I Renounce Winter!

Yep, I've had it. Enough is enough. Winter, in all of its teeth chattering misery, needs to bid a fond farewell. I realize Mother Nature isn't too interested in my opinion on the matter, but I figure it doesn't hurt to speak my mind.

We Stonebrakers have been a busy little bunch. We have continued to harvest vegetables all winter, have been building our chicken collection, and started our seeds for the spring garden. Wendy and Shelby have really been the catalysts and we are all enjoying the projects.

Wendy's decision to put hoops in our raised beds has proven to be a brilliant idea. We have had an abundance of lettuce, spinach, mustard greens, turnips, and radishes. We also have carrots and onions well on their way.

Our four grown chickens are each laying about an egg a day (you do the math), and we have recently added three chicks. Eggs anyone?

All of this has certainly brought our family closer together. I am so grateful we get to do so much. I look forward to sharing our adventures with you and will keep you posted on our progress. In the mean time, enjoy our little video update and stay tuned!

Raised Bed Update

It's been a little while since I've given a raised bed update, so here goes. As always, the video version is below.

In our raised beds we have planted lettuce, carrots, radishes, spinach, turnips, onions, mustard greens, broccoli, and brussels sprouts. So far we have eaten lettuce and radishes. We are looking forward to harvesting more soon. It is a joy to extend our growing season, I love having fresh produce from our yard.

We also have four chickens and this week they have begun laying eggs. Our urban homesteading adventure has taken off and we are very excited! BTW, I am a big fan of autumn in Georgia and have included a couple of bonus photos.

Raised Beds- Day 4, Job Well Done

Video below.

Well, we're finally finished. After almost a month, with a vacation in the middle, our raised bed project is complete! We put the finishing touches on bed number three, moved 12 yards of dirt, and planted the seeds. Wendy said, "This is the biggest project we've undertaken since having a child!" She's absolutely right.

No one would ever accuse us as being the "handy" family, but we were certainly ambitious. We had committed ourselves to getting this completed and we did. Good for us! Everyone contributed and we will all benefit. I look forward to our first harvest, I will certainly share it with you!

Raised Beds- Day 3

Again, if you prefer, the video version is below.

Technically this was probably the fourth or fifth day, but who's counting. We worked on bed #2 for about an hour two days during the week.

This bed was particularly challenging since the slope increases downhill. However, we were able to meet these challenges and continue to make progress.

I love what we are doing. This has involved the entire family and there are several gratifying moments as we meet and overcome obstacles. I am looking forward to getting the seeds in the ground and reaping the fruits of our labors! Either way, we are enjoying ourselves and learning a lot. I hope you enjoy tracking our progress, I'll keep posting about this until we have the project completed. Until next time, happy building!

Raised Beds- Day 2

This is the latest installment of Project:Raised Beds. If you prefer, there is a video version below.

We have finally completed the first bed. This is by far the most ambitious project we have taken on, but I am really enjoying myself. Where we are placing the beds, on a major slope, is bringing up several challenges. There are a few places that wind up being a little off, but the beds will still be very functional.

The only things left to do on the first bed are installing the PVC pipe, filling in the gaps, laying down some newspaper, and putting in the soil. We are going to get some good organic soil as soon as all of the beds are ready. I am loving this and can't wait to finish!