Ice Breaker – Summer Bucket List

Each week on The Stretched Blog, I ask an ice breaker question. The questions are designed to help us get to know each other here in The Stretched Community. I’ll provide my answer to the question here in the post, and then you can leave your response in the comments. While you’re in the comments section, see how others answered the ice breaker question.

(I’m always looking for Ice Breaker question ideas.  If you have an idea, send me an email at jon@jonstolpe.com.  If I use your question, I’ll give you credit and share your links.)

Today marks the beginning of August.  For most of us, this means it’s time to start thinking about school and the start of fall.  While summer officially ends in late September, many consider Labor Day the official end of summer.  This means we have one month left of summer.  There are so many things I want to do with this rest of this season.  Today’s Ice Breaker should get you thinking about how you want to spend the rest of your summer.  At the beginning of the summer, our family created a summer bucket list.  I’m happy to say we’ve accomplished most of the things on the list.

Question:  What is one thing you would like to do or accomplish before the end of the summer?

My Answer:  This year, our garden did not get very good attention.  As a result, our vegetable production is very low and our weed production is very high.  Looking out into our garden last night, I said to Leanne “It’s time for a garden makeover.”  During the rest of the summer (and probably into fall), I’d like to redesign, reorganize, and redo our garden.  This is the perfect time to get things in order for next year’s growing season.  This will involve several truck loads of manure, many hours of weed pulling and excavation, and the installation of a higher (and more attractive) fence.  I’m excited to start dreaming about what our garden may look like next year.  After doing some research, I may even make it a little smaller which is probably a good thing.

Answer this week’s ice breaker question by leaving a comment. I look forward to reading your response! (As always, feel free to share links.) And keep STRETCHING!

On Track – Life Lessons from the Track & Field is now available on Amazon in paperback and for Kindle.  Click the link below to get your copy today.

As a reminder, I am offering a FREE pdf copy of the interior of the book to subscribers of The Stretched Newsletter.  Head over to the main page of the blog and sign up on the right hand menu bar to get your copy today for FREE!

Random Stretch Thoughts

Life continues to provide plenty of stretching opportunities. Today’s post is simply some of the things that are stretching me these days.

1. Headaches. Since the month of February, I’ve been dealing with lots of headaches. I haven’t had a migraine for a few weeks, but I’m still wrestling a bit with the day-to-day nuisance headaches. I started seeing someone who is helping with deep tissue message. This seems to be helping, but it seems like I still have a way to go until my back, shoulders, and neck loosen up.
2. Running. Yesterday, I shared about the 2nd Annual Race to Remember. Between blogging, headaches, and the other busyness of life, it can be a challenge to find a regular routine for running. I’m hoping that a date on the calendar will inspire me to be more consistent in my running.
3. Gardening. I don’t talk about gardening a whole lot here, but it is still one of my passions. Admittedly, this hobby has taken a backseat to my family, my job, my writing, and other activities. I did manage to get my garden planted a few weeks ago. Now, I need to figure out how to keep the deer and groundhogs out of the garden. And I need to find time to weed.
4. Blogging. I love the blog, and I intend on keeping it going. My main struggle is landing on my next path forward – What is the next step for the Stretched Blog?  Should I write and eBook? If so, where should I focus? I know for certain that I want to use my writing and blogging for something way bigger than myself. The Guatemala trip and the Stretched house is confirmation that anything is possible.
5. Guatemala. I really need to work on my Spanish. In nearly a month and a half, I’ll be making this life changing trip. I pray that I will be alert to the impact of this trip. We’re less than $2,700 away from paying for the house! Feel free to hop on board.
6. Family and marriage. This is a huge priority for me. Many times I feel like my attention and energy isn’t always where it should be. I don’t want to look back with any regrets. In a week, my daughter will be graduating from middle school. I know she’s ready for high school, but this milestone is a reminder that time isn’t slowing down. I need to make the most of the opportunities.
7. Faith. To put it plainly, my relationship with God has to be the most important thing in my life. I’m constantly filling my mind with good things, but I’m realizing more and more that I need to be still. This stretches me to the core.

I’m sure there are many other things that are stretching me, but this list provides a glimpse into the ones that keep coming back to me. I’m thankful that God is patient with us while we stretch. I’m thankful that he desires a relationship that is new, exciting, and stretching.

What’s stretching you see days?

(Don’t forget to get in on the giveaway that’s going on this week on the Stretched blog. Click here for more details.  There’s still time to win Platform by Michael Hyatt or Love Does by Bob Goff.)

End Of An Era – An End To Suburban Chicken Farming

I’ve begun the process of removing “suburban chicken farmer” from the list of words or phrases to describe me.  Over the past few weeks, my chicken farming experiment has come to a close (at least for now).

Many of you may remember previous posts about my journey into the world of backyard chickens.  Almost three years ago, I picked up eight baby chickens from a good friend, and I built my own chicken condominium in our backyard complete with a picture window, a side door, a basement deck, a nesting box, and a 10 foot high roof (what was I thinking?).

As the chicks grew, I anxiously awaited our first egg.  I still remember checking on the chickens every day after work to see if we there was a surprise.  Eventually that day came!  What excitement!  I remember saving up the first couple of eggs, so our family could enjoy an egg dish from our own chicken eggs.  We made “eggs in a basket” – you cut holes in the middle of slices of bread and fry an egg in the hole.

Since then, we’ve enjoyed hundreds of eggs.  And yes, these eggs are way better than the eggs you buy in the store.

But no one told us about the challenges of suburban chicken farming.  Do you know that a chicken poops every eight minutes on average?  Do you know that chickens need extra light in the winter if you expect them to lay eggs?  Do you know that egg production slows down after two or three years?  Do you know that chickens need heated water in the winter?  We learned all this and more through our journey.  We also sadly learned that chickens like heat, but not extreme heat.  We lost six of our chickens last summer when temperatures hit record highs – that’s a whole other story.

At any rate, a couple of weeks ago our last two chickens were “stolen” when friends came over and took the hens for a ride to a new backyard setting.  My wife and kids had enough of this crazy experiment.  And honestly, I was finished with this little hobby as well (at least for now).  This weekend, I took down the chicken coop.  It was a little bitter-sweet as I reflected on the enthusiasm that initially went into this hobby.

And now, I can concentrate on other adventures.  Leanne, what do you think about getting a cow?  Just kidding!

What hobbies or activities have you moved away from?  What new hobbies or activities have you recently stepped into?

Weeding Reminder

Last night, I did some weeding in the yard and in the garden while my son cut the grass.  It’s amazing how the weeds can spring up so quickly and so large when you don’t stay on top of them.  As I was weeding, I was reminded of my blog post from last year.  My weed problem this year is not as bad as last year, but I think my thoughts still apply.

Lessons From My Front Lawn – September 6, 2010

The past three or four years, I’ve paid a company to treat our lawn to prevent the weeds, to prevent fleas and ticks, and to help it stay green and healthy.  There’s no question that it paid off.  Up until the spring, my grass was coming in great and green.

That all changed this summer when we decided not to use the company to treat our lawn and we were faced with one of the hotter and drier summers that we’ve had in a while.  As the summer wore on, our front lawn went from a plush green carpet to a spotty brown and green, weed infested disaster thanks to the lack of treatment and the stresses of the summer heat.  Honestly, I want to throw up every time I pull up our driveway.  It just makes me sick to see what our lawn has become in just one summer.

Now, I realize that a green front lawn isn’t the answer to true happiness and contentment, but I think it speaks to something that is true for our own lives.  Just like water and fertilizer help to keep our lawns healthy, keeping our spiritual lawn green and healthy requires water, nutrition, and weed prevention.  We need to study God’s word (the Bible), and we need to spend time with God.  We also need to  live life in community – the kind of community that can be found by attending and getting involved at a local church along with the kind of community that can be found by getting involved in a small group.  These spiritual treatments are essential to keeping our spiritual lives healthy.

Getting back to my lawn, we finally called the lawn company that we used before, and they explained that our grass can be restored.  The weeds can be eradicated, and the effects of summer stress can be overcome.  It will take some time and special attention, but there is hope for my front lawn.

So, this brings me to my question.  How is your spiritual front lawn?  Is it healthy or does it need some work?  If your spiritual lawn is brown and weed infested, there is hope for restoration and renewal.

Small Holdings Festival

Recently, one of my office team members invited me to bring my family to a new festival being held in Bucks County, PA.  The First Annual Small Holdings Festival showcased area suburban self starters.  The various exhibitors were regular people who found have found ways to live off the land, to live off the labors of their own hands, and to make decisions that will provide while being good stewards of the earth around us.

My team member, Eric, spends his spare time running Barefoot Gardens with his wife, Linda.  Together, they take care of a “farm” that serves their CSA and provides for local restaurants who are seeking to serve locally grown produce to their patrons.  Part of Eric’s farm includes raising approximately 100 egg laying chickens.  (Eric has become one of my mentors in the whole chicken farming thing.)  Eric built a chicken coop for the festival.

Other exhibitors for the festival included bee keepers, cheese makers, gardeners, canning experts, vegetable fermenting experts, bread makers, clay oven makers, and several others.  I was definitely inspired by the talents presented at this festival.  And I look forward to going again next year!

What inspires you?  If you could try something new, what would it be?

Cold Frame – A Gardening Update

I took this picture yesterday while working in the yard.  (Did I mention that I love to work outside in the yard?)  Isaac and I just finished making our first cold frame.  It’s a place to grow vegetables when the weather isn’t quite ready for growing outside.  We trash picked the storm window (my brother would be proud of me), and I had the rest of the material in my workshop.  The actual box is 45″ long by 33″ wide by 13″ high.  We used two-by-fours to build to structure, and we covered it with T-11 siding.  We added some molding on the top to finish it off nicely.  Then we primed it.  We added some hinges to the window for easy access.  After adding some dirt, Leanne planted some lettuce and spinach.  We should start seeing some sprouts in the next week.  Oh, I can’t wait to taste that first harvest of lettuce and spinach.

(As a side note, our cilantro and scallions are standing about 3″ tall inside, and our chives and lavender are just starting to poke through.)

St. Patrick’s Day is coming!  This is traditionally the first opportunity to plant some early vegetables outside.  I can’t wait!

How does your garden grow?

Let The Gardening Begin!

Yesterday, Isaac and I planted our first seeds of the new year.  We planted a flat of Bunching Onions or scallions.  We planted a flat of coriander or cilantro.  And we planted half a flat of chives and half a flat of lavender.  It will be exciting to watch as the seeds germinate and turn into small plants.  Then bigger plants.  We should be able to put these outside around St. Patrick’s Day.

I’m looking forward to gardening again this year.  We ordered our usual seeds along with some new things like okra, rhubarb, sweet potatoes, artichokes, and scallions.  This year we will expand our garden from last year.  We will be trying some new gardening methods and also trying some new deer prevention actions.

Along with this, I’m considering the possibility of retiring the current batch of chickens and getting a new “flock” – maybe some Rhode Island Reds and some other varieties.  We may put up a fence to keep the chickens out of the garden and flower beds.

I can’t wait for spring.  It was so refreshing to see the snow starting to melt away and the signs of warmer temperatures and grass.

Do you garden?  What are your favorite things to plant?  What do you do with your produce?  I’d love to hear how you live out your passion for gardening.