Chickens!
Help us get chickens!
Why are we getting chickens? We are beginning our largest project yet - the Sozo Valley Ranch. Part of the ranch will include a sustainable permaculture farm and market garden. The ranch as a whole will be a retreat center for healing and training; built to be accessible to people with diverse disabilities, and leveraging the farm to steward the ecosystem, build community, as well as provide income.
We don't have a farm yet, but we want to get started now, in order to get some experience. In addition to gardening at Fresh Starts Community Garden, we'll be installing a chicken coop and run in the yard of one of our buildings - large enough to house 8 laying hens (the legal maximum in St. Louis city). We want to build the coop as opposed to purchasing a premade one so we can implement some "universal design" features to make the coop as accessible as possible. This will include more ergonomic and accessible access points, a wider door, lower maintenance, and use of contrasting colors.
Are you willing to help us reach this goal? You can help by donating today! We need to raise $800 to cover the costs of materials, chickens, and enough bedding and feed for the first couple months. You can also help by donating materials. Please see the list below for what we need:
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2x4x8 lumber (cedar or pressure treated) - 10
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2x4x10 lumber (cedar or pressure treated) - 10
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4x4x8 lumber (cedar or pressure treated) - 4
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1/2 inch thick 4x8 sheets of OSB or plywood - 3
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1/2 inch galvanized hardware cloth, 19 gauge - 30+ sq ft
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Pine shaving bedding
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Layer feed
You can donate by following the "give" link on our website, and choose "Harvest Fields Project" in the dropdown menu of the giving window. If you would like to donate materials, please contact Jason at 314-437-3861 or jason@sunministries.org
FYI The Harvest Fields Project garden is still growing! It's been a rough year with LOTS of rain and some personal illness affecting our production, but we're making the most of it. Amy is taking an online Women in Agriculture class and Jason is devouring as many instructional books and videos as he can. We're continuing to volunteer at Earthdance Organic Farm School in Ferguson.