Bees Please

I want the Golden Mean Top Bar Hive. :D

Keep Moving Forward

So I haven't posted much... okay, at all, in the last year. Lots of changes, and still much remains the same. Family size went down by one when my husband's kid brother moved back with his mother. Finally received disability determination, phew! Money helps! First attempt at getting pregnant interrupted by horrific car accident... and now several years later doctors willing to let us have another go; resulted in a year of angst and hormonal ups and downs while trying, and no baby. Soo grateful for the two little miracle babies we have. One started his freshman year of high school, and the other started first grade. Finally got the definitive diagnosis of high-functioning autism for the little one, a relief and a starting point to be sure. A TIA, two surgeries and a lot of convalescence time in between, and I think we are at a good moving on point.

Now that those things are under control, I am ready to push into the other things that got waylaid after the car accident. Garden wishlist done, landscape plan drafted, orchard knowledge acquired, researching Nigerian dairy goats, ponds ready to install, crawdad contact on standby, tortoise group membership paid, coop and pergola plans ready... next step is to pull it all together and "Get'er Done!".

Funding?

Oh yeah, there IS that. LOL!

Recession Proof Family?

Nightline interview with Jules Dervaes, taking a good look at their Urban Homestead, which Jules explains is his recession proof plan.
Living the Real Simple Life (ABC Nightline)


The Dervaes' family has been an inspiration for me and many others.
A hearty Thank You to Jules and the other visionary people creating the revolutionary urban homesteading movement.

Making THE Difference

On my first day at a new job with a national non-profit agency, my boss saw I was overwhelmed and shared with me one of his favorite stories:

"After a huge storm, a young girl was running along the shore and rescuing the little fish that had been trapped in  pools on the beach. I watched the girl for more than an hour, thinking how much energy and time she was wasting. As she approached she asked me if I would help. I explained that there would never be enough time to rescue them all before the puddles dried up, and that it simply wouldn't make any difference. She looked me square in the eye and as she scooped up one little fish said very plainly 'I may not be able to save them all,' as she tossed it back into the safety of the ocean 'but to This fish, I have made all the difference in the world."

It is in this spirit that I want to share a charity that has touched our lives:

"The Dinner Garden provides seeds, gardening supplies, and gardening advice free of charge to all people in the United States of America. We assist those in need in establishing food security for their families. Our goal is for people to plant home, neighborhood, and container gardens so they can use the vegetables they grow for food and income." (or visit The Dinner Garden on Facebook)

Please consider donating goods, time, or financial support to this incredible organization if you can. It may not end hunger for everyone, but for one family it makes all the difference in the world!

Thank You.

Goji ~ 2009 & 2010

Goji Harvest, October 2009

  

Goji waking up! (thought it was a goner), March 2010

Words to Live by

We all have a few "Words to Live by", quotes that we love and that inspire us.
I wanted to take a moment to share a few of my favorite with you.
I hope that you too will share your own words of wisdom, please comment below.

Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or Do Without. (WWI era saying)

"In our society we are not called citizens anymore, we are called consumers"   Fritz Haeg 

(gives one pause, does it not?)

"Rethink the possible. Start where you are, and do something different." Jules Dervaes

The book arrived already!

It came!
I am soo excited that I absolutely must share this.
I just ordered my copy of The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen late last week, and it has already arrived. Autographed and everything! I couldn't be happier.
I just have to take a second and say thank you to the World's Greatest Aunt (mine of course)! Thank you, I couldn't have gotten the book without your generous help.

At the time that I was reading Chelsea Green's Food NOT Lawns, someone had lent me their copy of The Urban Homestead. In all honesty, I hadn't done more than flipped through the book before I returned it. I have this horrible habit of forgetting who a borrowed book belongs to and/or never returning it. This habit makes me leery of letting anyone lend me anything, and I tend to return it as quickly as I can. I had added the book to my 'wish list' though.

I stumbled across Home Grown Evolution's website, they are on facebook as well, and saw the book just waiting for me to order it. I love rediscovered treasures.

This is a most awesome book! Of all the books I have poured over on homesteading the last few years, this one has the most simple clear information on just about every topic us 'hopeful urban homesteaders' could need. Composting, beekeeping, cycling, canning, baking and cooking, city livestock, and a ton more. Recipes for cleaning supplies included. It has excellent illustrations - which, with my cognitive impairment from the brain-blood-flow issues, really helps me. The reassurance I find in the voice of this book is so encouraging.

There are a few books that I really love, and The Urban Homestead is now on that list.
The other two are The Seed Savers Guide and Make It Don't Buy It (I will add the authors and ISBN later on). Two gardening books that are nearly always in my backpack are: Nevada Gardener's Guide by Linn Mills (ISBN 0789172000987) and Month by Month Gardening in the Deserts of Nevada by Mary Irish (ISBN 9781591863847).

Next on the wishlist is an autographed copy of Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn by Fritz Haeg ;D One can always dream, right?

Do you have a book that you refer back to again and again, or that you always keep handy, that changed your life, or that you just plain love?
Please share in the comments.

Best Regards,

Mojave Momma