It’s raining again outside. But thank goodness for that because we’re still down close to eleven inches in average rainfall here in the mountains of western North Carolina. The entire area is in a severe drought so we’re thankful for close to two inches of rain that will fall today and tomorrow.
But something exciting happened a few short weeks ago on a really gorgeous (and dry) fall day here on The Little Half Acre. Our new chicken coop arrived! Yay!
No chickens yet and, at the rate we’re going, there probably won’t be any until spring. While the coop only needs a couple of minor adjustments to hold the nine or ten hens I plan to put in there, the attached run we need to build is going to be a bit more complicated. Because of the North to South slope where the run will attach to the coop, as well as the East to West slope toward the dry (or mostly dry) branch next to the coop, the Innocent Bystander (hubbie) is going to have to construct a polygonal shaped chicken run. Just another complication from homesteading on a hillside. No problem, we’ll handle it because we can just taste all those lovely eggs!
Here’s the delivery and set up in photos:
The delivery guy, Ken S., was a real pro and had our coop delivered, put in place, leveled and ready to go in under half an hour. The coop is sturdy and well built and, once we add a bit of screen to the one long ventilation window on the west side, it should keep any egg-and-chicken-eating critters on the outside looking in.
Because our little homestead is on a fairly steep hill, there’s no way to locate big stuff (like the chicken coop) further up the property and away from the road. That means that a lot of the raised beds, the stacks and piles of firewood and the compost pile, along with the new chicken coop, are right there in plain view. We’re getting to look a bit like the Beverly Hillbillies here on our little half acre but eventually – when there are enough fruit trees, bushes and wood chip pathways to make it look the way a typical permaculture food forest looks – it will feel (and look) a little more cohesive. We hope.
Meanwhile, we are one step closer to self sufficiency, even if it isn’t the prettiest thing in the world. Fresh eggs to eat, to barter with and to sell will put us a step further away from big chain grocery stores. I can live with the messy look (although our neighbors are probably cringing) if it gets us closer to living with and off the land. Easy, right? Oh, sure! We only need about 50 more fruit trees and bushes and 20 more raised beds or so! Ha ha! Stayed tuned – but we sure hope you’re not in much of a hurry – cuz this may take a while!
