Seriously.  It’s been a dream of mine to own an orchard (with a big old farmhouse) for quite awhile.  I usually keep this one to myself because most people, when told that I want to live on a farm, shake their heads and tell me it’s too much work, or farm animals are “yucky”, or they just think I am abnormal somehow.  Well, now word’s out.  (Hey, just because most days I’d rather lounge on the couch in my jammies doesn’t mean I can’t do real work…….it just means I don’t WANT to)

Thing is, I know how hard it is just to care for the inside of my house right now with all these little kids around, nevermind actual agriculture.  So I’ve been slowly and painfully learning to compromise and start small.  Right now I have a struggling herb garden and some flowering bushes.  We’ll put in a few raised beds and I’ll grow some tomatoes and basil.  Easy stuff.  Maybe next year when Oona’s less of a barnacle (you know, completely stuck to my side) I’ll clear out some land in the back for a pumpkin patch.  An apple orchard is in no way feasible, but a decent sized pumpkin patch is.

And I’d also like…..chickens. Now don’t look at me like that!  Why must everyone assume I must be off my rocker because I want a few chickens out there running around, eating ticks and fertilizing the grass?  And don’t tell me chickens are a lot of work, because they’re not.  I’ve done my research.  They actually make decent pets if you get the right breed.  And the added bonus: fresh eggs.

When my cousin Libby and I were small we would argue over who got to carry the egg basket out to the chicken coop every morning (she lived on a horse farm, and her parents had chickens, geese, ducks and rabbits).  We even chased the poor critters around trying to dress them in doll clothes.  We loved them.  The geese were another story.  You couldn’t turn your back on those meanies or they’d run you down and try to bite you.

Point is, I’m looking into getting some chicks at some point in the not too distant future.  But don’t worry….I won’t give in to my desire to get sheep to supply my ever increasing desire for wool.  Yet.