Chicken Fact

Did you know that in Houston, Texas you can't have chickens unless you have a permit? Even then you are only allowed to have up to 7 hens on your property. Do you know what you need to get this permit? Just guess, I bet you can't. OK are you ready.

You need a note from a doctor saying that you need to eat fresh chicken eggs, for health reasons!  I just couldn't believe it, I mean it is Texas.

Little Blessings

So I have this need, well I guess it is more of a want, for everything to happen faster. It just seems like everything homestead related has been happening so slow, probably just because the move hasn't happened yet. I think this blog is good for me, it kind of makes me realize and appretiate the little things because after going through my pictures so I could make this update I realize that there really is more than I had realized, even if they are little things.

So here they are the little things, that make my life a little better.

we got our shed moved over

Everything has been sprouting :)

We are officially producing now! The strawberries are taking off, I can't wait to have other fruits and vegetables!

the boys found a turtle



We took the ducks on an outing in the yard to the little pond. They thought it was fun but I just thought it was bath time. After they got all clean and dried off you could see that hey they actually have a few feathers now! They aren't just little balls of fluff anymore.

Clean Duckies

The Chickens continue to get bigger. I cant believe that they are almost all feathers now. I think it is about time to put them outside but I don't really want to do that until the move, so we can check on them and feed them easily.

Homesteading 1-2-3

The hubby has been all about homesteading lately. Which is what we are calling it by the way "The Homestead". He's been reading this book. 

It's all about being self sufficient. Trying to grow your own food and not have to go to the store or at least not as much. It also talks about how to can food and dry/keep seeds for the next growing season, and a ton of other stuff. He keeps telling me that we could replace one of our incomes, which would be cool, but it all seems like a big dream at this point in the process.

Well you already know that we have chickens and ducks, this is the book i read before we bought our friends that taught me all about them and what to expect in the early days. it was a fun read and had a lot of good info. 

Boy have they been growing fast. Honestly I can't believe how big they get in just a week. Here are the three flightiest birds perched on the side of the brooder. Patrick thinks that our chicks are probably 3 weeks old. They have been really growing lately and getting their wing and tail feathers.

Well like the book says you can farm on less than 1/4 of an acre so we have 4 this should be easy right. Well here is our little start we have two garden beds and a chicken coop. It's a work in progress. 

The funny thing is we really aren't all that big into the veggies however I will say that as I get older I am trying to try more things. Ok so what are we growing in our little gardens? Tomatoes, peppers (all sorts), lettuce, spinach, dill, strawberries, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, corn, peas, green beans and okra. I think that's all for now but I'm sure Patrick will come up with more to plant soon. We have started some from seeds and some from plants we bought at the store. I cant wait for little plants to pop out of the dirt!

When Patrick talks about everything he wants for the homestead, this is what I picture, me ringing the dinner bell with the chickens around my feet. We found a dinner bell in the barn and now Patrick just needs to make me a stand, and it could happen. He does tell me that if he's in the field I have to ring the bell not use his cell phone, I think it's neat, and the boys will love it if I let them ring it.