Sweet Surprise

I went out this morning to scan the garden for bugs, and found something so gross that even the chickens wouldn't touch it:

I went back to look for something a little more palatable for them -- they love the little green worms that hide on the Brussels' sprouts leaves -- but had to stop for a moment to mourn the sugar snap pea plants, which are snarled and beaten down because of the heavy rains. I was thinking about whether it would be possible to prop them up again, and whether they would ever produce their yummy peas, when I saw:

They are so sweet and crunchy. Indira will eat them as fast as they can grow.

Chicken Feed vs Chicken Nuggets

This morning, the kids and I drove out to Foothill Feed in Orange to stock up on feed for the chickens. We got 25 lbs of feed, 50 lbs of scratch, and 5 lbs of sunflower seeds -- $20.

On the way home, we stopped at McDonald's for lunch. Happy Meals for the kids and a combo for me -- $20.

Interesting coincidence. I'm not sure what conclusions to draw from this, but I know there is a profound truth in there somewhere.

I'd love to hear any ideas you may have... add your comments and join the discussion.

It may not be snow, but it's still a pain in the @#$

The birds have been cooped up -- literally -- for five days now. Torrential rains have forced me to keep them in their coop. I feel guilty that they are living more of a "factory farm" existence these days, but since the term "bird brain" doesn't come from nothing, I don't trust the girls to keep themselves warm and dry.

I had to put their food and water in the upper (dry!) part of their coop because the bottom part is completely flooded and their food had turned into a goopy mess. But they still like to come down their ladder and wade around in the mud and muck.

They seem to be handling the inconvenience just fine, although this morning they looked at me like "are you ever going to let us out of here?"

The vegetable garden, on the other hand, isn't faring so well. The lettuce is mashed into the mud, and the sugar snap peas are falling all over each other instead of standing majestically against the trellis. But if I try to look on the positive side, maybe the downpour has washed away the aphids and little green worms : )

MY CHICKENIE FRIEND

I like chickens. They like to flap and fly.

by William Marchand

Psst... chickens... you aren't people

Cutest coop ever....

And they still insist on invading my space.

Independence Day

Maturity comes early when you are poultry. Less than 2 months old, and the girls are ready to stay out all night long. Whether they party or not, I don't know, but I am not sitting up waiting for them to come home.

Last night, we left the back door open for them to come in to sleep in their brooder (hay-bottomed oversized aquarium). Midnight came, and they were still cuddled together on the patio bookcase. Warm air and good smells beckoned them inside, but they chose to stay out in the cool night air.

I had thought we would have kick them out of the nest when the time came, but it looks like they beat us to it. Kids always grow up faster than we think they will, don't they?

We woke up this morning to find them eating happily in their almost-completed coop. I rewarded them for their milestone with a bowl of yogurt : )

The Circle of Life ... or ... Take That, Suckas!

I discovered that little green wormy caterpillars have been eating the leaves of our Brussel's sprouts plants. Now, I'm not a fan of Brussel's sprouts per se, but that doesn't mean I am growing them for the invertebrates to enjoy. The little photo essay below will demonstrate what I call justice.

Cultivating Joy

Maybe not farming-related, but this video speaks to everything I am trying to teach my children about self-worth, values, and what is truly important.

Let's cultivate joy.

First Harvest Approaching!

The vegetable garden is healthy and green, but it will be a while before the veggies are ready to harvest.

The lemon tree, on the other hand, is just about there. It has been tempting us with its luscious fruit for months now, its branches laden with more lemons than it could seemingly support. But they have been green all this time. And now the first and biggest one has turned a sunny yellow (check out the lemon at the bottom of the tree, in line with the trunk). I'll be picking it soon.

And then the dozens of others will turn yellow all at once. The kids will try to become multi-millionaires by hawking lemonade to passers-by. And then we'll be giving the lemons away to friends and neighbors because you can only eat so many lemon squares : )

Update: Together We Can Fly

Just found out that this photo that William submitted to the school's Reflections Art Contest has won, and will be moving up to compete at the school district level, against a couple dozen other elementary schools. So proud of my little photographer!

Chicken Ethics

My Uncle Tom, and some other expert sources, say you should feed chickens eggs from time to time for their health. So tonight we made some scrambled eggs and served them a nice warm dinner.

They loved them, and dug right in. Obviously they were oblivious to the fact that their meal could have been their second cousin twice removed.

I can't be the only one with a creepy feeling about this. It's not quite cannibalism, but somehow it just seems wrong. Of course, not as wrong as feeding them last night's coq-au-vin.

Indiana Jones of Weeding

Not wanting to step in the garden and potentially smash a little seedling, William has taken to "stunt weeding".

Bon Appetit

Special day for the chickens -- we introduced them to a new food! Chickens love to eat (proof being my dwindling supply of chicken feed) and they are old enough to experiment with new things. I knew they were ready when I caught them nibbling at Indira's oatmeal this morning (she had brought it out of the kitchen).

So I got them their own treat: plain yogurt (sprinkled with a bit of feed).

They didn't know what to make of it at first, but China eventually stuck her beak in the bowl, and was pleasantly surprised by what she found there. Not one to be outdone, Snow Angel stuck her foot in the bowl. And then she dug in too. They are now realizing there is a whole world of gastronomy out there, waiting to be discovered.

Bon Appetit, babies!

Together We Can Fly

William is submitting an entry into the Reflections contest at school. This is a PTA art contest where the winning entries at the school level compete at higher and higher levels, all the way up to the state. The theme for this year is "Together We Can."

William has a wonderful photographer's vision, and he took this incredible photo of China. If you look carefully, you can see the shadow of the extension of her legs and feet as she prepares to take flight.

Chickens are Just Like Us

Who knew? Chickens are just like us:

They like to watch TV.

They like to play cards.

They like to sunbathe.

They like to just hang out.

Little Sprouts of Hope

We got the little veggies in the garden on Sunday night, and sowed the seeds on Monday afternoon (I would have done it Monday morning, but the kids insisted I wait until they get home from school so they could do it.)

And then the rains began. In our drought-ridden desert-y home, the skies actually opened up. It rained Monday, Tuesday, most of Wednesday... and I had visions of the seeds rotting in the drenched soil before they could germinate. The sun came out again yesterday, but I wasn't hopeful. I had all but convinced myself they had no chance of surviving.

Then today I peeked on the garden to see how things were doing. And I was blown away to see a row of clustered sprouts. Spring (fall?) has sprung in our little garden. What a miracle!

Feelin' the Love

Tomorrow the chicks will be three weeks old, and we are astounded by how much they have changed already. They have quadrupled their birth weight. And they are almost completely feathered. Pretty soon they will be able to stay outside for longer periods of time.

They are also completely comfortable with our home and with us. As you can see, they have no problem getting up close and personal with us.

** and no, I did not put her up there.

** and no, she did not poop on my head.

Phase Three Almost Complete!

Hard work at the Marchand house this weekend. Phil dug up a portion of the sprinkler system...

And the men went over the plans to extend the sprinklers...

Until voila! The soil was in, the sprinklers were laid, and the plants and seeds are ready to be put into the earth.

It's a foreign but amazing concept -- winter vegetable gardening! We are planting herbs, lettuce, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, Swiss chard, radishes, snap peas and onions.

I am so excited by the concept of making meals for our family with vegetables we grow from our own garden. The kids will actually see their food grow -- and help it grow (oh yes, they will be working in the garden! I can hear the whining already). What a way to learn the value of getting your hands dirty.

Tomorrow we plant!

* Shout out to Living Green Garden Center on Jeronimo -- they were incredibly helpful and informative.

Little Divas

Two weeks old and already they are too lazy to walk???

Bottom of the Totem Pole

I wasn't insulted when the chicks chose to follow the kids around instead of me. In fact, I thought it was pretty cute. But things have hit a new low... when we are all together, they follow the DOG. They follow her around the yard, around the house; when she lies down, they lie down between her two front paws.

Maybe they haven't seen her enormous, wolf-like teeth. Maybe they don't realize that she weighs 75 pounds more than they do, and could crush their hollow bones in a single swipe. Or maybe they have perceived that she is the sweetest, gentlest dog, and would probably protect them with her own life. She plays this role for our kids; why not for the new babies too.

Parents Already?

The chicks seem to have adopted William and Aislinn as their mother and father. We took them outside again this morning, and they followed the kids around like little ducklings:

Smile, breathe and go slowly

According to zenhabits.net, here is a distilled guide to living zen.

less TV, more reading
less shopping, more outdoors
less clutter, more space
less rush, more slowness
less consuming, more creating
less junk, more real food
less busywork, more impact
less driving, more walking
less noise, more solitude
less focus on the future, more on the present
less work, more play
less worry, more smiles
breathe

One of my favourites is "less consuming, more creating". But they are all true words to live by.

Farmer Fashion

I've got to get me one of these t-shirts:

Living Zen?

We're trying to get back to a simpler way of life. And while adding the chaos of farm animals to our lives seems like a step in the wrong direction, it brings us back to what truly matters - taking care of each other, providing for our family, spending time together, living by the work of our hands. It seems like a foggy concept in Orange County, but we can't let our physical location dictate our existence.

We are trying to teach our children what is important in life. And amidst the busyness and after-school activities, homework and running around, hopefully it will sink in.

Welcome to The Great Outdoors

The chicks went outside today for the first time in their young lives. They weren't too sure about the whole concept of freedom, though, and stuck pretty close to Indira and I. And by pretty close, I mean on top of us.

But their curiosity slowly got the best of them, and they ventured onto the grass. Of course, that was when Indira opened the patio doors and let Ginger out. But I shouldn't have worried. She just plopped herself down on the grass with us and let the chicks scope her out. They aren't afraid of her at all. What a happy little family we have!

Operation Marchand Farm

'Jay the extremely strong hauler' was here this morning to remove what he said was between 5500 and 6000 pounds of concrete from our side yard. How he can do that without sustaining either a hernia or a coronary, I have no idea.

But Phase 2 of Operation Marchand Farm is now complete (Phase 1 being Phil's long hours of actually jackhammering up the concrete several weeks ago.) Here are shots of the side yard now. The long narrow row of dirt will be our vegetable garden, and the grassy area will be turned into a chicken coop and run.

Today the chicks are one week old. In honour of this milestone, I went looking in the backyard to see if I could treat them to a bug or a worm or something. No luck. But given my extreme aversion to bugs, I may not have looked as thoroughly as I should have. Sorry chicks -- I love you, but I draw the line at scrounging for creepy-crawlies.

William is enamoured with the babies, from an emotional and a scientific standpoint. We are keeping a scientific journal of notes, records and findings, and plan on making this venture into a family science fair project in the spring. He and I weigh the chicks every day and chart their progress. But he also just loves cuddling with them.

Amazing Creatures

The little ones are gaining weight before our very eyes. Two days later and they aren't the fuzzy little babies we brought home -- they are chickens in the making.

China's wing feathers are coming in at an incredible rate. And Snow Angel's beak-eye coordination is astounding -- she picked a small fly right out of the air and ate it. Only five days old and her instinct is unbelievable.

Our Son the Aggie

Our 8-year-old son William -- following in his father's Agricultural Engineer footsteps. Here is the chicken coop he designed for China and Snow Angel:

And just when I thought our lives were crazy enough...

The little babies are asleep cradled in my arms, and I can feel them breathing peacefully. We have all had a whirlwind day, and the little ones are tuckered out. But they peep mournfully when they are away from us. So I am typing one-handed and keeping them close.

We named them Snow Angel and China. Snow Angel is a Buff Orpington and her name is a collaboration between William and Aislinn. China is a Brown Leghorn, and her name is a tribute to the Barenaked Ladies.

The kids -- and the dog -- are fascinated with the new members of our family. They all just want to be together.

The poor little ones are back in their chick brooder so I can go to bed, and they are back to crying. I hope we all get some sleep tonight.