Humanure and More

Today I learned that a friend of mine is going to have treated sewage deposited on six acres of his farmland. What a great thing!!  The sludge is coming from a local treatment plant, and he'll be paid by the ton deposited.  The sludge will be spread out over the field and left to compost for a year.  These fields were used to grow hay before, now they should yield several times as much hay per acre after the rich compost settles into the ground. Part of the deal is that the soil will be tested several times each year-I would expect only rich hummus to result.

Civilizations have used this practice for millenia. It is still used in China.  Read all about it in the wonderful book The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins.  It is past time for us to start being responsible for how we treat our wastes.  Why dump everything in landfills when we can reuse it as compost for vegetables and flowers and who knows what else?

In our times we need to be creative about how we live.  Mother Earth is too precious for us to keep treating her this way.  Instead of hiring some company to pour poisons on your lawn, why not plant a few tomatoes and peppers?  Even in cities you can keep a few chickens!  Be responsible for what you eat and what you do.  Your children will thank you for it.

Kitten ADHD

Well!  The kitten is just wild!  Guess we don't remember how active they can be.  lol   Hopefully he'll be ready for a nap soon.  Lisa has decided to name him "Strider"...although she swears he has ADHD!!  He's adorable though. He has decided he is going to drink out of the "big boys" water bowl, which is an old dog bowl on a stand.  The others just stand up there to drink; he's too small so he LEAPS up onto it and lands in the water every time!  There is water everywhere, but unfortunately he doesn't seem to care!

2 Years Later...

Been awhile since I blogged!  Lots of stuff has happened...Lisa is working in Lancaster, and I got my social security disability approved after 3 years.  What an ordeal!

We're up to 6 house cats (all rescues) including the newest- a white kitten I got Lisa for her birthday yesterday.  The other cats don't seem too impressed, although they like the kitten food.  Sigh.  The 7th cat is Sam-who lives in a ditch down the road and refuses to come inside where it's warm.  He does show up for meals 2-3 times/day though.

Most of the cats are named after Lord of the Rings characters-except Hera who is our only female and named after the Goddess of Mischief. The kitten doesn't have a name yet, but he looks Elvish so he'll probably get an Elvish name.  Right now he is watching me type this from my lap.

In the spring we're getting chickens!  We have the hen house ready, but still need to do some (okay ALL) fencing. We're getting abut 25, including a few guineas, and "easter-egger" chickens that lay colored eggs.  Can't wait!!!  More on that to come.

Stay tuned for all the news -and feel free to leave me a note!