Composting with Wood Chips

 

Here is an interesting method for mulching orchards, gardens, flower beds, borders, and anything else you might want to keep weed free using wood chips.  The video Back to Eden features a garden in Washington where the owner has had amazing results.  I am definitely going to try this.  

The video is longish, but you can get the jest of the idea in the first part of it.  There is also more information on their website.  Just use the chips as a mulch however, don't plant in them or till them in.

We had a free load of wood chips delivered a couple of years ago by a tree service trying to find a place to dump them.  We put them in the paddock area where our horses are and it has kept the area mud free. 

Our Garden History—How it all Began

We started our gardening adventures here in the summer of 2011.  It had been an incredibly rainy Spring, so we didn't get anything planted until the end of June and the first part of July.  But, we had incredible results for which I can thank my partnership with the Nature Spirits and a lot of horse manure!

Our soil here is red clay, which has a lot of nutrients in it, but is not easy to work with.  Using a lot of mulch in the form of old hay and straw has proved very helpful in keeping down the weeds and also helping to build up the soil.  We initially had about 4 yards of topsoil delivered and built some very simple beds and then lined the rows with hay.

 

We planted onions, potatoes, zucchini, Swiss Chard, corn, spinach, tomatoes, beets, cucumbers, asparagus, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and eight fruit trees—apple, peach, pear, and cherry.  By mid-August, in spite of our very late start, we had an incredible garden.

We also had an abundant harvest which was beyond my wildest expectations.

Last year, my daughter was expecting a baby and it seemed that we spent a good share of time getting ready for the delivery and enjoyed a harvest of another kind.  We did have some gardening successes though.  

We planted more perennials, a butterfly/bee garden, dahlias, an herb garden, rhubarb, and more apple trees.  We harvested more tomatoes than we could eat and lots of onion, garlic, asparagus, berries, and rhubarb. 

This winter, we started on a greenhouse and hope to get an early jump on planting this year, without having to buy any plants.  We'll see!  Our dream is to one day have a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture farm.

 

The Ruth Stout No Work Gardening Method

Ruth Stout,(1884-1980), having since moved on to greener pastures, is my new hero. She is wise, witty, and independent and was way ahead of her time, not only in her mindset, but also in her organic gardening practices. Her book, "The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book" is a compendium of wit, wisdom, and attitude.

I have been on a journey of simplifying my life and working on becoming more self-sustaining in my lifestyle, but I also want to do this in a manner that leaves me time to do something besides grow my own vegetables and raise my own chickens. The following videos give you a sense of the delightful person that Ruth Stout had become, but you get a glimpse of her gardening methods as well. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. Perhaps we can all learn to grow our own food, develop a deep sense of joy, and relish living the way this woman did!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNU8IJzRHZk

Living Green Made Simpler

Here is an article from ReDirect Guide on Living Green. By changing even one thing on this list, the collective impact is huge. It is a fun challenge to see how you can change your life in even a small way. Enjoy!



Whether you are newly interested in green living or are a sustainability guru, our green living checklist will give you ideas for contributing to a healthier environment and a greener life for yourself, your family, and your community. Once you get started, you'll be amazed at how many simple changes you can make to live a greener life.

ENERGY

Change all your light bulbs to CFLs or LEDs

Lower your thermostat and water heater a few degrees

Sign up for green power through your local power provider

Insulate your walls and ceilings



WASTE

Implement a recycling and composting program at home and work

Educate yourself, your family and your employees about recycling, composting and waste reduction

Implement a sustainable purchasing policy and practice conscientious consumerism, considering how far things travel and what they're made of before you buy

Buy products with recyclable or minimal packaging, or better yet, no packaging

Think about buying used before buying new, seeking out gently used alternatives

Think about reusing, repurposing or donating something before you recycle or throw it away




WATER

Reduce your water usage by installing low flow toilets, faucets, and showerheads




BUILDING

Use local green builders who focus on reducing waste, using non-toxic materials, and energy efficiency

Get an energy audit for your home or business

Invest in energy efficient upgrades on existing buildings to save energy




FOOD

Purchase from local and organic sources

Support area agriculture by signing up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) or shopping at farmers' markets




TRANSPORTATION

Walk, bike, carpool or take public transit to work whenever possible

Encourage your employer to offer alternative transportation incentives or telecommuting options, when possible

Drive a fuel efficient or hybrid car or scooter

Consolidate travel by planning outings for maximum efficiency

Purchase carbon offsets for any necessary travel outside your local area


TOXINS/POLLUTION

Switch to eco-friendly cleaning, personal and home products

Check with your local government about properly disposing of toxins and chemicals such as motor oil, conventional household cleaners, paints, batteries, etc.




SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Switch your banking and investments to socially responsible institutions

Support local credit unions or banks




COMMUNITY

Volunteer and donate to environmental and social causes

Choose to support green businesses whenever possible

Seek out the advice of environmental experts and leaders in your community

Join environmentally focused councils, groups and associations in your area

Chick-A-Doodle-Do

Somewhere in the midst of all of our downsizing and doing more with less, I decided that we needed to have chickens. How in the world having 14 chickens is having less is a question that I can't answer. It is definitely more, but in a good way. Fresh, beautiful eggs and constant two-legged, beady-eyed entertainment are some of the ways that having chickens has added more to our lives.

I knew absolutely nothing about having chickens when I started out. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Not a thing. But that didn't stop me from coming home with 10 baby chicks one day. It started out innocently enough. I had been toying with the idea of having chickens and then I had to go by the feed store to pick up some feed for our horses and low and behold it was chick season and the store was full of the sound of one-week-old baby chicks chirping away. I asked a few questions about how to start out baby chicks and learned that they needed a heated spot called a brooder where they could keep warm until their feathers grew in. I figured I could make one of these out of an old 150 gallon water tank that I had found behind one of the old barns on our property. I bought a book on raising chickens, a heat lamp, feed trough, water container, feed, and bedding, and put 10 chicks 'on hold' while I hurried home to prepare the brooder. I then zoomed back and came home with 10 peeping chicks in a tiny box seated in the passengers seat of my car. There is nothing as cute as a newborn chick!

Now that we had these delightful little creatures, I had to figure out what I was going to do with them when they outgrew their brooder. From the books I had purchased, I learned that we had about a month to get something built for them. I had decided that the perfect place for a chicken coop would be in the back corner of an old outbuilding that was on our property. It had been used as a horse barn, sheep barn, cowshed, and for grain storage from what I could tell. We could build a chicken coop in the back corner and a covered run out from that. My dad lives on our property with us and is a retired builder, so I enlisted his help in converting this space into a safe, warm space for our flock.

Here is the chicken run the gives them a completely covered space that protects them from the many hawks and owls that we have here.

Here they are checking out the new nesting boxes that we just installed. They weren't sure what to do with them quite at first, but they have it figured out now. I've since switched to using shavings in the boxes as they are much neater and the hay doesn't clog up the screen on the droppings pit below their perch. Live and learn!

And here they are shortly after they were introduced to their new chicken run. They were very pleased and so was I. Needless to say, there is not longer grass in there. They have eaten every single piece of green, so we let them out in the garden under supervision whenever possible and supplement their diet with fresh green stuff from the kitchen or pasture.

All-in-all they have been very easy to take care of and give back so much more in terms of just the sheer fun of watching them and collecting the beautiful, multi-colored eggs. By Fall, we were collecting many beautiful eggs.

Our Kitchen and Family Room Remodel

In July 2009, we experienced a front row seat to the current economic climate when we lost a major account. Our business was already slower than usual. This one account was keeping us afloat. When we lost it, there was a moment of disbelief and then a sense of being stunned. What really helped to change the outcome of where we ended up and helped us through the difficulty was letting go of the way things had been and starting to imagine what could be.


We put everything up for sale, the office, house, equipment, and some ‘toys’. We planned to keep just enough equipment to keep the business going. Everything sold within a few months except for our home. A year later, it too sold and we were able to buy a much more modest property free and clear.


Our initial move necessitated a remodel of the existing house. We think that the original part of the house was begun around 1960, although there are no good records available to know this for sure. It was then added onto numerous times by the next owners. We think that we are the third family to live here. The back, bedroom portion of the home was in pretty good shape minus the need for some paint, but the front of the house needed some major remodeling.

Here is the kitchen when we first bought the house. My youngest son started taking everything apart the day we moved in. The cabinets are now in my father's woodworking shop. Most everything in our remodel was recycled in some fashion.

Here are a few pictures of the new kitchen.

Designing the kitchen was fun. I wanted it to have some furniture-like qualities so the upper cabinets all have glass front doors to mimic a china cabinet. We painted the cabinets white and then antiqued them by hand. The refrigerator was moved to the opposite wall and we put a microwave/convection oven, electric oven, and warming drawer where the refrigerator was. By adding the butler's pantry I was able to extend the somewhat small kitchen space. We brought in natural gas and I replaced the very small cooktop with a natural gas cooktop. Oh, what a difference!

Notice the door at the end of the kitchen. We opened up this wall and created a butler's pantry, one of my favorite parts of the remodel, that increases the usefulness of this kitchen a million fold. We took space from a mud room that even after stealing quite a large space out of it, is still more than ample.

We made the island significantly larger and added bookends on each end. The gas cooktop is also about three times larger. We also added a raised bar so you can eat in the kitchen.


The family room and dining room were really dated. We pulled out carpet and added more hardwood floors, replaced really old, drafty, aluminum windows with energy-efficient ones, and removed a built-in and moved it to the garage for storage space. We also replaced all of the old 2" millwork trim around the doors and windows. This made a huge difference in the appearance of things.


This is my favorite spot, the butler's pantry. The sink is where an old utility sink originally sat. We added a wall, covered up a doorway, removed a closet door and made a rounded opening, installed removable shelves in an old broom closet, and added hardwood flooring. I furnished the pantry with antiques and collectibles.

We installed a brass sink in this old, pine buffet. It is the perfect drink center for morning coffee and afternoon tea.

An old cabinet makes a great place to store some Fiestaware plates, some vintage pitchers, and a "Fresh Eggs" sign.

This is one of my favorite spots. An old baker's table is outfitted with a marble slab that my granite fabricator had leftover from another project. He cut it to fit and sold me the piece for $100. The old bookcase mounted on the wall holds my vintage mixing bowls, flour, sugar, and other baking necessities; and the baker's table hold measuring cups, spoons, and rolling pin, keeping all of the needed supplies close at hand. A bulletin board on the wall is an easy place to pin a recipe for easy viewing.

An old baking rack holds a myriad array of goodies from napkin rings to old cast iron frying pans. What would I do without it?

A tall, pine cabinet houses some of my many teapots and also store a breadmaker and crockpot in the cabinet below.

And last, but not least, are some pictures of the adjoining family room and dining room.


Before:

These pictures came off the internet from the advertisement from when the house was for sale. It is full of the previous owners furnishings. Jeez, I hope they don't see this and mind...

We closed off the doorway in this picture in order to create the butler's pantry. It originally went into the mud room.

After:

The dining room also doubles as the breakfast nook since there is no other place to eat except the kitchen bar. I recovered the chairs that were in a white damask to a more friendly rooster print fabric.

I really love all the windows in this room. The views are amazing and we get to watch the storms blow through, see Mt. Hood on a clear day, and watch the wildlife out the window. Last winter we saw coyotes, deer, a bobcat, and a cougar, oh my!

I was originally tempted to take out the woodstove and the cedar siding on this wall, but it has grown on me. By painting the walls a dark forest green, it tends to fit in better than with the more contemporary colors that were there before. We love the warmth of the stove and it helps to make it through the long, cold, winter evenings to have a fire crackling away.

A doorway here leads out onto a large deck that overlooks the valley. A view of Mt. Hood from the front of the house is a real bonus and we enjoy sitting out here during the summer and counting our blessings.

Ah, Home Sweet Home!