me to plant them so she could wreck havoc with the homegrown veggies. :)

Friko said...

let's meet and exchange news on gardening, by all means. Except your 3 a.m. is at a different time from my 3 a.m

As for chickens, they also peck at you, the beasts. And don't get me started on cockerels.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Count me in, Friko. :) Are cockerels the boys?

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Kate, I am so glad you left a comment about the blue potatoes. I will certainly try some blue chips when I get back to the FM to get more blue potatoes. Do you have a special way you make yours? I am so pleased to find you and your blog. I have always wanted to live in the mountains. However frozen tomatoes on June 16th sounds awfully severe. I love the Tour de Coop. Anyone, I mean any chicken, would love to live in one of those coops. I have always wanted chickens too but I can't have there here where I live in town. WHINE....

jan said...

Love the coops! Kind of like having a playhouse for chickens! I always loved seeing the chickens at the 4-H fair. So many fancy girls!

Lona said...

Hi Kate. Now who knew chicken coops could be so pretty.What wonderful ideas they had for them. I really like the old broom made into a chicken too. How cute is that.

KC said...

That was a fun day! You beat me, I haven't even downloaded my shots yet;( LIfe will get less busy soon I hope.

KC said...

That was a fun day! You beat me, I haven't even downloaded my shots yet;( LIfe will get less busy soon I hope.

A Garden of Threads said...

Love the use of an old broom, had to take a second look to really see that it was a broom.LOL.

Noelle Johnson said...

Oh, we have that in Phoenix too! My sister went just before she started raising her own chickens. I just love the cool looking chicken coops and some of the hairdos of the chickens you saw :-)

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Lisa!
Yep, I'm a huge blue potato fan! I just slice mine thin, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Then I roast 'em at 400 until they're perfect. Greatly enjoyed your post today.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Jan;
I had no idea how many fancy types of chickens there are! One coop had a hen that looked like a turkey. She wasn't winning any beauty pageants but she still looked kind of cool.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Lona;
I might try that trick with an old broom around here. I thought that was pretty clever. :)

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Let's hope so, KC. Please share when you do. :D

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Garden of Threads;
Loved your 'Oh, Canada' mosiac today. Soooo pretty!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Noelle;
It can certainly get you inspired. But, you have a terrific set up with dear sister raising them and sharing eggs with you... :)

Killara girl said...

what fun stuff...that b&w guy is a hoot....i like the coop decor. esp those stained glass windows. i would've grabbed one... there's nothing like fresh boiled eggs & toast in the morning for braeky! my nephew has started a chicken farm and sells his eggs now...he's only 13

Melanie J Watts said...

Sorry to hear about your frozen tomatoes Kate. I would send you some of mine :) but you know Customs Rules.
I too like the idea of fresh eggs but not the owning chickens part.

Amy said...

Kate, What fun - and what did you paint purple pray tell? I'll have to forward this to my daughter in Portland - they want to create a chicken coop with live chickens, and they, too, are in the city!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Thanks for the offer, Melanie. I definitely need to buddy up with a gardener who thought ahead and covered her heirlooms for that freak freeze!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Amy!
Well it just so happens that I own that same lawn chair in the photo! Mine is a blah, boring green... purple should give it a little oomph, don't ya think? :D

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Shelle!
Those hail photos were amazing. I am so glad you didn't get hurt!

Rose said...

I grew up on a farm with lots of chickens for awhile. Been there, done that:) I even had an old rooster that was mean--he chased me around the house! But these have to be the cutest chicken houses I've ever seen. I want one--just not the chickens:)

Unknown said...

Yup, we had a Tour de Coop this spring too. Very fun, though not as many 'urban' coops as I was hoping for. Mostly folks with lots of land. Still, I got some ideas. I really enjoyed your photos -- didn't see anything at all as fancy or fanciful.

I got girls this spring and am enjoying them immensely -- they are so entertaining I almost don't care if they ever lay eggs. Almost.

Frost in June. Yeah. June 16. What's with that? We had frost on the roof July 4 morning too, though it didn't get that cold on the ground. 3 days later it was in the 90's. Weather -- what are you gonna do?