Our journey is well underway, to becoming more self-sufficient and living more sustainably.
Indoor has experienced some pretty big leaps down our path of change including us girls now using washable bathroom wipes and cooking up some homemade laundry detergent, and cleaning products to keep our clothes and home spic-n-span and chemical-free! Speaking of cooking, I have finally perfected my homemade, organic 100% Stone-ground whole wheat sandwich bread. I'll be sharing a photo tutorial of that recipe soon, so stay tuned!
Outdoors, we have "installed" the first of four 4'x 8' raised vegetable garden beds using reclaimed and completely FREE glass shipping pallets. The subsequent beds will be constructed as we procure more pallets. Since we won't need (use) all of the growing space until May, we have plenty of time to acquire the needed materials.
The compost bin is FULL of fall leaves and kitchen scraps, happily and quickly decaying away into dark, nutrient-rich, organic growing medium for the beds.
Growing has begun with some early spring varieties...Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and green onion seeds have been started in my FREE homemade seed starting "kit" (pictures to follow). We are looking very much forward to enjoying completely organic, homegrown veggies in the next few months!
Chicken coop building plans are underway, and will be using free materials reclaimed from smaller shipping pallets. I think we have narrowed down our breed selections for laying hens and meat birds. If all goes as planned, the chicks will available for purchase on February 7th. Oh, I can't wait!
Whew, writing all that has made me exhausted! But doing it all has been so energizing! It is so exciting to see our "to-do's" getting crossed off the list and much more quickly than I had anticipated!!! Unfortunately, (for the Gent) all the spare time has given me the opportunity to research more sustainable living ideas and add them to the list!!! ;)
I'll be writing more about those additions in the upcoming weeks. I look forward to hearing from you about your 2011 resolution. What steps have you taken to realizing your goals?
