Organic Trash Farm

Spring is right around the corner, and I for one am very excited. Excited to get outside. Excited to plant my garden, my flower bed, and get our chicks. I love working outside. I wish I could be a yardmaker instead of a homemaker. The kids are anxious too. Gracie is talking about all the berry bushes she wants planted so she can eat them while she's outside playing. Caleb is really excited about the chicks and asks me every day if we're getting them. So now that the weather is getting nicer, we've been taking the opportunities to start some of our outside projects.

Our first project is to build the chicken coop and run. But before we can do that, we have a lot of yard clean-up to do. One of the things that drew me to homeschooling was the increased opportunity to teach my kids real-life skills and work ethic. They have chores to do every day, and are expected to help out with projects when they can. So I took them outside this morning to help clear out the spot. They were excited to do it,  because it meant we were one step closer to getting the chicks. They got busy picking up sticks and raking leaves, (sort of).

 

I knew we had some work ahead of us, but about 15 minutes into it, I started getting really overwhelmed and discouraged. There are window frames, stovepipes, bumpers, license plates, netting, assorted rusted metal.

                                                                               


And glass. Lots and lots of shattered glass. We did notice some of the glass when we first moved in. We kept showing each other, and commenting how weird it was. I don't know if this property used to be the dump, or if someone was just really lazy, but there is junk everywhere in the woods, and the glass keeps multiplying. As I was walking back I noticed some glittering and started raking it up. The more I raked, the more glass I found, until I had a big hole, and then a wheelbarrow, full of glass. Some of it was bottle necks.Why in the day and age of trash pick up do you need to bury bottles in the yard? Thanks a lot!

                                                                            

I cleared that section of the glass, but I know there's more in other spots. It makes me really mad, because for one the kids can't go barefoot, two, I'm going to keep running into it when I try to garden, and three, I don't want my animals getting hurt on it either. And I only scratched the surface. There's still more junk out there that was too big for me too move, like these pipes.

"100% Organic Chicken Eggs. Free-Range. Glass-Fed". I feel so frustrated! I envision my fat chickens eating bugs while the kids collect huge brown eggs. I picture rows of mason jars, filled with bright colors, like pieces of tasty art on my shelves. I dream about getting up at dawn to milk the goats before the kids get up (well Caleb will be up) and experiencing the satisfaction of knowing where my food came from. But what I have right now is car parts and shards of glass.

I know nothing worthwhile is easy. I didn't expect it would be, I just didn't expect so much  junk. It will literally take years until we can get rid of all the debris and clear out some nice areas. I guess in the end it will make all our efforts more rewarding, but in the meantime, I'm still trying to figure out where to build the chicken coop, and hoping that, someday, we will find the last piece of glass.