Millie's Farm

Well, it’s almost sunset on a Friday evening and I’m sitting on the front porch sipping a lovely glass of wine thinking about the contrast between 2010 and the history of this area.

My neighbor recently gave me a copy of an 1854 diary of a gold miner who lived very close to “my” land.  And here I am typing this entry on a laptop in luxury when once there was someone who followed his dream of making his fortune in an element as elusive as the spring butterflies.  History and Nature never fail to amaze me!

I’ve laid out the hen yard this week.  The posts are in place & all that remains is the chicken wire and the hens themselves.

The weather forecast is for Spring storms next week and my organic non-GMO seeds arrived in today’s mail.  The threat of frost has past so tomorrow will be planting day for carrots, radishes & beets.  I’ll get them in the ground so that they can take advantage of the liquid nitrogen from the sky.

I never thought I would be in love with an acre of land but I am at peace with this place.

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The work on the perimeter of the pasture fence is just about finished!  My friends, Mark and Paul, stopped by a few days ago to give me some advice on how and where to lay out the hen yard as well as an abundance of their research material.  Rather than ordering young chicks, I’ve learned of a person at the local ranch supply store who sells full grown hens that are ready to lay.  The idea of having little peepers running through the yard sounds quite appealing.  Then I think of the child’s book, “Are You My Mother?” and imagine myself driving down the driveway with a line of chicks following my car!  Not exactly what I have in mind…

I was relieved to learn that someone now makes an automatic closing door for hen houses that is photo-sensitive.  Sun rises, door opens… sun sets, door closes.  Let’s hope that it’s not affected by lightning storms at night.

Investigating the possibility of a bee hive in the orchard.  More on that soon.

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