{DIY Life} Guess What? Chicken Butt. My Urban Sustainable Life

So, I know it’s been awhile since you’ve heard from me.  There was the summer vacation, but admittedly, I’ve been back for a couple weeks now.  I’ve been uninspired with my normal posts.  Although, I know I have to get you that fried pizza recipe from our vacation – it was delicious by the way and I actually took pictures of my husband making it, so now, I just need to get the pics edited and into a post.  The thing is, we’ve had a lot going on (not like everyone else doesn’t) and we’ve been doing a great deal in our lives to live more sustainable and self-sufficient.  Not sure if you know, but in that vain, we bought chickens.  Three wonderful, Rhode Island Red Pullets and I am having a great time with them.  The chickens have made me long for simplicity in my life.  I just want to be a suzie homemaker who stays home gardening and canning and chicken’ing (I know that’s not a real term, but I like it) and making homemade household products and…  The thing is, I work full-time, as a legal secretary, I’m a Mom and a wife – not exactly a simple life.  But, every day I go into work and long for a day spent being Laura Ingalls (or at least her Mom).

Here is what we’ve done to live a more sustainable life:

• Added solar panels to our house
• Re-landscaped our front yard to make it more drought tolerant and more neighbor friendly (we added some vineyard vines and created a little seating area where we can visit with our neighbors)
• The big one…we sold my husband’s car and bought an ALL electric car – the Nissan Leaf.  It just arrived this past Thursday and it’s awesome!   I mean it, really.  It totally has get up and go that I thought it wouldn’t have and it’s so smooth and just plain cool.  Since we have solar, we aren’t using any fossil fuels to run the car.
• We have started composting which means we are also cutting down on the amount of waste that goes into our garbage cans and will provide our garden with all sorts of nutrients. Want to learn how? This site has some great tips on How To Compost.
• We have been recycling for years.  We generally have more recycling ‘trash’ than regular trash.
• We bought 3 chickens.  Chickens obviously provide fresh eggs to us, but also importantly they provide some of the best fertilizer for your gardens, are very clean (opposed to popular belief) and will help with our composting and weeding.  Yes, they poop.  A lot.  But, not so much that it isn’t easy to clean.  I literally spend about 5-10 minutes per day cleaning the coop and any droppings in our yard. Want to learn more about owning chickens?  Visit Backyard Chickens as well as My Pet Chicken (the latter has a free e-book and the former has one of the best forums on owning and raising chickens)
• We have started one of our garden boxes – it’s actually on top of the chicken coop and is an edible garden.
• I’ve started gathering recipes for homemade cleaning products and the like.  I used to make bath products, so I will be breaking out my old recipe books for that as well.
• We purchase all our fruits, vegetables and meats from community supported agriculture.

Eventually, we plan on doing a lot more.  Adding more garden beds, actually making the household and bath products I’ve collected recipes for, replacing my car with a hybrid when the time comes, I have started a little ‘sewing circle’ with my Mom to finally learn how to sew.  We’ll see how much the future brings.

For now though, know that I am not ignoring you.  I am sitting here daydreaming about my new life and how I see it panning out.  Chris and I have dreams of making this a lifestyle that we help others achieve as well.  I am organizing my thoughts and dreams and I’m sure will start sharing with you some of our own recipes or life lessons on living sustainably.  In the meantime, I’d love to hear from any of you on how you are living life more sustainable and self-sufficient…

And, because I hate writing a post without pictures, here are some pics of our new girls – Friesa, Elsie and Madeleine (I know, no real farmer would name their chickens, but I’m not a real farmer…I’m an urban farm girl and This Is A No Princess Zone (this little plaque was made using a sign/slogan from Spaceships & Laserbeams that I mod podged onto a slightly sanded wood board using the outdoor and hard coat Mod Podge):