fear encountered, moving on...

the thing i feared most about getting any farm animals was that i would mess up and they would die prematurely or unintentionally. so we were given three beautiful chickens and now we have two!! my jack russell terrier, riley, broke one of our chickens, forcing us to kill it after one week with us. believe me, i felt terrible about this; i wasn't paying attention to riley and he got in the pen and got to the chicken in a flash. i spent the morning with my friends stacey and jeremy, who processed the chicken for me, as i've never had to before. note to self... i need to learn how to kill and clean a chicken; my husband won't do it!!!

now that the worst has happened, i feel a tentative sense of relief because i know i won't make that mistake again. maybe i'll make a different mistake, but maybe i won't!

i really wish there was a book that was a real introduction to keeping chickens. i read chicken tractor and storey's guide to keeping chickens and still i didn't know that i shouldn't put the chickens on their roost. (apparently one should wait until they're strong enough to get there themselves or they'll get stuck there and get panicked, thus exciting a dog and distracting a person.)

anyways i am learning as i go. they seem happy as i've adjusted their house some and they seem to love worms, slugs, kale, and clover which is great because i have lots of these. and they won't eat an incapacitated garter snake.

they're doing a great job at building me an 4' x 8' garden patch of chicken sheet mulch in the chicken tractor!!! no eggs yet, but i'm patient!

Natural Beekeeping

when i knew we would be moving to our tiny piece of paradise, i knew i wanted a huge garden, fruit and nut trees, goats, and bees. that was 2008 and all the beekeepers on my island had thrown in the towel due to the so-called colony collapse disorder. this is basically an unexplained phenomenon where whole hives just die and there was something about mites too. so anyway, i put it on my back burner. but i am getting ready to plan for my piece of land so i am starting to explore the subject again so i can learn what my bees will need...

Joel Salatin on Forgiveness and Being a Gentle Farmer

this is fantastic... there's so much to learn from humble people who are so deeply commited to the right thing!!!

a permaculturist who might "fit" you...

it's really important to find a permaculturist who "fits" you. when i read bill mollison's "Permaculture: A Designers' Manual" during my PDC, i was convinced i could NEVER do permaculture because i have no science background and it all seemed very academic and technical. i have a teaching degree and i've worked in social services.

now, be sure i did learn loads from my teacher, jesse lemieux. however when i read "Gaia's Garden", i was so happy to have direct and practical advice that was more specific to where i live. i understand why bill's manual is like it is; it is used all over the world, but toby hemenway's "Gaia's Garden" was written a few hundred miles from my home (i'm on the west coast of canada and toby was in oregon). so i'm going to keep reading many permaculture books by many authors and watching many videos by joes and janes just like me trying to DO permaculture. i've seen a few videos of Eric Toensmeier and i like him. he seems very straightforward and plain-spoken = practical. here's one of him with his tubers...

community self-reliance is the key...

in the modern western world there's no such thing as independence. people talk about the idea of being independent or self-sustaining, but this is impossible. who actually grows/collects ALL their own food, including their grains? who grows/collects all the materials for creating clothing? heck, who in the modern western world even fixes their own car, boat, bicycle, and computer? because if you're reading this, you're using a computer!

interdependence or community self-reliance is necessary and, as luck would bless us, it builds community. we know we can depend on the people around us: family, friends, or neighbours. sometimes the situations are very specific, for example there is a man on my tiny rural island who i know will be here within the hour if i am trapped by snow and can't get my car out, but i don't know if he'll help with anything else.

community self-reliance means that i can depend on my community and they can rely on me. this can be in times of disaster or simply everyday happenings. so i can grow vegetables but ralph is raising cows and don is raising laying hens. i need to find someone who makes cheese. so i can trade or buy/sell products from my neighbours.

this summer 3 deer got into my garden for two days while we were away. i had turnips left, which is good, but i had no other vegetables until my friends dropped off some and invited me into their gardens. now the beans, peas, cabbages, corn, beets, carrots, and parsnips are unrecoverable, but my mizuna, chard and kale are coming back!!! and i planted some fall/winter crops!!!

i can depend on people, not corporations. will wal-mart come and dig out my driveway or send over beets? NO!!