Documentary Review: The Botany of Desire

So Kelsi and I recently subscribed to Netflix and it is amazing. Since we started I have gotten a lot of new exposure to documentaries that I didn’t even know about. Recently I watched Food Inc, which Kelsi has already talked about previously, and that was a very moving piece. Last night, I had some down time at work in between the never-ending demands of those who are in poor health and those who are too poor to be in health.

During this time, I watched The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan. It was very moving and really got me thinking about the impact one can make in the world of plant genetics just in the plants we choose to support. Think about it > Go to the grocery store for your food needs, there are a handful of varieties of apples, a few types of lettuce and really not much selection of anything else to choose from. You can only choose one type of cucumber, zucchini, and most other fruits and vegetables. When in reality the world of plant genetics is just as complicated as humans. Infinite genes, which code for infinite traits, making an infinite variety of apple trees.

What can we do? Planting your flowers and vegetables based upon what is unique and different from what the monoculture farms(Farms that specialize in one type of plant) supply to the grocery store is the best way to ensure the genetic variation from each species of plant. With out genetic variation plants are more susceptible to pests, insects, and mutations through years of genetic replication. Many of these seeds and plants are called heirloom or heritage breeds because they are preserving the diversity of their respective breeds. This is an important part of preserving the biodiversity that big farm and monoculture operations seem to be trying to rid America of.

For more information about how you can do your part check out this link:Sustainability facts thanks for reading, we appreciate the support. Feedback is always welcomed (Negative/positive)

Meating the Meaters

I am off today and I decided to finished watching a movie called 'Food, Inc'. I started it a few weeks ago and had to stop part way for some reason. Watching poor animals get mistreated in the slaughter houses really upsets me and I hadnt finished the movie. So, today I finished it and I am now more passionate than ever about raising our own meat, but also more nervous than ever for the day when we actually begin processing it.


I like to think I was beginning to get used to the idea of being able to humanly kill another living thing and was even thinking I would be able to help Mike when the time comes. Im not sure about it right now. I have discovered that I am really struggling. It is the right thing to do if we are going to continue eating meat, thats for sure. But do I really have thick enough skin for this? Im no so sure. I wish this would be easier.


But my emotions aside, everyone should watch this film. If nothing, to just be aware about the things you are eating. It doesnt just discuss the treatment of animals, but the treatment of workers and farmers in the food industry, as well as, how it effects our environment. It is worth seeing.

“There is this deliberate veil, this curtain that’s drawn between us and where our food is coming from. The industry doesn’t want you to know the truth about what you’re eating because if you knew, you might not want to eat it.” -Quote from Food, Inc

Signs of spring

A Muddy dog is a sure sign of spring. Ignore the shirt, it is to cover her abdominal wound while she is outside.

The chicks tucked in for the night

The seeds are growing, hoping for a great harvest

The revived strawberry plants that kels put so much love into saving

Tomatoes, YuMM

Spring is Here and We are Trying New Things

So, I haven't written on here for quite some time. Really only once in all. I just wanted to give an update about what our life has been like since moving back to Spokane from Pullman. First of all we scored an amazing place to live, which happens 80 acres, which I know Kelsi has already talked about in detail. This place has it all! Open fields, wild life (Not always the good kind), and plenty of space to dream.

This place has been such an eye opener for us in terms of what the country life has to offer. I have always told Kels that I want to live in the country, and this place just seems to have fallen in our lap with out us even meaning to live on land. It has really changed how I view our future and what I want for our children when they grow up. Last summer Kelsi and I started our very first vegetable garden, which did, pretty well considering our lack of experience and the frequent visits by the flocks of hungry deer. We bought our first chicken in May of 2009, her name is Rhonda and she changed everything we knew about chickens. We currently have 17 girls for laying and nine process birds. Which is especially funny because when we got Rhonda Kelsi only wanted 4 chickens and now we have a flock. A large flock.

Kelsi and I have always been pretty thoughtful about the choices we made when it came to our food purchases and how they affect the global food cycle. We try to buy local and organic when possible and we really preach and live for the fair treatment of animals. So the best benefit that we have found living on the land besides the space is being able to 'live' off of the land. We are able to do this by having a vegetable garden, chickens that supply us with plenty of fresh eggs (and a little extra money when sold), and now we are venturing into the area of processing our own meat.

It will be interesting.Very interesting. A few days ago we bought 10 meat chickens from Big R for 20 dollars, which seemed pretty reasonable. We placed the "meaters" in a big plastic tote in an area I recently converted into their new home. Itwas a fairly easy project to handle, just added a couple hinges and a door here and there, some wire and bedding and we had a new home for the meaters before lunch time.

The chicks are little, sweet, and they are pretty darn cute which is going make it very hard since I will be doing them in, in a couple months. One of the chicks died a couple days ago when it was pretty hot out and they ran out of water, I think this little guy got dehydrated, so we have stepped up the intervals at which we check on them. Hoping to avoid dead chicks in the near future as they are rather helpless creatures and are very dependent on us right now. In terms of sustainability and eating meat from a trusted local source, this is really the only way to go for us. I will post some updates of the meaters as time goes on, and also much to come about the garden, Kelsi and I have put a lot of work in so far and there will be lots to share about all the new things we are trying like a greenhouse, 8 foot deer fence, drip irrigation and raised beds.

Mike and I have been working hard on the garden. Like I said, we bought a special deer fence to help keep them out. Last week we put it up and tilled in a bunch of manure. This week, we have been constructing raised beds. The beds themselves are easy to make. It has been filling them that has been a problem. Not enough dirt! I am not sure how we are going to resolve this. I really dont want to buy dirt. Who buys dirt?!

We have also decided to build a greenhouse! I am very excited. We have begun growing our own starters for the garden and once the greenhouse is constructed, they will be transferred into there until it is warm enough outside for them to survive. It is going to be awesome.

As for our chicks? They are growing more and more everyday. They are so dang cute. Currently, they are at the stage where they have some of their feathers growing in, but still have a lot of fuss. Ugh! I just want to smooch them! So cute!

Changes in our lives

Last May, we moved into the best place possible! It is a Duplex, but we have a yard a bunch of land to play on! So awesome. We even have a chicken coop on the property! We couldnt have an empty chicken coop! So, we bought some chickens. We started out with Rhonda (pictured on my shoulder) and also bought some little chicks. It was so fun watching them grow and now we have 9 full grown laying hens and are getting about 8 eggs a day. It has been super fun.

Last summer, we were also able to create a garden. It proved to be a lot of work and the stupid fence didnt keep out the damn deer (the jerks ended up eating just about everything), but it was so worth it. This last week, Mike and I spent a lot of time preparing the land for this years garden. We bought a deer fence (to keep the jerks out) and put it up, got a bunch of manure and tilled it into the ground, and now we are beginning to construct raised beds. It has been so much work, but hopefully it will all be worth it when we are eating almost solely out of our garden! I am going to do a lot of canning and freezing this summer too. I would love for all of our veggies to last us through winter.

We got a whopping 7 new chicks this season and they are so damn cute. We have too many chickens... I just love them so much! They are so fun to have and we are selling the eggs we get. I posted some pictures of where we live!

Details, Details, Details

So, I haven't posted in way too long. However, we have made quite a bit of progress on the wedding planning. I bought my dress, we decided on a date, picked a caterer, florist, photographer, DJ, ect. We had out engagement session in September. It was super fun. Here are a few examples of the shoot!


One of the only things I have been having trouble with has been the centerpieces for the reception. I am going for a garden theme. So far, they are terra cotta pots with Daisies planted in them and a little bird house. I need one more thing and I cant figure out what to put in there! I was thinking an old school metal watering can, but I have found they are kind of expensive. Anyone have any ideas?

Im not sure if we have told many people, but Mike has decided to convert to Judaism. It is quite exciting. He has been working on his hebrew nightly and is almost ready to got in front of the Beit Deen. He did his mikvah in Portland in December, so we are getting so close! I am so proud of him! We have a meeting with Rabbi next week to discuss the wedding details. Im hoping Mike with show off some of his hebrew skills them!