Welcome to Zero Mile Commute.com  My name is Mary Blackburn and I live on 10 acres in the beautiful rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania with my husband Jim, my Labrador Retriever, Charlie, a displaced Sheltie Mix named Nova, (she came to live with us when our son moved into an apartment that didn’t take dogs), 11 cats, most strays, all fixed, 9 Barred Rock chickens, 2 Aracauna chickens, 1 Black Orpington chicken, 1 Barred Rock Rooster, and 5 Pilgrim Geese, (2 female geese and 3 ganders).  We also live with a menagerie of the local wildlife that roams past our window, like the white tailed deer families, the opposums & raccoons that wander through, the occasional black bear, and the 2 fat ground hogs that live out in the old pasture.

I guess it’s obvious that I love animals.  I also love to garden, cook, and eat home canned food, decorate my home, and play with my grandaughters, of which I have 3.  Not necessarily in that order.

We have been living this good life for the past 11 years.  Jim is a homesteader at heart.  He grew up with parents that were young adults during the great depression.  He learned to garden from his father and cook and “put by” (preserve food) by his mother.

I, on the other hand, was a spoiled city girl. My parents were young adults during the great depression also.  My mother and grandmother also canned fresh food and my grandmother made her own bread for us every Saturday morning, (never once using a written down recipe), but I had no desire to learn any of that at the time.

After we got married, Jim talked a lot about moving to the country.  At first I had no desire to live the “good life” in the country, but during 18 years of living in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, he convinced me that I would love it. 

During those 18 years we had a garden filled with fresh vegetables, and what we didn’t grow ourselves, we got from my in-laws’ garden.  I learned how to freeze fresh strawberries in June, can green beans in July, freeze corn and can peaches in August and make applesauce and apple butter in October.

In my spare time I enjoy writing, gardening, cooking and baking, and taking pictures of my countryside. This is my story of living and learning in the country.  Thank you for letting me share it with you.