This is only our third Riot month and I feel like I’m slacking already. I realized this when last week I volunteered to drive Amie and a preschool buddy to their field trip. This was legitimate, I think: the preschool needed volunteers. On the way back – just Amie and I – I decided to …
Category Archives: homestead
We Can Have Chickens!!!!!
We can. We will. Now, which, and how many? And where should they stay… Maybe ducks too? Which would you recommend? So happy!
A Gift of Self-Sufficiency
Snow fell during the night and a good part of the day. It stopped by 3 and I set out. I used the tiny electric snow thrower that was given to us via FreeCycle, for about half the driveway, and shoveled the other half. Took me 2 1/5 hours in all for about 1000 sq.f. …
Homestead TO DO Lists
I can feel I’m back in the thick of things when I feel one of those big TO DO lists coming on. And boy, is there a lot to do! I decided to put these lists in my sidebar and I’ll cross out as I get things done (and for each item crossed out I …
Riot for Austerity: Month 2 – Some Ouches
We finished our second month of the Riot while not at home, so my meter readings are a couple of days off. These numbers are for the period from 1 December 2008 to 4 January 2009. 1. Gasoline: OUCH! We did so well last month: 7.939 gallons of oil/person or 19% of the US National Average. …
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Seed Order 2009 Season: Vegetables, Herbs and some Flowers
Is it normal to go crazy when ordering seeds for the first time? This is my order – with Fedco Seeds only (choosing just from them was difficult enough: I didn’t dare add the selection from any other gorgeous catalog). Provider Bush Green Bean OG (A=2oz) Maxibel Bush Haricots Verts OG (B=2oz) Cannellini Bean (A=2oz) …
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Birdwatching and Playing in the Snow
Dark-Eyed junco and American Goldfinches Who knew birdwatching in winter would be more fun than in summer! We’re experiencing our third snowstorm in five days – or is it the second one come round again? The scene outside is magical, but to me there is also an aspect of danger. I see the trees laden …
Let It Seed – I mean, Snow!
Finally we got some snow: about an inch, I should say. Amie ran out to play before school. For once it wasn’t difficult to get her into her clothes! Sadly the snow was too hard for snowmen, snow angels, and snowballs, but she had a lot of fun just scraping it off our car and …
Chicken Wire Compost Bin Accomplished
It’s warm! 50 F in the shade at 9 am and now, at 11:30: 60 F! This weather is unbelievable… But I believed it and immediately went out to set up that compost bin I talked about earlier. The only problem with the plan was that it was impossible to get the 4 stakes that …
Thoughts on our Compost Bins
While lying in bed, surrounded with a lot more books now (so I’m feeling better!), what better things to do than dream, despair over how little we’ve done (as a prod), and plan our next moves. One of our priorities is our compost bins. The Starbucks coffee grounds and the neighborhood orphan pumpkins have filled …