For many of us, the highlight of this year’s garden has been the chickens. It just isn’t the same without them out there, so I asked Theresa, the “chicken lady,” to share how she came to have chickens in our little suburban neck of the woods:

What follows is the condensed version of how I became known, in certain circles, as “the chicken lady.” 

I have a friend who lives in California, whose father gave each of her three girls a baby chick for Easter… without asking.  Nice, huh?  Turns out he had his heart in the right place, because he wanted to build a chicken coop with the girls as a way to spend time with them.  So it actually was nice, though I’m still not convinced giving live animals as a gift is such a good idea.  Well, I spent quite a bit of time teasing my friend about the chickens running around her yard and the egg hunts she had to do on a daily basis, but I probably spent an equal amount of time listening to her tell me how much she and her girls enjoyed just watching the chickens and having them as pets. 

Fast forward a year or two and I jokingly tell me my husband that we need to get chickens just like my friend, because organic, free-range eggs are so expensive.  He told me that if I did, he would be staying at the Hyatt downtown.  Well, in that case, challenge accepted! 

What followed was a one to two month stint of internet searches, library runs and one-on-one’s with the good folks down at the feed store as I tried to learn as much about raising chickens as I could.  Finally I got up the nerve to order day-old chicks on-line.  Convinced that it was going to be a trial and error experience, I order six (two each of three different breeds) believing in my heart that some would just not survive my lack of farm experience.  They all did, and forgive the cliché, but during the last year I’ve discovered that even a bird-brain can raise backyard chickens! 

They are just about the lowest maintenance pet I’ve ever owned!  We refill the food and water every day or two, collect eggs every afternoon, toss in veggie scraps, and let them run around the yard whenever we can.  They don’t bark, they don’t shed (well, not indoors at least), and they don’t scratch up furniture.  The best part is that I never feel guilty that I’m not giving them enough attention because honestly, they don’t care!  The eggs for me are just a bonus now.  I find it very relaxing to sit at my kitchen table with a cup of coffee, look though the windows and watch their social interactions as they take dirt baths.  Go figure.   I absolutely LOVE having them! 

We’ve had our “girls” since June of 2008.  My son, who is 13, absolutely loved the baby chicks and couldn’t get enough time touching and holding them.  As they grew, his interest diminished until he completely lost interest after one of them spit-up on him.  My daughter, who is 9, is my little farm girl.  She helps feed the chickens, brings in the eggs for me, and even wrangles them up when they’ve wandered too far from home.  My husband still wishes he was at the Hyatt! 

So, I’ve come full circle.  My friend in California enjoys teasing me about having chickens running around my yard.  And I just take her good natured ribbing in stride because I know she’ll listen patiently to me when I tell her how much I enjoy just watching my chickens and having them as pets.

Theresa, thanks so much for sharing your chickens with us this summer…we’ll take them anytime!

Share your favorite chicken story in the comments!

I apologize for the delay in updates regarding this evening’s first CSA pick-up, but Grant and I welcomed the newest Grace gardener a little early this past weekend: Jasper Sterley was born Saturday evening weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces. Mom and baby are doing great!

The CSA pick-up is still on, although this week may be a little unorganized with me being MIA this week. Thanks in advance for your patience!

Pick-up from 7-8 for shareholders. Volunteers, check with your plot leader about what time to meet.

Last night’s Garden Party was a huge success – the rain stopped just in time for dinner, and Matthew Jose answered lots of our gardening and food system questions. It turned out to be a wonderful evening of community and some learning too.

Thanks to everyone that was able to make it! We look forward to many more parties out at the garden. Stay tuned for some “takeaways” from our conversation with Matthew last night.

Joanna took some great pictures, so be sure to check them out! Thanks, Joanna!

*To get in touch with Matthew Jose or to learn more about his CSA, check out Big City Farm’s Local Harvest page.

Join us for a garden celebration this
Thursday, July 23rd from 6-8pm!

We will have a pitch-in dinner starting at 6pm, followed by an “Organic Gardening 101″ presentation from Matthew Jose of Big City Farms at 7pm.

We’re hoping to have the celebration out at the garden, but we’ll announce the rain location here on the blog Thursday afternoon if the weather is looking uncooperative.

Don’t forget the following:

• Lawn chairs and blankets to sit on
• Bug spray – it gets buggy out at the garden once the sun goes down
• If you can join us for dinner, please bring a dish to share. If your last name begins with:
  • A-F: Please bring a salad
  • G-S: Please bring a side dish
  • T-Z: Please bring a dessert
• If you’re joining us for dinner, please bring your own utensils – we’ll provide plates, but it would be nice if everyone brought their own reusable utensils, so we’re cutting down on the amount of waste by using less disposable stuff.

Please park in the far northeastern corner of the Grace parking lot and walk back to the garden. We won’t have enough room for people to park out at the garden, so plan on parking in the parking lot and walking back the dirt path to the garden.

Leave a comment on this post if you can make it – we hope to see lots of you there!

It doesn’t seem right with these 80 and 90 degree temperatures, but now is the time to be thinking about your plans for your fall/winter gardens. Check out this link on Sharon Astyk’s blog for more information about cold weather crops and seed sources.

Sharon’s blog is a great resource for all things garden and sustainable living related, so be sure to check it out!

I can’t believe the Fourth of July has come and gone already! I hope you all enjoyed a nice long weekend with family and friends.

The garden is continuing to look great – we are starting to harvest our first zuccinis and tomatoes, but it will be another few weeks before things really start coming in.

A few quick announcements:

• Mark your calendars for the evening of July 23rd – we will be hosting a pitch-in dinner for Grace Garden members, volunteers and supporters. Matthew Jose from Big City Farms (check out this Nuvo article for more information) will be presenting a talk on “Organic Gardening 101.” You won’t want to miss it!
• CSA pick-up will be Thursday evenings from 7-8. We plan to begin on July 30th, but we may be able to begin sooner than that. Stay tuned for more information.

We had a plot leader meeting last night, and Randie showed off his new toy – a pump that he designed and built to transport water from 55 gallon drums in his van to the water drums out at the garden! Check it out:

We’re impressed, Randie!

Wow, it’s been HOT out at the garden. I’ve been having to wait until late in the evening to get out there, but then the bugs come out to play too. I guess I need to wake up earlier!

The plots are looking great! The tomatoes and peppers especially are loving this heat, and the beans seem to be doing better too. Weeding and watering are the names of the game right now.

A few reminders:

1. If you’re out at the garden and use the water from the drums, make sure you refill them per these instructions. Thank you!
2. Speaking of water, we are still raising funds for a rain collection system. Please contact me if you are interested in donating materials, funds or your time for this project!

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

I love this verse. It reminds me that Christ came so that we can have this full life – both here on earth in this life and in the next. In fact, I think it hurts Him to see His creation not living life to the full here on earth, which makes me contemplate where I’m lacking individually and where we are lacking as a community of believers in exemplifying this “life to the full” to all that we meet.

This week, the IndyStar published a Letter to the Editor that particularly resonated with me. According to a recent Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP) report, nearly 3,000 children in Marion County public schools qualify for services for the homeless every day. This isn’t news to us in the Grace community – Jay Height from Shepherd Community Center has been telling us long before this economic crisis began that 80 percent of the children in Shepherd’s neighborhood have two meals a day only when they are in school. I’ve been obsessing this week about what happens to all of those children when they aren’t in school.

While the statistics aren’t as readily available for Hamilton County communities, it is apparent that the need has increased dramatically over the last year by the response that Third Phase, a Grace Frontline Ministry and the largest food pantry in Hamilton County, has received in that time. The food that is collected through the Hamilton County Food Pantry Drive is delivered on Saturday, and it is often all distributed to families in need as soon as the food pantry opens for the week. In fact, Third Phase has been forced to limit the amount of food that each families receives because of the huge increase in demand. The poor in Hamilton County often fly under-the-radar, which is even more concerning because of the lack of resources and services available to low-income families living in the Indianapolis suburbs.

All of this to say that these struggling families could use some help in living the full life that Christ came to deliver them into. Christ uses US to bring His Kingdom here on earth. He tells us that He came so that we may have life and have it to the full. I think, in helping others to meet their basic needs, not only are we helping them to live life to the full, but we have the opportunity to truly experience the life that Christ dreams for us in selflessly giving of ourselves.

The Grace Garden is a beautiful picture of what the Kingdom looks like: we provide real food for families in need, we provide good work for our volunteers, and we provide a model of creation care for the community at large.

Join us out at the Garden as we try to live the full life that Christ came to bring us – or get in the game by helping out with the many local outreach opportunities that Grace offers right here in our own backyard!

The garden is looking great! All of this rain is making the plants very happy. Unfortunately, it’s making the weeds happy too. If you have old newspapers or grass clippings laying around, we would love to take those off your hands, as both make a great mulch for the vegetables, which would help retain moisture and keep the weeds at bay.

One of our plots has some standing water in the walkways. Does anyone have some ideas as to how to deal with standing water? The plot members have attempted to drain the affected areas and fill those areas in with mulch, but, with all of this rain, it is a difficult task. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

The chickens are a huge hit, especially with the kids, so be sure to play with them a bit before they have to go home in a few weeks. We’ll all be sad to see them go!

If you aren’t signed up for this year’s Grace Garden CSA, we could still use your help in many ways – check the Needs page above for more information. The Grace Garden needs your time, talent and treasure!

On Thursday, July 2, Earth House will screen the award-winning film, The Garden at 7:30pm as part of the Earth House Food Independence Day Celebration.

The Garden follows the story of a 14-acre community farm located in South Central Los Angeles. The film screening will be a great opportunity to learn more about community gardening and meet fellow gardeners. Check out this post and the links above for more information.

Hope to see you there!