For years we’ve been planting our vegetable garden in spring and summer, enjoying the bounty until it runs out or the plants die with the first frosts of fall.

We’ve used mulch and row cover to extend the harvest a bit, but we’ve never had anything fresh from the garden past October.

The only garden produce we’d eat for the rest of the year was whatever had been frozen, canned, dehydrated, or stored away in a root cellar.

This year that’s going to change. Even in our four-season climate, it’s possible to harvest fresh veggies not only in the summer and fall, but all year round. We’re going to get in on the fun. 

    

Late planting of peas for fall crop.  

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All it takes is careful planning and some kind of protection against the elements of winter.  

Over at our family blog, Rural Living Today, we’ve been discussing fall and winter gardening. First we reviewed a great book that had inspired us. Niki Jabbour, author of The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener, raises fresh greens and other veggies during Nova Scotia’s true winters. She got us thinking maybe we could, too.

As we gathered more information and planned our strategy, we put together a brief introduction to cold-season gardening. We’ll continue to blog with more details, ideas, and suggestions from a number of sources.

Fall gardening includes both extending the harvest of summer crops and planting specifically for fall production.  

Mulches, row covers, and low tunnels are fairly simple ways to make this work. For winter production, those methods can be supplemented by the use of cold frames and greenhouses. A combination of more than one material or structure will multiply the protection factor.

A few factors will improve success with fall and winter gardening. 

Selecting the right plants and varieties 

• Many root crops may be left in the ground, mulched well, and harvested as need throughout the winter.
• Hardy vegetables such as carrots, kale, leeks, and mâche may need nothing more than poly hoops.
• Less hardy vegetables and herbs may require a cold frame to continue providing fresh greens for several weeks or months. Perennial herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme) may remain green longer in this environment, delaying dormancy.
• Beans, eggplant, peppers, squash, and tomatoes may continue to bear or ripen fruit in a heated greenhouse. 
• See our suggested plant list here. 

Starting with mature plants   

• All plants should reach maturity before cold weather sets in. Seeds should be planted well before the average date of first frost. 
• Some plants will continue to grow in protective structures; others will be in a “holding pattern,” maintaining their freshness until harvest.

Selecting a convenient, sunny site

    

When it comes to hatching and raising baby chicks, there are a few different ways to go about it. 

The original method is to have hens sit on fertile eggs for about three weeks, hatch the eggs, and raise the chicks themselves. Modern-day alternatives include hatching eggs in incubators and purchasing chicks from hatcheries.

Most incubator and hatchery chicks are raised by people, in brooders outfitted with heat lamps to keep the chicks warm and dry. But another option is to introduce tiny chicks to broody hens and let the mamas do what comes naturally.

Two years ago we raised hatchery chicks in a brooder in the barn. Last year we used an incubator and had two hens hatch a few.eggs.

This year, three of our hens went broody in the same week. April was settled in her own nest, while Hedwig and Piggy brooded in tandem. A month later, none of their eggs had hatched. I was ready to order a batch of hatchery chicks anyway, so I thought I’d try to see if any of the broody hens would adopt the chicks. 

 

After a trip to the post office to fetch a box of day-old chicks, I got the little peep-peepers settled in an indoor brooder with heat lamp. All of the chicks looked healthy and active.

That night, when all was dark and quiet at the chicken coop, my hubby Jim and I put two chicks under each broody hen. We checked back and forth for a while and all seemed well—mamas clucking softly, babies snuggled underneath the hens.

The next morning three proud mothers were doting on their chicks. All was well.

So that night, we put the rest of the chicks in with the mothers. Over the next several days we watched as the hens capably cared for their chicks.

Four weeks later, it appears that our foster adoption worked like a charm. The hens have been contented, nurturing mamas; the chicks are healthy and strong. 

 
So what are some secrets to successful adoption? Of course every experience will be different, but here’s what worked for us.

1. Make sure the hens are actually broody, having sat devotedly on eggs for at least a couple of weeks. Most hens--even experienced mothers--will have no interest in raising chicks unless they are already broody. On the other hand, there are exceptions--some hens will readily adopt chicks anytime!

2. Get each broody hen (or brooding team, in Hedwig and Piggy’s case) settled in a private crate or nest box with her eggs and fresh bedding at least a few days before introducing the chicks. While it’s fine to just let broodies remain with the masses, many chicken owners say the hens are more relaxed if they have solitude.

3. Be prepared to get the chicks started in a brooder and to brood them completely if necessary. Set up your brooder and have it warm (95 degrees F.) when the chicks arrive. Have chick starter feed and a chick waterer waiting.

4. When you receive hatchery chicks or take chicks from the incubator, check for “pasty butts” (dried feces) and clean the little rear ends with a damp soft cloth if necessary. Show each chick how to drink by dipping its beak in water. Put the chicks in the warm brooder.

5. Put chick starter feed and a chick-accessible waterer in the mama’s pen. Remove any layer feed that the chicks could reach. It’s fine for the hen to eat starter feed—and the extra protein will do her good--but layer feed has too much calcium for young chicks. If you’re providing only a chick feeder, make sure the hen can get her beak inside the openings.

6. On the first night, well after dark when your hens should be drowsy or sound asleep, quietly place one or two chicks under each hen’s breast or snuggled under her wing. Remove an egg or two while you’re there.

7. Watch and listen. Good signs are the chick staying under the hen, the hen using her beak or wing to nudge the chick under her, and the hen clucking softly to the chick. If the hen seems aggravated or doesn’t know what to do, remove the chick and try again later.

8. Check first thing in the morning and throughout the day to make sure all is well. Hopefully you will not find a dead chick, but know that it is possible. Sometimes chick and hen don’t bond quickly enough; sometimes a hen will consider the chick an imposter.

9. If mama and chick seem to be bonding well, place the remaining chicks under her that night and remove the rest of the eggs. A standard hen can easily keep 12 or more chicks warm; a banty can cover several. Again, watch hen and chicks for a while till they are settled.

10. Repeat your visual checks the next day just to make sure the mama is handling all the chicks well and all the chicks are thriving in their new arrangement.

 
It’s possible that you may still need to raise chicks in a brooder if the hen will not care for the chicks or if you have more chicks than your hen(s) can handle. Be watchful, and take some or all of the chicks back to your indoor brooder if necessary.

If the chicks are more than a few days old they may not bond to the hen even if she is willing. If they won’t take refuge under the hen when the air is chilly, they may die of exposure. One solution for this is to keep a brooder lamp in the brooding area, preferably with a small accessible box under it. Chicks that don’t attach to the hen can huddle under the lamp as they would in an indoor brooder.

Having a hen raise chicks takes some of the workload from your shoulders. You’ll still need to provide plenty of feed and fresh water, but mama will keep the chicks warm and cozy. You can just sit back and enjoy watching her teach her little ones to scratch in the dirt and take a proper dust bath.

It's just another delightful adventure in rural living! 

Hear more about our Successful Hen and Chick Adoption story at our family blog, Rural Living Today.

Readers: Do you have other suggestions for hen and chick adoptions?

Some time ago I read that the Cooperative Extension services in some areas were falling by the wayside.  

As agriculture has declined, a domino effect has caused the Extension services to lose both audience and political support and funding.  

In my mind, this is a great loss for those of us who like to live close to the land and grow our own food.  

Cooperative Extension agents are among the greatest resources available to help us. Along with books, magazines, and websites such as GRIT, Extension offices offer support with both traditional and alternative methods for agriculture and rural living. Much of the information is offered without cost, while a reasonable fee is charged for some publications and courses.

Cooperative Extensions are unique in that they offer information tailored for their specific regions in addition to general resources. Face-to-face classroom experience and phone consultations are available from many offices. Some are even able to send agents to a home, farm or ranch to assist with assessments or answer questions.

Decades ago, Cooperative Extension services were established for the purpose of teaching agriculture practices and passing on results of research projects. Education in home economics was integrated, and in recent years, services have expanded to include topics related to health, business, the arts, and recreation. 

No longer just for rural education, Extension offices offer resources in urban and suburban areas as well. There is at least one Extension service in each state of the U.S. and some provinces of Canada.

Our family has personally benefited from the Extension services in three counties of two states. Our youngest daughter was involved in both dog and horse 4H programs, and I was a volunteer leader in both programs as well. 

Living in town, we first sought out 4H as a social connection for our homeschooled daughter. But we discovered that it was so much more than social. We’ve found 4H to be one of the best youth organizations around. Young people learn not only about their specific areas of interest, but also about community service, leadership, and public speaking.

The Cooperative Extension offers a lot for adults, too. Jim and I have taken several short and long courses through our county Extensions. We’ve studied livestock care, horticulture, small farm and ranch planning, forest stewardship, and land succession processes. Some of these classes gave us a head start and kept us busy learning while we waited to move to our farm. 

These days we continue to attend Extension classes and summits in our current county, learning a great deal and contributing as we can. Recently we’ve been involved in community discussions about beef marketing, commercial processing kitchens, and nonprofit organization structures. 

While the Extension services have always given face to face assistance and education, the Internet age has opened up a new way they can share information. Many county Extensions have their own websites, while state and national websites connect the county offices.

When it comes to research, keep in mind that on the Internet, anyone can present an opinion as fact. Often I find conflicting information on topics I’m studying. Personally I rely heavily on the Extension resources for their wealth of scientific research-based information. I trust in the accuracy and integrity of information provided by the Extension Services. 

This is especially important to me when it pertains to how I’m raising my family, my animals, and the food we eat. I frequently consult Extension articles when writing informative and how-to posts on our blog, Rural Living Today. We read newsletters from our local Extension office and make use of the education and publications offered on a regular basis.

Have you discovered what Cooperative Extension has to offer you in your rural living pursuits? Get acquainted with local programs and volunteer opportunities. Find out what you can do in your own backyard. If you’re waiting to make a move to the country, learn all you can before you go. If you’re already where you want to be, you can learn how to use your property more efficiently and productively. 

Since its early days, Extension presence has grown across North America. Perhaps your grandparents and great-grandparents were assisted by Extension agents. Today that help, training, and education is available to you and your family. We personally hope it will be here for our children and grandchildren too. 

Funding to keep Cooperative Extension going is determined to some degree by evaluation of resource usage and event participation. We encourage you to help keep the Extension services alive and well by getting involved on a local level. 

As you increase your knowledge base you will simultaneously be supporting Cooperative Extension services in your county and across the country. It’s also a great way to meet like-minded people in your community. 

To locate your county Extension office, see http://www.csrees.usda.gov/extension. Collective research-based information drawn from all U.S. Cooperative Extension offices is available at http://www.extension.org.

Jim and I were just talking about how much we've learned about rural life in the past two years. That's how long we've been here on our farm, putting into practice what we've read and heard about. 

In past years there have been a few other opportunities for gardening and livestock in our life. Each little piece of land taught us something more.

Though we're settlers at heart, life has moved us from place to place.

On our last piece of acreage we had horses. Jim built a barn and a riding arena. We were just getting our garden and a few fruit trees in place when it was time to move to another state.

Years before that we were on another little farm where we had beef cattle and a big garden. Chickens were to be our next project, but guess what? We got a new assignment, and across the ocean we went.

In between, we lived in suburban and urban settings where we tried to grow a few veggies when possible and at least were able to prepare fresh homemade food in our kitchen. All the while, we kept learning and dreaming.

The beginning of our learning curve was way back in the 1970s, and I can remember exactly who was our greatest inspiration.   

Jim was working in the business world, and I was a young mom enjoying homemaking and doing a lot of things the old fashioned way. My parents and grandparents had modeled and taught me a life that included things homegrown and handmade. I was really in touch with that part of my gene pool.

One day my mom saw an interesting guest on a TV talk show. This young woman had put together a publication about living a lifestyle close to the land. Her publication couldn’t really be called a book, as it was an unbound bundle of mimeographed pages. She was offering copies of it for sale, and she promised to mail succeeding additions to the material to subscribers.

Mom told me about the interview and the publication for sale. But she went a step further and ordered a set for me. I received the most wonderful bunch of information in a 3-ring binder. I devoured it. And little by little, new chapters full of more information were added.

The title of that publication? An Old Fashioned Recipe Book by Carla Emery. You may recognize Carla’s name. As she added more material, the growing bundle of pages became much more than a recipe book. Eventually she combined it all into a book that was published with a new name: The Encyclopedia of Country Living.

Jim and I referred to that notebook often as we tried out new techniques in my home and garden. Carla’s granola became a staple in our pantry. I learned to make yogurt, peanut butter, mayonnaise, and many other concoctions. Jim and I also read her sections on livestock while deciding what to raise on our first acreage.

My tattered, food-stained, and fingerprinted original copies of Carla’s book are long gone, probably misplaced during one of our moves or accidentally discarded during a purging of clutter. But I have gifted two of my kids with the recently published bound version. 

Though Carla passed away several years ago, her legacy lives on in our family and many others--perhaps including yours!!

At our family website Rural Living Today, we've posted a list of other valuable references that have helped us along the way. Check them out here.  

Maybe you'll find a new favorite among them! 

I’ve always had a fascination and love for birds. I was just a young child when my dad began to teach me how to identify various birds native to our region. Throughout my life I’ve enjoyed watching birds and figuring out which ones I saw in the backyard or at parks and campgrounds.

The tiny little hummingbird has always been a favorite. Shortly after we bought our rural property, I was surprised but delighted to discover that our forested acreage was populated by three different varieties of hummers.

Our first forest hummingbird sighting took place several years ago when we camped while developing our property. One day I noticed something darting around one of the red reflector lights at the top of our trailer. Before long there were three hummingbirds investigating that odd-looking rectangular hard plastic “flower.”

A few years later, when we were to be here for most of the summer, I hung some hummingbird feeders around the trailer and picnic canopy. The fun began.

The social order around the feeders was interesting. Sometimes birds would fight over territory. Other times it looked like a tea party as several birds peacefully sat in a circle sipping their sweet beverage.

I have to confess I spent many hours watching those birds. With my trusty field guide at hand, I identified calliope, black-chinned, and rufous hummingbirds dining outside the kitchen window.

Attracting hummingbirds 

Hummingbirds will fly anywhere looking for food and will remain where food sources are found. Even better (and amazing): they will return year after year. As they move through their annual migration, hummingbirds pass through our area every year from spring through summer.

There are two ways to attract hummingbirds to your yard or garden. One is to provide nectar-producing flowers, bushes, and trees. The other is to hang hummingbird feeders full of nectar made from sugar and water.

As I learned at our campsite several years ago, anything red will attract hummingbirds. For this reason, red blossoms and red feeder parts will catch their attention. However, hummers will find and drink nectar from blossoms of many colors and sip from feeders with no red on them.

Flowering plants

Following is a list of some plants favored by hummingbirds. Some are native plants that could be transplanted or introduced into your yard. Seeds and starter plants of other varieties can be purchased online and at local garden supply outlets.

It is thought that many hybrids no longer provide the same nectar that existed in the parent plants, so I focus on heirloom and local native varieties.

Aster, Azalea, Bee balm, Bleeding heart, Butterfly bush, Clarkia, Columbine, Coral bells, Cosmos, Crabapple, Dahlia, Delphinium, Fuschia, Annual Geranium (Pelargonium), Gladiola, Hollyhock, Honeysuckle, Impatiens, Iris, Lavender, Lupine, Marigold, Nasturtium, Penstemon, Petunia, Red-flowering currant, Sage, Salmonberry, Scabiosa, Scarlet runner bean, Snapdragon, Sweet William, Verbena, Weigela, Yarrow, Zinnia.

Feeders

There are many kinds of hummingbird feeders on the market, available at garden centers, discount stores, and even at art boutiques. Most commercial feeders have some red parts to attract the hummers. If there's not enough color on the feeder, a red plastic flower or ribbon can be attached to draw more attention.

If you have lots of hummingbirds, I recommend buying the largest feeders you can to avoid constant refilling during the summer. Some high-use days, our 2-cup feeders are empty by afternoon. Of course they don’t have to be refilled right away, but the sight of hungry hummers fruitlessly checking each and every hole in a feeder just tugs at my heartstrings.

The caveat of having a large feeder is that the sugar solution should be replaced every four days or so, whether or not the feeder is empty. If there isn’t enough traffic for a large feeder, a small one may be a better choice. Or, hang a large feeder only partly full of nectar during slow periods.

Some say that if you let your feeders go empty, the hummingbirds will leave and not return. I have not had that experience. Many times our feeders have gone dry for days, and when we filled them again, the hummers returned. I suspect they just go find some natural food sources while waiting for the cafe to reopen.

Tiny hummingbirds have delicate digestive systems and can be adversely affected by bacteria, molds, and fungi. Feeders should be cleaned frequently to avoid the growth of these organisms and to clear out ants and other debris. It’s a good idea to wash with dish soap and water each time the feeder is refilled, rinsing with white vinegar to sanitize.

Recipe for success 

There’s no need to purchase hummingbird nectar, as it’s simple and inexpensive to make at home with just water and granulated white sugar.  

There are three precautions to take.

• Use a 1:4 proportion of sugar to water to ensure the hummingbirds get the nutrients they need.
• Use only granulated white sugar—no brown sugar, honey, syrups, or artificial sweeteners.
• Do not add any food coloring or dye to the solution.

Thin or overly sweet nectar, other sweeteners, and food coloring all have the potential to cause illness or malnutrition in the birds.

To make a batch of hummingbird nectar, measure out 1 part granulated white sugar to 4 parts water. If you want 4 cups of nectar, use 1 cup of sugar and 4 cups of water. For 2 cups of nectar, use 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 cups of water.

Bring the water to a boil. Then stir in the sugar to dissolve it, and set the pot aside to cool. Fill feeders and hang where the hummers can find them.

Leftover nectar may be refrigerated for a few days or frozen for longer storage. I usually make enough to fill my feeders once and make at least one round of refills.

No matter how you feed them, enjoy those tiny little birds around your home and yard—and even in the barnyard and forest! 

My family and I are constantly learning new skills and tweaking old ones as we develop and work on our fairly new farm. You can read about more of our experiences, ideas, and lessons learned at our blog Rural Living Today. 

Hi all! My name is Callie. I'm a Maremma Sheepdog - one of the breeds called livestock guardian dogs.

This is me when I was a puppy. Everyone thought I looked like a little lamb. Wasn't I just adorable?

Last month my brother Augie was interviewed for our mom’s GRIT blog. Now it is my turn to talk!

Augie told everyone a lot about livestock guardian dogs, but what I really want to tell you is what we do all day.

First, I have to tell you that my day is not like the day of every livestock guardian dog. That is because we all have different jobs, depending on where we live and who we live with.

Most LGDs (that’s short for livestock guardian dogs) have more animals than Augie and I have. They also have bigger animals than ours.

Sheep and goats are the most common friends of LGDs. Some LGDs have horses, cows, pigs, alpacas, or poultry. Usually the dogs live with the animals and stay in the pasture with them. Those that have several types of animals to watch over may make their rounds from pen to pen.

Some LGDs don’t even have any animals - they just have people to guard. Augie and I know a nice retired mama LGD who now has the job of watching the farm owners’ children. She goes with them wherever they are playing around their farm.

See, there are two main reasons people get LGDs to live at their farms. One is to live with livestock and guard them from predators - that’s what most LGDs do. The second reason is to guard the property and prevent intruders from entering it. Augie and I? We do both.

Our parents brought Augie and me home because coyotes, bears and cougars roam through their property. Our job is to make sure those wild animals don’t come in our four-acre fenced area. Dad and Mom wanted dogs with courage to relentlessly keep those big predators away, whether or not we had livestock at our farm.

So Augie and I came here to protect our property, the people that live and visit here, and whatever livestock is inside our fences.

Here's another picture of me ... how did they know I'd been snooping in the fire pit ashes? I thought I looked totally innocent!

Before we arrived our parents got some chickens so we would have some livestock to guard. But we also bonded quickly to our human mom and dad. Don’t tell them, but we consider them our sheep.

Mom and Dad have eight grownup kids and thirteen grandkids. We’ve bonded with all of them, and now they are our sheep too.

There are some friends who come here a lot and others that have come only once. But we always remember them, even if we haven’t seen them for a long time. And when they are here, we will take care of them.

Sometimes new chickens come, and sometimes the ones we had will leave us. A few weeks ago Augie and I got some pigs to guard too. We are still getting used to them.

When I was little, I found some cool places to rest.

Well, let me tell you about my day now! It’s hard to say when my day starts, because LGDs are really on duty 24/7. We dognap (I don’t know why someone named naps after the feline species) off and on but we are always ready to jump into action at a moment’s notice.

But let’s start with the morning. That's when Augie and I are usually the most tired. We have been very busy during the night, so we rest a lot in the morning. One or both of us gets up now and then to patrol our perimeters, peek in on our chickens and pigs, and say good morning to any of our people that are out and about.

We like to walk around with our dad and mom (always hoping for a pat on the head, a scratch behind the ears, or a belly rub). We bark at the free-range chickens that try to eat our kibble. We sniff the air if an aroma is drifting by, and we bark if we hear a strange car coming up the road.

Many times a day we do our patrol routine. We walk along the fence line and mark it, if you know what I mean. This lets other animals know that we are in charge here. We cross our fenced area through the orchard and around the garden.

When we came to our new home, Augie taught me how to patrol our fences. We both learned from our moms and other Maremmas, but Augie continued to teach me.

We circle around the pig paddock and the chicken pen and make sure everyone’s doing fine. If there’s a problem, we take care of it if we can. When a chicken is feeling under the weather, we will lie next to it till it feels better. Sometimes a chicken just doesn’t get better and we wait for a person to come and take it away.

Augie and I walk all around the utility barn where our parents live. No, they are not animals, but their house is inside the barn. We have never been inside our family’s house. Sometimes we look in the window to check on them. Once in a while if the door is open we will stick our heads inside and look around, but Augie and I always keep our feet outside on the porch.

We walk through the barn and check it out. If there’s a mouse we can catch, we will do it. If we can’t catch it, we will bark at it. A lot. Sometimes a pen of baby chicks is in the barn and we say hello to them. I know they feel safer knowing we are there.

In between patrols, we like to rest some more. We also eat our kibble when our dad brings it, and we drink lots and lots of water. But sometimes we’re just not hungry for dog food because we dined on rodents during our patrol walks.

Our work load is light during the day, because most of the threatening predators sleep during the day. Occasionally some deer or wild turkeys get close to our fences, but we bark at them. We also bark at the neighbors’ cows.

Here we are, a couple of sentries patrolling our perimeter.

When evening comes, Augie and I are well-rested and ready for a busy night. This is when we really shine. Nights can be exhausting, but they’re very exhilarating.

First of all, we pick up our patrol schedule during the night. We make more frequent perimeter walks, and we stop and bark at any smell or sound outside.

Almost every night, a pack of coyotes walks across our property down below our fenced area. We are always vigilant, visible and audible so they know we are the bosses. They keep on going but sometimes they pause to test us. Not for long though - they get the message real quickly. No free chicken dinners at this farm!

Though the coyotes still cross our property, our family has not seen any sign of bears or cougars close to our fenced area since Augie and I have been here. That’s because we do our job so well!

After a long night of patrolling and barking, Augie and I are ready for a break. That’s when our morning begins - and the daily routine starts all over again.

LGDs that live with sheep and goats have a similar routine, but they do some other things that are really cool. Some of them get to help when babies are born! They will stay near the mamas and keep other animals away to give her privacy. An LGD will help keep the first baby warm and dry while the mama is delivering a second one. When the babies get older, the LGDs watch out for the little ones and even let them climb all over them. So they get to be midwives and nannies.

Here I am all grown up, a fine example of a livestock guardian dog.

If you’d like to know more about livestock guardians, you can read about us at our family’s blog Rural Living Today. Here is a post on Livestock Guardian Animals (LGDs, donkeys, and llamas). And this one is about the fine, intelligent, hard-working, brave, beautiful, wonderful, charming, dynamic, modest dogs like me: Livestock Guardian Dogs.

Thanks for stopping by! I have to go congratulate that hen that is singing her egg song. Why do they always want to tell the world that they laid an egg? Chickens!

For each generation, there are some defining moments in history that will never be forgotten.

My children will always have the sad events of September 11, 2001, etched in their memories. My peers and I remember where we were on November 22, 1963, when we heard the announcement that President Kennedy had been assassinated.

For my parents, a lasting memory was the declaration of World War II; my grandparents were deeply affected by the Wall Street crash that preceded the Great Depression.

But hopefully we all have memories of lighter, more uplifting days as well.   

I remember the fervor and enthusiasm surrounding the first recognized Earth Day. It was April 22, 1970 — just as my adult life was beginning and my ideals were taking shape. 

 

The 60s had been eye-opening in regard to the state of our planet. I believe the word “ecology” became widely used during that time. It was the birth phase of a movement that has continued to today.

And once again, it’s time to recognize Earth Day.

 

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Here’s a brief bio of Earth Day from History.com:

Founded in 1970 as a day of education about environmental issues, Earth Day is now a globally celebrated holiday that is sometimes extended into Earth Week, a full seven days of events focused on green awareness.

 

The brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson and inspired by the antiwar protests of the late 1960s, Earth Day was originally aimed at creating a mass environmental movement. It began as a "national teach-in on the environment" and was held on April 22 to maximize the number of students that could be reached on university campuses.

By raising public awareness of air and water pollution, Nelson hoped to bring environmental causes into the national spotlight.

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The idea seems to have worked: environmental causes have been valued and supported for the past three decades. Whether we call it ecology, green living, or sustainability, it’s a way of life that’s important to many of us. 

 

I was fortunate to grow up in a family that valued the earth and the outdoors. My earliest memories include camping and learning about nature. There were vegetables, berries, and fruit trees growing in our backyard. We recycled before I knew there was a word for it.

I was kind of primed for ecology and green living.

In 1970, I wasn’t a true hippie, but I was “hip” to green trends and swept up by the emphasis on preserving our planet. Though I didn’t partake in demonstrations, I tried to keep ecology in mind. My boyfriend, Jim, shared my interests, and we tried to do our part to “save the earth.”

By Earth Day 1974, Jim and I were young marrieds tearing up the backyard of our rented home (with the permission of the landlord, of course). The reason? To plant our first garden. I can’t put my hands on a photo right now, but I remember the tall cornstalks and the lush bushes of peas and beans. Were we ever proud! 

 

Since then we’ve had lots of gardens, of lots of kinds and sizes, in lots of places and a few different climate zones. In 1986, we got our start raising livestock with three Black Angus beef cows. Growing food, cooking from scratch, and preserving summer produce became our favored way of living. Composting, recycling, reusing, and repurposing are natural companions.

We’ve had some detours, including years in a foreign culture where we were unable to do as much “green living” as we’d have liked. But now we’re back on track, trying to decrease the footprints we leave on this earth. As we use natural resources, we try to replace and replenish in return. We’ve encouraged our kids - and are now teaching our grandchildren - to treat the earth with respect.

We think it’s more important now than ever. And I know many of you agree. 

That's why our lives celebrate Earth Day every day. Trying to stay close to nature, making wise decisions, living sustainably. It's better for us - and better for the earth we live on. 

During my “granola years” as a young mom and even recently as a farming grandma, I’ve been called Earth Mother more than a few times.

But you know what? I don’t mind at all! And I bet you wouldn't mind either. Unless, of course, Earth Father would be more appropriate!

Marie and her husband, Jim, are developing a farm in the Pacific Northwest with their adult children and grandchildren. At The Homesteader Kitchen Marie and her daughter review kitchen equipment and talk about preparing and preserving delicious food. Along with other family members, Marie shares glimpses of country life at Rural Living Today and teaches practical skills at The Homesteader School.  

Two valuable members of our family are our Maremma livestock guardian dogs, Augie and Callie. They watch over our chickens and the people who live and visit within their assigned territory. Though coyotes, bears, and an occasional cougar traverse our property, none of those intruders are allowed within our fencelines. 

 

 

 
Augie and Callie are usually very busy day and night doing their patrols and checking on everyone and everything on the farm. But this week, Augie took the time to write a post for our family’s blog, Rural Living Today. After reading it, I asked Augie if I could interview him for this GRIT blog.

The huge fluffy dog agreed, and we sat down for a chat. Here is what he has to say.

Augie, we understand that the term “livestock guardian dog” applies to a group of dog breeds used for centuries to protect and defend flocks of sheep and goats. Tell us more about these breeds. 

Well, there are several breeds of LGDs (that's short for Livestock Guardian Dogs). Of course, I am partial to Maremma Sheepdogs, since I am one, but the others do a good job too! The most common in the western world are (in alphabetical order) Anatolian Shepherds, Great Pyrenees, and Maremmas. The Akbash, Kommondors, Kuvasz, and Tibetan Mastiffs are also becoming better known outside of the old countries.

How are the LGD breeds alike and different? 

We all have some basic instincts that are the same. We all work hard to protect and defend our stock and our property. But there are differences too. Some breeds bond more to the stock or people, and some bond more to the boundaries they defend. Some are more likely to grow fond of children, and some would rather not be touched and petted very much.

How are the LGD breeds different from other dog breeds? 

LGDs are wired instinctively to do whatever is necessary to protect our charges. We will even give our lives for our flocks and our people. We were not bred to be pets, though we are nice to have around and some of us really like people. We weren’t bred to be show dogs, as the focus on beauty and obedience could distract from our effectiveness on our jobs. We are not herding dogs, though we can herd our stock into a corner to protect them if need be.  

 
Can LGDs be trained for obedience? 

Why yes, we can be taught to sit, wait, come, stay back, and those kinds of things. If we know you are the alpha, we will obey. But our inner instincts will override our wish to obey if we feel there’s a danger. Don’t be surprised if I suddenly take off for the far corner of the property to scare off a coyote. If you tell me to get back when a stranger is there, and I sense you are in danger, I will want to stay at your side. I’m not being rebellious or disagreeable; I’m just letting my top priority and instincts take over until the danger is gone.

How do you LGDs learn your job? 

Well, first of all, we start watching our mothers when we are very young. We will go on patrol with them and they’ll show us how the LGD work is done. Later we learn from other LGDs how to treat the stock, how to be watchful for threats, and how to bark different barks. The other dogs will teach us, train us, and correct us.   

Do you need people to train you too? 

Oh yes, definitely. They should show us our area to patrol and introduce us to our stock and people in the family that we are to guard. They should let us know what is normal and routine around the farm so we will know what isn’t. As puppies we shouldn’t be left alone with stock that might hurt us, or with little critters that we might play too roughly with. If there isn’t an older working LGD to teach us, the humans have to do the training. We will instinctively guard and protect, but we need to know the rules of your farm. 

 
What are the basic requirements of a home for an LGD?

First of all, we work best in a team, so we prefer to have a partner or two. We need clear boundaries—good fences—that tell us what area we are to protect. We need a strong alpha human with time to work with us, making expectations clear and showing us what to protect. On a more practical side, we don’t usually like enclosed houses but we need shelter from extreme weather. We need lots of water and good food—plenty of it, because we are large dogs.

Is there anything else you’d like humans to know about LGDs? 

Yes. Please don’t scold us for barking. LGDs bark! We bark day and night. We bark to warn far-off howling coyotes to stay away. We bark to tell passing deer and bears not to come any closer. We bark to announce approaching vehicles and anything that is out of the ordinary or does not belong. Yes, we will even bark at raccoons and chipmunks. Now, I don’t mean we should be allowed to bark for no reason or taunt the livestock with barking. Correct us for that, but please let us do our job-related barking.

And that reminds me of some good names for LGDs. How about Bob Barker? Sir Barksalot? Barkley? Tree Bark? Almond Bark? Okay, now I’m getting a little out there with names. Better go do my patrol and stuff that I’m good at.

Thank you, Augie Doggie, for the enlightening interview! For more insight into the life of Augie and his sister, Callie, see Augie’s post at Rural Living Today. 

Marie and her husband, Jim, are developing a farm in the Pacific Northwest with their adult children and grandchildren. At The Homesteader Kitchen Marie and her daughter review kitchen equipment and talk about preparing and preserving delicious food. Along with other family members, Marie shares glimpses of country life at Rural Living Today and teaches practical skills at The Homesteader School .   

For me one of the joys of rural life is watching animals. Sometimes I'm very touched by what I see; sometimes I have a good laugh. I’ve also made some interesting observations about how animals entertain themselves, interact with each other, and respond to humans.

Horses play together and fight with each other. They will watch out for each other. In the wild, one stallion will lead and defend a herd of mares and young horses. A lead mare will be his second in command, and they will work together to manage the herd.

This is often seen in domestic herds as well. A stallion will usually have superiority over geldings (neutered males) and mares. However, if no stallion is present, a mare is likely to be queen of the herd. Geldings can also take a leadership role though. We had one gelding who was so protective of his favorite mare that we had him tested to see if any testosterone had been left behind.

The roles of horses can change as the grouping changes. For instance, at our place, when Star was around, King was submissive. But when Star left, King would take over the lead. But passive Bucky was always on the bottom rung of the ladder.

"Just act nonchalant like we don't know they're watching us."

 
Cows don’t really appear to play together much, except as frisky calves. Cows will fight on occasion, which can be complicated if they have horns. Cows don’t communicate much or show a strong hierarchy. Or so I thought.

My eyes were opened by "The Backyard Cow," in which author Sue Weaver reveals the social order of cows. In a herd of cows there is usually a head honcho, who may not really lead per se but gets first dibs at everything. And then there might be a morning hike director who leads everyone out to the pasture. A different evening coordinator brings them back to the barn at dusk.

And cows have a language all their own. Mooese consists of five main syllables used in combination to form six main calls, each of which has a different meaning. Ethologist C.J.C. Phillips has studied bovine communication in detail. (I had to look up the meaning of “ethology,” a new word for me. In case you, too, are in the dark, it is the study of animal behavior.)

"Psst...can you keep a secret?"

 
Chickens don’t appear to play, thought they sure like their dust baths. They will fight over food, roosting space, or for "just because" reasons not obviously apparent. The term “pecking order” came from the hierarchy of chickens. If roosters are present, one of them usually rules the roost, sometimes with the help of another roo or the alpha hen. Where there's no rooster, an assertive hen will take charge. The pecking order can sometimes be tracked from the alpha right down the line to the most submissive chicken.

Roosters have a few different voices for calling their hens to snack time, herding them into a corner to avoid danger, or warning off an intruder. Some roosters let their authoritative status go to their heads and become cocky (another term that came from the poultry world). And even a docile roo can overreact if you wear different boots or carry an umbrella.

Surprisingly, chickens also can have touching relational interactions. We have a pair of banties that are practically inseparable. One, the tiniest breed of the whole flock, is at the bottom of the pecking order. Her best friend, only slightly larger, is at her side day and night protecting and defending her. I have also seen a slender 4 pound hen spread her wing over a much larger 10# hen to protect her from perceived danger.

"In case any of you had a question about who rules this roost..." 

 
Horses, cows, and chickens…that’s about the extent of my experience with farm animals. In the next few months, with a new species on our farm, I expect to make some observations about the social life and communication style of pigs.

Do they utter assorted snorts? Can they wag their curly little tails? Do they share their food?

I’m eager to find out.

Marie and her husband, Jim, are developing a farm in the Pacific Northwest with their adult children and grandchildren. At The Homesteader Kitchen Marie and her daughter review kitchen equipment and talk about preparing and preserving delicious food. Along with other family members, Marie shares glimpses of country life at Rural Living Today and teaches practical skills at The Homesteader School .   

Jim and I have been starting some seeds indoors this month. We’ve always just done a few in a sunny window, but this year we hung some lights on the underside of a closet shelf to provide an area for several flats of seeds to get going.

Starting seeds indoors gives us a jump start on our growing season, which is a bit short in our region, with only four frost-free months. It will also save us some money if our tomato and pepper starts do well and we don’t have to buy nursery plants.

 

  

Last year we had our first garden on our property, and we planted only vegetables. As I was tidying up the veggie patch last fall, I realized that I had really missed having a flower bed. We do have beautiful wildflowers all around us all summer, but I would have enjoyed some color and variety in some of the “brown and beige” areas close to our home.

It kind of dawned on me … along with food production, the visual interest of flowers is an important part of rural living too.

So this year, in addition to a few flowers in our window boxes, we’ll be planting some annuals and perennials around the place. I have a personal priority of not introducing non-natives to our property, so I’m focusing on natives. This is especially important to me where the edges of our “yard” merge into natural areas of grass, brush, and forest.

Last fall I collected seeds from native flowering plants and scattered the seeds in large edging areas. The seeds slept under the snow this winter, and many of them should sprout this spring.

And along with veggie seeds, several packets of flower seeds were included in my seed order this year. Some of them are native varieties to supplement the seeds I collected. Others are favorite non-natives for a few selected beds and containers where I can control spreading.

 

Some of these seeds can be directly sown outdoors, but several varieties will soon be sprouting indoors right alongside our veggie starts. Hopefully we’ll have some fire red petunias, multi-colored cosmos, and Shasta daisies bursting from the soil to eagerly join the crowd.

Not only do I love the outdoor display of flowers, but to me, one thing that says “country kitchen” is my large white pitcher stuffed with multi-colored fresh flowers. So this year I’m determined to have that viewing and cutting flower garden!

If you’re interested in learning to start seeds indoors, hop on over to my family’s blog The Homesteader School and check out some of our “Learning to Garden” tutorials. Here’s a good one to start with! 

Marie and her husband, Jim, are developing a farm in the Pacific Northwest with their adult children and grandchildren. At The Homesteader Kitchen Marie and her daughter review kitchen equipment and talk about preparing and preserving delicious food. Along with other family members, Marie shares glimpses of country life at Rural Living Today and teaches practical skills at The Homesteader School . 

Here in our corner of the country, snow flurries are flying less frequently and we even have some frost-free mornings. It looks like spring is on its way! Our thoughts are going in two directions: getting the garden started and raising little livestock babies.  

In my planning and plotting, I came across this blog post about our first foray into hatching our own chicks. It was just last year, so this will be our second year. Here’s how I saw it last year - March 2011:  

A new adventure for us this spring is hatching our own chicks. Last year we raised 42 hatchery chicks, most of which were two days old when they arrived. We got that chick-rearing process down pat and decided to go a step farther this year. We bought an incubator.

 

We looked at the calendar to determine when the weather would be conducive to chicks moving outdoors at four weeks of age. Backtracking from there, we decided that a late March hatch date would be just about right. We collected a number of eggs and got them started in the incubator.

The gestation time for chicken eggs is 21 days, but it’s suggested that eggs be “candled” early on to see which ones contain viable embryos. Candling involves shining a light on the egg to show the air cell, blood vessels, and even little chicky eyes. It’s also possible to see the embryos moving around and tiny hearts beating.

So at one week we candled the eggs and removed several undeveloped ones. Again at two weeks, we took out a couple of eggs. On the 18th day, when the eggs should be “locked down” and undisturbed, we had 12 viable eggs.

 

An interesting thing had happened early in the month. A few days after we set the incubator eggs, one of our hens went broody. This means that she focused on becoming a mother and glued herself to a clutch of eggs, leaving the nest only about once a day to eat, drink, and take care of other business. She had no idea that since the rooster didn't visit her coop, her eggs were not fertile and would never hatch.

Tiny Pigwidgeon (“Piggy”) is our smallest hen, a petite Dark Brahma banty. She was faithful and determined, and in three weeks I saw her off the nest only one time for a brief jaunt outside. Hopefully she took a break at least once a day. But a broody hen lives for one thing only: to hatch and raise some baby chicks.

We decided to give Piggy half of the incubator eggs in hopes that she would hatch them. So on Day 18, we removed her clutch of infertile eggs to replace them with 6 viable incubator eggs. What a shock to see that she had accumulated 13 eggs in her nest, stealing the eggs her roommates had laid on the other side of the nestbox and hiding them all under her fluffy body and wings.

 

Day 21 came and went, and by Day 23 three chicks had hatched in the incubator. But not a peep came from Piggy’s private nest. Unfortunately by Day 26 she hadn’t managed to hatch any chicks. Perhaps she was off the nest too long, or the coop was just too cold, or maybe all six of her eggs just happened to fail in the last days of gestation. We didn’t do eggtopsies, so we’ll never know for sure.

Since Piggy had been brooding for weeks, with very little exercise and less food and water than normal, we removed her from the nest and took her private little brooder box out of the coop. We told her to go be a regular chicken for a while, scratching and pecking outside and regaining her strength. Reluctantly, she complied. It didn't take her long to remember the joys of fresh air, sunshine, and treats to be discovered in the great outdoors.

Hopefully we will experience both natural and mechanized hatching and brooding and have the joy of watching some of our hens putter around with little chicks toddling after them. Today we’re starting our second incubator batch but won't be surprised if spring weather also brings on the broodiness in the henhouse.

 

Update from later in 2011: Spring weather did indeed bring on the broodiness! Two of our hens, Silkie Hedwig and Buff Orp Yolk, successfully hatched chicks the old-fashioned way — and it was a delight to see the doting mamas teach their little ones how to scratch in the dirt and take dust baths.  

As for Miss Piggy, she again went broody and again sat on eggs--just a few this time. But again none of them hatched. Maybe she’ll give it another try next year, having learned some secrets from her hen sisters.   

Hopefully 2012 will see us hatching chicks both in the incubator and under fluffy mother hens - perhaps even Piggy will have her dreams come true!

Marie and her husband, Jim, are developing a farm in the Pacific Northwest with their adult children and grandchildren. At The Homesteader Kitchen Marie and her daughter review kitchen equipment and talk about preparing and preserving delicious food. Along with other family members, Marie shares glimpses of country life at Rural Living Today and teaches practical skills at The Homesteader School .

Today I’m sharing something written by my husband, Jim. He has a great perspective on this life we’re living together. Here he shares a bit of history and how he really feels about living the rural life!

Here I am, living on our rural property and real jazzed about it. I’m jazzed at night looking back at the day, and I'm really jazzed when I wake up!

I remember one day years ago in my corporate life. I was in a meeting discussing TPS report cover designs and found myself daydreaming. I can’t even recall what I was dreaming about, but it was pleasantly distracting. Then the person addressing the meeting woke me up when he said that when he got up in the morning he was "jazzed" about life and ready for the ups and downs of the day. I could see his genuine excitement and enthusiasm. But where in the world did he get it?

  

Comparing that guy’s feelings to my sense of life, I realized I was just going through the motions. I had a great job and a great family ... but something was missing. Maybe a lot was missing. I didn't even like lots of things about my life - and I definitely could care less about TPS cover designs. Why was I dying on the inside, even when things were going well on the outside?

I knew I needed to wake up and understand what was missing in my life. Maybe then I could rediscover the excitement and passion of life that I’d once had.

Thus started my journey to discover what was really going on with me. Along the way, I took a trip with my elderly father back to his home roots on a large farm in the Midwest. He had left the farm when he finished high school, but I suspect he really never really left in his heart. As we walked around the eight square miles that was the original family homestead, I saw firsthand what a farm was, or more accurately, what LAND was. I found myself getting pretty jazzed up internally.

It wasn't living in that specific place that was the exciting part; it was seeing with my own eyes what was involved in a new kind of life - one that was connected to the land. It was the rural lifestyle that really got me going.

I remembered my happiness in years past when I’d spent my weekends mending fences and doing other routine chores on our 5-acre gentleman’s farm. My wife, Marie, had been in her element raising kids, baking bread, growing food - even chasing escapee cows back into our pastures. Our kids were constantly outdoors, happily playing on their rope swing or munching veggies in the garden.

Over the years, circumstances had taken us back to city and suburban neighborhoods, but my excitement started growing as I started thinking about living on acreage again. Marie and I agreed - we were both happiest and most “at home” when living the rural lifestyle. As we talked about making a change, I started seeing some possibilities for moving back to rural life. But then came the doubt. The realist in me challenged my thoughts.

Could I really make such a major change ... or any change at all? How could I really leave my current corporate life? I couldn't afford it. There were too many obstacles. A part of me said I should just keep doing what I was doing. But the other part was starting to soar ... becoming excited ... getting jazzed about the possibilities of a change.

I was tired of just existing. Of going through the motions. Would I continue for the rest of my life this way? Nope. Couldn't do it. For me and my family, change was required, and for us it involved moving to some acreage and living a whole new way of life. I just couldn't pretend that I liked my life and satisfy my longings by playing Farmville on Facebook. I needed the real thing. Not a picture or game of the real thing.

  

For others, contentment might mean something else. They write their own stories about their journeys. But for my family and me, this life is very satisfying - and it suits us.

Marie and Jim are developing a farm in the Pacific Northwest with their adult children and grandchildren. Together they share glimpses of country life at Rural Living Today and teach practical skills at The Homesteader School .  

Many years ago our young family took a trip to Disneyland. We had the free use of a motor home that would sleep our family comfortably, so we decided to drive.

We packed up the motor home with basic cooking equipment and groceries, bedding and enough clothes for the trip. Each of us brought along some things for entertainment, from books to cassette tapes (remember those?) to toys and games. I even stashed my sewing machine in the shower so I could finish up some clothes I’d been making for the kids.
 

  

As we drove away from home, I looked back at our two-story house. I thought to myself, we have everything we need right here in this little motor home. Why in the world do we have such a big house and so much stuff?

Of course, when we returned from our vacation we went right on living in our big house full of stuff. But that kind of thing has repeated itself over and over in our life. We moved overseas, taking very little—but we accumulated a houseful of stuff again. Five years later we returned to the U.S. with very little and … yep, we accumulated another houseful.

Several years ago, when we lived in a suburban neighborhood, Jim and I realized that we spent 80% of our time at home in just a few rooms. The other space was used just occasionally. We slept in our bedroom and used our master bathroom. We cooked in the kitchen and ate in the adjoining dining area. Though we sat in the living room once in a while, we really lived in the family room. I admit we did have an “everything room” that stored a lot of stuff but was really not used much.

That’s when we started re-evaluating our plans to build a large house on our acreage. Not only do we not need the space most of the time, but maintaining a large home is not very high on our list of favorite things to do.

  

So we decided to build a small home within our utility barn and live in it for a while, building the larger house later. Our new home takes up one long side of the barn. It’s cute and cozy and just right for the two of us. We built a little home office in the “barn” side. We’ve lived this way for over a year—through two winters—and so far it hasn’t seemed too small! It even looks promising for a permanent situation.

Less of a house to clean and maintain gives us more time for our other projects. We never have to search more than a minute to find each other in the house. And no matter what room we're in, everything else seems to be just steps away. 

Downsizing so drastically really forced us to weed through our belongings. We decided we’d keep things that were meaningful, useful, or otherwise important. Now when we look around our little home, every piece of furniture, every picture on the wall, and every decorative item has a connection to our family or our experiences.

Would we like a bigger house? Sometimes. We can’t squeeze big groups or crowds in our living room. We don’t have an extra bedroom for family and friends to sleep in. The kitchen table always seems to have something on it. Once in a while there’s even a line for the single bathroom.

But so far we’ve tweaked things to be pretty comfortable. We have plenty of storage space in the adjoining barn for off-season clothes and things we need to access occasionally. We could build an outdoor studio cabin if we needed more space. For six months of the year we can have oodles of people sitting in our outdoor "living room," dining at our patio tables, and sleeping in trailers and tents.

Stay tuned ... we may just never build that larger house. 

 

Marie and her husband, Jim, are developing a farm in the Pacific Northwest with their adult children and grandchildren. At The Homesteader Kitchen Marie and her daughter review kitchen equipment and talk about preparing and preserving delicious food. Along with other family members, Marie shares glimpses of country life at Rural Living Today and teaches practical skills at The Homesteader School . 

When my kids were young, I was one of those moms that just loved doing all sorts of domestic and creative things. I have been called “June Cleaver,” though I am not fond of wearing high heels or pearls or even dresses for that matter. (In one episode, the dedicated June wore pearls even with her bathrobe! I saw it on a rerun!)

I always made a point of taking time for friends, church, and community. I had other pursuits, hobbies, and interests. But there’s no doubt that my family was my first focus. Caring for my kids and participating in their lives was a major part of my life.

 

  

When my oldest kids started leaving home, I knew I was in for a tumble down the empty nest syndrome spiral. I could see the writing on the wall: one day all of my children would be out on their own. So I took the bull by the horns and started preparing for that day far in the future when I really would be an empty nester.

I thought about things I’d like to do when all the kids were grown. I knew I’d relish more time to write and follow other creative pursuits. I could get a job in publishing. I could go back to school and finish my degree. And I expected to someday have grandkids to coddle, spoil, and enjoy.

My hubby, Jim, and I could do more traveling, take longer vacations, and make more weekend getaways. We’d continue to visit art galleries and enjoy community theater and music. I even told Jim I would learn to golf, but was secretly glad when he said he prefers to golf with “the guys.”

Jim and I sat down and wrote individual and combined 5-year and 10-year goals—what we’d like to do by then and where we’d like to see ourselves. I guess we were writing bucket lists before we knew what a bucket list was. As the years went by, we checked some things off, crossed out some that no longer seemed interesting, and repeatedly highlighted some that just hadn’t happened yet.

  

One thing on my list was to have chickens. I finally got my chickens shortly after Jim and I moved to the farm (checking one more thing off our lists). Guess what? It was just after our youngest child got married and began her own life outside my nest. And yes, I already had symptoms of the dreaded empty nest syndrome.

A week after we moved to the farm, our wonderful Maremma livestock guardian dogs came to live with us. But for a smooth transition, they needed some livestock to guard. So we got some chickens. Yay! At last!

I started with layer breed chicks…17 of them! A month later, I got meat chicks…26 of them! We had 43 chicks! And I thought, why not try raising turkeys for Thanksgiving? So I bought some turkey babies! We had…chicks and turkey poults galore.

I have to say I am surprised at how chickens have satisfied my maternal nurturing instincts. They don’t need a lot of care, but from the start, twice or more a day I was checking on them, feeding and watering them. Oh yes, and sometimes just watching them. And, okay--sometimes I even held and cuddled them.

 

I could tell you many wonderful things about chickens, but today I’m thinking about how they hopped into my empty nest and filled it pretty full.

I still miss my family when they’re not here. I enjoy doing little-kid things with my grandkids, and grownup stuff (okay, some childish stuff too) with my eight adult kids. I have been known to pamper Jim just a little eensy bit.

But those chickens, they let me lavish on them all the nurturing I have to spare. I’ve never once heard them complain!

Marie and her husband, Jim, are developing a farm in the Pacific Northwest with their adult children and grandchildren. At The Homesteader Kitchen Marie and her daughter review kitchen equipment and talk about preparing and preserving delicious food. Along with other family members, Marie shares glimpses of country life at Rural Living Today and teaches practical skills at The Homesteader School .

When Jim and I bought our first acreage, we were just shy of 30 years old. We both dug in and worked hard to make that land into a small farm for our family. We had all the energy in the world!

Jim was working full time in the city, and on weekends he was building fences, mending fences, planting fruit trees, tilling garden plots. I was a stay-at-home mom with three young kids, making our house a home, growing some of our food, and doing lots of domestic things “the old fashioned way.”

  

After that, life took us here and there for a few decades, and flash forward to today — we are now just shy of 60 years old. We are both digging in and working hard to make this land into a farm for our family. But guess what? We no longer have all the energy in the world!

We have enough, though. We are putterers and we like to stay busy — it seems to be in our genes. Neither of us lacks for ideas for more things to do around here. We just have to remember to pace ourselves and leave some tasks to our younger family members.

  

We keep an eye on each other and watch for telltale signs that we need a break or need to get help for something. We rarely miss our afternoon coffee date together, whether it’s in the living room, at the kitchen table, on folding chairs in the barn, or somewhere in our beautiful “backyard.” It forces us to sit down and even close our eyes for a spell.

Of course, our life would be different if our kids had not wanted to make this a joint family project. If it were just the two of us, Jim and I would be on 10 or 20 acres just outside a small town, not far from family, with a few chickens, a steer or two, a garden, and some fruit trees.

And truth be told, there would be a point at which we'd be too old to start even a small farm by ourselves. But since we are part of this extended family adventure, we are enjoying it to the hilt. Some of our heroes are elderly longtime farmers who have continued to tend their gardens, care for their livestock, and preserve their own food. They say they won't stop till "they buy the farm" or "the cows come home."

Several years ago Jim and I adopted a personal mantra from the movie “Far and Away.” You may know the story: Joseph and Shannon, played by Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, escape from their unfulfilling lives in Ireland and sail to America. Shannon’s parents, Daniel and Nora, come looking for their runaway daughter. All four of them end up in the Midwest during the Oklahoma Land Rush.

Daniel and Nora, a middle-aged couple, embark on a frantic (and comical) race to claim a piece of land. As they stand victoriously surveying their chosen prize, Daniel says tenderly to Nora:

“Let’s pretend we’re starting out instead of ending up.”  

  

Here’s to starting out … at any age!

Marie and her husband, Jim, are developing a farm in the Pacific Northwest with their adult children and grandchildren. At The Homesteader Kitchen (http://homesteaderkitchen.com), Marie and her daughter review kitchen equipment and talk about preparing and preserving delicious food. Along with other family members, Marie shares glimpses of country life at Rural Living Today (http://rurallivingtoday.com) and teaches practical skills at The Homesteader School (http://homesteaderschool.com).

The old white barn on Terra Dei Farm as it steadfastly weathers another winter. 

The deep slow breathing of livestock in the barn... The sweet earthy smells of fresh hay and ripe sweet corn... The beams of sunrise reflecting off of morning dew hanging on the waving pasture grass... The laughter of small children and wagging tails of pets... The texture of old barn siding patiently waiting for new paint... Every day the atmosphere of our home floods our senses and fills our hearts with peaceful joy and beauty. I am so excited to be blogging for Grit and sharing our farm with others who appreciate the beauty of rural life and the timeless wisdom found in hard work and old-fashioned virtue.
 

Our commercial Boer goats heading to the barn for the night.