On Sunday, June 26th Home-Eco (our neighborhood eco-friendly store) partnered with The Gateway Gardner and Native Pollinator to host a sustainable gardens backyard tour. We had four homes that were close enough for us to walk from our house. June and I felt this was fitting to check out the ones in walking distance first. There were some interesting homes that were further away but we just ran out of time and I got sun burnt on my shoulders anyway for forgetting to put on sun block. Darn it! June was on the Home-Eco list and that's how we found out about the houses on the tour.
Four of us set out to tour the neighborhood --my brother in law Tim, June, & Derrick who is a co-worker & friend of Tim's that lives nearby. Each house was a little different and showed the personalities of the owners. Our first stop had a large, sprawling garden with all sorts of veggies growing. The couple has been gardening for a few years now and they also compost. They showed us their worms in the basement and the husband explained that he started with only 2,000 worms and now has 7,000 (I think) and that the container they have them in is open but they have never had them escape. The wife admitted she was not the hugest fan of the worm composting idea at first, but has been really happy with how it's worked out and that the worms have never left their container in the basement. They also had a more traditional compost bin outside which she said they just pitched their scraps into. Super friendly and inspiring us to continue on the tour.
Stop number two had a beautiful house, yard, and garden. He wasn't really there to talk about or showcase his garden, he was showcasing his chickens and beautiful chicken coop. He had 4 chickens (which is the maximum allowed per house in the city of St. Louis) of varying ages and a great looking coop. He told us that he only spends about 1-1 1/2 hours a week with the chickens and that they yield about a dozen eggs/week. He said he fed them scraps (much like you'd use for compost -- potato peels, fruit, etc) for the chicken's diet. He gave me a blueberry -- my favorite fruit ;-) not -- to let the chicken take out of my hand as a snack/treat. The yard was well-manicured and it looked like his garden beds were beautifully maintained. He said that he built his coop himself, that it wasn't too time consuming, and that the chickens really do a great job. He only has to change the water once or twice a week and put his yard clippings in a certain spot so that the chickens can scratch and peck. The chickens were a bit noisy... but June was excited at the potential to get some chickens.
Stop number three was a large garden. The ladies here had clearly been gardening for several years. They had made sun tea and were offering it in those cool compostable plastic cups. They were certainly on board with being earth friendly! She told us about how to get your soil tested and really had transformed most of the backyard into a garden. This idea is very appealing to us because we are not huge fans of mowing the lawn. Thankfully, we have 'lawn boy' Warren right now and he is doing a magnificent job of keeping the lawn in order. The garden at stop number three was large and very orderly. She had neat rows of all different types of veggies in back as well as some flowers around the side. The front yard looked great as you approached -- very manicured and orderly. She had two different compost bins and explained to us that one was new. The first time she had tried composting, she hadn't broken the items into smaller pieces and had not been careful about seeds contaminating the compost. She showed us the newer batch (with a compost bin recently purchased from Home Eco) and explained that she was making it more like soup. Make sure that some water gets in it, the pieces are small, and that you mix it all together. She also told us that we need to look for a community calendar that an organization (now I can't remember the name) offers free classes to help you get started with composting and that you don't have to have a fancy & expensive bin. June and I will be watching for that class and try to make it a priority to be there.
Our last stop on the tour was a very interesting and eclectic couple. They had a sprawling garden, 3 chickens, 2 dogs, & a partially painted hot pink garage. They had a wine barrel on the side, as you approached, that was a cool decoration but didn't appear to have much of a use. They grew all sorts of veggies and had the chickens running around. The wife did let us know that they had a little bit of trouble getting started with the chickens as they had a few of them die but now know what to do. They have a 1/2 built chicken coop outside and currently keep the chickens underneath the house. They had all sorts of veggies and both work in kitchens so I'm confident they know how to use them. They had barrels he was working on setting up to collect rain water for the gardens. The lady let us know that the chickens to peck and scratch all over and that was why the yard didn't look so stellar. She felt like once they finished the coop, they'd mostly be on that side of the garage and that would help to keep the rest of the yard looking better and the vegetables beds from being "under attack." She did say that the chickens aren't afraid to jump in and scratch around anywhere. They were very friendly and very progressive with things that they were trying to do in their yard.
For us... I think there is still time to get a garden going and to investigate getting chickens. We are lucky enough that if we purchase materials, Warren will be able to assist us in building a coop. I am certainly feeling motivated to make some changes and invest in restructuring our yard. I know June and I are ready to get the ball rolling with compost and make a decision about what else we'd like to do in our backyard. Overall, a great experience and we look forward to the next tour to learn even more. A great idea and a great motivation to get us going!
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