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My dream is to have a large kitchen someday. But for now, my New Years resolution is to learn to function effectively in the space that I have. I seem to have always had small kitchens and mostly small gardens to provide for the small kitchen. I have never mastered the large, grow all your own food, store it, stock it up for winter kitchen OR garden. I once ‘put back’ 39 quarts of green beans only to find they were bad when I took the first one out to cook on a cold day in November some fifteen years back.

I’ve always admired the clever kitchen plans in the magazine rack grazing I’ve done. I’ve incorporated many an idea from these prints for my own kitchens through the years. But I’d never thought until recently that I was not the only one, that my small spaces were not the only ones being struggled with. The photos I’d found in these many magazines often made me feel like a squid for “never thinking of that”. I always felt totally incompetent as I looked at the photos and envisioned my own kitchen in my mind, always lacking in the most
efficient use of space.

Then, there’s the garden spaces of the same home with said kitchen. The little bitty space of land that feeds twenty. How do they DO that? They are always perfect, always without a weed. Perfectly manicured and blooming at all the right intervals. This garden always has the right mix of shade and sunlight at the right time of the day.

And while I have always loved most every home I’ve lived in simply because I lived in it and it was my home, I can’t honestly think of many times I have been truly comfortable entertaining many at one time or completely proud of the work I’ve done on the garden arrangement. I’ve yearned for the comfort that a large kitchen brings. I now have the yard and the garden space, but I am truly stuck with the itty bitty kitchen.

It may sound like a lot, but 63 square feet of space housing a stove, refridgerator, and sink fills up quickly. I have no dishwasher, no garbage disposal, and only 2.5 feet of counter space. Much hangs on the wall or in a small sofa table that has taken up residence where a long counter top should be if it wouldn’t block the door. I have found
that many people are actually struggling with such limited space in kitchen and garden.

It was pleasant (and humbling) to see that food personalities like
Mark Bittman
are quite at home in confining, NYCity apartment sized kitchens.  The NYTimes has a “Now Screening”
video series entitled “Tiny Kitchen If professional cooks and professed minimalists accomplish so much with so little, so should I. So aside from the tiny
kitchen, which I will forthwith stop complaining about, the average garden space should be a true delight!

I applaud you if you garden in itty bitty city/ balcony gardens. You know who you are! This amount of area need never be unproductive. Even in part shade container gardens can accomodate colder season goodies like spinach and romain lettuce. Using larger patio containers you can grow lively and productive tomato plants and (forgive the pun) but if you like patio tomatoes, they excell in this method of growing.

So the next time you want to gripe and complain about space, just remember, many do a lot of very little and you can too!

Barred Rocks

By now, you all know that we are raising our own chickens in the backyard. The idea is to gain more self sufficiency and “buy local”.  It is important to know where your food comes from. Some are unfamiliar with the concepts, but for those of you who do and think you are living in solitude, think again. There are many beginning to understand the changes that are going to have to take place for this world to go solidly forward…

Here is a new article found in the Chicago Tribune, Chickens earning their keep in Chicago backyards according to the article…

More urbanites have animals for their eggs and
companionship. “It’s exploding all over the country,” said Martha Boyd, program director for Angelic Organics Learning Center in Woodlawn, which offered a workshop on basic backyard chicken care for Chicago residents last month.

Great news! And more people are fighting the chicken rules that say they can’t have chickens in town.  Like Tim Jurik of Huntington Station, NewYork. At this website, there was a poll and a full 18.8% of those voting were against it saying, “NO! Chickens belong on a farm.” At the rate farms are dying out these days, there will only be factory manufactured eggs to eat in the future.

I don’t know about you but … ONE) I don’t want to eat eggs from these chickens.  I want to know what is IN the food I eat… and TWO) I don’t want anyone dictating to me the kind of food I eat. Forcing us toward industrial raised animals  (see Sustainable Table to review the issues) I wonder if these voters are thinking this whole thing through?

If you want to know if your state allows it, check out  Chicken Laws if your town and state are not listed look up your town/city online. Most towns (even small ones) keep this information online.

If this topic interests you, google “chicken laws” and you’ll find a lot of good reading.

I came in tonight to check on everyone and found one tiny little girl kicked off to the side, weak and COLD. I knew the first thing to do was warm her up, but I wasn’t quite as certain about what to do about her obvious dehydration, so I consulted the internet. I found  Save a Puppy’s Life and  Treating a Sick Puppy What GREAT advice. I’m still not certain that little Bitsy is out of the woods, but thanks to Ed Frawley at http://leerburg.com/ she’s got a lot better chance!

You can see her here with her spotted brother, “Bonzai” Bitsy is the little black and white on the left. The bottle is four inches long. Bitsy was the first born and Bella chewed her cord off WAY too short. This may have set her up to be weak too, she lost more blood than would be normal. While she was born the same size as Bonzai, she is now, three days later, half his size.

We have been alternating siblings to stay in her box with her so she will won’t feel isolated and we put her alone with Bella six times a day. She is getting stronger by the hour!

We foster dogs for many local rescues. If you love dogs but don’t want the long term commitment, you should consider Foster Care for Dogs Anyway, this girl came to us three weeks from delivery. We had no idea what the father could be. The mother is part corgi. We call her “Bella”.

Bella Starting Labor

And we went from that to this ….

Half Way Point

in two hours. Who could know a little bitty welsh corgi could have SO many. Our highest guess was eight and even that was said with a tongue in cheek. And the total count (as far as we know) is ten. TEN little balls of fur!

The concept of a roof garden is not a new one. In fact, it is centuries old!. If you live in an urban area, your dreams of having a garden may be difficult to achieve. Not so if you consider a roof garden!

More and more communities are encouraging their residents to plant roof gardens. The environmental and psychological benefits are numerous. Not only is gardening a calming and relaxing activity, which can reduce stress related illnesses, it also has great benefits for the environment. Building a rood garden on your home or apartment building decrease storm water runoff, reduce fire risks, help decrease heating and cooling costs and can protect your roof from the effects of ultra-violet light and frost.

There are three types of roof gardens and the three types related to the amount of maintenance they require, the depth of soil and the type of plants they will support. They are:

Extensive living roofs

These are easy to maintain and use little soil. Extensive living roofs are lightweight and lend themselves well for use on sheds, garages and small extensions. As they tend to be harsh environment, suitable plants are ones that are found on cliffs or other harsh environments. While this type of roofs gardens are the easiest to maintain, they also have the least visual appeal.

Semi-extensive living roofs

These garden roofs are more decorative as they have deeper soils which can support a greater variety of plants. However, the increased soil depth makes these types of roof garden more heavy, so a sound structure is require to support them. They combine the relatively low maintenance of extensive living roofs with a more appealing appearance.

Intensive living roofs

These are full-fledged gardens and require large and strong support structures.

One of the main considerations when planning a roof garden is the roof itself. While flat roofs lend themselves the best to roof gardens, it is also possible to green pitched, barreled and domed roofs. An easy access to the roof is also important as I am sure you would not be able to enjoy your roof garden as much if you have to climb a ladder every time you want to look at it. The roof must able be able to support heavy loads. Wet soil can weight about eighty pounds per square foot.

Make sure you install a waterproof membrane to avoid ending up with a wet ceiling. The two most commonly used materials are thermoplastic sheeting or rubberized asphalt. As I am certain that you will not want to dig up your garden to replace the membrane every few years, make sure you select a product that is extremely durable. The next layer should be a filter sheet that will allow the moisture to drain off the roof while ensure that the fine material do not escape. Next comes the moisture blanket which will ensure that an extensive live roof garden has enough moisture to support life. Commercial ones can be purchased however it is also possible to use cardboard or old blankets to the same effect.

The following layer will be a drainage layer. Similar to the moisture blanket, it will help retain moisture while allowing excess water to drain away. They are usually made of plastic or geotextile materials. The top layer will be the soils and substrates. These should be lightweight and free draining yet retain moisture. One such option is an aggregates mixed with light sub-soild such as crushed porous brick or limestone chippings. Finally come the seeds and plants. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination and the environment. Happy gardening!

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