Chickens, Part 1

Well, we have a coop!

After a few days of hemming and hawing about the merits of building versus buying a coop, we found a pretty good deal on this little guy.  Honestly I'm a pretty handy guy, but limited carpentry skills combined with our lack of garage would have made this project about a nine hour one, in my estimation.

The builder of this coop advertised that it was build out of "reclaimed redwood."  I'm pretty sure he's a fencer that uses torn down fences to make these and sell on Craigslist.  It is a pretty nice little unit, though, with a hinged roof for cleaning and an access door by the nesting area to grab out the eggs.  Now we just have to fill it with some hens!

My plan is to build a small frame enclosed with chicken wire around the front of the coop, so the hens can hang out outside.  That's something I can make relatively easy.  We are really excited to learn the ins and outs of chicken care and the kids are super anxious to get some chickens, they already have names picked out!

We'd love to hear your suggestions on breeds of hens that are good with kids and, of course, pump out the eggs!

We're back!

Well, after a pretty long hiatus, here we are again! The last year has been a huge season of change for us, including the move, but now we really feel like we are hitting our stride and are ready to start blogging again.

It has been quite a busy year that included moving, getting the kids in a new school, and leaving a church which we had attended for over a decade. All of these things were hard on all of us, but have ultimately drawn us closer together as a family. We really had to trust and rely on each other with so much change going on.

So, now we are finally feeling a little more stable, and ready to really work on some projects at the mobile home. We are planning on sharing those with you, and hope you enjoy hearing a little about us as we get them going.

The first major project is our garden! This is something we have been working really hard on, and will be uploading and posting on it as we continue the process. The ultimate goal is to produce vegetables to share with our community and bless the people around us.

Next, we will have chickens! The coop should arrive today, and we'll definitely be writing about our little cluckers as we raise them in the back yard. We really think the kids are going to love raising chickens, and enjoy the fresh eggs.

Both of these projects are a huge part of our goal to be active in our community, and live a more sustainable life. We are finding that living simply is a great way to bring a family together, and hopefully we can share some of that process with you.

Blessings,

The Babasins

Planting & Cooking

One of our Non-Vegetarian meals

We are finally settled all in our new place. We have gotten used to our surroundings and they people in our new neighborhood are very nice. We have been cooking a lot of vegetarian dinners and we have gotten pretty creative. Here I made a salmon burger on a sprouted wheat bun, couscous, and a white bean and spinach salad. We have been eating vegetarian during the week and then some meat on the weekends and we feel a huge difference in our health! We are eating lots of veggies, fruit, beans, salad, tofu, rices and grains. We are exercising together during the week.
Do you feel you need a change too? Start small, walk once a day, cut preservatives out of your foods, cut back on cheese or give up something like soda or sugar just to see how you feel. Aram and I feel great now that we are making huge life style changes.




Here are some pics of our back yard and some of our gardening!! I haven't build a garden yet but we decided to plan in pots! And things are looking great! I think sometimes we forget that gardening can be done in pots and you can enjoy the fresh picked tomatoes and fresh picked herbs just out of your front or back yard form a pot?
Easy steps to potting vegetables:
1. Pick a pot that is large enough for your plant. If the pot is too large you can add a small pot to fill the bottom space up and then add a few plants to fill the space.
2. Use organic or soil with some compost in it. Plants love compost!! We plan to start a compost soon so we can use our own.
3. Water daily and make sure you have plenty of sun for the summer plants that strive for the sun!
4. And let the kids be involved in the planting and the picking!
Here are some pics of what we have started in our back yard.... like our Teepee?? It is in the making!

Our tomatoes! 4 different kinds all in one huge pot!

Great Soil from whole foods

Beans!! The kids love these!

Our kids love the little Teepee I created, I will get a cloth cover soon but this works for now!

Countdown 3 days.....

  So, three more days until we move from our three bedroom two bath home. This place has been our home for six years and six days.  We brought home two of our three babies from the hospital here, and we remodeled the house to fit the personality of our family.  We made a beautiful garden, planted things and watched them grow.  Here we have made many memories that we will never forget.  This has been our home; our safe, comfortable home.  But, life is full of changes, and Aram and I know that change is good.
  So, now we must embark on this new journey for our family.  We are ready, well we think we are.  We are moving to a two bedroom mobile home and yes, it is yellow.   It was Aram's Grandma's home for nearly twenty years, before she passed away a few years ago.  It was her pride & joy, even though it was a piece of junk.  I hated going to visit because it smelled gross, it was dirty, and the neighborhood was well not a very good one.  I obviously judged and didn't even know I was doing it.  We will talk more about her and the mobile home later.   Yes, six years later, here we are moving to this yellow mobile home of all places and we are actually excited about it!
  So, boxes are everywhere and we are prepping to move.  This move, though, is not just a change of location.  We are changing a lot in how we are going to live and this blog is going to be a place where we document those things, as well as give tips on how to change your own life in simple ways.  While the world says,  "gain more and get more," we are realizing it is, "lose more gain more!" 

The kitchen is packed!