2012 Update

Sadly, we haven't posted in almost an entire year. Our journey of being more self sufficient has not progressed as far as I thought it would have when I started this blog in 2009. Even so, we are still working toward our goal.

About a year ago we got chickens...this experiment actually went very well. Abigail, though very skeptical at first grew to enjoy the experience. We ate a lot of eggs throughout the summer and fall. Right before winter we decided that we were likely going to put our house on the market in the spring. Rather than keep the chickens throughout the winter (when their egg production would be down) we decided to donate them to a friends farm and then get more chickens when we get to our more permanent location with more land. We do miss our chickens and our fresh eggs.

The last three years we have slowly been converting our garden to the sq. ft. method. Since we are planning on moving (and we want to take our garden boxes with us) we decided to only plant in 2 4x4 beds this year. It's sad to see so many boxes being wasted, but it's what we have to do this season.

Here are some pictures from the 2012 garden:

Cluck Cluck

We have finally decided to take the plunge and get some chickens so we can have fresh home grown eggs. We have easter egger chickens.


Above you see Arnold (black), Napoleon (white), and brown (who we haven't named yet).

Recycling Plants

We're finding a good way to stock our yard full of beautiful plants is by taking plants from other yards. You have to wait until the neighbors leave the house and then dig them out quickly.

Just kidding.

We went over to our friends the Hunts who have a beautiful flower garden...all over their yard. They let us dig up plenty of plants that they will not need this year. So instead of going to the local nursery and shelling out the big bucks for flowers, we get them for free.

Isabella enjoys riding around in the garden cart!

Poop

The snow is almost completely gone. The Almanac is calling for more snow during the month, but I really am hoping they are wrong. I'm having the itch to get outdoors. Sadly, they are probably right considering they have been spot on target in the past this year.

I spent part of my afternoon picking up dog poop in my yard and composting it. It's a dirty job, but needs to be done to get good soil without buying destructive fertilizers. I am currently reading, The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan (see picture in previous post). I am learning about the Polyface farm located not too farm from us in Swoope, Virginia. They have a philosophy that goes beyond USDA organic standards. For them, it's not just the food that is organic...it's their farm.

Large industrial farms operate like you would think...and industrial machine. They buy all the pesticides and fertilizer, grow (probably corn) in a monoculture (only focusing on one crop), and have a large output (good and bad). They have to spend a lot of money on their crop in which they have a high yield, but at the same time they have a high yield of pollution which is destructive to our environment, our food, and our bodies.

Polyface is not like this industrial machine. Their farm is essentially self sustaining. They use all the manure to fertilize their 100 acre pasture, they use the cows to eat the pasture, they use chickens to debug the cow poop, eat bugs in the pasture, and add needed nitrogen to the soil, they add pigs to compost the extra manure that fills up in the barn...each animals waste goes to provide for the other animals. It's a circle that is mimicking a natural habitat, but done better. That's what God has called us to do...to cultivate the nature around us. You can see this does not operate like a machine. It's like a living organism, a body, something organic (even though they aren't USDA Certified, and don't want to fall under those government regulations).

This is the future of sustainable organic farming. You can't keep this up in the industrial organic farms, which are largely operated by companies without an organic philosophy...they only grow organic to fill a market desire and to make a buck. We need to start buying and eating from local growers as much as possible.

So...as I gather poop from my yard I feel I am contributing is some small way to this self-sustaining farm life. I know my manure is from a house pet, which isn't getting his food from a sustaining source...which probably means I am not practicing at all what they are at Polyface. Nonetheless, I am not putting to waste what I have been made steward over. This makes me happy and like I am doing what God designed man to do.

Snow!

As you can see from the pictures below, it has been snowing an incredible amount here in Virginia this winter. To be honest, I am quite tired of it. I am ready for the spring so I can start planting my garden and working out in the yard. I am also ready for my electric bill to be a lot cheaper. Next year we plan on investing in a wood stove, which will pay for itself in less than one month!

Becoming Monetarily Self Sufficient

My family is self sufficient in the sense that we can provide for ourselves. BUT this providing does involve quite a bit of working for the man. This is not desirable. One day I would like in some way to be working for myself. Currently that is not an option, but everyone who desires this can take little steps to be achieving it RIGHT NOW. This week I started trying out Ebay. I just gathered up a bunch of stuff that we've had sitting around the house and posted it. Here's how I've done so far:



Hope this all encourages you to do the same sort of things.

Eating to Live

I am currently reading, "What the Bible Says About Healthy Living," by Rex Russell, M.D. It has been extremely eye opening as he goes to each different food group and shows how the foods that God specifically condones for eating are in fact the healthiest ones for us. He also shows that the ones that he forbid the Israelites from eating are the worst...and most dangerous for us.

His premise operates on 3 principles. 1. Only eat the foods God gives us to eat. 2. Eat them in the most natural way possible. 3. Do not let food become your God. America has abandoned all of these principles. We eat almost anything, we use hormones and pesticides that are detrimental to our animals and plants, which in turn harm us, the consumers, and we "live to eat, instead of eating to live." Food is an idol for most of us.

Eating naturally is an outflowing of a self-sufficient lifestyle. This book has been an encouragement and I recommend it to you all.

Side note: This isn't one of those christian books that say we're supposed to eat a pre-fall diet of only vegetables. Meat is good for you as long as it is clean and not stuffed with unnatural substances. Also, he isn't a legalist. He doesn't operate under the assumption that eating "unclean" substances is a sin, just that it's not God's intended way to live.

Michael Pollan has come highly recommended to me as an authoritative author on the subject of eating habits. These books below are the next on my list.



Haven't seen this movie yet, but added it to the blockbuster online queue...looks interesting.