Going Green....

Ok, so we've been seeing it on the news, hearing it on the radio, etc. I can't say I've been thinking about it, that would be a lie. In fact, it has been a seed in the back of my brain for a long time. Living out here in the country, I had the small vision of a grand garden full of veggies, fruit trees/bushes, and farm stock. Actually, it has been a vision since I was a kid to live "simple"....but I would be a total hypocrit if I didn't say that I would still at least want my computer, and my TV. Sorry, but I have to know what's going on in the world and keep in touch with friends. But, I always thought that I could handle doing the daily "up keep" of a domestic farm. Lets face it....Mother Earth has had enough of our crap, and she is retaliating for our abuse. We owe it to her to back off of the pollution and get back to the way it should be. Yeah, I'll still ride my Harley, but at least I'm not buying the hormone ridden crap at the store anymore.....that is the goal, anyway.

I think part of that vision is going to come to light. I was given a thought-boost by all of the media talking about it, and sat down with my husband to tell him of my vision. Of course, at first, he laughed. Then he was skeptical. Then he was half heartedly appeasing me. Well, now I think I've about got him all in. He has agreed to section off a garden for me....36ft wide x 50ft long! AND...hold on to your hats folks...he has agreed to let me get chickens to raise for eggs and meat!! WOOHOO!! So we spent several days plotting out where the garden fence would be, how it would impact our yard, and then also working on the chicken coop.

At first, we thought we would build one from scratch, but as we got to looking at our yard, and what we had, we decided that part of our shed that we really aren't using could be converted into a coop. All we would need to do would be to build the roost, nesting boxes, ramp, and sections for juveniles and chicks. So we jumped in with both feet. He helped me get the roost started, and built 2 nesting boxes. All of this with spare lumber we had from previous projects, or that was left behind from many years past.

Here is the outside view. We will cut 3 small "doors" in the tin, and those will lead to seperate sections as mentioned above. The outside will also be divided....


The fencing for the outside portions will come out 15ft. This picture shows the shed we are using in relation to the house/back deck. The coop being in the far right portion (tin) of the shed.


A different angle...


This door will be replace with either barn doors, or something similar, like a regular people door, and fill in the rest with plywood or other lumber. Depends on what we can scavenge..lol...


A different angle:


I am so excited! Here are some pictures of our progress so far...we need to get some chicken wire, and he needs to make a few more nesting boxes. But I think so far, for what it is and what we have, its not bad!







Me, making a "chick ramp"...lol



I am going to learn how to can fruits and veggies from my Mother-in-Law, which should be interesting. I would like to learn how to do it without a pressure cooker, because lets face it, the pioneers didn't carry those around in the wagons with them. I'm also going to have a large cast iron pot set up to hang over a fire pit. This is for when I butcher the chickens, I can dunk them in the boiling water to loosen feathers. Kinda like blanching fruit to peel. Not in long enough to cook, but just to make getting the feathers off easier. Then I can butcher them according to need (seperate breasts, legs, thighs, or leave them whole)and freeze them. No, that's not how it was done "back in the day", but my point is they will be organic, and not cost me as much as buying them at the store.

Have any of you heard of canning MEAT???? My MIL said her mother used to do it, but she can't quite remember how its done. So if anyone has any suggestions or links feel free to speak up!

I tried to get the hubby talked into rabbits and ducks as well, but he said "Lets see how you do with the chickens, first"....I had to laugh. I also told him I would like to eventually have a cow and hog to raise for butchering as well. He just looked at me and shook his head. Maybe next year? Hopefully the chickens will do well enough to prove I can handle other livestock. I can't wait for spring to get here!!