Lea Urban Farming

Play Dough

2011-04-19T14:22:00.001-07:00

I made play dough for the kids today. I read the recipe and thought I really wanted it to be colored like the dough we buy at the store. I looked at the selection of food coloring at the store and didn't like the idea. I remember dying eggs a couple years ago with veggies and thought it would be a good idea with our play dough. Homemade play dough generally doesn't last as long as store bought, so I figured it's really not a big deal to add fresh fruit and veggies to it. Step by step here is the process.

1. Make your veggie dyes. In the pan to the front left I used shredded beets and water. I only added about a cup of water to 4 shredded beets and the color came out intense. In the pan to the front right are blueberries, blackberries and a cup of water. The berries add to the liquid. Again a nice bold color. In the pan to the back right we added orange zest, shredded carrots, yellow onion peel and a tiny touch of curry powder. I let these simmer for about half an hour.

2. Using a strainer with a towel I strained each dye free of pulp and seeds. Below is the red beet dye.

3. In a pan we placed half a cup of the dye liquid. 1 cup baking soda as seen here

4. Then added a half cup of corn starch. This is the first time corn starch has been allowed in my house. I then turned on the heat and began stirring the mixture with a fork. Bring it to a boil and stir constantly and it will thicken up. If it gets too thick and dry you can simply place in a bowl and add a little bit more dye mixture. Knead it in until you reach the desired consistency.

Our yellow dough

Red

Blue

This was a fun project and probably would have been more suited for my homeschool blog except I did this project alone. I have another recipe for a salt dough I want to try, so we will compare the two and see how they rate.

My Eyes Are Open

2011-03-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

You know how people say once certain things have been seen they can't be unseen? Usually its something horribly traumatic like an accident or maybe a murder. Sometimes even seeing it on television burns it into the brain. Time goes by and it works it's way out of your brain, but now and again it pops us and you remember how terrible it was.

What if you were presented with the evidence of people being beaten, threatened with a gun, chained to a chair and afraid for their lives? They're not prisoners. Just people living their daily lives. Yes, I said their daily lives. These people make your clothing. They assemble your shoes, computers, toys etc. Yes, the ones you buy for your kids too! They are paid a wage below poverty level and treated like prisoners. All so we don't have to pay a high price for a poor quality product. All so companies can make more and more money. Make money on the backs of innocent human beings just trying to make their way in the world. Many of them never having a choice. Some of them come from indigenous tribes that have been forced into modern society by other humans thinking they are offering them a better life.

What if you were presented with the evidence of your dog being skinned alive. That would be terrible! If you're a dog person and read this you squirmed a little, I know you did. This happens to all sorts of animals all over the world. Animals that become your food, your boots, your purses, hats wallets, jackets etc. They suffer. Why is your dog a more worthy animal than a cow or a pig or a chicken etc.? Why? We deal with animals the same why humans deal with each other. We put them in categories. Black, white, skinny, fat, rich, poor, worthy, not worthy. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise we are the same way with animals.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying don't eat meat. I love meat. But, if you're going to eat it be sure they are cared for well as they grow and when they die that they are not forced to suffer unnecessarily. Think about it this way. Could you kill your food? A lot of people are probably pretty squeamish about that. I could do it to feed my family. I could. If you landed in the "I could do it" category, could you slaughter the animal the way the factory farms do it? Can you see yourself treating the animal like the lowest life form on the planet up until it dies? That low life is for your nourishment. You should have respect for that animal for giving it's life to feed you.

We are so far removed from the realities of where our products come from. We even hear about it and quickly put it out of our minds. It's just a harsh reality we don't want to face. Because hey, we like the jeans we get at Target! I worked hard for my money, so I want a pair of nice jeans at a decent price. You think you work hard? Think about who made those jeans. That's hard work. We walk through the meat section of the grocery store and everything is so far removed from the idea that it was once an animal. Every cut of steak. Every slice of turkey is from an actual living and breathing animal. An animal that can feel pain. An animal raised incorrectly and treated like....well meat. Now, I don't take anyone who reads my blog as stupid. I know when it's pointed out everyone is very aware the meat in the store comes from an animal. But, do you think of that as you pass by each selection? Do you stop to think about if it lived a decent life? I do. A decent life means a really good piece of meat. Not something that has a larger chance to be tainted. I mean if you won't think about it for the animal at least think about it for yourself. You really trust that meat going in your mouth? The food industry is very sad.

But I have seen too much to look away and forget. I strive everyday to be more conscious of these autocracies. I haven't eaten even a little meat in almost a month. I've learned to cook vegetarian. I haven't bought clothing or shoes or anything for longer than that. I've always been good about shopping thrift stores. At least I'm not buying into the companies hurting people to make a profit.

Am I perfect? Absolutely not! Am I judging people for their choices? No. Because they have been raised in the same system than I have. The system that basically says if we don't see it then it's not happening. But once people are made aware and read about the treatment of people and animals and even the earth they should want to make a positive change. Especially if they claim to care about people and care about animals. It should be a no brainer.

My eyes are open and I will see terrible things that bring tears to my eyes, but the more aware I am the better I understand how I can make a change.

A Torn Soul

2011-03-14T07:50:00.000-07:00

I know how crazy I can sound. I get it. Its extreme the things I want to do to make the world a better place. The things I want to do to show people that they can exist on less and can be happy that way as well. It's hard for most people to fathom, the idea of giving up the things, the gadgets, the luxuries and having to truly work hard to survive.

For me being a part of a world filled with those luxuries makes my skin crawl. At the same time I enjoy some of those luxuries. It tears me in two. I feel like a hypocrite. I can I post articles about saving energy, fuel efficiency, eating locally and organically when I can't always follow what I'm asking of others?

I drive a Suburban. People who casually know me see that car but read what I post and they think that is a reason not to take me seriously. They'll make remarks (funny ones) about the hippie with the Suburban. But what people don't see is how little I drive it. How I plan my trips in it around other things I need to do, so I'm not running here coming home, running there coming home etc. The gas hike really hasn't affected me driving my gas guzzler. It has affected us because my husband commutes a pretty good distance for his job each day and that's where it hurts.

There's nothing like being gone in the evening and coming home to find every light on. It chaps my hide! So I walk through the house and turn off lights all the while explaining why it's important to shut them off when we aren't in the room. The speech I heard years ago about my parents not owning the electric company is no longer viable. The speech now has to do with our energy consumption and why it's important to conserve. This speech also goes right in one ear and out the other with my older kids. Different speech....same reaction.

Another energy sapping entity in our house....clothes. We have so many clothes in this house that I get backed up when I hang the clothes and don't use the dryer. Who am I kidding I get backed up with the dryer. I use it especially in the winter. But I don't need to. But it's a matter of people downsizing their wardrobes. I did it to mine and I'm working on the younger two. But getting the hubby and the older kids to whittle down their wardrobe is no easy task. But I'm working on it.

I eat as locally as possible whenever possible. Funny thing is we live in a place that has magnificent soil and growing climate. Winters can be wonky but spring and summer are divine and the root crops and winter greens grow abundantly here. But when winter time comes unless you have your own garden, finding locally grown potatoes and veggies is nearly impossible. Even the local CSAs stop delivering for winter. So I spend a lot of time scouring through the local markets looking for local produce. What gets me is I stay away from the typical summer crops knowing they cannot be local in the winter here. So I'm picking up cabbages and spinach and chard. I'm reading the labels on the winter squashes and I'm finding it's all imported from other states and even other countries? Why? Even our farmer's market closes for the winter. I get that they don't particularly like being out in the rain and cold. I wouldn't either. I just wish we could find a nice indoor space for them to be during the winter.

Here's the other problem. I shop farmer's market every week and I love the abundance of produce, but when I talk to the farmers I find that many of them do not grow organically. Even if they aren't certified organic, if they follow organic practices of no herbicide and no pesticide I'll buy from them. At least they are honest, but I'm certainly not going to haul off a huge bunch of beats from someone who doesn't practice organic farming. I had to stop buying my strawberries at the market. Both producers who show up week after week use "conventional" farming practices. That means those lovely red berries are filled with pollutants. I'm all for supporting agriculture, not that type of agriculture.

My biggest downfall is my coffee (and internet). Even if it's roasted and distributed locally it has to travel to get to the roaster. We don't grow coffee here in the US and certainly not in our state. Eventually I will have to cut back and bring it to a halt. I know this. I also love Parmesan cheese and the exotic spices. All of them imported. You never even notice how many things you buy that are not locally grown until you really start reading your labels.

The other thing I really do my best to stay away from is GMOs. I'm better at this one than others. I think my utter disgust of biotechnology and the way these giant companies treat humans spurs me on to constantly read labels. I go to web sites to see what things I need to stay away from. You'd be really surprised the amount of GMOs people eat everyday without even knowing it.

Meat! I grew up a meat and potatoes gal. Butter? Nah....give us that manufactured yellow shit that looks like butter. Fresh veggies? Nah....canned. The fake butter and canned veggies were easy to give up. I still eat some canned beans. But giving up meat has been hard. I slip still, but very rarely. Our friend brought pizza over for dinner last week to thank us for babysitting for them. Both had meat. I ate it. Its not that I haven't found some amazing vegetarian recipes and not just veggies over rice or something. I'm a good cook and I can say that without feeling like I'm bragging. It's just something that comes naturally to me. I don't draw, I am not a seamstress, I don't play an instrument. I cook. Coming up with vegetarian dishes without always feeling like I have to add the fake meat products has been quite easy. But it's the fact that I loved meat so much. Everyday I find myself more and more disgusted by it when I don't know where it came from. I ate a few chicken wings the other day and when I finished I felt ill. I hadn't eaten a single bit of meat in over a week. It just didn't settle right in my brain or my belly.

I'm trying to do what I can, but I know it's not enough. Everyone knows I really don't care what people think of me. I haven't for a very long time. I am weird. My hope and dream is to take this way of life we live and turn it completely wonky and start living the way I know we should. Reliant on ourselves, or instincts and our knowledge. Relying on our ability to break free of this petroleum dominated world and live off of resources we can produce over and over leaving the land and the world better than the day before. I know many people do not want to take a step back or many steps back and say, "Wow, I can actually live without this or that and I'm actually happier without it." But, I find it selfish to sit here and consume, pollute, rape the earth of resources so we can have bigger, better, faster, more now when the world we are leaving for our families that come after us will be worse off for it. How can we sit here and look into the eyes of our children and think of the possibility of our Grandchildren and not want to make this planet a better place for them? Ipads, computers, televisions, appliances etc etc. Savagely mined dank holes in the ground, forests completely gone and unable to be replanted, rivers that no longer run thick with fish, entire ecosystems gone, animal extinction at a rate faster than any other time in history. That's is what our families are looking at in the future because its what we are seeing now. What kind of world is that to live in when you can try to make a difference?

Let me also touch on the social side of all of this. If you think you are a truly caring human being. Love is the key etc. etc. But you also walk around and talk about how good capitalism is and how good consumerism is you need to look deeper into your soul. Capitalism, in my opinion, is people and corporations standing on the backs of others to get to the top. If you buy products that are from China, Indonesia, Bangladesh etc etc chances are the people who produced those products are underpaid, poverty stricken and abused. But that's a nice shirt you have there! You're a caring person, but do you even think about the people who produce your "stuff"? Even food grown in the US has a social price. Everything does.

I wish I could say I was perfect in all of my choices. I certainly am not. But everyday I am doing what I can to change. I am doing what I can to bring my family on a journey to be more passionate about our earth and to remember that people shouldn't have to die for us to wear clothing or eat food. Going to extremes isn't always the key, but I think in some situations addicts need to be cut off from the drug and go through the withdrawals to come out on the other side free of it. I'm scared to death of leaving all of the technology behind....well, most of it. I'm afraid of what is on the other side. But, I'm also so excited to discover my family again and to be unhindered by my need to use technology for just about everything. It truly is a torn soul I am hoping to make whole again.

Chicken Coop

2011-03-06T12:23:00.000-08:00

It's not complete but it's livable until the final touches are put on. My husband is a chicken coop genius!

He took our existing coop that looked like this.

He cut the existing covered portion and used what was the yard to make a new house enclosure. Then fenced it all in.

The house there was the original yard of the old house. It now has a door to get in with two roosting places inside. The outside flaps are hinged.

The hinged flaps open up to the new nesting boxes made smaller to encourage the chickens to lay in them.

There's the door into the house.

As a side note our starts are already sprouting!

Rainy Day Schedule

2011-03-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

Remember in elementary school having rainy day schedule meaning we couldn't go outside for recess? We would stay in an play silly games like "thumbs up 7up"

It's raining here today so it's pretty much got us stuck indoors unless I make a trip to the market for some things we need in the pantry and fridge. There's not a lot we need to get done outside today and I know I really don't want to work in the miserable weather. So Jerod is helping me get the house cleaned up. It's a nice chance to take a breather, get some things done and find a little balance before the week starts.

I hear so many people complain about the rain and I just don't understand that. I know it can be gloomy and some people feel blue when the weather turns bad. But rain is what cleans our air and brings forth life and vitality. Without it nobody would eat. We should be thankful for the rain knowing how it was to go through drought for several years here in the central valley. I'm thrilled for the rain because instead of running my municipal water, my garden space is getting the good deep soak it needs for digging, tilling and creating beds for all of our lovely spring crops for free!

The chicken house is nearly complete. The chickens are fully contained now in a much larger yard than they had before with several more laying boxes. I will venture out into the rain after my late breakfast/lunch an grab some pictures. It just needs a few final touches and it will be complete.

What are you doing to improve your life and the earth this rainy day?

It's Saturday

2011-03-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

Saturday is the day new things happen in the garden. Unfortunately I am working today so I will be gone for the best part of the day to work. But Jerod will be here and he will finish the chicken coop today! I can't wait for them to be safe and cozy in their new home.

I have been digging out our front flower bed. Our entire garden has become a mess over the winter, so we have a lot of work ahead of us. But we are ready and excited to make it happen! I was digging and pulling out weeds. Usually they would go in our yard waste bin and become compost at our dump. Instead I took them to the back and dumped them for the chickens. They were in chicken heaven! There were all sorts of worms and other critters in the packed dirt around the roots. They made good work of the green weeds also.

Our next steps are to find some somewhat clear days and start turning the dirt. It's a rigorous and back breaking task when done by hand, which is my preferred method. This year to exposure the process and save my back some pain and money on my chiropractor bill we will use our small tiller for part of it. Starts are done and we are just waiting for them to sprout. We have several crops this year that require broadcasting the seed so we are just waiting for any really cold weather to pass. The weather has been crazy here. I also will be using space in my friend's garden as she is out of town. They will be back just in time for all of the goodies to ripen. It will be a nice welcome home for them to have fresh veggies already going.

So that's the update for today. Pictures of the finished coop will be posted soon! Can't wait for spring and summer!

Back to Blogging

2011-03-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

Its been such a long time since I've posted!

We have been so busy with life and I have been either sick or down with a bad back for months. But I've decided not to let those things stop me from doing what I'm passionate about and that's growing my own food in a sustainable way and to work hard to have the lowest impact on this earth I possibly can. Frankly I haven't been doing a very good job of it lately.

Even with my bad back I've gotten some of my gardening started for the spring. Our chicken coop is being revamped by my ever so handy husband and we are very much looking forward to all of the good food we will have come summer time!

I have also taken to eating more vegetarian than before. I'm a down home meat and potatoes gal, but after looking at the industrialized meat production we have in the US I just cannot continue to eat meat from that system. Yes, we do have some sustainable meat producers in our food shed, but it's expensive to start up buying it, just as it is to join a CSA. I will do them both, but I have to save some money up first to get started.

Not buying meat as often as I used to has helped our budget. In my last grocery trip I loaded up with a cart full of healthy choices paying attention to where things were grown or produced. I did my best to stay away from GMO products and processed foods in general. I also bought from the bulk section to keep the packaging waste down. Plus it's less expensive. I have only had to go back to the store for milk and things I needed for specific recipes I didn't buy originally. It's saved us a ton of money!

Here are some pictures of the happenings here:

Our chicken coop was way too small for our 7 chickens and they had to spend most of the winter cooped up in it. So we decided to make them a much larger area while still keeping them in a space that is away from the garden.

Wire mesh will enclose the space
This is the outside. Corrugated plastic will keep water out. We are recycling what had originally been on the house.
Two of our chickens enjoying their new space
We watched the documentary Tapped and decided that even though we do not buy a lot of bottled water we would order some water bottles that filter the water to make sure we have water everywhere we go.
One small greenhouse full of starts and that's not even all of them!

Wow!!!!! There has been so much happening

2010-03-10T13:45:00.000-08:00

I was going to write several small blogs to cover all that's been happening, but I don't have that kind of time. So I'll try to neatly put it all in one blog.

Yesterday my friend Sheryl sent me an IM telling me she had this composter sitting to the side in her front yard and asked if I'd be interested in having it. Of course I said yes! It was her late mother's and she received it when her mother passed. Apparently, her mom was on her way to becoming a Master Composter. Sheryl said she'd like to see it get used by someone who would appreciate it and that if she kept it she'd just feel guilty about never using it. Well, whatever I can do to take that guilt away! I feel very blessed that she thought of me to give it to. She is a dear friend and we don't see each other enough because we are both busy with our lives, but we think of each other often. Anytime I can get something useful for free for the garden I jump on it, but this one is special because of who it came from and whose it was. Thanks Sheryl!

This past weekend we went out to tackle some chores in what will be our extended portion of the garden. We have had nothing but rain for weeks on end making it impossible to do anything out there. We finally have had some sunny days and I've been doing my best to take advantage. We cleared out a lot of the toys and things that collect out there from the kids playing. We cut down our apple tree. It was severely diseased and has been since I moved here in 2003. I had hoped it would get better, but that just wasn't in the cards. So now we have fire wood for our outdoor pit and more sunny places to grow good food.

Jerod also built me a temporary fence across the patio to help keep the dogs out of the garden. Ottis has figured out a way to get through the gate though, so it's not really helping. So Jerod will get back out there this week and work on it again.

I did a 3'x6' bed using the double dig method. It was a back breaker because we had a lot of old tree roots to break through. Once it was done it looked great! Then we let the chickens out and they went straight to the freshly turned dirt and began looking for worms. The bed is leveled, but I do have to say they managed to help break the larger clumps down. Let's hope we can figure out a way to cage in their hen house so they can't get into the garden after we put seedlings and seeds in.

I had planted a couple flats of seeds several weeks ago and all of the plants were ready to hit the dirt outside once I could harden them off and get the beds dug. Well, all it's done is rain and rain. I tried transplanting them into fresh dirt while they were inside because it didn't matter if they were watered properly they were dying. That didn't help. Back to the drawing board. Thank God seed isn't expensive. I also joined a seed exchange online to help with expenses and to find a place for seeds to go that I have left over.

Below are a few pictures of what we've accomplished in the garden.

We also staked off the fire pit so we can still fit chairs around it and sit and enjoy our garden space.

Leveled it!

A little over two weeks ago I decided to be done with our microwave. Well, actually it was on the verge of quitting on us and as I sat and thought about replacing it I realized we really don't need it. It's a drain on the power when we use it and I can warm up everything using the oven or stove. It does work slower but it's a chance for me to take some time to make dinner or a snack or breakfast or whatever instead of simply throwing it together and rushing through it all. Look at the space I have on my counter without it!

I tried a new apple tart recipe. I liked it, but then I made the one below and it was even better using a tweaked version of the previous recipe. I took some time to relax, read a book and have a taste. A rare quiet moment that didn't last long, but at least it was a moment.

This is Rolly Poley. She was our first hen to lay.

I had tried several different variations of bread from other people's recipes and they never came out how I expected. So I finally scrapped all of them and made up my own. The result was amazing. Buttermilk white. Great for sandwiches.

Eden holding the kitty that she has dubbed hers until it goes on to it's new home. The family is really enjoying watching them grow and learn to explore.

Joey trying out the buttermilk white with local honey on it. Yum!

I like how our chickens lay different colored eggs. The one on the right is from our Rhode Island Red and the one on the left is from our Barred Rock. One pink and one brown. A friend of mine asked if they taste how they look....strawberry and chocolate. I'd make a fortune if they did!

A little over two weeks ago our cat PITA had 4 very adorable kittens. They are thriving and getting bigger each day. They opened their eyes about a week ago. Now they are starting to take mini adventures out of their box. We have to watch out for them now so we don't step on them. They all have future homes with great people. Mama kitty is still very protective. If we approach the box to play with them or pet them she comes running so she can watch to make sure we don't hurt anyone. It's very interesting to see the instincts working.

Here are pictures I took about a week ago:

This is one from the day they were born.

I Predict A Riot

2010-03-02T09:22:00.000-08:00

I want to start a food movement. I've never done something like this before, but it's really important to me so I guess I'll learn. How does one become an advocate? I shall ponder this and write about it as things develop.

So Much Rain

2010-02-26T08:36:00.000-08:00

We have had so much rain in the last few weeks it's been really hard to get out in the garden and get things prepared. Rain or shine this weekend I'm measuring beds and digging. We have a canopy, so I'm setting it up and away I will go!

We did have a small break in the weather yesterday and I might be able to get a few things done during the day today if the sun lasts. Yesterday I gave the chicken coop a good cleaning. With all the rain and wind the inside had gotten wet, not to mention my chickens love to run around in the rain and slurp up fat worms that surface, so they end up soaked. When they are finally full they take their wet selves into the coop and that adds even more water. I cleared all of the wet wood chips, chicken poop and any food leftover. It all went into the compost pile to cover a nice new layer of food scraps I had taken out. I sprayed out their water bowl since they are constantly getting dirt in it. I need to buy a feeder and watering system for them, but just haven't had the money. Lack of money just means more work to keep it clean, so that's what I do!

All this time I had been having trouble reaching the nesting boxes (not that any of them lay in the boxes as we had thought) and yesterday I discovered the hatch over them DOES open as Jerod had planned. I thought he hadn't gotten to it yet. Turns out he hadn't gotten to a way to keep it open for egg collection and cleaning (again, not that the egg collecting part counts). Needless to say the nest were a mess since they had been hard to manage before. They are nice and clean now. The chicken were given nice fresh wood chips to nest in, kick around and just plain enjoy, which they do.

I have a ton of starts in flats that are so ready to see daylight outside. I just need a break in the rain long enough to get them in. I also need to grab some organic compost and some hay. Then I am completely set to go!

I cannot wait for spring and the abundance of wonderful food my garden will be giving! I cannot wait until my days are spent less in the house and more in the garden. Nights by the fire instead of on the couch with the tv. I'm getting giddy just thinking about it!! But I am thankful for the rain. We need it here and it is making my digging efforts easier everyday that it comes down. So thank God for the rain!

On to another topic....today I will have my first sewing lesson. Ok, not my very first. My Grandmother, Elaine, tried to teach me several times when I was young, but I just wasn't having it. Now I wish I had. So I have enlisted the help of a friend who I love to chit chat with and don't get the chance as often as I'd like. Monica and I will attempt to start one of the several projects I have. I'm very excited and I plan to take pictures and of course post them here.

That's all for now!

More Eggs

2010-02-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is my third and final blog of the day. We had our second out of three chickens lay today. Just waiting on the hold out. Our black and white chicken Rolley Poley has been laying beautiful brown tasty eggs for over a week now (we discovered 4 eggs on Sunday last week).

Today when I walked out to check on our girls Bossy was walking around pissed off! She was squawking and carrying on through the yard. I thought, "Well that's weird they are usually very quiet except for the little clucking they do and when they actually lay!" I closed the lid on the house because it had been opened, but it was going to rain. I went inside to do something else.

Later in the day I came out to check on her. Twitchey (that's our other Rhode Island Red) and Poley were outside the house and came running to me as always. Side note they follow me around the yard because they want me to dig so they can eat the worms. I had been feeling very special, but then realized it had nothing to do with me. I digress. They came running and Bossy wasn't there. I checked the house first and she was in there nestled into the wood chips. Opening the house disturbed her, so she got up and started cleaning up her space; scratching in the chips and making a nice spot. I lowered the roof to the house and went inside. Another side note, I'm very much obsessed with checking on the chickens and the possibility of an egg being out there. It's very novel to me still.

Later (see here's where the obsession comes in), I walked back out to just see how she was. She was out with the other two searching for worms, beetles whatever. Cool! I had been slightly worried we had a sick chicken on our hands. We had lost two of them to the cold earlier in the winter and the nights have been cold here. I opened the room and there laid (no pun intended) a pink egg. PINK!!! REALLY?? Can we just say I'm so excited that my chicken lays pink eggs? I grabbed it and brought it in to show the family. Everyone is super excited about pink eggs right? Well in our house, yes!

What did we do after finding it? I promptly made egg sandwiches on my homemade bread for my husband and oldest daughter, Eden. Yum!

With two laying an egg just about everyday we'll have a good supply of eggs. Now if the third one will get started my egg buying days are virtually over.

GMOs

2010-02-21T18:44:00.000-08:00

I have spent most of yesterday and today reading, studying and watching video about GMOs and Monsanto. My head is spinning! I am appalled that our government lets this company run rampant doing whatever to our food supply. Honestly I've never trusted our government, but when it comes to our food supply that's where I draw the line!

Monsanto makes claims to be sustainable. How can they say that when it's proven that soil not properly cared for will stop producing crops no matter how much synthetic or organic fertilizer you put on it. You have to feed and tend you soil to stay sustainable. Rotating crops doesn't do this. Dousing crops with Round Up that isn't biodegradable is not good for the soil and therefore cannot be considered sustainable.

What I want to know is how this happened? How did they end up being able to become so huge at our expense? People have been paying for their misleading statements, irresponsible business practices and their nasty greed for too long! Not only that but we shouldn't have to have a list of what foods we don't want to put in our mouths because we don't want to eat genetically modified foods.

They don't have to label their foods as GMOs. Basically they created these foods, patent them and started putting them into our food supply without the public knowing. The government didn't feel that we needed to know. They were assured that the GMOs were just as safe as regular food based on tests driven by Monsanto themselves. How can they say that when they literally created soy beans, corn, cotton etc. to either resist chemical herbicides or to produce their own pesticide that kills bugs that might eat them?

They also make claim to being environmentally safe. How? Their herbicide is not even biodegradable!! Let's not forget to mention all of the pollution left behind from the dioxin and the PCBs. Don't even get me started on how bad I feel for the people left behind with the side effects from these chemicals and chemical byproducts!

Then they go after milk. Growth hormones so they can produce more milk. First of all when they started producing rBGH we didn't even need to produce more milk. Dairy farmers had more milk than they could sell and were being subsidised by the government. So what's this synthetic hormone for?? Is it just a way to poison people? 99% of the population drinks milk or uses it in other foods. The hormones come through the milk. They have to! I know the hormones they give to chickens come through the meat. Have you seen the changes in female bodies over the years?

Some milk companies (a lot of organic companies) have started labeling their milk as free of rBGH and guess who got mad? Monsanto. They claim that by labeling the milk that it's free of this hormone they are insinuating that something is wrong with milk made with the hormone. Well I don't really need to insinuate from the label. Knowing they are putting hormones in my milk automatically took me in the direction of organic milk any possible chance I could buy it. It's expensive and sometimes I'd have to take a risk and buy regular milk. Not anymore. I'd rather be flat broke than ingest another product from Monsanto.

America it is time we take our control back. Whoever controls the food controls the world. This company has proven time and again they are irresponsible. They contaminate and they lie. As a consumer we have a choice what goes into our bodies. The stores and agricultural companies will know what you choose by what you take across the scanner. Choose wisely. Choose healthy and whatever you do choose to not choose Monsanto!

One voice is more than one we had before. Look up products that contain GMOs. Refuse to buy them and eat them. Write to the companies and tell them why you are boycotting their product. All you have to do is set up one hour once a week to start looking into what you need to do to make our food supply safe again. What kind of future will you children have and so on if we don't stand up now for better food and better growing practices.

I know I will have more on this subject because I haven't even started on the lawsuits they file with farmers. That will be another blog entirely.

Update

2010-02-21T18:38:00.000-08:00

We have four beautiful kitties born Friday! Two orange boys and two grey girls! Mama kitty is healthy and being a wonderful mama! The babies are doing great! What a neat lesson for our kids to see!

Queening Kittens

2010-02-19T10:51:00.001-08:00

Our baby PITA (Pain In The Ass) is having her babies today. She decided the couch in the middle of the main part of the house was the spot. We bottle fed her after she had been abandoned by her mama so she's very comfy with us.

We have two so far. I'll get pics and post later. Stay tuned! She's doing great!!

Compost Pile

2010-02-17T08:34:00.001-08:00

I have tried several different styles of compost piles, bins etc. None of them have done anything but collect old food, garden scraps and yard waste. No matter how hard I have tried to tend them they just never work.

Reading the biointensive gardening books and trying to put into practice this philosophy on gardening has led me to another type. Of course I HAD to try it. What if this time it works? This method is actually easy after the initial start up. Really the start up isn't hard; just labor intensive. I think the hard work in the beginning brings a sense of pride for a job well done.
Basically what I did was a lasagna style pile. I didn't do it exactly as the books said because they said to only dig and turn the dirt where the pile will exist 12", but I did a double dig method thinking that was what it said. It can't harm the pile, but it was more work than I NEEDED to do.

I started by measuring how wide/long the one side would be and marked it by digging the spade along the edge. I didn't measure how long/wide the other side would be. I wanted to eyeball it and see how large of a pile I could get since we have the space and from what I've read the bigger the better. I ended up with about a 4'x4' pile. I double dug the bottom of the pile 24" approximately. Once I finished the digging I took what had been my previous pile and layered it on top, sticks, dry material, moist material, kitchen scraps, dry material and then soil. It came to about 2' high (maybe a little less). I gently watered it to make it moist (not soggy). Now it is ready for me to continue building. I made sure there was enough space for turning the pile. I think this one will work since it really seems to have the space to breathe etc.

Here are a couple pictures I took while digging and the finished product.

Part way through the digging...Notice Rolley Poley over there to the left? She eats worms as I dig. It's a great deal for her! She now follows me all over the garden just in case I might dig.

This is the finished pile.

Here is a picture of the nice clean slate we plan to turn into our garden. We have a lot of space which means a lot of veggies, grains and herbs to eat, store and share!

Odds and Ends

2010-02-15T09:31:00.000-08:00

As promised these are the pictures of our eggs cooked. I know it seems silly to post pictures of backyard fresh eggs, but you can really see the difference in color of the yolk compared to even a store bought organic egg.

After our delicious breakfast of backyard fresh eggs and homemade wheat toast I decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and my husband's willingness to clean the house. I stepped outside into what will be our garden this year and began cleaning and organizing. I dug up worms for the chickens as a reward for their eggs.

This morning was our daughter, Eden's first day of independent study for her new school. Yes, it's a holiday today, but because she is currently so far behind she doesn't get holidays. Welcome to the real world! Amazingly for her English assignment her first task was to write a paragraph about food safety and tainted meat. Considering this is close to my heart and close to hers it was easy for her to write a paragraph in favor of ways to make our food safe.

Before writing the paragraph I asked her what she planned to write. I was happy with what she chose and asked her what the law was that would help our food safety. Without hesitation she quoted Kevin's Law and what it would do if voted into law. I was very proud!

I don't force my beliefs on my children. I simply watch, study, read, and listen to both sides in their presence and allow them to make their choices on politics, religion, climate change etc. Sometimes they see things the way I do and others they don't. In this case I was particularly proud because I put the movie Food Inc. on and she sat and semi-watched it with me. She was on her ipod and phone at the time. We watched it again later that night because I really felt my husband needed to watch it and she really paid attention, obviously.

I was happy to see an advance subject pop up for her to write about also. Sometimes I feel the schools are so far removed from the issues of the world and give kids a false view of what is important. Right now we are in recession (ok, yeah they say we aren't, but does it really feel any different? Not really). Climate change, war, sustainability, economics...these are the buzz words right now. Eden has been failed by the traditional school system. So glad I moved her.

On the agenda for the garden today....more clean up, weed removal and compost pile making!

Eggs!

2010-02-14T09:21:00.000-08:00

I could hear one of our chickens cackling in what sounded like distress. I rarely hear them unless they are stuck on the wrong side of the fence going into our existing garden or when one of the dogs chases them in fun. This kept on going so I finally decided I should investigate. As I walked out I noticed none of them came running, which is unusal. I thought they must have jumped to the neighbor's yard....not good. Then Rolley Polley came walking out of this tunnel we have for the kids to play in and the other two came from another part of the yard. Ok, they're fine!

Then I saw it. The first egg in the chicken house and beside it was another. I was so excited!!! I grabbed one and ran into the house and showed Jerod who raised his fist in victory! We've been waiting a long time thinking maybe our beautiful girls wouldn't lay. The weather has been so strange and sometimes so cold for this area, so I held out hope that once the weather started to level out we'd see something. Fingers crossed. Well, we were rewarded for our patience!

I ran back out to grab the second egg and remembered Rolley Polley had been cackling and carrying on from inside the kids tunnel. I looked and there I found two more eggs one of them still warm from being laid. Amazing! I came in and showed Jerod that we were now going to eat 4 farm fresh eggs for breakfast! I did the test for freshness and they are only a day or two new!

I cannot wait to be able to scratch organic eggs off my shopping list for a while! I'll post pictures of what they look like prepared. But here is what they look like now!

Food

2010-02-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

As a cook, both home and semi-professional, food is huge to me. I have been having a huge dilemma for several years about where the food I eat, cook and serve comes from. I'm a firm believer in buying locally and yet I don't follow it to a "T". Because we are a family of limited means with many mouths to feed I have to compromise. I don't want to do that anymore!

As consumers we tell farmers what we want to eat. Right now we are settling for what is given to us, unfortunately, and I think it's because many really don't know what they are feeding us. There are several things I’ve always had trouble with, but watching Food Inc. yesterday put the nail in the coffin.

1. Corn fed cattle should NEVER be an advertising campaign! Corn fed verses grass fed is no comparison. Corn fed cows are fat meaning the producer (not farmer) gets more for their money. You know what else they get? E. coli O157:H7. Cows have a wonderful digestive system with 4 chambers giving them the ability to eat grasses. Corn IS a grass, but they only feed the cows the grain. They need GRASS! If we fed all of the cows on feed lots grass over a short period of time they would shed 80% of the E. Coli and be healthier cows and healthier food. This is their NATURAL food. So that "All Natural" Beef you think you're eating is anything but!

2. Monsanto! Look it up. Go to their website see how awesome they make themselves seem. Then find the truth. You won't tolerate monopolies in energy and technology companies but you will with your corn and soy products which go into pretty much ALL processed food. You should try to avoid processed food as much as possible. I am guilty of eating and feeding my family processed food. I plan to change that. Oh and Clinton and Bush thanks for lying in bed with this company. I hope it was as good for you as it seems to have been for them!

3. That nice LARGE juicy chicken breast you're about to dive into came from a genetically modified chicken (unless you bought it organic then you man carry on). They are bred to grow bigger breasts and to grow larger in a shorter amount of time than a chicken should. Hormones, antibiotics etc course through their systems at a large rate. These chickens grow so large so fast their organs and bones cannot support them. The chicken you eat spends the majority of its 46 day or so life sitting in its own feces on the ground. YUM! A chicken house can hold thousands of chickens. What are the odds that when they collect them you get one that ends up on your plate that was ill? Very very good odds. Have fun eating it now!

4. McDonalds can suck it! That's all I have to say!

5. Want to see how many times they rearrange corn in the food you eat? Find out all the different ingredients corn is TURNED into (genetically modified) and then read your labels. It's in just about everything and your government controls it. It even fills that meat you love so much!

6. Veggie Liable Laws???? WTF??? I'll go to jail! I don't care. The government protects these industries to the point that you cannot speak out against what people put into their bodies. You have got to be kidding me!!! People can talk crap about our President more openly than they can about these producers. Hmmm something is wrong with this picture!

7. Everyone let me repeat that EVERYONE deserves healthy food. It's obvious we are always going to see the "haves" and "have not’s.” But a family shouldn't be able to buy greasy, processed, nasty hamburgers cheaper than organic, natural food. This is unacceptable!

We have a say America! Just like the movie said you cast your vote for what gets produced by what you take across that scanner at the market. Demand better for yourselves, you families, Americans and the world. Big companies want you to feel powerless against them, but you aren't.

Here are a few things you can do to put the power back into your own hands.

1. The healthiest food in the market is in the produce section. Eat seasonally (tomatoes in winter??? NO!) Also eat organic. Spend the extra money on that instead of that pedicure ok? Those toenails don't do your children any good.

2. Don't feed to your kids or eat cereal that changes the color of the milk. Bad bad bad.

3. If it comes from a plant eat it

4. If it grew in a plant or lab avoid it. NO MONSANTO!

5. Plant a garden whether it’s huge or patio sized find a way to plant the produce you like best. Bigger is better, but whatever size you can do is better than nothing so get out there and plant something beneficial.

6. Eat all the junk food you want as long as you make it yourself. This was in the interview I watched yesterday. No, junk food isn't healthy, but if you make your own French fries from potato to plate you'll most likely eat them less than if you pull them out of a bag or worse go to a fast food restaurant. You wash, (peel) cut, fry and it can be a process. It's the same for any food.

7. If you are going to eat a processed food, stick to foods that have only 5 ingredients or less.

8. COOK!!!!! This is the easiest way to take back control of what YOU eat.

All of these come from Michael Pollan's book “Food Rules.”

Many of my family and friends know that this is very important to me. I try very hard not to shove propaganda down your throats, but I cannot stand by and watch people I care about continue to consume something that sustains our lives that has been transformed into unrecognizable products. It's bad for you. It's proven.

Here are some of the things we plan to implement here in our home.

1. We already grow an all natural garden. This means we do not treat with sythetic fertilizers or pesticides. To extend this we are growing it larger this year using a new method to help us grow more and feed the soil so it can sustain us over time.

2. Since I do love beef and other meats I need to research where, in our food shed (100 mile radius of your home), I can find organic grass fed beef and other organic meats or naturally grown at least.

3. That being said I am cutting meat down in our diets. We eat meat everyday with just about each meal here. That's not necessary nor is it healthy. 90% of what we eat daily should be vegetable based. I'll be working on this.

4. Bake more bread from whole wheat

5. Find healthy snack recipes and make them here for the kids (anyone have a dehydrator they want to unload??)

6. Sorry kids but your Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops have seen their last visit to my cupboards.

7. Can from our garden, eat seasonally and eat organic as much as possible. There is a list out there of the 12 worst foods to eat inorganic. I will find that list and those will be the ones I INSIST are always organic.

8. We do not eat often in restaurants, but we will be doing it less. This one is hard for me because I work in a restaurant. I’m not sure what to do here on this one.

9. Buy fast food! This will be hard because I love the convenience and boy do I love the taste sometimes, but I won't take it and I won't feed it to my kids. Not anymore.

10. I plan to research more and share what I know. I've never has any trouble sharing that I'm a Christian and what that means to me, so I will use that same idea here. This is very important to me, my family and the future my kids and grandkids etc. will see.

We can change the world one voice at a time. I just added mine!

Another Good Read

2010-01-25T08:46:00.000-08:00

I started Second Nature by Michael Pollan last night. I'm hooked! His writing is so easy to follow and full of sarcasm andthings that make me chuckle. But this book is a serious look at gardening from his experiences etc. I'm looking forward to gleaning from his experiences.

It's been raining something terrible for over a week, so we've been mostly stuck indoors. As I said in an earlier post, Jerod and Eden did clear where our existing garden used to be. So now we are ready to start getting the beds ready. I need to move a couple things around and figure out how to get a fence up to keep the dogs out of the main garden area. I'd block off the whole yard if Jerod would let me, but I don't think that's going to happen. So we'll get that figured out.

Seeds should arrive soon. I still need to order my seed potatoes and garlic.....oh and I forgot peppers! Can't forget pepper!!!! So those will be ordered soon. Need to get some compost as we haven't gotten our pile started yet. Lots to do still. I'll try to keep this updated and get some pictures on here as well.

Seeds Are On Their Way

2010-01-24T11:30:00.000-08:00

I discovered a fantastic easier to follow book on Biointensive gardening written by John Jeavons who also wrote How To Grow More Vegetables. The Sustainable Vegetable Garden is much easier to follow for someone just starting out on this adventure. I followed the author's advice on which seeds to try first so my list did change some. After I see what's in stock and on it's way I'll post what we will attempt to grow this year. But the seeds are ordered!

Yesterday Jerod and Eden went into what was our existing garden and took out all of the old plants and we will begin our compost pile with that. I purchased a couple tools that we will need and once the extreme weather has passed us by I will begin digging our beds.

I also need to look into getting decent equipment for canning. We are definately going to need it this year...I hope.

So that's the latest here on our little patch of dirt.

We're back!!!

2010-01-12T09:23:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year again! Even though it's still cold and the rain is coming down spring is right around the corner and there is so much to be done to get our garden up and going for the year.

Last year we had great plans of expanding our garden throughout our backyard, but the dogs had other plans. This year a new fence will be installed prior to bed prep.

I have already done my seed research and here is a list of what we plan to see in the garden by spring/summer (please note we have found heirloom varieties for everything we want to grow this year):

Tomatoes:

Black Giants
Cherokee Chocolate
Arkansas Traveler
Aurora

Peas:

Shelling: Alderman Pole Pea
Sugar Snap: Super Sugar Snap

Zucchini: Golden Zucchini

Corn:

Golden Bantam
Japanese Popcorn

Romain: Jerico (this is a cold weather and warm weather. If planted in the next few weeks we can have this by spring and then replant in August for a winter crop)

Spinach: Strawberr/Beatberry (this isn't actually spinach but great warm/hot weather sub)

Cabbage: All Season Cabbage (this won't do as well in summer here, but if planted soon we can see quite a lot for spring and then again for winter. We can make all sorts of canned goodies with this.)

Cucumbers:

Pickling: Snow Fancy
Regular: Cucumber mix (lemon, American and Straight)

Leeks: Mussel burgh (this is also a warm weather/cold weather crop. If planted soon we can have leeks for spring and then again for winter)

Cantaloupe: Northern Arizona (This is not a cantaloupe. But it's flavor is similar)

Beans: Anasazi Bush Bean

Strawberry: Alpine

Sunflower: Mammoth

Peppers: Jalapenos/Early/Hot

Radishes: Mix for various colors and also making this an all season

Tomatillo

Toma Verde (which is what you typically see)
Purple de Milpa (beautiful purple color)

Herbs:

Basil
Borage
Chives
Cilantro
Dill
Chamomile
Thyme
Oregano
Sage
Cumin
Lemon Balm
Mint
Savory

Quite the list! I am studying the Grow Bio intensive method this year because it really helps keep your soil alive. Good living soil helps a good living garden.

We still have 3 of our 5 chickens. We lost 2 of them due to the freezing weather we had a few weeks ago. They just couldn't take it. It was a sad loss.

I will try to update weekly if not more frequently as we progress or I learn something new.

Dogs

2009-06-07T07:33:00.000-07:00

We definitely need to build a fence to keep the dogs out of the plots. I planted a bunch of lettuces in the shady area of the garden the other day and the dogs have since tromped through the plots. Luckily it was just seed, so it's probably only scattered. Hopefully we can get something up this week to keep them out. I have so much more I want to do out there, but I don't want all of my work undone by dogs. Plus keeping the dogs out of the garden space is good because that's where the chickens will be when they move into their coup. I think those dogs would really try to eat them.

Went to farmers market yesterday and picked up some strawberries, cherries, lemon cucumbers, some local honey and some fresh eggs. I've never seen eggs at the market before. Eggs laid only two days before! Came home and made egg sandwiches. Yummo! It really does make a difference. I cannot wait for our chicks to start laying. It'll be some time still. They're very little. But the wait will be worth it. I hope we have enough to share.

Our corn is getting big and soon I'll be shaking pollen all over so the kernels with grow on the ears. I planted more corn in the back, but a different variety that is popcorn. I hope we have lots of movie nights once it's ready.

That's all for now. More to come this week as we put up the fence, finish the coop and move the chicks outside.

Holy Hail Storm!

2009-06-04T07:36:00.000-07:00

I awoke to chaos. I could hear a noise that I can only describe as someone frying something, but amplified. I saw a flash through the window and it hit me.....storm! My adrenaline started to pump. Heart racing I woke Jerod, "Jerod, can you hear this??" He sat up with a purpose, not quite realizing what was going on and then it hit him.....storm!!!!!

We quickly made our way to the front door and out to the porch. I cannot possibly do the scene justice with words. It was amazing! Hail was pouring from the sky. The lightening was flashing over and over and the rumble of thunder was constant except when it boomed louder. The wind was blowing and the noise outside was deafening. I reached out to try and catch some hail. I couldn't catch any.

Jerod ran inside to grab the video camera and I took some video of the lightening and tried to get some shots of the hail on the ground, but it was really dark. The thunder was non stop. It just rolled and rolled and rolled except to take a break long enough to boom and then roll again. It sounded like a jet plane was constantly hovering over the house. The lightening was spectacular. It would light up the whole sky only to brighten it again a second later. The wind was howling, hail falling, lightening and thunder. It was a sight I've never seen before.

As it started to die we reluctantly came back in to try and settle back down for bed. Jerod opened the window in the bedroom so he could watch the sky while he slept. With out clothesline in the back (with clothes on it still) he said it was a sight he'd never seen before. It was like being out on a farm.

As stunning at it all was it did do some damage. The back garden that I just planted seemed to weather fine. But the side garden with more mature plants suffered some blows.

Our cucumbers didn't do well with the hail. They'll probably be ok with a little tlc.

Big holes in the leaves of the zucchini plants
Here's a pile of hail that was left after coming down the down spout during the storm.

I'm a planting fool

2009-06-03T10:48:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I posted about the things I had planted, so today I took some pics of what's growing already and what I did yesterday and today. I have a couple pots out in the front yard that I simply dumped some random seeds into.

They had fallen out of their packages and ended up at the bottom of the bowl I was storing them in. What's growing out of the pots are cucumbers and watermelon. They are doing great! I am letting them just spill over the edges and do their thing. I'm already growing watermelon and cucumbers in

I planted basil along the back fence on either side of my herb box near my clothes line

Fennel and chamomile planted around the blackberry barrel.Australian Violets all along the fence

This is our newest plot....well half of it. The other half is in the shade and I plan to plant lettuce there. It gets very hot here in the summer, so it will grow well in the shadey spot. I made a quirky little path along the side and through it. It's not level and I plan to leave it that way. In this plot we have beans, peas, popcorn, red acre cabbage, brunswick cabbage, parsnips, carrots, beets, radishes and some more herbs such as oregano, thyme and chamomile

I had two extra strawberries from the small patch I planted in the side garden so I placed them in a container. They are doing better than the strawberries in the side garden.

I planted our blueberry bush in the half barrel beside Jade's little house. Depending on how it grows I plan to trellis it in an arch from the pot to the fence for a tunnel. I'm not sure it that will work, but it's worth a try. I also planted Australian violets in a container under her little window. She waters them every day.

This is the herb box I built for oregano and thyme

This is the plot from the picture above before I planted it.

Onion flower

Pepper

strawberry patch

zucchini

'maters, 'maters everywhere

Eggplant flower

heirloom tomato (brandywine)

A Little Garden Poem

2009-06-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

Out to the garden go we
Out to the garden we three
Out to the garden to tend
The land to see what it lends

I'm addicted to gardening!

2009-06-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

Today I put in everything I had left in my starter flats. I lost the paper that had the diagram of what I planted, so anything goes for the most part. I do know there are peas, beans, popcorn, cabbage (red and brunswick), beets, radishes and canteloupe. I planted the rest of my herbs that I started indoors as well.

The chickens are really getting big and their feathers are coming in.

That's all I have for today, just a short note to say what's happening. Everyday it's something new!

Peep Peep Peep

2009-05-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

We brought home five baby chicks on Saturday May 23rd. Jerod began building the coop Saturday afternoon. The chicks won't be able to move in for a couple more weeks, but the coop is looking beautiful. Here are some pics of what's happening on the Lea Urban Farm. This post is very late because Jerod had most of the pictures of the coop being built on his camera and didn't get them to me for a while. Enjoy!

Anyone home??

Jager and our neighbor's son, Seth seeing the chicks for the first time

Our neighbor's other son, Shannon

This is either Rosa or Izzabella (yes, it's spelled wrong on purpose)

Twitchy, Bossy, Rolley Polley, Rosa and Izzabella

They actually look so different now than from this photo. They are getting their feathers already. I'll post those later.

Rosa
The beginning of the coop

Jerod used dowels to hinge the door
Getting ready to put the roof on

ready for the roof

How the door opens to the house

Beginning the roof

Other side

top of the roof

How the door opens with the roof on

door to the yard

Moved into it's permanent location

Just a bit more to do and it's done

Barefoot Gardening

2009-05-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

I know this is a strange post, but I want to talk about gardening barefooted. I love it. My feet look like trash all spring and summer long, but there's just nothing like feeling the heat of the soil on my feet. I love the way the mud feel squishing between my toes when I water the garden. I have heard and read that walking barefooted is good for your balance physical as well as mental and spiritual. It's a direct connection with the earth that, as farmers, we are working so hard to keep healthy. Living in a semi urban area I can tell you the reactions I get from people about how dirty my feet always look. I love pedicures. They feel great, but they are honestly a waste of money for me because literally hours after getting one I'll be ankle deep in mud or something. Over the last several weeks we have made some great progress in our garden. Here's what's been happening around here...

Here are some of our seedlings ready to go in.....now I just need the beds for them

Starts for herbs. These will mostly go near our clothes line to help keep our clothes smelling wonderful while drying outside

Sunflowers that popped up in the garden from last years flowers. I moved them to the front yard to grow.

I had a bunch of seeds that had spilled out into a bowl. I couldn't tell some of them apart so I threw them into two of these containers and it looks like I've got cucumbers and watermelon so far.

Here is our thornless blackberry bush. It's supposed to yield a good crop the first year. We'll see.

Our clothes line. I haven't used my dryer in over a month.

I made this trellis for squash, but I'm not sure they'll need it. Luckily I can move it to another bed to use for peas if it doesn't prove useful here.
Zucchini flowers. They are so stunning.

CornJust put these strawberries in. I'm hoping it wasn't too late in the season. It gets really warm here.
I made my own upside down tomato. Honestly I'm not sure I like these yet. They haven't proved to be all I had expected. Time will tell
This is the view of our side garden. We started this garden for the first time last spring and this is the garden for this year. We are expanding into the back.
upside down tomato
We released ladybugs into the garden a little over a week ago. It's a fun thing to do with the kids. My best friends kids were there along with our neighbors kids and ours. What a fun night.
There are 1500 of them in these packets

Taking the Plunge

2009-05-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

I've been resisting starting a blog of our journey into urban homesteading because I always start out strong and then fizzle out when I get busy with the actual doing of what I'm to blog about.

But I really made a point to photo and video journal some of our transition already. I felt it was important to document what's happening when you join a movement. Like it or not we are activists for greener living, organic gardening and self sustainability. We aren't perfect. We are definately new to all of this. I think more than anything we want to prove to the world that a technologically savvy man and a hippie woman can blend our insights together for the greater good of our family and our world. Anyone can make this change if they believe in it enough.

I was on board for a more sustainable lifestyle a couple years ago, but convincing Jerod was not going to be easy. He loves technology and easy availability. He's an instant gratification person. I'm impatient, but I can wait for the good things when I can see them on the horizon. I like my computer and that's about all the technology I deal with....well the tv set. I do like to watch tv.

One video changed all of it for us.

You can view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPEBM5ol0Q

It's hippie, it's going to an extreme for what they believe and that's how I feel. Jerod watched that video and our lives will never be the same. We are making a farm in the middle of Tracy. It's a lot of hard work and trial and error. It's going slower than I'd like, but we have 4 kids and jobs and a home to maintain. We'll get there and it's worth every gain and loss.