Hip Chick Digs

City girl gets her hands dirty planting an edible garden and raising urban chickens

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Low Maintenance Garden Design

June 9th, 2009 · 2 Comments

My mother is a self proclaimed “black thumb” and has a never-ending battle with weeds in her yard. One large section in particular used to house two dwarf cherry trees, which she eventually gave to Jay and I for use in our landscape. The spot has sat bare for a couple years now and the [...]

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Tags: design · gardening · projects · wildlife

Certified National Wildlife Habitat

March 13th, 2009 · 4 Comments

Our urban homestead is now a certified wildlife habitat thanks to the National Wildlife Federation (and a small fee).
There is a house in our neighborhood with a metal plaque on one of their large trees stating they are certified, which is what originally piqued my interest.  A couple months later, the fine folks over at [...]

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Tags: permaculture · wildlife

Birds in the Garden

May 12th, 2008 · 3 Comments

Birds are an important addition to the backyard food forest. Although they will steal some of my berries and fruit, they give something back with their guano, insect-eating, and simple beauty. If the competition for my produce gets too severe I will cover the berry bushes with some netting. I am willing to take that [...]

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Tags: permaculture · wildlife