Food Storage Room...check!

Living in Utah was not my favorite, but there is one thing Utah has that you cant find anywhere else....Food Storage rooms in the basement!! You have got to love it, along with 2 living rooms (1 family room and 1 home teaching room).

Since moving back to TN we have been sleeping on our food storage, literally. There were buckets and buckets lined up under the beds, and closets stacked full of jars and #10 cans. Luckily, I am married to a Mr. build/fix it!! With Todd it can be a good thing or a bad thing. He can never have 2 projects going at once, so when he starts something, its work until 2 AM to finish it.

This time his crazy ways finally worked to my advantage. We had been talking about building out a room in our garage since we moved in, but we finally had motivation to get it done. You see Lauren, one of my most awesome sister-in-law's, is coming to stay the summer with us. How could Todd ask her to spend 2 months sleeping on buckets?? So, off to Home Depot we went. We started framing on a Wednesday and had it done by Thursday afternoon. So naturally, Thursday evening (in keeping with the "finish what you start" idea) we went to Home Depot to get the insulation. Friday we started insulating and had it done that morning!!
Then onto to dry walling...
We had that done by Saturday evening! We learned to tape and mud the seams, (thanks YouTube), and had the first coat done that night. We let it dry over the rest of the weekend, and the next week I moved the food storage into the garage...
Slam Bam and we are done. Luckily, this was a week when Todd had most days off!! I have since organized the buckets, and am starting to move all the jars out into the room also!
Once I get the jars out I can move the water containers in there and, Botta Bing Botta Boom, we are done! I love that we did this. I can once again have our house back to living supplies only!!

Have a Great weekend...

Hope you have warm spring afternoons...
We will!

Cows talking!!!

The ladies were a little nervous during their first rain storm without their moms. Here they are talking to me telling me they are scared.

Introducing....

Lady Tasty and Miss Delicious!!!!
We had an exciting weekend! We woke up Saturday morning, and our newest friends had arrived. This is the most fun we have had here. I love having cows!! There is nothing like hearing a MOOOO from your front yard.
We have had fun getting to know them and welcoming them to our home. And who knew this, but they really do come when you call their names!! **Maybe I should come up with something a bit more kind than Lady Tasty and Miss Delicious**
I dont think I will ever get tired of seeing that out the window!!

Lots happening...

Including a hen transforming into a ROOSTER!
He is a pretty thing, but even more than that he is going to be an excellent roasting chicken!! It all happened about 3 weeks ago. Our "hen" starting crowing like a rooster, and then started getting more and more aggressive. I had a neighbor over and she said "look at your rooster", and it all clicked. We have yet another rooster.

Spring is also coming, and with it my Bradford pears are blooming. I love these trees!!
Also, Todd finally got the shed he has been dreaming of. We ran across it at Home Depot for 40% off, and top that off with a 10% coupon I had, and botta bing botta boom!!
My grapes are to the left of the shed and I cant wait to get those in the ground. If only it would stop raining long enough for the ground to dry out so I can till once more.
Look what I walked into the other night. Todd had just gotten home and was finishing up his paperwork, but he had a little help. The cute hen was enjoying some one on one time with Todd. So cute!!!

Stay tuned Im sure to have many more updates. Todd has all the tools and supplies ready to build out my food storage room (yay!!), I bought a can of paint (yellow), and trees are going to be planted soon!! Yay, so so fun!!

The Truth About Your Eggs....

I have been enjoying my hens and baby chicks these past few weeks, and I started to wonder why I hadn't done this all my life. Unfortunately, the sad truth is, I wasn't educated on the egg production process, or really the food production, in this country until very recently. I want to take a moment and let you all in on the secret world of mass egg production in the United States. Like I said I haven't always lived like this. I too would shop at the grocery store trying to read labels, even though I didn't understand the majority of what is on the labels, but I tried to be a savvy consumer. When buying eggs I would look for labels like "organic", "vegetarian fed", "free range" and "cage free", but with most things in this society labels are meaningless marketing tools. The majority of eggs are produced in mass production poultry houses much like this one...
These birds spend their lives in confined spaces, standing in their own waste with zero exercise. They become aggressive and fight with each other for space. To prevent cannibalism, their beaks are often cut off. These birds are very stressed and diseased. Antibiotics are used to prevent the chickens from succumbing to these diseases. Their quarters are not cleaned until the birds are removed from the poultry house. They usually live under these conditions for two years and then are sold at auctions for butchering. For the most part, they will never see the light of day or feel a breeze blow through their feathers, until they are shoved into a tractor trailer and sent to the rendering plant.
But, you say..."well I buy free range and cage free birds." Well sadly these situations are only a tad better circumstances.
These hens are considered free range. And what that means is they are shoved into a HUGE storehouse and are allotted on average 1-2 square feet of space per bird. These hens are also forced to stand in their own waste, and barely have room to lie down or turn around. There are doors at the end of the building that allow the hens to have access to a small run, but the majority don't even know its exists because they are unable to see it. Only a lucky few who stand next to the door have access to it. These birds are also under a ton of stress and given multiple antibiotics to prevent rampant diseases.
When this was looked into by the FDA and Department of Agriculture they found that the main reason we were having so many salmonella outbreaks, is because rodents have access to these poultry houses. The rodents are bringing in disease, and the birds need to be protected from them. So whats their solution, close up the outside doors and seal off the majority of the fresh air supply. That way the rodents cant get in right? When I read this report I couldn't help but giggle. Yes that may be a contributing factor, but it is not a solution. You need to know, my hen house has access to rodents as well. Birds frequent the coop, field mice can make there way in, but my birds are healthy and have zero diseases. I believe the main issue that should be looked into are the living conditions these hens are having to live with. With that little space, and hens getting agitated and pecking, on top of the unsanitary conditions, of course there is going to be disease. I clean out my coop once a week and place fresh shavings at the bottom of their roost and nesting boxes. I clean out their water and food containers regularly to ensure no bacterial growth. My hens have ample space to roam and scratch at the ground. What about labels that claim organic and vegetarian fed? Well that just means that their hens were fed organic food and have no antibiotics in their system. It says nothing about their living conditions. What can you do to get good eggs? Make a statement with your checkbook, find a local farmer and ask if you can purchase eggs from them. Even if they arent fed organic feed their hens are sure to be healthier. Shop at your local farmers markets. Make sure you ask if they are farm fresh and not commercially grown. We live in a time when people market unfairly and most times untruthfully, so ask questions. If possible get a few hens for your own backyard. You would be surprised at how little cost and time go into chickens. We have 5 laying hens right now, and get 4 eggs a day, not bad. The difference in the eggs are HUGE. The shells from farm fresh eggs are thicker and more solid. The yolks are brighter and more vibrant. The taste is actual egg, not some watered down version. Plus, farm fresh eggs are fresher and healthier. Yes eggs can last a long time if stored properly, but the eggs you are buying at the store are sometimes months old. Plus, farm fresh eggs are more nutritious. Hens that have access to insects and scratch lay eggs that are higher in Omega 3 fatty acids. Give it a try and let me know what you think. Todd and I have enjoyed our hens so much. They not only provide us with nutritious fresh eggs, but also hours of comic relief. They are so fun to have. With everything going on in the world we need to start educating ourselves. Its time for the American people to learn for ourselves and to expect higher quality things. Whether it be eggs, food, education, or politics. Its time to take a stand and demand higher quality. Its insane to me that we live where we do and yet so many of us are still in the dark. Good luck in your journey...

Who has time....

I have been soooo busy these last few weeks getting everything ready for spring. It is 11:30 AM right now, and already this morning I have...

Washed, folded, and put away 2 loads of laundry
Packed Todd up and said goodbye for a week
Gone grocery shopping
Put groceries away
Started 60 seeds
Cleaned out the baby chick coop
Watered and set up lights for my seeds
And started a new compost full of chick manure

And I still have 100 thousand things to do today. I hope it slows down a bit, I am getting tired thinking about this spring. Who has time for all of this...

Here are some pics of the cute baby chicks growing up, I have them in a Christmas decoration sized container while I clean out their home. I love looking at them all scrunched together!! So cute...

And they are back.....Im so excited for the big garden this year. I have started about half of my seeds for the year. I will start the others over the next month!!
Hope you have a fantastic Monday!!