First time blogging.

Hello everyone,

 Welcome to our first blog. My wife Diane and I (Jeffrey) live in central PA and work full time jobs. We started living healthier lives a few years ago by hiking and trail running and wanting to eat healthier.
 Healthy food is what started us on this new journey. We looked at what was in our food and started reading labels and hearing news stories. So we decided this year to try to eat REAL food. So how do you get real food? The organic sections at the grocery store are so expensive and just fresh produce costs a small fortune. The meat aisle was not much better and with the huge droughts in the Southwest, prices are only going to get worse. And not only the prices.....but the chemicals that are added to everything.  Not to mention the salmonella outbreaks and other horror stories that are always on the news!
 Our choice was becoming clearer:  We needed to grow our own food. So we started planning a garden. How big should our garden be and what kind of garden? When in doubt Google it! I started reading up on vegetable gardens and was amazed at all the ways people were finding to grow their own food. So the first step was I found heirloom seeds and certified organic seeds and we started an indoor germination area while the snow was still on the ground.    
 We are lucky as we have almost 10 acres of land in the middle of forest gamelands. Space is not a problem but our soil is!

I really enjoyed reading all the different ways to grow food but was looking for a way to grow food all year long or as long as possible in central PA. I stumbled across passive solar greenhouse designs similar to Mike Oehler's earth sheltered solar greenhouse and will use earthbags for the walls. The foundation is dug into the ground below the frost line.  You get geothermal heating and solar heating to help keep the temperatures up in the winter time and be able to keep winter crops going all winter.
  Our intention is to be as self sustainable as possible. We will be using chickens and rabbits to help supplement the heat in the greenhouse thru the winter time. We will also be using compost as a radiant heating source. Building a large compost pile and using a closed loop tubing system will provide ample heat in the winter and come springtime will have nice organic compost for the planting beds.  I found an automatic vent opener that is a temperature-sensitive device that automatically opens and closes greenhouse windows. Works throughout the day and maintains a constant interior climate.

  We will use every Eco-friendly technique we can in the construction and operation of this garden. By using a few solar electric systems, we will power the water pumps for the aquaponics side of the greenhouse.  

  Our goal is to eliminate as much as possible having to go to the grocery store. We will also know exactly what is in our food as we will be feeding and/or growing it all ourselves. Our own fish, chicken, and rabbit for protein and fresh vegetables and fruit.
We have enough land to be able to expand as the business grows. We will sell produce at local farmers markets and am working to see if we can get into some local grocery stores.  We are committed to making this new adventure work!