Yesterday we woke up to a phone call asking us to come pick these chicks up from the post office. Logan and I headed out, and he spent most of the drive back demanding I let them out of the box because they were being loud. We ordered a mixed assortment of 25 birds, and when they get older it'll be like a game to sit there with the hatchery catalog trying to figure out what breeds they are. I've ID'ed one of the chics already, but ti was easy; there was one turken included, and the poor baby doesn't have any feathers on its neck! The chicks won't be coming to live at our place for a few more weeks; they're spending their brooding days at a friends with some duckling and goslings. Aren't they cute?
Y'all asked some great questions in the comments last week, and I've been thinking about them for days...
especially the big question of "why?" I think I'll address that one last, ok?
There was an inquiry about the bathroom and shower situation. For the time being, we have a seldom used camp shower; picture a large plastic bag that's black on one side and clear on the other. We fill it up with water and hang it in the sun so the water gets hot/warm. There's a hose with a shower head attached. Honestly, I've never actually used this thing. Part of the trade for the bookkeeping I do at SVI is the three of us getting to take hot showers. I seriously daydream about my future bathroom, with a clawfoot bathtub and shower with good water pressure:)
As for the toilet? We use a sawdust toilet system, largely inspired by Joseph Jenkins Humanure book and system. It's a toilet seat box installed over a bucket. When we're done, we cover up the deposit with sawdust until you can neither see nor smell it. When the bucket gets full, we empty it into a dedicated compost pile and cover it with more green matter such as hay, agian until we can neither see nor smell it. We'll let the pile age for at least two years, at which point it'll be good rich dirt for the garden that can't hurt you. My initial reaction to the idea of humanure was a combination of "EEEEEWWWWW!!!!!" and skepticism, but that was a few years ago. I've since visited sites usin the system, read the book, and otherwise been made a believer. Slowly.
Bears have not really been an issue in this area. Most of the food is either inside the yome (which is slowly driving me nuts) or out on the deck in those flip-top boxes you see stacked up behind grocery stores. So far, this has been sufficient for keeping rats and bugs out.
I'm hoping we'll only have to live in the yome until the end of 2009, at which point we hope to have the house completed, or at least completed enough to move into. The house will be on the same piece of land as the yome, if that hasn't been made clear...
I have more to say regarding the question of why, but Logan wants to play, so maybe next time....
wow! rock on saw dust potty!! i'd like to think i could do it, but i don't know. you could take away all of my electricity and central heating tomorrow, but please let me keep my indoor plumbing. my husband's grandmother had an outhouse for many years when he was a young boy, they used the sawdust. he swears it was really not gross or too big of a deal. i love learning about this a bit more through your experience, thanx!
oh, and i love what you said about resilience on the comment you left me, much appreciated, good to hear. thank you.
Posted by: heather | April 24, 2007 at 09:06 PM
this is so fascinating... good for you with the composting toilet!
and those chicks are so, so cute. my husband raised chickens when he was a kid (he grew up on a farm) and he has lots of good stories about it.
Posted by: amisha | April 26, 2007 at 07:24 AM