Quarterly Report

So, you may be wondering what my overall thoughts are on my urban homesteading adventure thus far. Following my posts, you might have gotten the idea that, although much labor is required, things have relatively fallen into place...which would be a false assumption. Some plans have been put off, others abandon for this year. My conclusion is that if you are starting from scratch, have a job outside the home, children, or a spouse (no...I won't go there) you should make a two to three year plan to create a fully functioning urban homestead and still be sane.

We're all here. I'm trying to plant the vegetable starts while the hens have taken over the warm potting soil for dusting. Ollie and Kitters are having a showdown. Who really rules the roost? 

First, it is the middle of June and we have just finished the raised beds and are planting out...not with seed or my own starts...but from the local market. Not the vision dancing in my head during cold December evenings by the fire pouring over seed catalogues! Even with the record cold Spring here in the Northwest, I'm still behind the growing curve. I'm hoping for a long lasting summer, say into October! What was my plan? An extreme version of the "square foot gardening" method. Planting more plants per square foot, growing vining plants vertically, extending cool weather crops by companion planting, successive planting, and because one of my beds gets more shade, planting shade tolerant vegetables. The amount of planning time this requires is more than I had expected and even though I still was able to plant according to plan, there just isn't as many of each as I had liked. The idea of homesteading is cutting costs not incurring more and having to buy starts cut deeply into my budget. Also, the selection of varieties I had hoped to grow from seed is just not available as starts from the  local market. So, the garden will produce, just not as much as planned nor the variety.

Second, husbandry takes more time than imagined. While preparing for and adjusting to our chickens I missed the opportunity, a small window of time, to purchase hives and honey bee packages, a great disappointment. This will have to be put off until next year to assure a strong colony that will withstand the winter. I console myself by adjusting our 1 year start date to March so that by March 2012 I will have honey bees and therefore accomplish one more item on our 1 year urban homestead goal. Mind games...

I re-used timbers from the previous owners landscape to form the raised beds. Because the area is sloped the bottom timbers had to be dug into the ground. We then brought in potting soil to mix with the existing loam. (our backyard is mostly wooded. This area was covered with thick English ivy which we dug out by hand.) We had purchased the netting to keep the hens in a confined area...they just flew over (we have a revised, un-implimented plan now) so it has been re-purposed to keep out the bunnies, deer, red squirrels, grey squirrels, and any other varmint. Three blueberries and a grape grow behind the beds and beyond the path is a red huckleberry with a thick carpet of salal which we will make jam from once the berries have ripened.

Third, I had hoped to have a small English style glasshouse built. Well...not in this economy. Forward to plan B. I will be heading down to the architectural salvage yard to price out old paned windows and contacting my contractor in hopes of building a "shabby chic" version "glasshouse". Let's see how far plan B gets. I'm hoping to grow cool weather vegetables all winter. I'll let you know how that goes.

I have to be honest. I don't want to emulate those who's city lot has become a source of organic produce for chic city restaurants. As a garden designer, I want my property to be beautiful AND useful. I want to bless my neighbors with the produce of my land and prove that being more self-sufficient, self-reliant, and learning husbandry doesn't mean moving to the country and acres of land. Urban homesteading can be beautiful and add value and pleasure to your family and neighbors. Despite the setbacks we are well on our way.

Rain Harvesting

As part of our homesteading adventure we decided to harvest the rain from our roof and under-deck rain system. I searched long and hard to find large decorative containers. Here in the Northwest rain is plentiful until summer arrives when we only receive one inch of rain per month! Not enough to keep anything watered well. There are many different ways to harvest and store water. One of the books we poured through was "Water Storage : Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds for Domestic Supply" by Art Ludwig. We played with the idea of making a Ferrocement jumbo Thai jar but decided this was just not our cup of tea. Seattle Tilth offers classes on rain harvesting, storage options and systems.

We installed one 65 gallon barrel at each downspout. On three, I installed a gutter diverter to regulate the amount of water entering the barrel along with the overflow outlet. All the others have just an overflow outlet at the top which empties into the drainage system once the barrel fills up. With each rain the water gets circulated and refreshed. Each has a spigot and a hose attachment that is included in the price. These beauties come from Algreen and are the Cascata line plastic rain barrels. At present we have 460 gallons of stored water that can be used to water plants, animals, or humans (if treated). Next we are installing gutters on the chicken coop and will feed it into a drip water system for the hens.

You can see the texture created on the outside of the urn to mimic terracotta. All my neighbors and those who come to visit believe that they are terracotta until they touch them! Practicality meets beauty.

Still Clucking Over the Hens

They are beautiful things and we shared this dolled-up version with our neighbors. We finally finished laying the brick and flagstone (all five tons of it) but there is still plenty of work to finish the raised beds. Soon we will have a small garden to accompany the coop along with flowers to brighten things up a bit.

Our girls are now providing 5 eggs almost everyday. 

They follow me around the yard and come running when I call them "Heeerrre chicky, chicky, chicky". 

The coop has worked wonderfully and is easy to clean. Berg did a fantastic job (Thanks Berg! http://www.seattlechickencoops.com/). We affectionately call it "The Palace". If only the chickens knew how lucky they are!

As tenderfoots we are learning new things everyday. This past week we had a mystery unfolding. In the evening we went out to change the water and noticed an egg broken on the concrete near the door...no shell at all...we wondered if the hens had eaten the shell and not the egg? So, we cleaned it up and kept our eyes out for any signs of egg eating hens. Nothing happened until Mother's Day when my son went out to inspect for eggs. On the litter in the run was a very light colored egg. When he picked it up he discovered that it had no hard shell. 

It was all squishy within a thin tough "skin" layer.

Apparently, while pullets are still beginning their egg laying cycle they can lay these "shell-less" eggs. Very strange things indeed! I'm hoping this is our only one. Mystery solved by a lengthy Google search.