Get some chickens (for the eggs.) How do I do that when I have two cats who like to catch birds? Will they bother the chickens? As long as I don’t have a rooster can I get away with it in the city? Do I want a chicken tractor, or a deep bedding system? Will the chickens stay in my yard?
Learn to make compost. My dad made great compost. I am terrible at it. I pile up big piles that don’t seem to decompose. I am determined to learn how to do this, and I also hope my husband will help me ; )
Get a vacuum sealer (because I don’t like canning and I have a freezer.)
Get a steam canner. I may can anyway and this would be easier than a water bath canner.
The last two things would have to be justified, because Garry already thinks gardening is expensive.
More rain barrels.
Figure out how to use my front yard for vegetables and stuff without offending the neighborhood. One way may be to garden the way my grandmother did where flowers and vegetables were mixed together.
Hey, I followed your link from the Deliberate Agrarian! I too want to get chickens. You have it better then I though. Being in Texas, your winters are much milder then mine in Michigan. You don't have to have a "winter" plan for the birds. How many do you want? That will determine a lot for you. There are plenty of small moveable chicken coops/runs that give your chickens protection but allow them to range about. As long as you move them a bit each day, they get a new area to do chicken things in. Try going to You Tube and searching for portable chicken housing and you'll get plenty of ideas.
ReplyDeleteWith out a rooster your chickens should be quiet enough to keep two or three as "pets". Most cities will allow that but you might want to check it out if you desire legality. If you have neighbors that you get along with, you should be fine too. Properly kept chickens and compost piles should not smell.
Last year I started a garden. My husband wasn't totally for it. He thought they were too expensive too. He did not want to rent a tiller. (I hand turned the sod with a shovel.) He didn't want to amend our soil with anything. (We have almost pure sand... even the grass doesn't grow great.) So I planted and he got into it a little. But it didn't grow well and the weeds from not tilling or mulching were terrible. I finally just let nature take over the plot at the end of the season. This year he's all for it. He wants to till and compost and mulch. Yeah! Now I can have a proper garden! Go for the front yard garden. You can have beauty and function! Make sure to give your neighbors some bounty and they won't complain.
Thanks for the encouragement! I hope your garden turns out great this year.
ReplyDeleteI looked at your bog. Its funny that just about everyone's blog i have looked at lately had pictures of a TEA party on them! We went to our local tea party too.
Still want to move to the country, but with the economy the way it is now am afraid to try to sell this house. The longer we stay here though the harder it is to move with all the work we have put into this place.