Spring Chickens

Spring is in the air- or, at least on the calendar. Since tomorrow is March 1st, I've been thinking about this year's batch of chickens. I'm really looking forward to it. We've raised chickens for about 7 years now, and it is a ton of fun. One of the most satisfying things is seeing my young daughter (she's almost 4) get to interact with them and collect their eggs.

We've raised lots of chicks- purchased locally or online as day-old babies- and we've also purchased fully-grown birds here in town. Both approaches are really satisfying: the former provides the fun of watching the chicks grow, and the latter provides a pretty much immediate supply of fresh eggs. This year we'll be going with option #2.

Regardless of the approach you take to starting your backyard flock, they'll have to live somewhere. Building a chicken coop is a great DIY project if you're handy, or want to be. If not, you can probably find someone in your area to help you out.

Here's a couple of pictures of coops that I've built recently to help get your creative juices flowing.

Planting seeds

I am excited to finally bring this blog to life. Thinking about it used to feel like a drag- oh man, another chore to do?- but now I have shifted to seeing it as a great source of joy that I can plug into. So what kinds of stuff will I be posting about, now that I've got my attitude adjusted?

+Music, especially opportunities to make and hear music in our area

+Food, from lots of different angles: growing it, preparing it, and consuming it

+Making stuff: nuts & bolts tips on building the things you want and much more

+People: our community is full of inspiring people that I want to spotlight. Stay tuned.


Thanks for reading this, and please give me a shout if you're inclined.

Warmly,
Chris Gleason

My First Post!

Wow! I have been thinking about starting a blog for a few years now (who hasn’t?) but I held off because I figured the world didn’t need another “here’s what I had for dinner” kind of thing. And to be honest, even though I’m as much of a narcissist as the next guy, I guess I had mixed feelings about broadcasting so openly. I guess Facebook kicked the heck out of those inhibitions!

Fast forward to 2012: either something has changed online, or my perception has (maybe both?) and I have developed a new understanding of blogs as much more than just another forum for self-indulgence: the good ones seem to provide a really dynamic way of connecting with other people in a meaningful fashion. And that interests me very much. The name- which I agonized over, as I imagine most people do, evolved as a “close enough” representation of some of my dearest values: if life is a garden, we’re all planting seeds, all the time. And as a professional woodworker, sawdust is a by-product of my work that I then compost to nourish the plants that I grow. Call me an old hippie- you wouldn’t be wrong- but I think the name is going to stick, nonetheless.

Anyway, here’s what I am going to do: I plan to present myself, and some things that I find wonderful about this world, in an honest attempt to connect with a few people who may feel that it resonates with them. Wouldn’t that be grand, all by itself?

Warmly,

Chris Gleason