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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

An Early Spring Day

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I love early spring days, when the sun is warm and the air still slightly cool, when I can sit in my yard with my chickens and dog and take a few minutes away from screens and electronics to enjoy the pages of a book, when I can listen to the birds sing and watch them flit through the bushes.  Some of my favourite kinds of days: sun, animals, book, and ten minutes away from everything else.


*A shout-out to my sister-in-law who gave me for Christmas this beautiful (signed) book I'm enjoying.
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Saturday, March 26, 2016

The FIRST Post!

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Welcome to Toad in the Garlic!
Toad in the Garlic is our "house-stead," our non-British "croft" -- our little plot of land, a half-acre in all, is in a residential neighbourhood in Western Massachusetts; not exactly of a homesteading or farming setup.  Nevertheless, our goal is to make our little patch of earth more productive, more sustainable, and more efficient with plantings, improvements, composting, gardening -- so it produces more food, uses less energy, creates less waste, and becomes a healthy, joyful habitat -- all with the help of our chickens and the happy little toads that can be found in our yard.

We have lived at Toad in the Garlic for nearly 6 years (though it hasn't always been called that).  In that time, we have already made many such improvements (some of which I'm sure I will make mention of in future posts), but now it's time to get serious; it's time to work on making our space a little heaven on earth -- for us, our animals, and any other little creatures that come to visit (or stay).

Join us in our trials, our errors, our successes, and find out what you can do to make your own space a little more friendly to the earth and its creatures.  Feel free to leave tips, comments, questions, and suggestions after the posts!
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