By far the biggest benefit of having backyard chickens is getting eggs. Chickens don’t normally lay in the winter months, unless they receive enough light on their eyes. This is why many chicken coops are lit. We don’t light our coop so we don’t get eggs in the winter but we do miss the fresh… Continue reading Fresh Eggs From Our Backyard Chickens
Tag: gardening
Tomato Cages – Go Gingham Style
Planting tomatoes means staking the plants. For several years, I used the old standard, cone shaped tomato stake. I’ve never had much success with these. My tomato plants would get too tall or I couldn’t reach in to pick the fruit. Then, I read the book, “Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew and got inspired… Continue reading Tomato Cages – Go Gingham Style
Preparing For Tomato Season
Spring is fast approaching which means vegetable and tomato planting season. I’m a novice when it comes to vegetable gardening but I do have a few tricks to share. These tomatoes are from last year’s garden. It was a horrible year for tomatoes in Portland in 2010. Hopefully, this year will be much improved! Here’s… Continue reading Preparing For Tomato Season
Frugal Decorating with Cherry Blossoms
I love to decorate my home and make it lovely. Fresh flowers are too expensive for this frugal gal. I prefer to bring nature inside and "force" it to be part of my frugal decorating program. Cutting branches from spring blossoming trees, putting them in a vase with warm water, and waiting a week will… Continue reading Frugal Decorating with Cherry Blossoms
Synthetic Grass Installation: DIY Project
Our backyard has been a work in progress over the years. We recently had blue star creeper planted in between the stones in our backyard. During the winter months, the plants would freeze and die. In the summer, the plants would burn up and die. Bottom line? I was going to the nursery and being… Continue reading Synthetic Grass Installation: DIY Project
Backyard Chickens
We have chickens. I still marvel at this statement. It's not the same as telling people you have a dog or a cat. We purposely have these creatures, in our very small backyard, in the city. Here's how it happened... Our family was exchanging homes with a family in Gouda, The Netherlands, near Amsterdam. We… Continue reading Backyard Chickens
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