Who Knew Getting Your Hands Dirty Could Taste So Good?!?

YUM! There is absolutely nothing that tastes as good as fresh vegetables from your own garden.  Well maybe chocolate.…  Being able to grow your own food has many benefits; you know how the food was grown and certainly are aware of the quality and freshness.  You also know that it has been handled properly and hasn’t been contaminated with e-coli or some other pathogen.  And there is the benefit one derives from just digging in the soil, planting and nurturing.  We all know people who list gardening as one of their favorite things to do.  My family & I consider it a privilege and look forward to planting our multitude of small gardens around the house.  We have a fairly large one (10' x 30') behind a fence to keep the deer out, but instead of planting flowers in the beds adjacent to the house, we plant vegetables.  Part of that is being conservative with our water consumption, not watering anything we can't eat.  Even the large pots on the decks hold pepper plants and herbs, so gardening doesn’t have to be done on a large scale. But what if you don't have a big yard or live in an apartment?  The Greater Spokane community has done some tremendous work establishing community garden spots throughout the area. Many of them are associated with specific neighborhood councils, churches, and community centers.  The idea behind the community gardens is to provide space for people to get involved with growing their own food when they don’t have the resources where they live.  There is a small fee for using the gardens, usually on a sliding scale that depends on the amount of land being used.  There are some basic rules that need to be followed and of course, one needs to be able to get along with their garden neighbors!  If you haven't yet planted that first garden or maybe it has been a while since you have done it, there is lots of help available to get you started.  The Master Gardener program through Spokane County WSU Extension is a great place to start.  www.spokane-county.wsu.edu/spokane/eastside/ You can also contact us, the Spokane Conservation District for technical assistance and soils information and testing.  We are here to help! Just send me an e-mail. For a list of local community gardens and information on starting your own, visit www.spokanegardens.com.

Having your own chicken coop is nothing to balk (or bawk) at!

There is nothing like the taste of a truly farm-fresh” egg, especially when the farm is your own backyard!  Perhaps the trend is to hedge our bets against a bad economy or an effort to know where our food is coming from.  Or maybe it is just because it's fun (which it is) and the bonus is fresh eggs!  It is not at all unusual to find chickens being kept in town now.  In fact, the City of Spokane has an ordinance allowing up to three chickens per home (sorry, no roosters allowed).  Spokane Valley is still rural enough that a variety of livestock can be found within the city limits so having chickens is not an issue, likewise for the County.  So how does one go about setting up a chicken operation in town?  It really is pretty simple and fairly inexpensive.  For the person who is handy with tools, there are a multitude of plans for hen houses to be found online and in books in the library and hardware stores.  For those less adept at construction, there are also a number of ads on Craigslist and in the classifieds for chicken coops and chickens for sale. In the interest of saving some time, my family & I did a hybrid project, building the enclosure and buying the hen house.  The hen house is about five feet long, three feet from front to back and stands about three feet tall.  We put it on three-foot- legs with walls on three sides so we didn’t have to crawl around on the ground to clean and search for eggs.  That also provides an area for the hens to get out of the heat or bad weather.  There are three nest boxes at the far back of the structure and a hinged roof to allow access from the outside.  The interior floor is covered in linoleum for ease of cleaning.  There is a 2x2 door on one end for cleaning access and a screened window with a hinged cover for ventilation on the opposite end.  The hen door to the coop can also be closed to keep the hens inside if necessary.  The enclosure starts at the front of the hen house so we have access without having to go inside. We started this project for the eggs but the fun of having chickens is worth far more.  The old sayings like mad as a wet hen…going to bed with the chickens…cackling like a bunch of old hens…they are all true!  They make us laugh, we love the sound of them “purring” (yes they do), they come when they’re called, and they follow us around like puppies and will sit on our laps and beg for food.  Spoiled?  Of course they are spoiled but what we get from them is worth it!  For more information, contact Jim Armstrong or go online to: www.backyardchickens.com/