Guest Post – Defending Your Flock from the HOA

With chickens becoming more and more popular some people are running into problems with their HOA bylaws. Most of the time the problems stem from lack of knowledge about chickens that is spread through misinformation. Chickens are not any noisier, stinkier, or more likely to spread disease than the family dog. I personally don’t live…

Read More ›

The Meat Bird Conclusion

Well, our meat bird raising experiment has concluded. We learned some things on the way and figured out what we’re going to do in the future. Day old chicks The biggest difference with raising these little meat monsters compared to dual purpose layers is that they aren’t nearly as hardy. Their biggest threat is pasty…

Read More ›

Meet Your Farmer – Soul Food Farm

Our meet your farmer posts feature a small family farm that we feel exemplifies the type of food system we all need to support. They show passion and dedication to raising and growing food sustainably. This past weekend we got the amazing opportunity to visit with Alexis and Eric, owners of Soul Food Farm in…

Read More ›

Backyard Animal Slaughter

Mr. James McWilliams recently decided to write an op-ed for the Atlantic that made me simply shake my head. There really was no other reaction to it because it was some of his worst writing to date. And that’s saying a lot for Mr. McWilliams. His argument? That animals were better off being killed in…

Read More ›

Basic Egg Custard

When I was in 7th grade, my parents signed a form giving permission for me to participate in a raffle put on by my science class. The prize? Tiny baby chicks from our egg-incubation study. I am sure my folks were skeptical. Chickens? We lived in suburban Santa Cruz. People didn’t have chickens in our…

Read More ›

What’s Going On?

We’ve been busy lately. Big and small projects alike. And the list just keeps going. This weekend we’ll be planting out seedlings, specifically peas, turnips, rutabagas, kale, spinach and lettuce. Last weekend our first intern, Brandy, came and helped us finish lining one of the big beds with rock. It looks fantastic. Just four more…

Read More ›