Following directions

The website said building this chicken coop was, “so simple, my wife could do it.” I’m capable of holding two opposing ideas in my head, so all at once I thought this statement was     

1. follow directions
2. cut anything 
3. transfer between drill bit and screwdriver bit in seconds
4. create a 3-D structure that works
5. try new, hard stuff (this is my favorite)

The Rising Costs of Food  

Last June, Time magazine published an article titled The Rising Costs of Food with some surprising statistics. In 1929, the average American household spent nearly twenty-five cents of every dollar earned  feeding the family. Fast forward 80 years and food is cheap. A family can now spent one thin dime of every dollar on food, with plenty of money left over for things that were not even conceivable during the Depression. But we've paid the piper for cheap food by trading our health in return.

I was browsing the Play Now documentaries on Netflix.com when one called King Corn struck my attention. It was the story of two college graduates who moved to the Midwest for a year to document the growing of exactly one acre of corn. During this documentary, I learned the the federal government rewards farmers for growing certain high-demand grain crops, such as corn, with a portion of our tax dollars.

This is called a commodity subsidy. The current subsidy for corn is $0.28 per bushel. Soybeans are subsidized at $0.47 per bushel, and wheat at $0.52 a bushel. From 1995 to 2006, corn farmers received $56,170,875,257 in subsidy payments. This is money received on top of the per bushel market price that the farmer received when they sold the grain.

The government subsidy for nutrient rich foods like tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, and avocados is $0.00 per bushel. That's right, there isn't one. As a farmer, why wouldn't you want a piece of that $56.2 billion? Grow corn, wheat, oats, soy, peanuts, and the money is yours for the taking. Grow watermelons, cucumbers, lettuce, or strawberries and you're out on your own.

Ever ask yourself why so many inexpensive food-like products contain soybeans or corn? Ever wonder why soda pop makers have replaced sugar with high fructose corn syrup in their drinks? Or for that matter, why is high fructose corn syrup in everything we eat? It's because that's what farmers are growing, and growing, and growing. In today's America it is impossible to eat inexpensively without consuming massive amounts of soybeans, wheat, corn and its derivative product, corn syrup.

I recently read a blurb in Acres USA titled "Food Stamp Blues".

Those who expect food stamps to deliver a nutritional punch may be out of luck. A new study reveals a $3,000 gap between food stamps and a nutrition rich diet for a family of four. Rising food and fuel costs make the temptation to stretch stamp values by substituting convenience foods for good food even stronger.

Even our nutritious produce crops can no longer be trusted. How in creation did salmonella get into our tomatoes and e.coli into our spinach?

It appears that the health of our nation is being compromised for fifteen cents on the dollar. Our country's industrial farmers are not growing nutritious food. They're growing profitable commodity crops that pollute the land and destroy the soil, all for the sake of a government handout in the way of subsidy dollars.

Monarch Butterflies Chrysalis as Barter for an E-copy of Chicken House Plans

Some of you may have noticed that I mention that I will agree to barter or trade for a copy of my chicken ark plans. The above title is something I saw in my inbox and my interest was instantly piqued. Here is what Ralph wrote me in that email.

During the summer my daughter raises Monarch Butterflies. She sells the chrysalis to friends and I bring them to work to sell to friends that have kids. (Also adults who love to see a bit of nature's magic)

If you or your kids have never seen a Monarch Butterfly hatch, it is just pure magic. For our area the Monarchs generally arrive in early July and that is when my daughter starts to collecting the eggs & caterpillars to raise to the Chrysalis stage. Last year we raised 124 chrysalises.

So, I’ll trade you 5 monarch chrysalis, shipped to you, for an e-copy of your coop plans. I’ll include instructions with the chrysalis. From the time they arrive, they should hatch out in about 8-12 days, Once the Monarch has hatched out and dried off, you can take them out and let them walk around on your hand, These make great Kodak moments with kids.



Click to enlarge
I’m attaching some pics to show the process. Once you have enjoyed them for a few hours you can let them go outside on a flower bush. I can’t guarantee that all 5 chrysalis will hatch, but I will guarantee that at least 3 will.

Please take a look at the pics and let me know you would be agreeable to this barter.

My answer? "It's PERFECT! I love the idea..." You may recall reading a blog posting a few months back about creating home based business out of necessity. Here's a prime example of a family who is taking the resources available to them and turning it into a viable product. Kudos!

If you and your family are interested in hatching your own monarch butterflies, why not shoot an email to Ralph and let him know that you want to see pure magic as well!

Durham says yes to backyard chickens

Why Electricity Free Day?

On Thursdays our family engages in a practice we call Electricity Free Day. What that means is, if it plugs into the wall, we don't use it. This may sound like an unusual way to spend a 24 hour period, and you're right... it is for us here in America. However, for billions of people across the world, electricity free day is everyday.

Several years ago, my wife went on a mission trip to Uganda. Our church has a track and field camp rather than a standard vacation Bible school, and was invited by the village elders of Hoima to do a "Runner's Camp" in their location. Mitzi wanted to go, so we sold some stuff on eBay and raised enough money to pay for her plane ticket as well as several other people. For some of these children, my wife was the first muzungu they had ever seen. One girl repeatedly licked my wife's hand. When Mitzi asked the interpreter why the little girl was licking her, he replied, "To see if she can lick the white off your skin." 

Mitzi returned home from that trip on a crusade to rid our family of excessive American consumerism. She said that the people in Hoima-town were dirt poor, and some of the happiest people that she had ever met.  She also said that electricity was in short supply and only available for a few hours every day. If you had something to do that required electricity, you waited until the power was on to do your tasks. It is a way of life in Uganda, and our first introduction to the concept of doing without electricity.

If you ever find yourself in Wake Forest around late afternoon, drop in at the house. Chances are good that you'll find yourself invited to dinner. That's exactly what happened to Donitza and her daughter Ana. They were from the Czech Republic and wanted to see our livestock. Over dinner, I asked Donitza what she found most unusual about the United States. Her reply shocked me. She said that it was very difficult to get to know Americans because they never come out of their houses.

After mulling this over, it made sense to me. American lifestyles are set up in a way that we never truly have to interact with other Americans. Everyone wakes up in the morning. Mom and dad shuttle the kids off to school and then drive separately to their jobs. After school, the latchkey kids come home and watch TV or play XBox 360 Live online with their buddies on the other side of town. (I forgot to mention that the kids were bussed to school in a different community.) One of the parents picks up a frozen lasagna at Stuff*Mart, and pays with a debit card at the self-checkout line. They get home and set the microwave to defrost the lasagna. After insta-dinner, the kids update their Facebook accounts on their personal computers in their rooms, while mom and dad watch cable movies on demand in the basement. Everyone goes to bed when they get tired. Repeat ad infinitum.

Would Little House on the Prairie be nearly as entertaining if it was set in the modern day world? Laura and our favorite little beast Nellie would never pull pigtails in the mud. They'd be too busy verbally jousting with each other on some prairie life webforum. Mr. Edwards would be managing his company's database in a cubical and might have the opportunity to help Charles build the house on the weekends. And of course, Mr. Edwards would have to shave that beard if he wanted the database manager's position in the first place. Imagine Victor French without a beard! IMPOSSIBLE!

Is this really the land of the free, if we're slaves to owning and maintaining our stuff?

Our electricity free days are always productive. Meals are cooked on a gas stove. Our fireplace provides warmth and some light at night. After their lessons, the girls go outside to play in the thicket or with the chickens. That's my most productive day of the week in the gardens. I'll talk to the folks in the neighborhood as they walk past and inquire about the load of Christmas tree mulch that smells so wonderfully festive, or the big pile of horse doovers that doesn't.

Our evenings are candlelit and quiet, without the racket and catterwalling of the TV or radio. After the dishes are handwashed, dried, and put away, we may play our musical instruments. That's when the catterwalling begins.

Anna plays the piano. Kate flails away on the ukulele. I'll pull out the recorder or banjo and try to match them. None of us are very good; the Darling family we ain't. But it's fun! Then we may play a card game like Uno, Go Fish, then charades. By 8:30, the kids are ready for bed. I'll read an article in Acres USA, Mother Earth News, Countryside, or National Geographic by the light of our Coleman gas lantern. By 10:30, we're all in bed.

Our electricity free days have been successful enough that we're considering moving it to two days a week. Eight days a month, electricity free, will reduce our municipal bill by nearly 25%. That's a significant savings. 

Living without electricity brings people and families together; sometimes in a mudhole or crick as with Laura and Nellie, other times building a relationship like Mr. Edwards and Charles. It creates lasting bonds between neighbors. It creates community when people have to rely on each other and know each other's strengths and weaknesses. And if electricity becomes rationed, like in Hoima due to economic reasons, we may not have much of a choice in the matter.

I highly recommend that you make at least 2 days a month Electricity Free Days. I feel that it's better to get accustomed to it now, and know what you need as far as supplies and creative ideas, than to be left in the dark.