Today was pretty business as normal, without much thought on my part about food. I'm waiting until this week to do some good research into food purchasing and how to go about it all. I did, though, think about chickens.
I actually started thinking about this on Friday when one of my coworkers was telling me about a family she knows that has three chickens and how great it is for the kids, how wonderful it is to have fresh eggs. I think chickens are pretty cool, so my interest was piqued.
Then today Kristi posted on here and on Facebook about the law changing here in Edmonds regarding the keeping of chickens in the city limits. Jeremy thinks I'm absolutely nuts, of course, but I do think it would be interesting. Not only would we have fresh eggs from animals that have been treated humanely, but I think it would be a good experience for Lauren. I want her to know where food comes from.
I've been doing some research into my family history for the last couple of weeks, and as far back as I can find, my family were farmers. Literally, every census shows that they farming their own land at least back into the early 1800s. This may sound cheesy, but it's striking how far from the earth we've gotten. I know nothing about farming and little about producing my own food, and I'd like to change that. Again, small changes are in order, but I think I can make some headway here. At least I can work on helping out the farmers here in our community by purchasing from and otherwise supporting them. Still need to do some research into how to do that, but the imperative is there.
Not that I'll ever get my chickens, but I'm at least thinking about it. That's a huge change.
Your comment about getting far away from the earth is something I really relate with. My family is also a long line of farmers...we lived in the middle of an ocean of wheat and had dozens of chickens (that we all my responsibility to care for). It's a different lifestyle than what "city folk" understand. And, it's a big reason that I continue to have a garden. Of course, my 140 square feet of garden space is TINY compared to what we had growing up...but it helps to supplement, and it's an amazing way to feel connected to the planet. I absolutely LOVE working with my veggie plants, pulling weeds, watering, etc. It is so relaxing. In fact, Michael and I are spending today prepping the beds to plant next weekend. You are welcome to bring Lauren over and show her anytime. She'll probably really like getting to pick a fresh pea pod and eat it straight from the plant. And, I can say with confidence that there is no better tasting veggie than one grown in your own yard. :) And, I am thinking we'll probably have a few chickens before the summer is over...again, Lauren is welcome to come visit!
ReplyDelete