Over the past year I've been working on switching to home made cleaners, local/sustainable/organic products when I can't make things myself, and trying very hard to follow Michael Pollan's Food Rules...but DH has been a huge skeptic. Composting and container veggie gardening were supposedly "too much work", local and organic produce/meats were "too expensive" or "a scam", you get the picture.
DH had a lightbulb go off recently (not sure why) that all of my "crazy hippie" ideas have made him healthier and have made us less stressed as a couple and is suddenly 100% on board!I have no idea what made the switch flip but I'll take it.
He was pleasantly surprised to note in his Excel budget tracker sheet that as soon as the farmer's market started up again, our grocery spending dropped in half. And he's lost some weight too.
One step further: he just bought a composting bin and ducklings, without any pressure from me -- the ducks were totally his idea!
We have four baby Rouen ducks that will be here on Tuesday, so DH is building them a coop and run tomorrow. By the end of the summer we should have fresh eggs pretty regularly. (We chose ducks over chickens because they're a little hardier for our frigid winters, but we're looking into adding on a couple geese and chickens if the ducks do well).
Next step: getting him on board with growing our own veggies. I don't think it'll be too hard now.
Re: DH finally seeing the light...and we're getting ducklings! :)
Don't forget to get them a kiddie pool. Ducks gotta swim.
My mom had chickens for many years. They just require an insulated coop and a heat lamp in the winter. They'll go outside for a bit to about -10*C.
Yep, we've got a bright green one just waiting for them to get big enough to use it.
DH is building the duck house tomorrow.
I'm jealous. I REALLY want chickens but 1) city ordinance says we can't have them in less than 5 acres and 2) DH thinks I'm nuts.
BTW, the photo of the rattie holding a teddy bear might be the cutest thing I've ever seen.
4/25/12 ~ Our angel, Persephone James, is here!
That's awesome! Congrats on you and your DH for making the change to heathier living. I'm totally jealous of the ducks. DH big goal for our "forever home" in upstate NY is to have chickens. We're in a townhouse with an HOA now so chicken are completely not possible, I'm not even sure we're allowed to have our veggie garden
Vegetable gardening is fun and super easy. Raised beds are easy to make, and looking through seed catalogs and picking out varieties together is so fun. There's some so rewarding about making a meal with food you grew yourself. It's even better than produce from the Farmer's Market.