South Eastern Connecticut Landscaping

My neighbor has been busy preparing her garden, making room for an expected feathered flock of chickens. A beautiful coop crafted in Vermont has just arrived and is about to be set in a well chosen part of the garden. As I watch from my side of the fence, I am a little envious.

Chickens can be a great addition for the urban gardener. And many cities have zoning allowances for the birds, with some restriction on roosters for the obvious reason (but please always check your local laws and zoning). While they are not known to be smart, they do have personalities and can be fun companions. They are more eco-friendly than your pet dog or cat—with benefits:

• they provide food for your family with a zero carbon footprint from coop to plate 
• their waste is high in nitrogen and is excellent for your compost 
• they are a natural garden pest control for grubs, aphids, earwigs, and other bugs 
• they help aerate your soil and breakdown vegetation as they forage, scratching and pecking for morsels 
• they eat your kitchen and food scraps
• backyard chickens produce a better quality egg that is higher in vitamin E and A. Their eggs are also significantly higher in beta carotene and omega-3 fatty acids than farmed chicken eggs 

I admit I have long thought about jumping on this bandwagon. There was a time when I spent months reading and researching all-things-chicken. I was looking forward to delicious eggs, a personal insect control team and ultra-rich compost. So I surprised myself when I made an awkward discovery that put the brakes on this dream. Let me explain.

A number of years back, in Portland OR, my brother and his then girlfriend adopted a small-sized, glossy black rooster they named “Chicken”. I was sent adoring photos of “Chicken” along with stories of his many antics. “Chicken” hanging out on the grapevine. “Chicken” visiting the neighbors. “Chicken” outsmarting a cat. Oh I was in love. At the first available opportunity, I jumped on a plane to visit “Chicken”…er, I mean, my brother. Not one day on the ground did I realize I am afraid of birds! Scared fertilizerless of them!!

Now that my neighbor has a coop, I am reminded of my phobia and that long ago dream. I am envious because I know this can never be for me. Perhaps my neighbor will take pity and share some of her bounty with me.

photo courtesy: mypetchicken.com

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Recently I received an email asking me to review a video all about backyard food production systems. I was curious so I said sure. I grow a large vegetable garden in the backyard every year and if there were ideas inside this DVD that I could use and incorporate into my garden it might be worthwhile for others who read this blog to learn more about as well.

The video is simply titled Food Production Systems for a Backyard or Small Farm and is about 110 minutes long. Through the video Marjory explains why her family set out to become as self-sustainable as possible and how they’ve sought to accomplish it.  She tells in the video right from the start that what they have tried to do A) isn’t easy and B) they’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way. Because they have experienced it you can learn from the mistakes they have made.

So what has her family done exactly? They’ve installed a significant rain collection system for their water uses, learned about food crops and management, composting, protecting livestock from predators, raised chickens and rabbits as well as a whole array of other subject areas. They have put together some ingenious methods of sustainability like with their rabbit composting system. They raise rabbits as a food supply but also receive the added benefit of their composted manure. Rabbit cages are suspended over hay which eventually becomes compost for the garden. The method she uses for fertilizing her fruit trees is pretty clever too. She puts out water troughs for geese to come bath in underneath the trees. Every now and then she dumps out the messy water underneath the trees which of course is full of geese manure.

The video has many ideas that could be incorporated into a backyard garden even if complete sustainability isn’t your goal. It also comes with a resource disc with PDF files that cover subjects like aquaponics, seed saving, home composting and several others. I do have to caution you though that this video isn’t for everyone. Their goal is to become self-sustainable which means that the animals they raise aren’t necessarily pets and they explain and demonstrate the whole process which may be a little tough for younger folks and those who might be a little squeamish.

Overall I found the video very interesting. We’re frugal and I like the thought of becoming more sustainable through our backyard food production and now I know what to do with those annoying rabbits that continually eat my plants…

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When people buy a home, it’s generally so they have a place to live long term. A place to raise a family and set down roots in a community. You eventually gain equity, and then the magic day comes, when the home that you’ve been paying on for 20 to 30 years finally becomes your own.

Sometimes things don’t go that smoothly. The home that may have been the perfect little love nest five years ago may have become your waking nightmare. It’s then that you have a to make the difficult choice to make some changes to the home or to go out and find a new new.

1. It’s too small. I remember when we first moved into our current home. It seemed so large compared to our little two-bedroom duplex. It was just my wife and I, and we thought the house would be perfect to raise a child in, and it was. It’s when we added the other two kids to the mix that suddenly our spacious bungalow seems cramped. When you outgrow your home, there is only one of two things you can really do: add on or move on. Adding on can be an expensive choice, and it will take time. You also need to worry about the city’t to mention the permits and a good contractor. If you can’t make the room, then you need to find something new.

2. Repair issues. One of my favorite things about renting was that if anything ever went wrong, it wasn’t coming out of my pocket. If the water heater broke, then call the landlord. If the roof leaked, then call the landlord. When you own your home, you aren’t that lucky. When the roof leaks, you need to get it fixed, or else it rots and gets worse. Older homes are particularly prone to this. The wiring goes bad. The foundation cracks. It can be a never-ending cycle of repair after repair after repair. You have to make the decision of what’s more important to you. The house you have made a home or the piece of mind that a quarter of your retirement will be spent repairing your home.

3. It’s too big. This is an issue my parents discovered after all us kids left home. You go from a family of five to only two, and suddenly you have all these extra rooms and more space. You’re older, and all that extra cleaning is a pain, not to mention hard on your back. There is no way to make a house smaller. You can’t just take a wrecking ball to half your home. My parents did the only reasonable thing they could. They moved to a smaller home and have been happy ever since. My dad didn’t have to worry about wood for the furnace or getting snowed in during the winter.

The decision to move isn’t an easy one, especially if it is to a new town. It’s a major change and one that should not be taken lightly. But sometimes, it just so happens that it’s the right thing to do. What do you think? Should you always fight for your home, or should you be open to change?

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/j_benson/2763428879/

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Believe it or not, the months of shopping, anxiety and expectation have culminated in a few hours of frantic unwrapping, and now the only present is the bottle of red wine you and your spouse or significant other plan on drinking tonight.

With the holiday festivities at an end, it’s time to think about putting all those decorations away that you so painstakingly put out in November. The Christmas tree, the outside lights and, God help you, inflatable Christmas decorations. Here are a few tips and tricks that I have learned over the years to help make the post-holidays a little easier.

1. You can procrastinate or take your time. Just because it’s Dec. 26 does not mean everything has to come down. I have known people who are so adamant about it that they have the whole family take down decorations after opening presents. While the holiday is over, you can keep the decorations up until after New Year’s. If you really like the tree, then don’t worry about taking it down. Just redecorate it for Valentine’s Day, Easter, etc. throughout the year.

2. Roll up the lights neatly. When I first started this whole Christmas decorating thing, I was buying new outdoor lights every year. Why? I didn’t want to deal with untangling the lights. Try to roll the lights around something like a piece of plastic, so they are straight and won’t become tangled. It’s easy to forget about this when you see the hundreds if not thousands of lights you need to bring down. I have been swayed by the chore many times and created giant balls of lights that no one could untangle.

3. Deal with the real tree carefully. By now, that heavenly pine tree you picked out from a field of hundreds has become a spiny, needle-dropping conifer of death. You can’t touch it without being pricked, and every slight movement drops a new legion of needles on the floor. My best tip is to wear thick gloves to protect from the needles. Grab a large blanket or bed sheet and use it to carry out the tree. The sheet will catch most of the falling needles and make it easier to carry. If you are lucky, then your vacuum cleaner will be able to pick up the needles. If not, then wear good shoes and get ready for the long, tedious job of picking them up by hand. Just so you know, you will find pine needles for months (perhaps years) to come.

Christmas only comes once a year. Thank goodness. You know have about 10 months of normalcy before the insanity comes around again.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/sethw/2094710078

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Odds are that some, if not most, of the people will begin their Christmas sojourn today via a long drive or a trip to a friend’s Christmas party. Christmas Eve is notorious for sending people to the ER for falls and other calamities, so here are some tips to keep you safe this season.

1. Watch the walkways: Ice is perhaps the most dangerous natural phenomenon that can put an early end to Christmas celebrations. Make sure your walkway is well salted with rock salt, or at the very least, use sand or cinder to gain traction. Make sure to keep an eye on the ice when you walk across on the way to the car. If you’re the host, then please, use a doormat.

2. Don’t be afraid to take an extra trip: Humans are naturally impatient, and we will do anything we can to consolidate how many trips we take to the car. That includes piling presents to the point where we can’t see anything. We assume that since we have been taking this route to the car day in and day out for years that a seven-foot-high present tower won’t keep us from it. What ends up happening is you fall and the presents go flying everywhere as do you. Here’s a thought. Only take a few presents at a time and just keep going back. A few extra trips will be less time than a ER visit.

3. Don’t drink too much eggnog: It’s easy to get a little crazy at a holiday party. Eggnog is often spiked, and drinks of various forms are flowing freely, but it is important to drink in moderation and to choose a designated driver. You want your Christmas to be remembered for the fun memories and not for embarrassment and tragedy.

4. Take it slow: Winter can be a treacherous time on the roads, and people will be out in droves traveling from place to place. It’s important to take it slow and to keep an eye not only on the road, but also on the other drivers. Roads can be covered with ice and you may not know it, so just slow down and be careful.

Make this holiday season a safe one so you can enjoy friends and family outside of a hospital environment. They want you to be around for a long time, so please take the time to be a little extra careful this season.

Image Source:flickr.com/photos/betsyweber/2355138776

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I am now sitting in a warm home with fresh ideas brimming in my head. It was a long two days, but it is nice to be back in my home again and to not have icicles hanging from my eyelids. As my furnace sat silently in my basement, dormant and apparently dead, it got my mind thinking about the worst home disasters that can happen during the winter.

With the holidays so close, these events could put a definite cramp in any person’s plans, whether they include a quiet evening at home with the family or a bursting feast for 50 people.

1. Broken furnace: This is perhaps the most dangerous of the disasters, because your home cools very quickly, and it can lead to frostbite or death for people unable to leave and get the furnace fixed. The cost of repairing a furnace isn’t cheap. We’re talking a few hundred dollars an hour for these guys just to come look at it, and then they actually have to fix it. If you’re lucky, then it’s easy and you can have your heat back that afternoon, but if it isn’t, or if you need a new furnace, then you could be without heat for a few days. You are also at the mercy of those heating experts, who are getting call after call for broken furnaces.

2. Frozen pipes: Occasionally, the water pipes in your home can freeze, and if you are lucky, then you will only lose water pressure, but it also lead to burst pipes. If you have a pipe burst and do not realize it right away, then your basement can fill up fast and knock out your hot water heater and your furnace. The worst-case scenario is the pipe bursts, you don’t realize it and the water freezes. You walk into your basement and find a skating rink. If the pipes are just frozen, then you can usually use electrical tape to warm up the pipes, or if it is somewhere inaccessible, then just have an electric current run through it to melt the ice. If the pipe bursts, then that portion of pipes needs to be replaced, or at least patched, and then you have the cleanup efforts. There are many pieces of advice on how to keep your pipes from freezing, but the best advice is always this: Move someplace where it doesn’t freeze.

3. Sewage backup: There is nothing worse than walking down into your basement and smelling the odor of poo. A sewage backup is just plain nasty. Sometimes when it’s cold, even the sewage line can freeze, become clogged or, God forbid, blocked, and it begins backing up in your basement, bathtub, toilet and sink. If the problem lies outside the house, then it’s likely to bubble up in the basement. If it is somewhere between the basement and the sink or toilet, then it will backup in the sink or toilet. Yummy. You can try using a plunger to unclog it manually, but if you can’t, then the Roto Rooter man is getting a call, and he brings out his 200-foot snake to take out the clog. If that doesn’t work, then they will dig up your yard. That will not only cost a pretty penny, especially in winter, but also make your yard look bad until spring gets there.

These are the big ones that I can think of, and I have had all happen to me at one time or another. They can be a major financial setback, but they have to be taken care of as soon as possible.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/cynthiacloskey/3205681690

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Tuesday find ourselves cold again – waking up to temperatures in the mid teens in our little frost pocket. Fortunately the garden shed stayed about 10 degrees warmer without any extra heat. I hope to eventually add something for heating purposes but for now the shed is overwintering many of the plants I made from cuttings. Yesterday’s look back post ended with photos from June today we’ll finish with a few photos from the other warm months!

July 2010 – July brought us a new addition to the family with the birth of my son. On the day he was born I was out with my two daughters in the garden on a warm and windy day. They picked flowers and played in the summer sun knowing that they would both be big sisters soon!

July 1, 2010

July also brought many flowers to the garden like this combination of Russian sage, rudbeckia, and Shasta daisy. The daisies are very easy to root from stem cuttings or through division.

August 2010 – The months beyond July found us extremely dry. Very little rain fell in August which meant that only the toughest plants did much – but there’s always something to see in the garden! The crape myrtles were covered in blooms near the arbor and one of the most delicious tomatoes was harvested from the vegetable garden: the Woodle Orange!

September 2010 – September brought many of the fall blooming flowers into the game. The caryopteris row was making progress and the Sweet Autumn clematis looked like mounds of snow in September.

October 2010 – October is probably the last of the reliable warm months here in Tennessee. The temperatures are cooler and nearly perfect for garden activities. November – not so much (although we did have several good days this yea in November). Mums and salvias were blooming all over and the fall colors were changing.

The Sheffield Pink mums were a new addition in the spring and proved to be an awesome addition to the garden.

October also found me cleaning up the vegetable garden (here’s the vegetable garden layout) from the summer crops. There’s still more to do but I’m not in a big rush to finish – not when it’s 25 degrees outside!

Thanks for joining me on this look back at the warmer months. The good news is that winter doesn’t last forever! Now it’s time to start thinking about seeds!

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You know the story. Everyone travels to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving. All the family gets together and stuffs their bellies full with turkey, ham, potatoes, numerous sides, and of course the stuffing (oh wait we call that dressing down here in the south ). And of course, you know it’s true, every family has one or two, and sometimes many more…

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