Did you know that a bunch o’ people raise chickens in their backyards inside the beltline?

Do you wish there was a tour of all these backyard coops coming soon?

If so, then you, my friend, have got your wish, for the 2011 Raleigh Henside the Beltline Tour d’Coop is this Saturday from 10AM to 4PM!

I’ve been fortunate enough to go on the 2008 tour and the 2010 tour, and I can assure you you’ll see some jawsome backyards, houses, chicken coops, gardens, and chickens.

You’ll laugh at the antics of the hens, marvel at elaborate hen houses, and maybe even get to hold a chicken. Plus there are tons of helpful people around to answer your insightful chicken questions.

How Can I Go?

Bring a non-perishable food item or a wad of cash money to one of these convenient locations (money & food goes to Urban Ministries):

• Steven B. Andreaus, DDS , PA1637 Glenwood Avenue , across from the Rialto Theater
• Ornamentea: 509 N. West Street, one block south of Peace Street
• CupAJoe: 2109-142 Avent Ferry Road, in the lower level of Mission Valley Shopping Center
• Whole Foods Market: 3540 Wade Avenue, in the Ridgewood Shopping Center
• Seaboard ACE Hardware: 802 Semart Drive, across from Logan’s Nursery

To find out more, mosey on over to the official website, right about here.

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The Tale of St. Matthews Island

Move your mouse arrow over the image, and depress the key to view the image.

Does that first panel look familiar at all, perchane? Maybe a little something like THIS

Anyhoo, the moral of the story is, if people don’t manage their natural resources wisely, they could end up like them dead reindeer. Unless we find more islands to move to. In conclusion, reduce, reuse, and recycle.

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Enjoy these digital works o’ art, AKA pictures of chickens.

300 Ramblewood Drive Chickens

404 Merwin Chickens

501 Mial

709 Ravel

Lastly, but not leastly, I give you this short video of a rooster proclaiming himself the bauss of his coop.

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Raising chickens can help you get free-range, local eggs. It cuts down on your food eco-footprint, saves you money, and gets you the freshest eggs you could ever imagine.

What is the Tour D’ Coop?

Hey, thanks for asking. It’s a tour of 20 houses with chicken coops, all inside the Raleigh beltline. If you’re interested in chickens, or just want to see some cool houses and gardens, I heartily recommend going on the tour.

When is the Tour D’ Coop?

I already said, but it’s this Saturday, May 15, from 10AM – 5PM. So be there or be square.

Where Can I Get Tickets?

You can pre-order a ticket on the !nt3r3n37, or,
early Saturday morn, getcho chicken tour tickets at one of these places:

• Steven B. Andreaus, DDS , PA
  1637 Glenwood Avenue , across from the Rialto Theater
• Ornamentea: 509 N. West Street, one block south of Peace Street
• CupAJoe: 2109-142 Avent Ferry Road, in the lower level of Mission Valley Shopping Center
• Whole Foods Market: 3540 Wade Avenue, in the Ridgewood Shopping Center
• Seaboard ACE Hardware: 802 Semart Drive, across from Logan ‘s Nursery

How much a Ticket Is?

In return for a ticket, all they ask for is non-perishable food items or monetary donations. 100% goes to Urban Ministries of Wake County.

Official Site: http://hensidethebeltline.blogspot.com/

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Not only is cat litter not great fun to clean up (and buy), but most clay-based kitty litter is made from clay that is strip mined from the Earth, which is horrible for the environment. The U.S. Bureau of Mines estimates that in 1994 alone, approximately 1.5 million metric tons of clay was mined to make clay cat litter.

A good way to avoid clay litter, and to reuse, is to just use old newspapers as cat litter. Here’s how to make your cat(s) some homemade newspaper cat litter.

1) Sprinkle some baking soda on to the bottom of an empty litter box. This is optional, and helps absorb some of that atrocious cat pee smell.

2) Tear newspaper into narrow strips (less than an inch wide). Pro tip: It’s a lot easier to tear vertically than horizontally.

3) Use your hand muscles to tear those newspaper strips into pieces that are about half a foot long. Use a ruler if you want to, kitty will appreciate the extra precision.

4) Make it rain. Flutter, throw, or somehow get all that newspaper into the cat litter box. It should be over halfway full (it’ll flatten a lot when it gets wet).

Et voila, you are finished. It’s recommended to change the wet newspaper daily, or else it’ll stink up your house. Hopefully your cat will give the newspaper litter the ol’ thumbs up, and you’ll be on your way to a greener kitty litter box.

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First, I cut the floor and walls from some old wood I had from our kitchen remodeling. After some screws n’ glue, this is what I had:

I had some carpet left over from mi casa, so I cut out a lil’ chunk and oh-so-carefully fitted it to Charlie’s cat house.

Here you can see the roof (with insulation reused from Papa Spud’s vegetable box) attached to the back wall wit’ a hinge. This is so I can open up the back wall if I need to.

I had enough of that space-age insulation to insulate the WHOLE back wall, as seen in this candid, no-holds-barred photo.

So’s I popped the roof and back wall onto the rest of the cat building, and voila, a homemade cat house for Charlie stray cat. Also, I reused some old baseboard molding for a stylish yet understated awning to keep the rain out.

Finally, it was time to use some caulk and paint to waterproof this bad boy. Tiff pitched in and used her exceptional artistic skills to paint the cat house (using leftover paint).

Cha-ching, the cat house is complete. Charlie Stray Cat inspected his new home, and cried a single tear of joy. He was now the proud owner of his very own stray cat house, made from reused wood and some leftover paint.

This homemade cat house should keep Charlie warm this winter. And with its reused insulation, wood, and leftover paint, it is “green” as can be. I’ma keep on eye on it during the winter and see how it holds up. Also, I shall build an insulated front wall onto his house, once he gets used to being in it.

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