Reasons Why I Grow Food

A growing number of individuals, families and neighborhoods are becoming more interested in gardening and growing their own food. The reasons vary but include: desire to save money, concern over pesticides and food-borne illnesses, sense of community (community gardens) are all just a few of the reasons.

 My list of reasons I grow our family's food are;

•  My love of nature. I enjoy watching nature grow and produce.
•  The feeling of accomplishment and pride from growing food.
•  Saving money on groceries.
•  Relaxation. I feel like I'm in another world when I garden, freeing my mind of everyday life situations.
•  Knowing the food I cook and place on the table is free of pesticides and contamination of food-borne illnesses. 
• Sharing what I've grown with friends, extended family and the homeless shelter. 
• Knowing if a wide spread disaster occurred, I have a little knowledge which could keep us fed during it. 
• I get to try new food items I've never eaten before, without spending a lot of money. 
• After the growing season the plants become compost for my soil. Providing me with rich dirt, better in appearance and good for next season's plants. 
• I grow food my animals like to eat too: lettuce cabbage, tomatoes, squash etc. Helps save on pet food bills.
• Gift giving. I can some of my fruit and use for Christmas gifts. 
• I like the way my canned goods look on my pantry and cabinet shelves. Edible home decor!
• I get exercise when I garden. Pulling weeds, pushing a wheel barrel full of dirt or compost all add up to calories burned. 
• The food is always fresh.
• I also use home grown food for trade for other garden items from friends I didn't grow. 
• And of course just for the sheer beauty of it.

What are some of the reasons you garden?

Custom Chicken House and Shed Projects

My husband and I have been diligently working on getting "his" outside projects done. He is trying to finish before it gets too cold or the snow begins to fall. The temperatures are starting to drop down to 26˚ at night and presently it is only 52˚ outside. Still warm enough to work but not for long.

The chickens don't understand what is going on. They watch my husband build and me painting and staining. They also like to examine the tools and dig around in the screws, which they end up scattering everywhere. I think it's funny, but it frustrates my husband.

Even with the curious chickens, progress is being made on the projects. The shed has shelves, walls, a roof and is painted. It lacks the finishing on the roof, doors and the touch up painting. The chicken house roof has to be finished, inside walls, electricity installed and staining to be finished. But what is done, is very attractive in my opinion and the neighbors, (they like to visit to see what else we have going on).

New shed. 

New shed.

The chickens were curious about the shed one day and knocked over all our little yellow bins of hardware. I had to reorganize everything, and in the process found eggs on a narrow shelf and behind some garden tools. Since I've reorganized and picked up the eggs, they haven't been back. I guess they realize the shed is not a good hiding place for eggs.

New coat of paint on rabbit hutch. 

I almost forgot about our rabbit hutch. I put a new coat of paint on it for Knuckles (the rabbit) and her new roommate (a field mouse), who just recently took up residence with her. They get along well burrowing in the hay and eating out of the same dish. With the nights getting colder we will be putting more grass hay in the hutch to keep them warm.

Chicken house project.

Opening of nest boxes for cleaning and gathering eggs.

Open nest boxes. 

Roosts with a view.

Inside shot of nest boxes. 

As you can see, we still have work to do on the chicken house, but it is coming along. It is far enough along for Checkers at least.

Checkers trying out one of the new nest boxes. 

Progress on Shed

The weather is cool and cloudy gray today. We've experienced a few sprinkles, enough my husband was concerned and started working on the shed, to protect our tools. My son joined in to help. They put the roof on, shelves, the back, and hinges for the doors.

They still have to hang doors, finish the shelving and trim. Plus there will be all the organizing of stuff. Which I believe will be delegated to assist with.

He asked me what color I would like to paint it? My husband's way of saying he doesn't like to paint and it's my job to do the painting. What color would you suggest?

Working hard and hardly working.

Son putting on roof, husband taking a break to watch chickens.  

Clean Up

The day has finally come! We are taking off the old shed and tree branches which have cluttered our yard for a few weeks now. I'm excited! The joyous thoughts of not having to look at all the stuff and having my yard back is exhilarating.

My husband, son and our friend Ryan did the honor of loading and hauling the stuff off. It was a lot of work: sorting stuff, loading the truck, strapping down the load, unloading at the dump and all the clean up of the little pieces afterwards. I'm thankful for the hardworking, strong men in my life.

1st load. Chris my son in front, Ryan in back of him.

Project wood stacked to the side to make room for loading. 

Progress 

Maxine on left, Spot on right, our ducks, staying out of the way. 

Cleaning up small pieces of twigs and old fruit. 

All cleaned up. 

My son thrilled to be doing a dump run and not sleeping in. 

Change in Project Plans

My husband is very talented, not only in graphic design but with wood also. Over the last three years he has built multiple things and began work on other projects still unfinished. You can read and view his projects here and here. All the projects have been necessary for making our home fit our lifestyle.

But as many know, even the best laid plans have to change sometimes. Concepts for several of the unfinished plans ended up changing and other uses have been found for them. Our sick bay for injured animals now houses building supplies, one of our sheds has been tore down and replaced with a larger shed, a partially finished pole barn was dismantled, our duck pond was dug up, tree stumps dug out, parts of the backyard leveled and the chicken house built last year is currently being dismantled, the materials being used for a new, much larger chicken house.

The stumps needed to go of course. They were taking up space and I was tripping over some of them. Our sick bay will go back to its intended use at a later date. The yard needed leveling because of an old raised strawberry bed and other uneven areas causing safety concerns. The chicken house is not big enough for our mixed flock; the ducks at present can't fit in there at night and winter is coming.

The shed and duck pond were a shock to me. I went away for the weekend with my son to a concert and came back to a demolished shed and dismantled pole barn, with a new shed  in the process of being built.

A friend of my husband who owns a local nursery, came to visit one day while I was away and inspected our duck pond. Her advice; rip it out and start over.

It has taken me a while to get used to all the changes. But I've come to accept them, and will be thankful when all is finished.

Old shed.

New shed, left side. 

New shed, right side. 

New shed, front view.

Site for new chicken house.

Old site of duck pond. Not sure of new location yet. 

Ducks don't seem to care about the pond. They like the shade and peaches.

New Potatoes

I've did a little gardening over the years but never had time to really do much because of working full-time. This year was different. I'm only working part-time and decided to plant vegetables I never planted before, like potatoes. I wasn't sure how my little crop would turn out; but I found out tonight.

I dug a few potatoes out from one of my large planters. I was really surprised I actually had potatoes. I quickly took them into the house, showed my husband the fruit of my labors, then prepared them to put in with the chicken I was roasting. They made a delicious addition to our meal.

My 1st home grown potatoes.

Newest Projects

We're still trying to get our home the way we want it; all the little things that make it unique to our lifestyle. My husband has recently started a new project. He has decided to put in a duck pond for our two Muscovy ducks. He obtained the liner from the local nursery and has begun digging out a large hole. He is using an old stump in the ground for a center piece for the ducks to stand on and made sure the hole was under trees for shade for the ducks too. I guess I will be wading into the pond next year to pick my fruit.

He hasn't finished our pole barn yet, but he has added a nice touch to it. He has made shelves to place all his wood for our unfinished projects. I'm impressed with all his ingenuity.

Center Piece Stump

Future duck pond surrounded by fruit trees. 

Unfinished pole barn with building materials.

I almost forgot another project my husband did. He made me a separate pen for injured or sick animals. This has come in handy recently because my dogs injured my female duck. It gave her a place to heal and be separated from the other animals that could have taken advantage of her physical state.

Injured animal pen. 

Crazy Busy

I've had a lot going on lately. I finally realized it's been a while since I did a post. I thought it would be best if I caught everyone up on all the happenings. 

I've spent a lot of time with my new friend Kat. We've been visiting and going places together. It has really been enjoyable to have a new friend to share things with. 

I went to the orthopedic doctor on March 21st. He thought my knee fracture was healed because it had been six months since the injury. He had me start walking without the crutches and gave me a prescription for physical therapy. I tried walking for one week and the pain and swelling increased. I ended up having another x-ray on March 28th. It showed the fracture was healing but wasn't fully healed. I went back to using the crutches until this past Saturday. Now I am finally able to walk and tolerate some discomfort. 

I began physical therapy today. The therapist was very pleased with the mobility I have in my knee. He stated my knee should make a complete recovery. My back and spine are a whole different story. Having not been able to walk normally for so long, has put my spine and hips out of alignment. I have lots of work ahead of me. I will be relearning to walk normal.

This past Saturday, my husband began work on a new project in our bedroom. We knocked out the wall between our bedroom and our son's bedroom. Now we are in the process of building new closets, bookshelves and storage shelves inside the closets. I'm so excited! I can't wait until my husband finishes. 

Our room before construction (Original Closet Side)

Our room before construction (Original Wall Side)

Our Son's room before construction (Original Wall Side)

Our Son's room before construction (Original Closet Side)

Partial construction of closet in our room

Partial construction of bookshelves in our room

Also, this past Saturday on our way to get more building supplies for our remodeling project, we stopped at the local feed store "just to look at" baby chicks. Needless to say, we came home with eight new chicks: two Brahmas, two Barred Rock and four Crested Polish (Mixed varieties). They are so cute! The Brahmas and Barred Rocks are pullets. The Crested Polish are straight run; mix of male and female. We are hoping for females. We aren't allowed to have roosters in the city. 

Bringing home our new baby chicks. 

Our new baby chicks learning to roost. 

Princess saying "Hi" to the chicks.  (Her head's in the way)

Life has been really good. I enjoy hobbling around without crutches; love having good friends and a husband who is an incredible carpenter. 

Yucky Muck!

Saturday was the day I chose to clean the chicken house. Weather and injuries have prevented us from doing it sooner. My wonderful husband assisted me because I'm still on crutches.

"What's going on in the chicken house?"

I cleaned the nest boxes, scraping away all the manure, brushing away the dust and stuffing fresh grass in. My husband pitched the old grass hay and chicken manure off the floor and out into the chicken yard. The chickens loved it. They scratched through it like they were looking for gold. New little grass shoots were growing in the mess and the chickens were gobbling them up.

Clean nest boxes. 

Floor before cleaning it. 

My husband helping clean the floor. 

"Yummy!"

"Munching fun time!"

We removed Rockett from her beloved home. She is not very social and tends to stay cooped up away from the other chickens. She attempted to hide behind the old grass piled up in the yard or behind the garden hose that hangs on the fence. (She definitely is not our brightest chicken.)

"I'm hiding."

"They'll never find me here."

I put down fresh grass hay on the floor about six inches thick for the ducks to nest in. Ducks are clean animals by nature and I'm sure they enjoyed the new fresh grass. They like to snuggle at night and wrap their necks together, resting their heads down on each other's back.

Fresh grass on floor for the ducks.  

Today the ducks were calmer. Must have realized what we were doing for them. 

The coop smelled and looked better after we were done. It was hard work and I had to ice my knee afterwards but I was glad we cleaned. I have to say, a simple life can be hard work.