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:

2010 Garden

2009 was my first year to have a vegetable garden. We had just bought a house that had a small plot and for a while I had been contemplating self-sufficiency, so before we even moved in, I started working on the garden. I had no prior gardening experience so I learned a lot about what NOT to do. This year this will be different. I had time to read and to research. Instead of planting a little of a lot of different kinds of vegetables, this year I am going to plant a lot of a few types.

On the list for this year:

• Corn
• Tomatoes
• Bell Peppers and Hot Peppers
• Onions
• Pole Beans
• Sweet Potatoes
• Zucchini
  

If I have room I would also like to plant squash, okra, and lettuce (although I may build a hydroponic system for this.)

If anyone has any ideas or thoughts concerning these veggies please let me know.

Here are some pictures of last years garden:

Until recent reading I have not really understood how our diet parallels our ability to be self sufficient. My next post will be about eating according to our design.