Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Backyard Homestead

Stan and I have been interested in the concept of Homesteading for many years...long before we had kids we bought the book entitled "Storey's Basic Country Skills" and enjoyed reading through ideas relating to living a simple more self-reliant lifestyle. Now anyone who knows me knows that all things organic and whole wheat and healthy do not necessarily sit well with me. LOL! And anyone who knows Stan knows he loves electronics. We have a big TV and several game boxes with our furniture arranged around it in the living room. My pantry is full of items with "high-fructose corn syrup" printed on the label. We eat at fast food resturaunts and we don't recycle. Now don't we sound like people who would want to raise chickens in the backyard?!? Well, that is my point. We all have a starting place and each day when we are led by the Lord, He takes us in the direction He want us to go.
Recently, however, the Lord has been making some things clear to me. Funny how in ourselves all we do is make things complicated and as soon as He steps in things just come together? I love it. I love the Lord. He is so awesome. Anyway, a few things that are the desires of my heart for the future are the following:
  1. Stan and I want to plant a vegetable garden in the spring. I have always been intimidated by gardening until I came across a book entitled "Square Foot Gardening".  Its basic premise is planting your garden in a 4x4 raised bed instead of traditional rows in the ground. This book really lays it out for the beginner and gives you confidence that you can do it. Stan is on board and is also reading the book. So we will see how it goes. We plan to start with 2-3 raised beds.
  2. Chickens! I am not a fan of birds-yet. I do like to eat chicken. And I do use eggs often. So where does that lead me? I want a few Hens in a backyard coop for a fresh egg supply. From what I have read, Chickens are easier to care for than a cat. Do a search on it and a lot of great information comes up. It is more popular than you might think. Fresh eggs everyday! That is amazing. You mean I really don't have to get them at the store? And they are more nutritious than anything you could buy? Not to mention all the wonderful learning experiences for the kids. If you handle them from birth they will be used to you and easy to handle. Look at these guys...
     
    and this is a fine looking chicken...







There is more I want to write about like starting a compost bin, baking bread, Sewing (HAHAHA)and so many other little projects, but for now I am content in dreaming of veggies in the garden and sending the girls out to collect fresh eggs from the hens.
Sweet Dreams!

2 comments:

  1. Ok, so I posted a comment on this post and it didn't show up. So if there ends up being two, that's why!

    So, I am so impressed by this endeavor and can't wait to see you guys walk through this process. I am really intrigued by the whole thing! Not that I'm into raising chickens or anything, but it wasn't that many years ago that I thought the whole organic craze was a complete farce. Anyway, after reading a couple of really good books and since Chris loves to research various things, we've both come to the conclusion over the past few months that we really need to be getting as much of our food from the original source as possible.

    Well, I'll definitely be begging for some of those fresh eggs when we come down! BTW, my family raised ducks in our back yard when I was little--just for fun. I loved it, though I don't remember much. My dad just couldn't get farming out of his system. :)

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  2. Hi! It's Bobbi from THL!
    Love your blog! :)

    Its funny how you say you are not a bird person. Neither am I. Infact, I have a *major* bird phobia. I also had wondered to myself that when the chicks weren't cute little fuzzy butts anymore if I would get afraid of them. Amazingly I have not. I adore my girls and I even walk around them with flip flops on! Hand feed them and even make them warm oatmeal on cold mornings! LOL I think you will find your experience similar. I dont know how to explain it. I never thought I would think of chickens like I do my cats/dogs. They are my "kids".

    Also, sq ft gardening, we got that book awhile ago and are eager to do it this year. I cant wait. I told my husband that if we do it this way I can plant quadruple what I would have planted! LOL

    Have fun!

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