We are Urban Farmers!

Last summer, Kirsten began the efforts to bring fresh, organic eggs into our kitchen by way of our backyard. I won't delineate the whole process in this blog, but I highly suggest you take a look at the blog that Kirsten created for the chicken adventure: www.bauerkirsten.blogspot.com

The eggs are delicious; taking care of the hens is a fun, educational, family effort everyday. We have 6 hens now - Mrs. Claus, Ju-Ju, Big Bertha, Millie and Ellie (who I can never tell apart), and Martha, our newest arrival.

Who would have thought that I would ever have livestock of any sort in my life, much less hens that I enjoy handling and helping to care for?!?

First steps toward rainwater harvesting

We planted our Spring garden in late January, hoping for some good lettuces, onions, carrots and even some snap peas in March and April. It just so happens that we have a downspout located near the raised garden bed... so, we splurged at the garden store and bought a rainbarrel made of recycled plastic that had been shaped and dyed to look like a terra cotta pot. It works perfectly!

Last summer, Kirsten made a connection on Craigslist who has a steady supply of beverage syrup containers (think Dr. Pepper, Coke, etc. in the convenience store fountains). The containers are sturdy, watertight, and a pretty blue color. Once we had the sample rain barrel installed, Kirsten finished altering the blue beverage container to make yet another rain barrel. In the first storm after the rain barrels were ready, they both filled up within the first 10 minutes! Then we brought all of our five gallon buckets and other "containers" to the catch the overflow. We were so happy to have the rain and capture it for future use in our garden and for our fruit trees! I think more retrofitted beverage syrup containers are in our near future... right Kirs?

Farmers Market

We have been sampling the local farmers markets since moving here. This one has been the favorite so far, the kids loved it and we found lots of yummy produce... even some grass-fed local beef!

Ostrich Farm

Kirsten and the boys came up to Phoenix to meet me at the EEBA conference. The hotel was wonderful and we had a great escape, even if a little too short. On the way home from Phoenix, they stopped at the local Ostrich Farm in Picacho Peak. Very unique tourist stop on Interstate 10.

We joined the local CSA!

The farm is called Worden Farms, check it out at http://www.wordenfarm.com/

On Sunday, we attended a farm tour and member potluck. The food was great, the weather was beautiful, and the people were interesting and fun. If you are looking for a good book to read, try Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma". I really enjoyed it and that book is what led us to the CSA (community sponsored agriculture, if you were wondering).

Here are a couple of great pics from the day:

Picking tomatoes with Grandma and Papa

While Grandma and Papa were here for their Christmas visit, they took the boys to a local farm that lets you pick your own strawberries and tomatoes. Kirsten and I went for pedicures and a wonderful Korean dinner out :)

This picture is of my favorite boys, all in a row!