Backyard Chickens or Backyard Quails

February 27, 2015 Shelagh Howell

The other day I was talking to my best friend about making changes in my life to make it more self sufficienct, and my friend suggested quails. He says that if you can care for a hamster, than you can take care of a quail. (He is my lifestyle idol. Well one of them. Definitely top of the list.) So I am all over the google trying to learn about quails and what it takes to raise them. And after a while, I started to think, if I am thinking about having backyard birds, then maybe I should consider chickens as an option. And so that brings me to the debate, backyard chickens or backyard quails?

What I Love About Urban Farming & Urban Homesteading

February 24, 2015 Shelagh Howell

Life these days is pretty easy. Essentially everything we have was made to provide a sort of convenience for us. Marketers needed something to do and they figured it out; they created a "need" and we bought in. This is nothing new. But I certainly think we all forget how good we have it when we can drive to the grocery store in a car to pick up food, we didn't grow, and then to go home, to a house we didn't build, that is heated by fuel we didn't have to collect. Life is good. Cars and grocery stores were created to make our lives easier and more convenient. Especially for the masses living in urban centers. Since so much of what we do and have was created to make our lives more comfortable I am wondering if it has made us any happier. I know it is hard to tell, given that we haven't had to live a life without modern conveniences, but do you think it has made us any happier?

Growing Our Food - Part 2: Spring is Nigh

February 22, 2015 Shelagh Howell

On our afternoon walk today, I noticed something strange, something you usually don't see this time if year in our Northern part of the country... grass. Yes, it was grass! I know my friends on the Eastern part of the country will be cursing me with their arctic temperatures and never-ending snowfall, but over here things are heating up. There was actually a warm-ish wind. I wasn't even wearing mittens. And suddenly it dawned on me, that Spring is right around the corner.

Now, any local would tell me I am nuts and the minus thirties will be back before I know it, but I think Spring is only a few weeks away. And that means it is time to get a few things started for the ol' summer garden. Last year, I was frantically trying to locate a few items for free (of course) off of Kijiji at the last minute, and this year I will not be caught off guard. Seeds have been ordered, so I can cross that off the list, but there is still a lot more to do.

Farm City by Novella Carpenter- A Book Review

February 18, 2015 Shelagh Howell

Farm City - The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter

Most people have a running list they keep of their favourite books. For a long time, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving was number one on my list. So many others have moved up and down that list without ever knocking number one out of place. That was until I read Farm City by Novella Carpenter...

Growing Our Food - Part 1

February 16, 2015 Shelagh Howell

The most essential part of our sustainable living strategy in our homesteading dream is to grow our own food, which, to me, means learning to garden. Now I am not saying that Cam and I can't garden, but I will say that we are still learning, with the emphasis falling on me. And if you saw our garden last year, you would agree with me; there were cramped tomatoes, peas falling over, and squash vines climbing up the beans. Oy, and you should have seen the year before with weeds taking over the garden come August. So this series of posts will not be intended to be instructional by any means (that would be unwise frankly), they are more to show how we are learning and getting ready for our big dream of self sufficiency in Vavenby. Our goal is to grow as much food as we can in our garden in Northern Alberta, and do our best to preserve the bounty from it so we can enjoy it all year.

It is just about March, and the true sign of Spring appeared on my doorstep a few days ago. It was The West Coast Seeds catalogue (yes, I know I do not live on the west coast, but they offer organic seed varieties, and it is "local" or as local as I can find.) So with the first signs of Spring, it is time to start planning this year's garden and that is what I will share with you today. The Garden Plan...

How to make the perfect cuppa

February 11, 2015 Shelagh Howell

In the UK, if they ask you if you would like a 'cuppa', they are asking you if you would like a cup o' tea. The good kind. I know this, because after a recent visit to the UK I had the best cuppa. And I am not talking about a Timmie's Steeped Tea. Pa-lease. This is excellent tea. And I didn't have the best tea at one cute cafe in a country town, nor at Harrod's in London, no, I had the best cuppa EVERYWHERE. I guess everyone in the UK knows how to make a proper cup of tea.

So upon my return to my cold and snowy home in Alberta, I was on a mission to perfect the cuppa. Drinking tea will be very important in Vavenby since sitting on the back porch to listen to the birds will be a regular part of my morning routine. And so after a few attempts, I did it, I perfected the cuppa.