I’m pretty sure I want to own some chickens in the near future.
Yesterday I started reading Made From Scratch by Jenna Woginrich. I actually first learned about this book when I read an excerpt from it in one of the Mother Earth News: Wiser Living Issues awhile back. Then Cole over at Pacing the Panic Room mentioned it on their blog and I saw there was a digital version that I could read on the iPad and figured I should check it out since I really enjoyed the small portion that I initially read.
Sustainability and self-sufficiency are two things that Andrew and I are constantly striving for in our lives. For Andrew, I think it’s the logical aspects of sustainability that appeal to him. I’m not going to speak for him, but I know him well enough to assume this. To Andrew it makes sense to build a life that is sustainable, simple as that :)
As for me, the decisions I make in life weigh very heavy on me. I’m emotional like that. So this, amongst other things, motivates me to want to create a life for our family that we can feel good about. Also, it helps that both Andrew and I are very hands on. We have no problem putting the extra effort into things we think are important to us.
So this bring me back to the chickens. The first chapter of the book is all about raising chickens and the benefits of having them. I’ve been contemplated chickens for awhile, so this book was already preaching to the choir. But it did help me feel like it is something we could do. I need a chicken mentor, anyone have any advice?
P.S. I took these pictures when we went to visit Earth Song Discovery Farm a couple years back. This place is amazing!
-c.
We’ve been having a few days of fall-like temperatures around here, and it hit me how fast this summer went. The garden is still doing its thing and we still have green beans, soy beans, butternut squash, carrots and potatoes to harvest. There are some straggler tomatoes and peppers out there but those are about done. We’re thinking of trying to grow lettuce indoors during the winter. Anyone have any luck doing this?
Here are some photos of this year’s bounty:
-c.
This year we took a different approach with the bean trellis. Last year, we did this for our peas and lima beans. It worked well enough, but it was hard to get the stakes in the ground and the strings were a pain in the ass. So this year we decided to go with something more simple for our green beans and made teepees out of tree branches. It was hard to get a pictures where they didn’t just blend in with the surroundings, but I think you can get a good idea from this picture:
Andrew simply found some thin branches and cut them all roughly to the same height (about 6 feet) and we pushed them into the ground and tied them together at the top. The beans took to them wonderfully.
Unfortunately, last weekend storms wreaked havoc on our garden. We’ve had a lot of rain this season and up until this past weekend the garden has been holding up pretty well. But last Friday and Saturday proved to be too much to handle. Two days in a row of powerful winds toppled corn, bean trellis’, and tomato plants! I don’t think anything was seriously damaged, but it was a sad sight to see.
-c.