Mommy , the Chicken Ark, and Pocket Farms begins

The saga of the Chicken Ark actually began about two years ago when for some reason I decided I wanted some chickens at about the same time I decided I wanted to adopt some kids. From foster care. Well, really I wanted fresh eggs without gross chemicals in them from chickens who lived a decent life, and I wanted to give my homegrown baby some sibs to fight with. And I wanted to think that I was getting them (the eggs and loving big family life) for 'free.' Ha ha. Little did I know what I was in for. 

            In our case the chickens came first and then the eggs and then the kids. My daughter was born in October 2006 and my chickens were born in spring of 2010. The four years in between I can’t be held responsible for as they are a blur of diapers, teething, and food splattered all over the floor and ceiling. My sons, then foster care boys, came close on the heels of the chickens. In both cases I thought the work and stress would be minimal and the rewards many. I was partly right!

            The daughter came in the normal way (in the hospital from the stork) and the chickens came by way of some acquaintances. You know the sort of people- the kind you wish had more time so you could be friends with them because they are just so NICE. The boys- well its no secret that I ordered them up on the internet.

            It all started when we moved in to a home perched on the corner of a 3 acre wood. Beautiful, second growth trees towered over the little house and rhododendrons from the old rhododendron farm (the place’s former incarnation) enchanted the area near the house every spring. While pregnant and freaking out about pesticides and organic living, and maybe even a little dash of doomsday prepping, I chose to create a small garden plot right over the only sunny spot in the yard. That’s right. Right on top of the drain field for our septic tank.

            After 2 years of great success with beans that no one wanted to eat because of ‘poo contamination’ I realized that farming in the woods was a lot like raising kids and foster kids and adopted kids. There are pockets of success and places with enough sun to farm, and some places too dark to venture in without help. This is the story of that farm and those kids and this family. Welcome to Pocket Farms. The place where maybe you can’t farm everywhere you’d like, but you can create mini- farms in little pockets throughout the place. Sometimes, pockets of blooms and harvest in the thickets are more beautiful than unobstructed gardening.

            

A helper builds the coop

A beautiful Black Copper Marans egg!