Coop Building Begins

Friday:

Hello again.  It is a beautiful sunny day but still very cold.  I envy those of you who live in areas that are warmer and are able to get started working outdoors.  For now there are a dozen each of tomatoes and peppers planted indoors.  In another week I  will plant more seeds. 

While I have been planning for the warmer days, I have been remembering back to when my girls were children during the late seventies and early eighties when we were living in our first house/home.  The house had been built during the 1700's and was the last house on the edge of town, very rural and cozy.  We had a big beautiful garden, our home was small but comfortable.  Since there was no kitchen to speak of, I took the large room at the back of the house and made it into a kitchen with a door going out to the back yard, three windows to let in lots of morning sunlight, and a 1904 wood burning, kitchen cook stove.  There was also a traditional gas cook stove which I used during the warm summer days.  I loved doing the cooking in that kitchen.  It was where I did all my baking, cooking and canning.  During the summer months the windows would be kept open and I would set pies on the sill to cool.  My girls would come in from playing and tell me the smells of my canning would fill the air in neighborhood with the scent of mincemeat or pickles.   In those days we also used oil lamps for light, and did without a tv.  The laundry was hung out to dry on two long clotheslines strung out in the yard.  I love the smell bed sheets dried in the fresh air and sunshine.  From the time the girls were born I sewed nearly all their clothes, along with quilting and various forms of needlework my days were full and busy.  It was a lovely time which I miss very much.

Today I put out the clothesline for the season.  Instead of long straight lines, I have one of the carousel type that closes somewhat like an umbrella.  It has 10 or 12 lines, each about 6 feet long.  Since these days it is just Nick and myself, that is all the drying space we need.  While outdoors I removed any of the dead plants from last years vegetables and put them into the compost.  It is still cold outside, in the 30's and a bit breezy, so after taking several "before" photos from diffent directions in the backyard I came inside.

Saturday : 

Nick and I started work preparing the area for the chicken coop and its run.  We raked the area clean down to the soil then measured off the diameter of the building and fenced in areas and marked at four foot intervals with pegs so we could get a better idea of the how much space the hens will be using.  Each section will measure 8' x 10'.  This particular size is because the used materials we have measure 4' x 10'.  They had been customed made pallets with sheets of 3/4" plywood on one side and framed with 2/4's.

Then once again, the temperature dropped as the wind grew stronger until we had to go indoors.
Tomorrow we try to get started on assembly the chicken house.

Sunday:

Today we will be disassembling (7) 4'x10' palletts, which Nick got for free, with the help of our two grandsons, Jamie and Matthew. Once the wood is separated they can begin building.

 After a late start, the floor and 3 1/2 walls are up.  Next weekend the remaining walls, roof, doors and windows will be completed.  Can't wait! 



Wednesday, April 3, 2013

We got quite a bit accomplished over the weekend.  On Saturday I built four raised beds for the garden (more on this on Project #2 page)

Nick and Matthew worked on the coop, they finished putting up walls and roof, and started putting on the 1-11 siding before the rain started to fall.

First Day of Spring...........at last!

Happy Spring Everyone!............ and there is snow on the ground.  
Here's wishing you all a beautiful day!

How are you spending this first day of spring?  We still have snow on the ground so are limited to indoor work for now.  It is a good day to plant some seeds in a starter tray today.  By the time they are ready to transplant the raised beds will be ready to receive them.  This is also a good time to work on my gardening journal.  Last year the journal consisted of a piece of paper (it was a very small garden).  This year I will use one of the many blank journals I have collected over the years.

A Garden Journal is a useful tool to keep track of what and when seeds are planted, where they are planted, how well they do (or don't do), keeping track of the plant rotation, etc.  Crop rotation is vital to keeping your garden  healthy as it helps prevent the soil from being drained of its nutrients. For example where one crop takes nitrogen from the soil, a different crop puts it back in.   More of this on the page "Crop Rotation".  +Annie B. Bond's explanatin of crop rotation is one of the best, simple and clear.  Along with the notes I will add photos of the garden at various stages and keep track of the harvests.

Simply put:  where I planted tomatoes and peppers last year, I will be planting beans this year, and next year in the same space onions will most likely be planted.

It Snowed Last Night

It snowed last night and left us with 4 inches of the white stuff.  The remainder of the week is suppossed to sunny and warmer so the snow won't last more than today.

I keep looking out the window and imaging what the yard will look like in a few more months, lush and green.

Last week I put together my list of TO DO's and my list of TA DA's (completed) to help keep me on track. 
TA DA:
ordered the chickens
picked up free cabinets for the gardening shed                                   
picked up lumber for 4 raised beds
cleaned the yard of storm debris                                                    
sorted seeds from last year
purchased organic seeds for this year
marked planting sticks to identify plants
still watching more videos on homesteading and raising chickens
still reading up on homesteading and raising chickens and goats

TO DO:                                                                                          

 build new raised beds

 prepare last years beds for planting

 plant seeds indoors for early start

 get barrels for collecting rain water for irrigation 

 pick up free pallets for compost bins                                               

 arrange with local farmer for compost delivery

 build or buy chicken coop/yard

 build garden shed

 mend back porch

get composted material from the woods. FREE!

prepare beds for planting i.e. trellis's etc

set out clotheslines

spring cleaning in the RV.

purchase and plant cherry trees

prepare and plant flower beds along front walkway

get screened doors for kitchen french doors.

fence in backyard to keep critters out.

 

 Guess I will work on unfinished winter projects today, such as the scarf I have been knitting for
my youngest daughter.  Later I will work on a sewing project, aprons.

Have a great day and let me know about your TO DO and TA DA lists.

THE CHICKS HAVE BEEN ORDERED!

I am so excited!  My little chicks have been ordered and the delivery date is May 3, I can't wait. There are so many things to do in order to have my backyard farm ready for the season. 

Our little chicken family will consist of Rhode Island Reds, Black Sex Link and Ameraucana's.  My youngest grandsons have already begun planning on names for the girls.  The boys each want to name one of the hens after themselves.  They are so excited that the older boys already started asking permission to sleepover on the day the chicks arrive.  :)

Nick is busy researching building plans for hen houses and runs. We have one month to built it. 

Today, even though it is still a bit cold outdoors, we are clearing out the fallen branches from the winters wind storms; and raking up the other debris.

This morning I sorted through my seeds and prepared the identity markers for them.  Once it warms a bit (out of the 30's)  we will be going into the woods to dig compost from beneath the trees.   Nick knows where he can get free pallets and will bring a few home to build our compost bins this week.

One of the goals of backyard homesteading is to do or get as much as possible for little or no cost.  Nick was fortunate to get several 4'x10' pallets made with solid plywood sheets on one side.  There are enough to build my garden shed!  FREE!  My daughter and son-in-law were re-doing a part of their kitchen and had several plywood cabinets to remove.  They are now in our garage and will be going into the garden/potting shed.  FREE!
The composted material from the woods.  FREE!

I will post photos as work progresses and there is something you may like to see.  In the meantime
it is time to start fixing dinner and plug in this computer to recharge.  :)

Cutting Corners: Backyard Homesteading on 1/2 Acre

Welcome to this first day of this gardening blog.  I hope you will visit often and participate by leaving comments, sharing your gardening experience and talk about your backyard farm.

***
When my daughters were little back in the 1970's, their father and I were young and money was tight.  He worked as a truck driver in the construction industry and I was a stay-at-home mom.  Fortunately for us I was raised by my grand-mother who managed a household with six children during the Great Depression and WWII.  She new how to make ends meet and continued to live frugally the remainder of her life.  It was from her that I learned how to keep my girls in new clothes and keep enough food on the table despite having a small income.  When our youngest daughter was six years of age we we able to purchase our first home situated on 2 1/2 rural acres at the edge of town.  Until this time I would plant a small garden in my grandmother's yard in the next town, so it was wonderful to be able to have a larger garden that I could see from my kitchen window.  That first gaden measured approximately 40 x 60 feet and had a well dug in the center.  The entire garden was fenced in using wooden posts and chicken wire to keep the wildlife out; or, at least making it more difficult for them to forage in my garden.  The soil was beautiful for growing food, dark, rich and moist.  For good measure I added a layer of manure about 6 inches deep and roto-tilled it in, raking the soil smooth and creating walking paths between the planting beds.  I have always planted seeds in patches rather than long rows.  It is easier to manage and also produces more food.  Kentucky Wonder green beans were planted in a large area of the garden.  I built several trellis's that measured about 8' tall by 10' long, and they thrived.  That was about the time one of the wildlife critters figured out a way to get passed the fence.  Somehow a huge groundhog managed to climb the chicken wire perimeter fence and balance atop it in order to feast on the green beans.  Although I didn't mind sharing the crops growing on the lower bits of the vines, I didn't appreciate the creature take one bite out of each tomato and leaving it unusable for me.  From this garden I would put up a few hundred canning jars of veggies, relishes, and pickles which lasted us through the winter.   Bushels of fruit would be purchased at a whole-sale rate from a local farmer and turned into preserved fruit, jams, jellies and pie fillings.
We lived in that home for eight years, and although the garden remained year after year, that first year was the most memorable for me.  There would be more gardens in the coming years, but none provided as many fond memories.
***
It's been many years since I have done any gardening on that scale.  The children are grown and married with children of their own and I met and married a wonderful man, Nick.  Nick has always been a "city" person, but two years ago he helped me to plant a garden using bags of potting soil into which I planted several veggie plants directly into each of the six bags.  It was exciting to watch the plants thrive and produce so much in such small amounts of space.  Last spring he dug out four planting beds in the backyard for me.  It was lovely, four beds with a small path between each, and in the center where the four beds "meet" he put in a circular bed with a fountain he made out of large planting urns.  I planted the circular area with flowers.  In the corner beds I planted bush green and yellow beans, several tomato plants and a few bell pepper plants.  The garden produced too much for the table, but not enough to preserve, so I shared the bounty with family and neighbors.

garden 2012

Spring is coming quickly and this years garden will be much larger.  Nick has been looking at building plans for chicken coops and garden sheds.  We will soon be ordering a few chickens for eggs, and planting a few fruit trees and bushes.  We both want the chickens, but he wants rabbits too.  I don't think I can eat the rabbits.  I am not much of a meat eater to begin with.
***
The time has come at last when we needed to make some serious changes in our way of life.  With interest rates on savings nearly non-existant, cost of living continuing to rise, and with it all our household expenses have reached ridiculous levels.  In a few years time we have gone from being financially comfortable, to living week to week and barely making ends meet.

We have been cutting corners, reducing expenses, and planning to live as much as possible off the grid.  The credit cards are being cut up, and the money we used for those payments is going into a savings account to be used as available cash as needed for the things we cannot make ourselves.

This weekend we will be working in the yard, getting it ready for more raised beds and a small hen-house, we are planning to get 4 chickens: 2 RI Reds and 2 Buff Opingtons.  At then end of this month I will begin planting seeds indoors for an early start.  

I will post photos and information weekly.