Mowing the pasture

This week on the urban farm I've been thinking quite a bit about my yard, specifically the lawn. Now that spring is in full bloom and the weather feels more and more like summer, I have been spending a lot of time each week mowing the grass. When I set out this spring, I was imagining that the lawn would be my "hay field" and I would toss bags of newly cut grass into the chicken coop to provide them with greens.

The chickens love picking through grass and any other plants I toss in for them.

Reality check... even one bag of grass is way too much for the chickens, perhaps a good month of chicken salad, and goats are not allowed in town (sadly I am not a fan of goat milk or cheese anyway).

Too much grass

I realize that there is a deeply held cultural belief that weed-free, grassy, expansive yards are important to a neighborhood and that they keep house values up. But there are many reasons to re-think these ideals. There is even an organization called Food Not Lawns that advocates tuning lawns into gardens.

A dwarf Honey Crisp apple tree is surrounded by a sea of lawn.

I do think there is a place for grass-- the urban farm dog would be very sad if she didn't have a place to play fetch with her tennis ball-- but for the amount of time I spend mowing, weed eating, edging, and discussing the merits of not using chemicals to keep my lawn in check, I could be growing more food.

Our clover-filled, chemical-free yard is kept mowed short to fit into the neighborhood.

Over time I hope to have less lawn and more food.

Why turn at least some of your lawn into a food-producing area? Some of my reasons.

Relationships with your neighbors: chatting over the fence on quiet summer evenings while you're weeding your tomato beds will build friendships in a society where social isolation is more and more common.

Hens are a great source of conversation, and both adults and kids are interested in seeing them.

Vitamin D: especially if you work indoors all day, having a reason to be outside in the sunshine is both mentally and physically beneficial, and garden chores are known to be relaxing and can help reduce stress.

Especially in northern climates, it's good to get in the sun for a while each day.

Put your yard to work: producing vegetables or fruits is a great sense of accomplishment. Throw a dinner party and serve veggies from your garden. Your friends will be very impressed!

Cool weather salad greens grow quickly and make for easy "gateway" garden veggies.

Teach your kids (and yourself) where food comes from: modern folks have lost contact with what it takes to grow your own food. Once you've fought bugs, harvested delicious heirloom tomatoes, and gotten your own boots dirty, you'll know the effort it would take to feed yourself if you had to, and you'll be better equipped to argue all of the fun topics of the day, like GMOs and organic farming. You'll also have complete control over what you grow and how it is grown-- bonus!

My boots after working the community garden. My advice: raised beds will keep your feet clean!

To chicken or not to chicken

When I was thinking about this post last week, I decided I would write about the pros and cons of backyard chickens. I was slowly and deliberately weighing the decision to add hens to the urban farm. And then in one moment (as things often do) the situation changed. My wonderful parents, having watched me read about, Google, and otherwise study chickens for the last couple of years, decided to gift me my very own chicken coop for my birthday. The coop hasn't arrived yet, but I am finally now moving forward and hoping to have eggs by late summer!

Peeps will never look the same.

Pullets or Chicks?

I couldn't decide between buying started pullets (young adult hens that are already laying or will be laying soon) or newly hatched, female chicks. But once my daughter got involved in the decision, we decided to raise chicks. The benefit of pullets is gathering eggs sooner. The benefit of chicks is being able to tame them early and, honestly, to just enjoy their silliness.

This book, among many others, gives a ton of good information.

Breeds?

Until I started visiting my friend's backyard flock, I didn't realize the variety of chickens available. We decided to get 5 chicks, with the ultimate goal of 4 hens (because it's difficult to see the differences between male and female chicks, there is a good chance at least one of our birds will turn out to be rooster, and keeping a rooster is against city regulations). The chick breeds we selected will all be winter hardy, which is very important in our cold climate.

Two of our chicks are Buff Orpingtons, the "Labrador Retriever" of the chicken world. They should be docile, kid-friendly, and easy to pick up. Two of our chicks are Australorps, a black chicken bred in Australia, and also a friendly hen to have around. The last chick is supposed to be an Easter Egger--a mixed breed that lays beautiful blue or green eggs-- but right now she looks exactly like the yellow Buff chicks, so only time will tell.

Buff Orpington

Australorp

Now for that backyard chicken pro/con list

Cons:

• Need daily attention
• Cost of supplies and feed
• Cleaning the coop

Pros:

• My city has a relaxed, open attitude towards backyard flocks
• Fresh eggs, and I will know exactly how the hens were fed and treated
• Chicken TV-- they are fun to watch!
• Composted chicken manure is fertilizer gold

I will update soon as the chicks grow and as we get the coop built!

Sleepy chicks