A Hungry New Year

[errantember]

Happy New Year!

One major change this year is that I will only be eating what I grow for one day out of every month. To kick off this new habit, I will be fasting on New Years Day!

While I'm supposedly a "Permaculture Designer", I've really been a dilettante in terms of actually, say *growing* *food*. I've set up several gardens, but I've never really had more than a 20% success rate with anything I've grown, and I sure as Hell am not growing enough to feed myself, much less the other four people who live at my house. By insisting that I starve if I haven't produced anything to eat that month (or stored something from before), I am seizing the issue and smacking it down Front and Center in my life.

*SLAM!*

Some rules are clear, others are not. One strict one is that the food has to be 100% grown on property. No buying seedlings allowed. For the sake of this particular exercise, no gathering is allowed, either. No recycling or re-using others' discarded food. But do I allow myself spices not grown on property? What about salt? Salt doesn't grown anywhere! What I'm thinking I might say is that I can use non-home-grown spices and condiments on my Permie Food Day if I buy them using funds I raise by selling something else I've grown. Until then, it might be lots of radishes and greens!

If you've been putting it off like I have, I invited you to join me! You're rules don't have to be exactly the same, it's the spirit and the end result that counts.

I'm excited to be finally getting serious about growing my own food! But maybe not as excited as I'll be at breakfast on the 2nd of every month.

Comments

Re: ??

[gailmom.livejournal.com]

yes, it is. And I was expecting it when they dropped from an average of four a day to an average of two when we started getting below freezing at night. But for the last, oh, a bit over a week...nothing. not. one. egg.

I've never had my hens just NOT produce before....it is weirding me out. Considering how used I've gotten to always having eggs, I am not looking forward to when I run out. 0.o

Re: ??

[errantember.livejournal.com]

Mine have produced very, very few eggs recently. Maybe three or four since Christmas. They also haven't been laying them in the egg box, because that's the warmest place in the coop. You might want to look in possible alternative locations for eggs. At least one roosts in the egg box each night, and shits all over the place, so they don't like to lay there. I think the solution is to make the new coop so that the egg boxes are slightly colder at night than the rest of the hen house.

Re: ??

[gailmom.livejournal.com]

hmmm...good point, and something to consider as I finish putting together the main pen.