I admit, I really just wanted to get the pumpkin out to the chickens without much fuss with the knife. I could have cut it in half and left it at that, but since it takes a few days for the chickens to consume the squash, I like to hang it off the ground so the ants and dirt don’t get in. (Or at least as much dirt. Chickens have dirty beaks when they’ve been pecking away at the ground.) So I used a gimlet (very neat, handy tool for making holes, predates the electric drill by a bit), and put cotton twine through the hole to make a loop.

I have a steady variety of greens going out to my hens. I sprout alfalfa and mung beans in a counter-top seed sprouter and take out the wee seedlings when they are ready (I know it is time for the bean sprouts to go out when they lift the lid and make a bid for freedom). The wheat grass salad bars in the runs have been thriving with occasional reseeding. I discovered I can wedge several stalks of basil in the hole in the chicken swing (the basil stalks are quite sturdy and this secures the stems so the chickens can pluck off bits of leaf). And I still do hang the occasional cabbage or pumpkin for consumption. (I bought the cabbage intending to make sauerkraut, but jars are ridiculously expensive right now, so I’ll try another time!)