these feathered friends.

it occurred to me today that i haven't spoken much to the consistency of our farming here in boston. it hasn't been the most structured of traditional farm time for me as there is quite frankly not a lot to Do on this particular farm in the winter. instead, i've been helping out at the farm store we opened up in town. which has been a blast. mainly because my favorite farm co-worker...aside from nick...is the store's captain. but i've felt more like a shop girl during the past month than a farmer. and this concerns me. worries me. beats down my brow into a crumpled mess.


for, i don't want to be a shop girl. as much as i don't want to be an astronaut. or a cyclist. or a chef. or a banker. all i want to do, with my entire being, is farm.

but right now, we take money where money is being made. and so, for me, that is at the farm store. in the Big City. i take the train into town in the morning and come back the same way in the dark of night. it feels closer to the Old Life than the one i have since chosen.

since this is, more than likely, the last time nick and i will live so close to such a big town, i figure i might as well Lap It Up. so i buy scones from the bakeries. i indulge in cheeses from the fromagerie. i visit clothing shops and hat shops and bobble shops on my lunch break. i wear dainty shoes and the occasional frock.  i keep my hair combed.


this week i wasn't feeling my prettiest or my most energetic...post-christmas exhaustion i reckon. so the past two days my darling boy has taken my place at the shop. and i've taken his at the farm. and so i spent a good portion of today, after all the necessaries were completed....lying on my stomach, camera affixed to eye, observing and capturing my chickens.

did you know that we are raising 200 chickens for this farm? have i ever told you that? have i really been such an uninformative blogger? this is the beginning of this farm's livestock program. these 200 beautiful little birds. they make me so proud. watching their personalities develop. knowing that nick and i did this on our own (mainly nick, with a sprinkling of Me). we've raised these birds since two days after they hatched (shipping time). building their coops. building their perches. sourcing the best local feed. mixing that feed. introducing them to the Big Outdoors. they are nearly two months old now and are becoming such little people-chickens.


so i wanted to introduce you to Them. i plan on writing about several individual chickens (and of course, the ever-present duck) with whom i am in love over the next few weeks. to show you what is happening on this dear farm. and to remind me that i am still a farmer.....that these creatures are still my life.

so prepare yourself for a NewYear of feathered features.