TheReturnHomestead

Sometimes the animals are not the problem. Keeping chickens on pasture means keeping them from flying out. I have noticed that chickens do not seem to fly over fences; instead, they fly up to a perch and down on the other side of the fence. I have a few handy perches to block them from using. Wooden fences and posts are enough of a perch for chickens to convince themselves that they can escape. I plan to put scraps of fencing on the inside of the wooden fence pieces to keep the chickens from seeing a clear path to a landing spot. A low cost solution.

Wow! The green beans just keep coming in. Marti has frozen all that she needed but still . . . more beans.We have been harvesting a couple of gallons every two days, and they show no signs of stopping. We don't want to run out of freezer space, and we don't have a pressure canner, so Marti is making Spicy Dilly Beans. These can be stored for a couple of years on the pantry shelf. They can be served as a side dish, or even presented in a salad.

There is no wrong way to layout a garden . . . if you don't have one. Get out and make use of the land you have. Put in some labor and improve your life with healthy food options. We only put in a few rows last year and had some small success growing sweet potatoes, beans, field peas, tomatoes, greens, and onions. This year we are expanding and filling the backyard with food production. We planned it out; now it is time to get to work.

Homesteading is about figuring out how to take care of yourself. Often that means using what you find and working with two hands when three are needed. We have the brooder in the barn ready to receive the spring chickens. The chickens need a heat lamp, and that presents an interesting challenge. After solving that, we move the chickens out of the house and into the barn.

Working on the homestead means cleaning up after the animals. Nine chickens overwintered in this coop. Now, it needs to be mucked out. The manure is used as fertilizer and mulch around the apple trees. Simple labor that produces eggs, fertilizer, and apple pie jam. Returning to the land means establishing a collection of interdependent systems. Your labor connects the systems. Life results from the enjoyment of fruits from each system as you integrate yourself with the systems. This is why we encourage you to return to the land, return to labor, and return to life.