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:

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.

Just Starting Out

Over the past few years I have been extremely interested in the subject of personal self-sufficiency or sustainability. It seems that this was something that our great country was founded on, but sadly this idea has been lost in the airwaves of time.

Here is the Wikipedia definition of self-sufficiency:

"The term self-sufficiency is usually applied to varieties of sustainable living in which nothing is consumed outside of what is produced by the self-sufficient individuals. Examples of attempts at self-sufficiency in North America include voluntary simplicity, homesteading, survivalism, and the back-to-the-land movement."

From everything I have read on the subject, becoming self sufficient is a grand task. It takes time, money, and a lot of research to survive, especially if you are a city-boy like I am.

This blog is dedicated to that move toward a more simple life. It will highlight my families journey to find it. The founding fathers knew that a self-reliant people was the only true way that our democratic republic can exist. It's obvious that they were right. Our hand-out country is falling apart in it's own gimme gimme hands. We have decided not to contribute (unless of course they re-instate the homestead act :) )

I hope to point out many of the positive things that a self-sufficient life can bring to your life. Maybe we will discover some negatives as well. We will just have to wait and see.

The first two items of the year are:
1. Vegetable Garden
2. Chickens and Coop