Living Off Grid - 5 Tips for Raising Chickens at Home

We just started raising chickens and have already learned a lot so far. Here are some tips, tricks and lessons we've learned on raising chickens at home.

Keep the Coup Predator Proof!

If you are going to be raising chickens in a more rural or remote setting, my number one most important tip is to make sure your coup is safe for your chickens. We purchased our first two birds, Rhode Island Red hens, and put them in a coup with a yard that wasn't covered with chicken wire on the top. The next day, one of our birds was missing. It's possible that it escaped but also possible that a bird of prey such as a hawk or owl swooped into the coup and took her.

Clip the Chickens' Wings

Clipping a Chicken's wing will throw off their flight balance which will make them less likely to fly away. When clipping, be sure to use sharp scissors. It may sound mean to take away a bird's ability to fly but by clipping the chicken's wing you are keeping them in a safe environment where they will be fed and taken care of and it doesn't hurt them a bit!

Feed Your Chicken's What They Need

Chickens are well known for eating just about anything. You can toss them all sorts of kitchen scraps when they're older. For our younger chicks, we have been feeding them chick crumbles and our larger chickens get cracked corn and then an all purpose feed. Be sure to research the types of things your chickens can and can't eat.

A Clean Coup is a Happy Home

It is essential that you keep your coup clean. Chickens poop. A lot. And they poop everywhere, including on their food and in their water. Chickens, especially baby chicks, are prone to many diseases including Coccidioisis which thrives in a damp environment. So do your best to keep your birds and their homes clean and happy and they'll (hopefully) provide you with lots of eggs!

Provide a Place for Nesting

If you are raising chickens for their eggs, you must provide them with a place to lay. Many people build nesting boxes which can work well. Our hens aren't yet old enough to lay so for now we have just thrown some straw inside the coup. If you don't build nesting boxes, the hens will create their own nests with the material you've provided.

Most importantly: Have fun!

Living Off Grid - Saving Your Seeds

While seed saving can be done whether you are hooked up to PUD or not, the entire process of gardening and harvesting your heirloom seeds is the kind of thing sustainable living is all about. Seed saving can be tedious work but the benefits are wonderful.

What is an Heirloom Seed?
Heirloom seeds are those handed down generation to generation. Although they are found in some seed catalogs or available for sale online, true heirloom seeds are more often passed among individuals. They are seeds that come from plants that have grown in open pollination and without human intervention.

Benefits of Seed Saving
Saving seeds can be a beneficial as well as rewarding activity. By saving seeds from your garden, you can save money on next year's garden. If you save your seeds, you won't have to buy more. Saving seeds also ensure quality. If you grow organic fruits and veggies, you know the seeds you save are organic as well.

How to Save Seeds
The basic process for preparing fruits and vegetables for seed harvesting is to separate the seeds from the flesh, rinse the seeds and then let them dry before storing them.
Last night I read an article in Sunset magazine about saving tomato seeds. Here's a quick rundown of the process they suggested:

1. Place the seeds and juice of a garden tomato in a jar.
2. Let the jar sit out for a few weeks or until there is a layer of mold on top. The viable seeds will sink to the bottom of the jar.
3. Carefully discard the top layer of mold and any seeds that didn't sink.
4. Add 1/2 cup of water to the mix and repeat the process until the seeds at the bottom are clean.

If you want to save seeds from flowers the consensus seems to be that you should let the seeds dry as long as possible while still on the plant.

Tips for Storing Seeds

After your seeds have dried completely they can be stored in small paper bags. Be sure to label the bags so you know which seeds are where. Some seeds, such as flower seeds, store better in sealed jars. When the seeds are packaged keep them in an area that is cool and dry. If you can, use your seeds the following year as the quality of the seeds decrease year by year.

Living Off Grid - What is Permaculture?

Permaculture has recently become a hot topic in the 'green living' and 'sustainability' community. But what is Permaculture? This article aims to define the term Permaculture and give practical ways to implement it into your own landscape designs.

What is Permaculture?
The term 'permaculture', originally coined by Bill Mollison in the 1970's, was first used as a shorted form of "permanent agriculture". (Permaculture.net) Today, permaculture is defined as, "An agricultural system or method that seeks to integrate human activity with natural surroundings so as to create highly efficient self-sustaining ecosystems." (Merriam-Webster)

The Purpose of Permaculture
The goal is to use, to their fullest extent, the resources you have available and making them all work together as efficiently and as sustainably as possible. It is a holistic approach to creating harmony and unity between landscape design and human culture.

The Practicality of Permaculture
The brilliance of permaculture is that everything is interconnected, works together and is dependent on another. For example, you could choose to grow kale in your garden. The kale can then be eaten by you and also given as food for your chickens. Then your chickens also provide food by their eggs. Then you can use the manure in your chicken coup in your compost pile which can later fertilze the soil in your garden. Every aspect in a permaculture ecosystem has multiple uses and is supported by each other.

The Three Standard Ethics of all Permaculture Designs
There are three standard ethics applicable to all permaculture design. First is care of the earth. "All living things have intrinsic worth" and value. Second, is care of the people; the goal of permaculture is to have a sustainable ecosystem and when correctly designed, every aspect should be supported. Third is the reinvestment of all surplus. Surplus can include everything from information, money or labor as long as it is in support of the first two ethics.

Implementing Permaculture into Your Landscape Design
However you choose to implement permaculture into your landscape design, consider the standard of ethics and how you can best achieve a cohesive and self-supported ecosystem. Plan for your specific geographic region. Choose plants and livestock that will thrive best in your climate. With every component of your design, brainstorm possible uses, potential symbiotic relationships, and determine what will make the most of your resources.

Living Off Grid - Will it Save Your Family Money?

My family and I are building a house in the mountains and plan to live off the grid. We have been looking at the costs of various alternative energy options.

Will Living Off the Power Grid Save Money?
I was thinking that not being connected to utility companies would lower our overall cost of living. However, one article I read made me think again, "while the energy may be free, it still costs more than electricity from a utility company."

Free Energy, Expensive Equipment
His point is that the equipment he uses to power his house cost a lot more than what he would be paying if he was connected to the grid, "While the energy is free, the equipment is not, making the cost of power higher than utility prices."

Don't Forget Back-up Sources
It is also suggested that, whatever type of energy source you choose, you should have a battery bank and back up generator available as well. Non-renewable backup generators, like those powered by gasoline, are not as 'green' as just going with the utility company.

Is Cost a Factor for Your Family?
If you are considering living off the grid, there is a lot to think about. If you are building, like we are, you may have a lot more flexibility in choosing what you sources you will get your household's energy from. If you are converting your house or purchasing one that is already off the grid, it might be wise to way the costs if that is a deciding factor for your family.

Living Off Grid - 5 Tips for Wood Stoves

My family and I are building an off the grid home and plan to put in a wood burning stove for both heating as well as cooking. I've never had a wood stove in my home before so I did some research and found five great tips on how to heat your home efficiently using a wood stove.

Seasoned Wood Burns more Efficiently
Unseasoned wood contains a lot of moisture that must be burned off before the wood actually begins giving off enough heat to warm up your house. "Seasoned wood burns hotter and more efficiently, helps decrease the amount of creosote buildup in your stovepipe and saves you money".

Keep the Stove Clear of Ash
Fire needs oxygen and in a wood stove, oxygen comes in through air-intake vents. Removing excess ash from your stove will keep your wood stove's air-intake vents clear and unclogged.

Make Your House Draft-Free
If you keep your home well insulated, you'll be able to use less wood to maintain a comfortable temperature within the house. Good insulation, caulking and weather stripping can all help keep your house sealed.

Purchase a Stove to Suit Your Needs
It's important to choose a stove that will suit the needs of your home. A stove that is too large may increase creosote production, while one that is too small may not effectively heat the space for which it was intended to.

Use the Type of Fuel that Your Stove was Designed to Burn
This may seem like a no-brainer but if your stove is specifically a 'wood burning stove', don't burn anything other than wood in it. Some substances like plastics can give off toxic gasses and things like, "driftwood, treated wood, artificial logs, or anything containing plastics, lead, zinc or sulfur will damage your catalytic combustor".

For more great information on choosing and using your wood stove, check out Choosing and Using Your Wood Stove

Living Off Grid - How to Prepare

My family and I are building a house in the mountains and plan to live off the grid. Here are some of the steps we are taking to prepare for this new lifestyle.

Research & Read

We have been doing a ton of researching and learning everything we can about an off grid lifestyle. We spend time reading blogs of families who are making steps towards sustainable living. We have also been learning about gardening, alternative energy sources, and general permaculture. We have also learned some useful information about laws and regulations in our area by calling our local PUD office.

Set Goals & Make Plans

Try to be conscious of how you live. Think about your energy consumption and brainstorm ways to cut back. Consider your family's eating habits. What patterns would you need to adjust in order to live more sustainably? How will you perform everyday functions of the home that typically require electricity? How will you do laundry? How will you light your home? These are all questions that should be answered before taking the plunge into living off the grid.

Start Now

The best way to prepare is to start practicing now. Lower your energy consumption as much as possible. Do you really need to leave that light on all day? How long does that hot shower really need to be? Can you think of any activities to fill your time that don't involve a television? Little by little, simplify your life and you will be well on your way to being prepared for off the grid living.

Wild Harvest - Uses for Chicory

I hadn't ever paid much attention to wildflowers until this year. The month of July seems to be prime blossoming time for many of the wildflowers that grow around where I live. Chicory is very common, and although considered a weed among most, is actually an incredibly useful plant.

Chicory, also sometimes referred to as blue sailors, is a perennial plant that grows between 2 to 4 feet tall, with a branching leafy stem. It is sometimes mistaken for bachelor’s button but the most notable difference is that chicory usually has 1 to 3 blooms in the axils of its upper leaves whereas bachelor’s button is single at stem tips.

Roadsides and waste places are where you’re most likely to find chicory. The plant was introduced to the United States from Eurasia and is not considered a weed or pest plant in some areas. 

So what can we do with our wild harvested chicory?

Eat It

Europeans consider chicory a salad green.

In Italy, fresh chicory leaves are sold as radicchio.

The French produce a green called whitloof chicory, Belgian endive, or French endive by forcing the roots of a chicory plant to sprout while being deprived of light. 

Chicory roots can be eaten raw or can be boiled. The roots can also be dried and ground, then used to flavor or season food.

Drink It

The roots of a chicory plant can be roasted and used as a coffee substitute or additive. 

Dye Your Yarn :)

Chicory can be used as a dye for yarn or other fabrics. The flowers produce a yellow color while the leaves produce blue dye.

References:

OARDC Ohio State

Wildflowers of Washington by C.P. Lyons, pg 167

How Much Do You Know About Living Off Grid?

I stumbled upon Discovery.com's 'Living off the Grid Quiz' today. Many of the questions were no-brainers for anyone that has done any research on the subject of off grid living but some of them were pretty interesting...

How Many People Worldwide Live Off Grid?

One of the the questions asked how many people world-wide live off grid and according to the quiz, about 1.7 billion people live off grid. It's kind of interesting to me that there are people like my family and possibly you since you're reading this, who are interested in choosing an off grid lifestyle when there are over a billion people in the world that if given the chance, would probably really enjoy living ON grid.

What are your thoughts? The grass is always greener isn't it?

Why did an off-the-grid man in Pennsylvania go to jail in 2006?

Some states have some strict laws against living off grid. My family and I are blessed to live in an area that is not going to come after us for living off grid. The answer to this question was really kind of sad.

Don't the authorities have better things to do than bother this man?



Take the quiz and see how much you know about Living off the Grid: Living off the Grid Quiz

Wild Harvest - Uses for Yarrow

 

Living in the Ponderosa Pine ecosystem of eastern Washington, our property has a bountiful supply of wild yarrow. Being the resourceful, nature loving woman that I am, I began doing research to see what I could do with our abundant supply of this wild herb. Here are some of the naturopathic, medicinal uses of yarrow I discovered.

Yarrow has a History of Medicinal Use

All parts of the herb can be used for oral or topical use. Yarrow is said to have pain relieving qualities. Native Americans used yarrow in some of the following ways:

·         Chew raw leaves as an oral analgesic for general toothaches.

·         Pour an infusion into the ear to ease the pain of earaches.

·         Make a tea and drink as a fever reducer and sleep aid.

·         Boil an infusion and inhale the vapor to relieve headaches.

·         Chew roots and apply the saliva to appendages as a stimulant…

Okay, I’ll probably pass on that last one. But as you can see, yarrow was an important plant in the Native American medicine cabinet. So I say… let’s fill our medicine cabinets with some too!

Where I found these great uses and where you can find even more: http://herb.umd.umich.edu/herb/search.pl?searchstring=Achillea+millefolium