Is that a goat in your garage?

Is that a goat in your garage? If so you must've read "urban farming"...is what it said on the back of the book jacket of the latest book I just finished reading.  What an intriguing thought....a goat in my garage, really? What kind of a book is this, that would inspire me to get a goat? --I thought.

I ordered it from Amazon for $16. It's a helpful book based on the experiences of a family who wanted to live more off the land than to spend most of their money commercially in the stores.  The chapters go through each kind of food we normally eat or purchase from the grocery store and how to make better choices. In the beginning of each chapter Annette (one of the authors) lists her original grocery list and now what she purchases at the store. For example in the grain chapter:
Original List:

• baking powder
• baking soda
• bread
• breakfast cereal
• crackers
• croutons
• flour
• frozen pizza
• frozen waffles
• hotdog buns
• oatmeal
• pancake mix
• salt
• yeast

Revised List:

• baking powder
• baking soda
• local grains
• salt
• yeast

It's so neat to see the progression she has made towards a greener life. Some of the chapters include: grain, chicken & the egg, dairy dilemma, growing your own, eating seasonally, preserving harvest, raising small animals for meat, soaps & sundries, just to name a few!

I loved reading about her journey. I am on the same journey of greener living. I never thought of myself as an urban farmer. However the title grabbed my attention because I want to live my best life with what God has given me. I find that local organic food can be pricey at times. I know it would be cheaper to grow my own....but the question I found myself asking as I read this book was "how far was I willing to take this?"

In every chapter there's a spot called "Opportunity for Change" for example in "The Chicken and the egg" chapter the are 3 different opportunities for change:

1. buy organic free range eggs
2. buy organic pasturized eggs from the farmers market
3. get your own chickens

I found myself evaluating why we do what we do, and what's the best choice for my family. For example with the eggs. We already are doing #1, we buy organic greenwise eggs from publix.  We definitely could buy eggs from the farmers market, it's just a 45 minute drive from our house on a saturday morning. The third option my husband and I actually talked a lot about after reading this chapter. Could we get chickens? What would our neighbors think? Would our two miniature schnauzers try to eat them? Would they keep us up all night? Then we thought, it would be neat to see the chickens grow, get fresh eggs....but the chicken would probably make a mess, they probably stink, they're probably a lot of work...so the conclusion we made was: we'll continue to buy our organic eggs from the store. Perhaps we'll try #2 and actually buy them from a farmer, or from the farmers market. We'll see! So it's a no on chickens (for now).   What I loved about this book is it had me considering all the options, and not feeling like I have no control of where I get my food and how it's processed. I can be part of process!

The idea of a goat in the garage is hysterical! The goat provides milk, but she warned about the goat being destructive and pulling siding off your house. I am absolutely 100% sure we're not getting a goat.

However she highly encouraged knowing where you food comes from and being part of the process. There are many ways she's doing this, that I can't do (or I choose not to do). I am really excited about the following ideas that I want to eventually try at my house in the coming months.

Here's what I plan to do:

1. Getting a wheat grinder attachment for my kitchen aid mixer to grind my own wheat KitchenAid Stand Mixer Attachment Grain Mill - KGM (Google Affiliate Ad)
2. buying eggs at the farmers market
3. Canning. I'm so excited to try canning (tomato sauce, salsa, jam, fruit, applesauce, pickles to name a few)
4. turning most of my land into a space to grow food. Like fruit trees, vines growing that grow grapes or kiwis, a plentiful herb garden. (she has a whole chapter to help you figure out what produce your family eats most of, and then figuring out how much you need to plant each season. That's such an organized way to garden! I love that idea)
5. composting (i'm still really not sure about this one. I know it's good for the soil, I know it's good to use my leftover table scraps...just not sure about the bugs and stink! I can buy a bag of manure that'll hopefully have the same effect on my garden for $2 at home depot)
6. making my own tea from my garden

So even though there are some ideas in this book that I can't fathom doing (like killing my own hog for meat). I can appreciate and respect the path she's on. I love hearing the heartwarming stories as she experienced trying to live a greener life. I love being on that same journey and I too am going to continue to expand my horizon and find more ways to have Green Moments.

Want to learn more? Annette Cottrell has a blog: sustainableeats.com