2013 Garden Plan

Drum Roll Please!!!!!!

I did it! I made my mapped out garden plan for this year.  It seems like a lot but it's a little bit of everything, growing at different heights, all researched as to what compliments each other.  I AM SO EXCITED!!  I need to decide where the Pumpkins will go though, they may be in the front yard, side yard or along the deck.  And Strawberries... Maybe in the front planter where all the Azalias are that are so puny and sad from the previous homeowners?

The Bank of Sunflowers are to the south and the Sun will pass directly over head to give good sunshine.  They will also entice all those pretty little buzzy bees and encourage great polination of my garden.  I have Basil to compliment the flavor of the tomatoes and deter pests.  I have Chamomile around the Broccoli because aparently Chamomile makes all plants happy.  Radishes are great paired with the Broccoli and Dill and Lettuces love to be around each other.  I have the Pole Beans and Peas with the Corn so they can naturally climb the corn stalks.  Chicken Coop and run will be to the left of the Corn (if we have them this year).

I live that I am on my staycation, spending my time plotting out my garden.  Spending time with my kids and getting ready to make homemade lasagna for dinner. YUM.  My oldest is going to help me make it.  In 6 months I will be able to season it from my garden.  I love love LOVE that I have that I am blessed enough to creat my own homestead.  I mean seriously make it my own. 

Here is the plan I made, we'll see how it goes. I'm excited to succeed, fail and learn new lessons this growing season.

I am excited to share my passion for Organic, hyper local sustainability with my kids.

Next on my list:
Getting free materials to build raised beds
Save toilet paper rolls to help protect my baby plants from meanies like Cutworms
How to save and use my rain water?
To do or not to do my chickens this year
Fruit Trees to plant in the front yard... Next Year?

In 4 days it will be 2013 and a couple weeks after that I will (by the grace of God) be celebrating 5 years of continuous sobriety.  How much I love thinking about Lasagna and fruit trees and not where, how and withwhom I am getting F'd up with on New Years Eve...


Thank you God!!

Chickens, Chickens, Chickens...

I am so very excited and interested in getting chickens for my little homestead.  I have been doing a ton of research.  A TON.  My husband and I talked about it a whole lot before we bought our home last January and so this is not a new interest.  I bought a chicken magazine, started reading fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.com and researching coop plans.  I have a couple books am hoping to purchase soon.  Thank goodness for the internet!! So much free information to help me be informed and responsible about my choices.  The only thing, and a BIG thing is that I need to have someone available to watch my chickees when they are little and check on them many times a day.  The husband's hours are crazy and he may or may not be home and I have a set 5 day a week schedule but am off at 330, but have to pick up the toddler before I get home.  Ugh.  I'm not sure what to do about that but I am sure there are others who have had the same concern, I just need to find them out there on the vast internet.

I am entranced by the idea of growing supplemental food from my new garden for my chickens and using their poo as fertilizer for every part of my homestead.  Feeding my family with their eggs and yummy veggies that my ladies will help me grow.  Also, the idea of letting them eat the lawn so my husband doesn't have to mow as much is also appealing.  Having my kids learn about sustainability, good treatment of animals and how to eat hyper locally, i.e. via our back yard (and front yard, and side yard if I can find something that will thrive there)

I am leaning toward a coop plan I found http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Chicken-Coop-Plans/Pallet-Wood-Chicken-Coop-Building-Plans-p622.aspx because I work where there is a warehouse and I can get pallets easy for free.  I also read though the testimonial of this brave soul and am a little shaky in my boots because of it, http://montanachickenchick.blogspot.com/

Our garden is also going in this year.  Can I tell you how much I missed not having anything I could eat growing last year.  I was willing it so much I had yellow pear tomatoes growing up from under my deck, black sunflowers and cherry tomatoes by the back fence.  Really I'm sure they were remnants of seeds from the past owners, but it was a "sign" to me that this land is fertile and will bear great nutrition and entertainment for my family (and friends, and neighbors and whomever else I can gift with the "fruits" of my labor)

Well, back to looking for coop plans and how I maybe go about getting chicks that are a little older so I can make sure they are taken care of properly in the beginning. 

So many things to consider.  I am so excited.

Oh, by the way, MERRY CHRISTMAS WORLD.  And I will celebrate 5 years of continuous sobriety in about two weeks.  That is just beyond amazing.

Thank you God.

Just for Today 12/7/12

So yesterday I would consider a "success" as far as choosing to be happy.  It's amazing to me when I make that choice, how much my perspective is in my control.  I didn't feel like a victim to my day.  I have a part in everything and yesterday my part was to want to be in a good mood more than I wanted to let other things bug me.  Yay me :-)

So for today let's see how it goes!  It is very much in line with yesterday's...

Just for today I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires.  I will take my "luck" as it comes, and fit myself to it.

I wonder what the USA would look like if even 25% of the population at any given time made this same decision over their day?  What about just Oregon?  Or my small town of 10k?

Grapevine Quote of the Day December 6

December 6 "By 1937, some of us realized that AA needed a standard literature. There would have to be a book ... Well, we did quarrel violently over the preparation and distribution of that book. In fact, it took five years for the clamor to die down. Should any AAs dream that the old-timers who put the book together went about in serene meditation and white robes, then they had best forget it." AA Co-Founder, Bill W., November 1951 From: "Services Make AA Tick" The Language of the Heart From the GV book:

Just for Today 12/6/12

I am giving myself an assignment each day to focus on one of the "Just for Today" statements that comes from the program of Al-anon.  We''ll see how "well" I do.  Eventually maybe I'll have a day when they all come together between the kids, the job, the PTO and the rest of chaos I gratefully call My Life.  My attitude is always the best place to start.  Especially in the heat of the Holiday madness.

Today - 12/6/12

Just for Today I will be Happy.  This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Makes me think about how much I want to see the new Movie Lincoln.

Happy Thursday Universe,  I'll check in tomorrow.

- Me

Short Bit.... I'm Back :-)

I have missed you, my Blog. My voice out to the endless universe. I have come back :-)

I am not sure where this came from, but it is something on my heart to share today. 

Watch you thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your Destiny.