I had an great day yesterday even if I was sitting around holding a yard sale.The great part of the day was I met some new neighbors and one of the ladies signed up for our chicken Butchering class,what a small world. I must say I am surprised that 7 out of 10 people signed up for our class are women.I don't know why I am surprised but I am.
The first lady I met started the ball rolling on getting to know some new faces.She stopped for our sale partly because who can pass by a sale and partly because as she said "I love your front yard and I just HAD to see your back.I pass by on my way to work and love your place."This lady works at Issac's High School which is so close to us we can hear the Marching Band practicing and all of the ball games. GO SUNSET! GO APOLLO"S! Sorry I have bit of pride in those kids.
Next this first lady says I have to call my neighbor and get her over here! I guess this second lady is wanting chickens , already gardens and is into what we are doing here.Now my neighbor right across the street had told me of a lady who fit this second lady's description and also said we had to meet. So I was wondering could it be the same woman?
A bit later the second lady and her kids arrive,the minute she passed under our grape arbor I just knew it must be her. And it was.We started talking chickens right away and this is what she said to me."Have you ever heard of The Urban Farm Store? I am taking a Chicken Butchering Class there on Sunday." WOW small world! I piped up and said "Well,that's us.I am Rois and this is Chance" Now folks are always puzzled by my name and it's spelling.I spell it Rois which when written has an accent mark that looks like a half moon above the "o" it's Gaelic and means "Like running horses" But when you pronounce my name in English it's just plain old Rose.So the lady and I cleared that up and got on with being excited about meeting each other.We both thought it was crazy that she just lives in the neighborhood next to mine.She was the lady whom my across the street neighbor mentioned which got us laughing and talking even more.
So see people the suburbs are not completely filled with the stereo typed Suburbanites.There are people here who do care about the environment,sustainable living,gardening,chickens and being self sufficient.You just have to take the time to get to know people and leave all of your hang ups about who looks like the kind of person who is living this life.This family even bikes every where and the husband would like to get rid of their car all together but to look at them they look like every other family in my neighborhood.Open your minds and eyes because you just might miss out if you don't.
Towards the end of my sale I had a lady stop and we talked about Hay Bale Gardening.She had the same problems we did including the slugs and like us she knocked them down and started over.She mentioned that she thought it's because here in Oregon we don't get the super hot summers like back east where many of the photos showing Hay Bale Gardens we had both seen were growing.How could the bales compost when it's so cool here?
Her thoughts tied right into my own,whew I am not alone. I mentioned to her that the wet bales don't provide enough oxygen for the plants to grow too.We both thought all of this combined made sense and when you thought it through was some basic biology. Again you never know who you are going to meet.
We had lots of people stop by just to see our back yard but most were here to shop too.One of my favorites was a young Latino family who walked in and gasped "Ranchera!" Chance and I understand a bit of Spanish and caught familiar words here and there,Pollo (chicken) and the words for Squash and Tomatoes.Through their eldest son we talked with the parents who were pleased we would take the time to show them around and answer their questions.They had no idea that here in America people lived a similar life to some people in Latin America.
Finally as we were sitting around Chance worked on more Culling/KIlling Cones and did some photos along the way.This weekend Chance and I are like ships in the night passing each other as we go about our work. It will be Monday before I can sit down with him and blog about the Cones. Glenn,keep checking back, we will get to it!
Speaking of Glenn, I'd like to send him a great big shout out and our thanks for his support.Glenn writes Clark County Food & Farm over the river in Vancouver Washington (state) a blog chocked full of useful links, articles and knowledge.Glenn has posted both of our Butchering classes on his website and our friends at White Hart Forge's class too.Both White Hart and Hrafinstaad are greatful to you.Keep up the good works you are doing over yonder.
My next blogging will feature the Cones and a bit about how our class went.Chance and I are working a couple more ideas for some classes and an open house.Hopefully by the next posting I can announce some new events.
Take care all,live your life with your eyes open and your feet on the Earth.
Rois
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