Fruit of our labor.

We haven't been very good about documenting our garden's little harvest (what the chicken's haven't yet eaten!- or that hasn't been killed in the heat). But I picked this yesterday and had some for breakfast and though it would be fun to document!

We have 2 more coming along very well.

Fly the Coop

This blog has been a long time in coming.

I have just been putting it off. We've actually been done with the coop itself for about 3 or 4 weeks, oops. I don't want to forget to record some things, so here are some pics of building the coop, the chicks as they've been growing up and our 2 new lovely ladies (Libby and Sun)

We have the run in the back, it still needs to be painted, but for now, with this heat, there is no way on earth I am painting! We have the big girls in the run to keep them away from the babies until everyone is friendly. (We've collected our first dozen of eggs this week! What a thrill!)

So here are the pics:
This was our baby chicks first outing! Aren't they adorable! I can't believe how much they changed and grown.

Here they are again a few weeks later getting all their feathers, and loosing their fluff, which you can see in patches mostly on their heads.


Here is some of the stages of completion for the coop

(if you'll remember the barn raising post, that left off at the walls)

Justin installing the roof.

I guess I forgot to photograph the siding install. I am really happy because we were able to "reduce, reuse and recycle" for about everything on this project. Justin collected all the 2 x 4 from people who were spring cleaning. So that was free. We only had to buy the flooring and roofing material and 2 sheets of siding. We actually used some siding from our neighbor too.

Of course when I actually helped, paint and caulk it all we didn't get photos either.

Here is an image of the front door. Santiago our neighbor was ripping out an old hot tub surround and gave us the old deck and a bunch of randoms, wood misc. This door was one of the things he gave us. I had Justin add the "X" and we moved the hinges to the side, but it is so adorable now. I would like to get an old piece of weathered wood and paint "EGGS 5 cents" (I can't find the cents symbol on my keyboard....) Then hang the sign in the upper portion of the door!

Again we talked to our neighbor Santiago, who has all the best connections. He introduced us to a contractor friend of his and he got us a deal on all our roofing needs- shingles, felt, nails and fascia drip stuff all for only $30.00. A square of roofing at home-dumpot runs around $25.00 (he gave us 2 squares, plus everything else! Score!)

We wanted to have a vent on the upper tower to keep airflow without any water problems. We checked out our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore to see what they might have we could use. First we saw some vent covers but finally found some prefect shutters for $8.00. I painted them and Justin cut them down and installed them. I think they really add to the quaintness of the structure.

Here is the finished coop. Sorry about the colors, Justin had to work until late in the nights to get anything done, so I usually got pictures around dusk.

On the window side Justin made some adorable shutters, out of scrap woods. Here they are shut:

And opened:

There are interior shutters to keep the chicks in, but get some good breezes during the day.

And finally here it is with the chicken run. I am planning on painting the fencing white. This fencing was also from Santiago. We need to invite him over to dinner!! (the old back fence, I am planning on staining a dark charcoal grey). Justin wants me to paint the siding a color, which will probably be a lighter grayish color, or maybe I'll get creative and go brighter!

Finally here are the babies today:

And here are the new gals:

Raise the roof

For Monday night's family home evening we had a rather special event.

Can you guess from these pic's of my favorite childhood movie?

We had our first "barn raising". We thought it would be fun to make an event out of building the coop. And also much more fun to borrow some children for the event- cuz kids make work a little more exciting. We called Matt and Emily and invited them and the fam. over to play.

But I forgot to mention, we have names for the cheekas-

See if you pick up on a theme,

Penny, Kate, Juliette, Clarie and Charlotte- Any clue?

We named them for the women of Lost. Our favorite TV mystery drama, that we are still clueless as to what is really going on in.

(they each have Sawyer nicknames too, for those that like the show)

The last week or so, Justin has been busy preparing. He laid the foundation first. Built the floor joists and then Saturday, spent his time building the walls for the coop. He built it all out of recycled, free wood, and our left over landscaping bricks that had been laying around the yard. cha-ching = zero dollars. (We did buy the sand and the floor board but 15 bucks is definitely do-able)

He also meticulously planned the coop. It matches our house, that also has a triangular shape off the back, it should be quite charming when it is done.

Of course we dressed up a little. Doesn't dressing up make all events more fun. We donned our cowboy hats and I put on my grandmother's apron and provided one for Emily as well. (course I had to wear it over the belly... but it just made it more funny)

When our friends got there we got straight to business, letting them meet and hold the gals. And miraculously, no one was pooped on.

We quickly got down to the hard work of nailing. The boys took this very seriously, pounding and pounding and pounding. (then, too funny, Matthew started complaining that his back hurt... so dramatic, but truly a part of all building projects)

We danced a little on the new floor, because after all, what is a barn raising without a good dance.

(for proof see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, or Oklahoma, although that was a school)

Then, we started putting up the walls. It was getting dark fast as a large storm approached, so the lighting got kinda bad.

I wanted it to look like I did more than just document the event, so Emily graciously let me pretend to work for the camera.

In the middle of our project, we had another visitor stop by. This little guy that seems to live in our back yard as of late. We really need to get a little fence up around our garden! But dang he is so cute. He is tiny! And he lets us get so close to him!

We finished getting the walls up and still have more to do, but on another day.

With only one minor casualty!

After, we wrapped up the night with Root beer. This is in honor of Justin. When he was little he was in a play of Charlotte's Web. He was a "barn raiser", and his part was to sit on the steps and drink a root beer. So, here's to you babe!

Garden of Eatin'

We finally have a garden. Justin has been working his cute, little tush off.

We were unsuccessful in Asheville.

The first year we were in the apartment.

The second year we planted a full garden but alas, too many trees, too much shade- and no desire to cut down those wonderful trees, led to no garden. Oh, that and it was really not easily accessible, our yard was weird there.

The third year we planted tomatoes in buckets and they were growing like champs and Justin lost his job, we moved and the tomatoes were given to a friend who said they were little champions... so sad not to get to harvest.

This means that a garden has been on Justin's mind for so long. And, he has been ready to go since February. In fact, he was out there digging out grass in 30 degree windy, weather, complete with gloves, hat and a teeth chattering smile.

But all that work and we finally have a garden just our size.

It was all I could do just to step out the door and take a picture of him working- it was that cold!



When Justin first mowed our lawn he found these landscape stones, placed in a sort of bed around the yard. They were so low in the ground you couldn't tell they were there. So, we harvested them. Actually our friends Matt, Emily and kiddos, made a family night of helping us, dig them out of the ground. The boys were absolutely excited about all the grubs, worms and fire ants they found... I guess we'll get to the grass later.

The stone harvest...

Here is the final product. I really love how it looks. I think it will be really fun, I am planning on making homemade salsa, I haven't done it for five years... and canning pickles. Not to mention eating as much zucchini, yellow squash and cantaloupe we can get.

The buckets are my little addition to the garden. Our two cats go through a lot of litter. So, we have all these buckets. They were great for moving breakable items here to Texas and we try to reuse them, not just always trash them. (Let me clarify, I am not just keeping them to hoard junk, we use them or lose them) But anyway, we bought a few extra plants and decided to do some cheap container gardening.

I spray painted the buckets. Justin filled the bottom with some random gravel, then some newspaper, and finally I finished it off with our fresh dirt from "Smelly's farm" - yes that is their name! I planted, basil, cilantro and two cherry tomato bushes. Let's see how they do. I think they should be kinda fun. I really want to get some more containers to put around the patio- we are thinking of growing some heat tolerant peas in hanging baskets.... but, lets just see when we get that done!