Chicken, Compost, and Green House Responsibilities at the Edible Schoolyard Berkeley
Tags: 
Infrastructure
Place of Learning: 
Garden Classroom
Contributor

ESY Berkeley Teaching Staff
Edible Schoolyard Project
Berkeley, CA

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Summary: 
This resource describes procedures for maintaining chickens, a compost system, and a greenhouse at the Edible Schoolyard Berkeley.
Chicken Responsibilities
Daily Chicken Responsibilities
  • In the morning open coop and add 1 scoop (if needed) of feed pellets to the dispenser (breakfast).
  • At the end of the day, clean and refill the duck water bin with fresh water. Clean out automatic watering station located in the far left hand corner of the coop.
  • Have student(s) collect fresh eggs. Have the student(s) take the eggs back to the kitchen. Eggs should be gently washed, dried, and stored appropriately. The date should be written on each egg collected, before storing, using only a pencil. No marker or pen. Garden staff can delegate this task to a student, or do it themselves.
Weekly Chicken Responsibilities
  • Using appropriate tools (leaf rake, large scoop shovel, hoe, wheel barrel and gloves), scrape and remove chicken manure. These areas include concrete slabs, the top of the feed bins, on the top of any surface where the chickens sit and from inside the roosting house. Scrape out the inside of the roosting house with the hoe. The roosting house has a wooden latch at the bottom that allows the floor to drop out for cleaning purposes. Use the shovel as a dustpan to scoop up the manure piles. Discard the manure into the wheel barrel.
  • Rake all loose straw from the ground and discard consolidated piles into the wheel barrel. Take the contents of the wheel barrel and add it to the newest compost pile. Replace the sandy floor area with fresh straw as needed.
  • Check the status of the laying boxes. Check for any broken eggs or manure. If any laying boxes are dirty, remove the straw bedding and replace with fresh straw. This task should be ongoing and checked regularly and addressed when needed.
Monthly Chicken Responsibilities
  • Check the status of the feed bins (corn and pellets). If bins are 3⁄4 or more empty, remove the remaining feed into a clean bucket or wheel barrel. Bring up a new bag(s) of feed from the lower shed and empty contents into designated bins. Top off with older feed.
  • Using a hose, with a high-pressure nozzle. Blast these areas with water to remove any unwanted dirt or crusted over manure.
  • Check the coop for any holes in the fencing. If any holes or rips are noticed, new wire mesh (found in the lower shed) can be cut to shape and attached with baling wire for strong repair. This helps keep out unwanted rodents.
Compost Responsibilities

We use three methods of composting in the Edible Schoolyard garden: hot piles, vermiculture, and leaf mold.

Hot Piles
  • Minimum pile size is 3’x3’x3’
  • Pound in 4 stakes to be outline of pile, build cake
  • Layers: coarse, woody material on the bottom, then add alternating layers of greens (food scraps, and/or green leafy material from the garden) and browns (straw and/or various dry materials).
  • A 30:1 carbon to nitrogen works best when building a compost pile. With this ratio the pile reaches its peak temperature the fastest and cooks the longest. With a 30:1 ratio the pile should heat up inside of 3 day with an ideal temperature window between 130-160 degrees Fahrenheit. It can be challenging sometimes to find the right ratio; typically there’s too much carbon and not enough nitrogen. If this is the case extra nitrogen can be added in several ways: add a direct source of nitrogen in the form of blood meal or feather meal, ect. Students can also gather leafy green materials from the garden in the form of grass clippings and/or plants that need pulling out.
  • As the temperature of the pile dips below 100 degrees turn the pile, in the process adding air and water. Decomposition happens at it’s fastest when things are moist. The pile should again heat up above 100 degrees.
  • The oldest pile is sifted through a screen to remove any sticks, rocks or un- composted materials before it is ready to be added to garden beds (either directly or it can be stored in a storage bin until it’s needed in the garden). What’s left behind from the sifting process gets added back to the first pile to continue breaking down.
  • General cleanup of area. Raking up all loose materials around the piles and add to the newest pile is a great way to keep the area looking tidy.
  • We tend to be lenient about what goes into our compost—if there is a whole wheel barrow full of noxious crabgrass or invasive seed heads, put it in the green bins, but if there is a mixture, it can be added to compost pile
Vermiculture
  • Monitor worm bins to ensure things are moist and that they have food scraps to eat.
Leaf Mold
  • This is also referred to as the ‘no fuss’ pile. Simply top off wire basket with leaves from the surrounding area and keep it moist. Add to the top and pull finished compost from the bottom.
Green House Responsibilities
Water Management
  • Adjust automatic timer to desired moisture being careful to adjust for the changing of the seasons (more water in the summer/ less water in the winter)
Monitor stages of plant growth
  • Sow seeds; make cuttings and divisions; according to the needs of the garden, kitchen and plant sale. Use the scope of sequence of both garden and kitchen, as well as the Plant Sale sowing dates document to guide when to propagate.
  • Determine when plants need to be upsized, transplanted into the garden, given away, or composted. With excess plants to be given away, email fellow garden programs and create a give away table where people can help themselves.
Maintenance of Green House
  • Weeding, both seedling trays and underneath greenhouse benches
  • Maintain a supply of both ‘seedling mix’ and ‘up size mix’ for general propagation needs
  • Keeping cob webs to a minimum
  • Overall Pest Mitigation and Snail Hunting
Exterior of Green House
  • Adjust automatic timer to desired moisture being careful to adjust for the changing of the seasons (more water in the summer/ less water in the winter).
  • Water all gallons and 4” pots that are not under automatic water with emphasis on Fridays (for the weekend).
  • Determine when plants need to be upsized, transplanted into the garden, given away, or composted. With excess plants to be given away, email fellow garden programs and create a give away table where people can help themselves.
  • Weeding both gallons and 4” pots on a regular basis.
  • Organization of plants, grouping by species and/or container size.
  • Keep all containers organized, throwing out damaged containers when needed.
  • Keep all stakes organized, both wooden and bamboo.
Pest Management
  • Observe and take notes on any pest infestations
  • Research and trial new pest management techniques