New Kids in the Flock

Hello again! Just popping back in here after a long hiatus. Lots of things have been growing on the urban farm since we last left off; most significantly, our family! We’d like to introduce our daughter, Little Farmhand!

She joined the family in November of 2013, making her just about 18 months old. She loves spending time outside and helping out on the urban farm. She rounds up the hens, collects eggs, throws weeds into the compost, and hauls anything we harvest back to the house.

We also wanted to give you a little update on the chickens. The flock is down to just five hens after a harsh winter and some severe broody spells caused us to lose a few of them. They’re also getting older and thus laying less often, so we’ve decided that the flock could use a few newcomers. So we’ve set up the brooder again and welcomed five Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks.

The spring has been warm and wet in Des Moines, so the rest of the garden is growing in full force. We’ve harvested more than 5 pounds of asparagus and in the blink of an eye we already have more rhubarb than we can possibly use. The strawberries are loaded with blossoms. The garlic foliage is full and green. Our cherry trees have dozens of small, green fruits. We’ve also planted peas, carrots, spinach, green beans, and broccoli. And we still have plans for tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and melons.

I can’t promise that we’ll be back to blogging regularly, but hopefully we’ll be posting again in less than 2 years!