May Flowers

 It’s been a silly few months, but it looks like things are slowly coming back to normal.  Through all the chaos of relocating, it's been great to have all our friends and family come and visit, especially Shae's mom and dad who helped us take apart the brooders and go on an all-day cleaning/packing rampage respectively to get ready for our move.

We are thrilled to report that the search for a new farm may finally be coming to an end.  Without counting my chickens before they hatch (something we do all the time in this business), it looks like we are going to be able to team up with a local grass-fed beef producer and graze the chickens behind their herd of cattle.  It’s a wonderful fit that will benefit not just both business, but the land and animals as well.  Expect me to make a big deal once it finalizes!

The farm has plugging along too.  We had our first bunny birth last week and so visitors and friends have had plenty to swoon over.  The rabbits are all doing really well in their “bunny porches,” but there are still some kinks in the design to work out.  While we’ve cut feed consumption dramatically just by letting them have continuous access to weeds and grasses, we did have an escape yesterday.  Our one and only buck decided that a pampered life with two lovely girlfriends and regular feedings wasn’t the right fit for him and he slipped out during the night.  We are holding out hope that once he gets a taste of the real world, he’ll come right home.

We also just added two bee hives to the farm to help bolster the pasture’s health…and hopefully produce some great honey.  The project really excites me, but at the same time it’s probably worth noting I have a mild phobia of bees.  It’s been a fun mix of emotions to check on the hives and beam with delight as I see how well they are doing and then spend the next 20 minutes after I’ve walked away being sure that I feel something crawling on the inside of my shirt.

 Another addition to the farm has been our new experiment with buying club drops as a supplement to on-farm sales.  Our truly amazing friend and patron-saint, Jesse Cool of Flea Street Café, invited us to deliver pre-purchased frozen chickens to customers in her restaurant’s parking lot in Menlo Park.  In less than 24 hours after sending out the notice, we sold out of everything in our freezer and filled up a second drop day as well.  It was a great way of helping customers get access to good food and we really enjoyed ourselves.  All of the customers were genuinely excited about the chickens and even gave us some spectacular recipes to try.  We are doing all we can to work out the details so we can make the drop a more regular part of our week.

So that’s basically it.  We have a lot on our plate, but that’s the reality of the lifestyle I suppose.  We’ll keep you all in the loop as things progress!