Farm Fresh

For those of you who don't know . . . at the Red House, we have chickens.

I don't normally make this kind of a public confession as it tends to generate raised eyebrows and strange looks. But today I am feeling particularly brave.

I grew up in the country and kept chickens, and honestly, while town life provides the welcome convenience of a grocery, the movie-rental store, and the local coffee shop, all in close proximity, my heart still resides in more wide-open spaces.

Last spring, when Caleb was still wrestling with his ongoing eating/health issues (another story, another day), we found that eggs were the only form of protein he would/could consume without negative effect. We were going through about a dozen or more eggs every couple days, and so in a desire to provide my son with the best possible form of this food source, and because I have always had the secret desire to keep chickens again, Caleb and I drove to the small hatchery south of town and brought home a few downy chicks.

After the long process of community involvement/petitions/dealings with local government that resulted in a change of city ordinances, the RedHouse Chickens rose from their "grandfathered-in" status of legality to "fully-welcome" citizens, as north Brainerd city residents. They weathered the sinfully-frigid temps common of Minnesota winters, and now are providing us with about four eggs a day.

A few benefits, aside from the constant and continual supply of eggs: plenty of garden fertilizer, excellent composting, a relatively bug-free yard and immediate neighborhood, a "farm" experience for myself and my children, and the infinite delight of watching my son not only collect his breakfast, but eat it too—the incredible, edible egg.

Which came first? Definitely the chicken.