Yes It's A Farm: Bleu-Bleu!

Is that a farm, Mommy? Is that a farm?

After hearing the question repeated at least four times "Is that a farm, Mommy?" the slightly confused woman looked down into her daughter's young eyes and spoke: "Yes it's a farm."

And there it was - clearly defined for us - we could finally acknowledge that what we have here is a farm. It wasn't just us calling it a farm in a joking manner - it was a proclamation, thought out and honestly expressed by a person we didn't even know.

We live in the suburbs along a popular trail that's heavily used by walkers, runners, and bikers. Our farm is visible to anyone looking, and we're close enough to hear conversations - some of which include comments about our house - I mean farm.

We grow food, tend bees, raise chickens (both for eggs and meat), have large compost piles, and prioritize our lives accordingly.

We don't sell anything, but we do share the abundance with friends and neighbors. We have a small house on a small patch of land (less than 1/4 acre), but here we are - living our lives on the farm.

Yes, It's a farm.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Bleu-Bleu!

Cordon Bleu is a Blue Cochin chicken.

Despite her name, we would never eat her (not that there’s anything wrong with that). She’s the most ornamental of all our pet chickens. She has feathered feet, so it looks like she’s wearing bell-bottoms.

We call her “rain chicken” because on the surface she appears to have some sort of mental issue, but really, she’s super intelligent. Or maybe she just ate too much house-paint as a chick. Bleu was a slow-developing chicken, and cemented her pet-status by not laying any eggs until she was 11 months and 11 days old. Bleu is a chronically broody chicken, which means she really wants to be a mom. She will sit on the nest waiting for her eggs to hatch……even though there are no eggs. She’s SO determined to be a mom. She’s wired for it. I told her: “I understand how you feel, Sweetie - I want chicks too!” One day after spring equinox she was pulling out her breast feathers to line the nest and make it warmer for the chicks.