Our Chickens

I wanted to include some of my favorite informative sites that I go back and forth to all the time. I will add to this as my mind clicks in!

1. www.backyardchickens.com

2. www.MotherEarthnews.com

Worm Composting

This is Gabrielle and she choose to do Worm composting for a Science Fair Project, we had a BLAST! Worms are so beneficial to any raised garden beds! Our beds are LOADED w/ rich fat wiggly worms!
Fasinating WORM FACTS:
The management and breeding of worms is known as vermiculture
Worms are one of nature's ultimate recyclers
They can live for a long time (15 years or more!)
They have both male and female reproductive organs
Their eggs can survive dry and harsh conditions for long periods of time
They can be bred easily at home or school
They can be used to recycle organic waste from your kitchen into valuable fertilizer
They produce castings which have a neutral pH (around 7)
Their castings increase the amount of nutrient available to your plants by up to 10 times.
Their castings increase crop and pasture yields
They increase the level of essential microbial activity in the soil
They can consume their own body weight in food every day
They double in population every 2-3 months, in ideal conditions

Our Chicken Coop and the Girls

Look at the difference of a couple days to 5 weeks old! They are at the Ugly teenager age right now! But they are sweet! LOVE my chicken coop, I do have a resourseful husband! I painted it Disney colors; Fairy Godmother Blue and Dreams Come True Purple! LOVE IT!!!!!!

Our New Family Members AKA The Girls

Let me introduce you to Peep, Peck and Pepper, they are Barred Rock Hens; Brown Egg layers. And they are now about 5 weeks old. The kids love them, they have been hand held since 2 days old. And when we go out to check on them we call out" Girls" and they start peeping/clucking! So SWEET! My Girlfriend has chicks too and its been a fun family project! She has 13 I only have 3! I thought I better not push it being in the City Limits with chickens.......Shhhh dont tell anyone!

WHY, The Green Mum.......because Im trying to put together a business of selling Organic Body Products and the name of my business is gonna be The Green Mum. Im going to sell Body Butter, Liquid Hand Soap and Shampoo and Conditioner. I will add things later on but start with this! Im doing research right now! But in case you were wondering WHY The Green Mum.....there it is!

All my friends are documenting their life on BLOGS, and I wanted to do the same but w/ a TWIST!
My goal this past year has been trying to make our surroundings as ORGANIC and Environmentally safe for my family as possible. Last year we had a garden that was all organic, this year we doubled the size of the gardening area! We are worm composting, my oldest daughter did a Science Fair Project on worm composting. I will talk on this more later! And our latest adventure in SUSTAINBILIITY is raising our own chickens (hens only) for eggs NOT meat! I will add a section on this as well!
Alittle about me, I'm a SAHM with 3 kids, my Husband works for Wal Mart at a Distrubution Center. We live in Redding, CA but are from Santa Cruz, CA and would go back in a heartbeat if daddy could find a job! WE MISS THE BEACH! I love to garden, cook, photography, surf the net and being with loved ones friends and family!