Chickens
It's official! We've ordered 8 Rhode Island Red pullets (young female chickens). They are supposedly friendly, easy keepers, who are well known for regularly laying brown eggs. We're not sure where the coop will reside but we are making plans for mid-May (that's when they arrive). We're planning to build a coop and hen house from re-claimed materials with the hopes of adding solar lighting/heating later on in the future.
I've joined BackYardChickens.com to learn all about raising chickens. Our main objectives are all natural fresh brown eggs, chicken manure for our vegetable garden, and "green" building. We're only solar panels away from being able to be "off grid" so the hen house will a little experiment.
We're finally reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle together. I had started reading it last year but loved it so much that I wanted to read it with Aaron so that we could discuss it as we go along. After taking a look at our basic staple foods I realized that most of them come from within a 100 mile radius as is the goal from the book. We're not sure what our goal will be or how we will incorporate what we learn from this book with our life style but living in New Hampshire makes it much easier. New Hampshire promotes buying local so many items are locally made and available.
Spring is finally here! We're ready to turn over our beds and plant our starters. This year Aaron wants to put up a fence to protect our garden. Last year 80% of our garden yields were eaten by local animals. We're hoping to actually be able to eat more than a few meals from our garden. :-)
