Author Archives: Anisa

About Anisa

Bustin' sod in the city, I spend my free time blogging and getting dirt under my nails along side my hard-working husband, three kiddos and urban chickens.

The first egg is here!

Posted on August 27, 2007 by Anisa

A few pictures of our first egg ever (pictured next to a store bought egg for size and color comparison)!

It’s from our Aruacana… the green egg layer! The egg is dirty because, she had quite a lot of trouble with it, she got egg-bound. It’s something that can sometimes happen to young hens when they first start laying eggs. We actually had to put her in some warm water and “help” it out. I felt so bad for her! I am actually a little worried about her. I keep watching her, and trying to keep her from getting infected…. not an easy feat with a dirty bird like a chicken.

We decided not to eat the egg either… we weren’t sure how long it was stuck, so we fed it to Josie. But I am excited to try the next one!

The eggs will get bigger over time… it may take a couple months, but they should get as big as the eggs you can get at the store. I think the color is so cool though!

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Garden Guest!

Posted on August 19, 2007 by Anisa

We had a little visitor to the garden today….

a humming bird!!! It was tiny, but it was there! This is our second sighting of the little guy (or girl), but I actually managed to dash inside for the camera this time. This is the only picture we got, but it’s proof enough!

And you can bet more hyssop is on the planting list for this fall and next spring! The more humming birds, the merrier!!!!

Categories: Garden | 1 Comment

Garden Pictures

Posted on August 13, 2007 by Anisa

Here are the promised garden pictures…. we spent the weekend playing farmer. We harvested the corn, carrots, and whatever else was ready to pick. (Those are purple and green beans; red tomatoes; cucumbers; a yellow tomato; Ancho peppers; onions; and red, yellow, orange and white carrots. Yum. In the picture of the yellow tomato (I thought the little mark looked so neat), there are two white saucer squash on the grass. I also picked and roasted a batch of home grown green chiles… and let me just say, there is nothing, I mean nothing so good as a home grown, home roasted green chile. Perfection!

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Hippie Chick

Posted on August 9, 2007 by Anisa

Well almost two weeks ago, we found a new home for our Susan the Terrible… he now lives up in Longmont at Roan Oak Farm. It’s a horse farm, but the lady there has a ton of chickens, all free ranging, so Susan will have his pick of the ladies. We put Susan on Craigslist, and she was the person we liked best. Rick, H and I dropped him off and enjoyed watching the other farm animals there as well. H was fascinated with a noisy goat that stood on top of his little house. It was too funny.

Last weekend I went to my friend Nora’s baby shower. The shower was beautiful, and Nora looked great. I got visit with my friend Amy, who I worked with at the Sports Authority too. I had a great time, despite the realization that I really am that weird hippy girl…. I was promoting natural birth and natural soap, and my gift to Nora… a breast feeding support kit. Oy! Hehehe… oh well. At least Nora is going for a Natural birth too… yay! She will do awesome!

Today I met my friends, Kim and Genny, at the park with our kiddos to let them play together. It was a really nice time, and we didn’t do much but sit and visit… but now I am pooped! They were talking about the farmer’s markets they’ve been going to, and now I have a craving for peaches…. yum! I’m going to have to hunt some down this weekend. And Kim kidded me about Rick and I having our own farmers market with our garden and chickens (if they’d ever lay an egg!). Wouldn’t that just be great! I would love it!

I promised Kim a picture of the garden, so I’ll post one tomorrow morning. It always looks best in the morning. By this time of day (2:15pm) the squash plants are all droopy from the hot sun.

I’m so glad I married someone with such a green thumb! And he has totally passed his love of gardening on to me. I love it!

Categories: Chickens, Community, Garden, Urban Homesteading | 1 Comment

Are you there???

Posted on July 20, 2007 by Anisa

Ok, so I’ve been neglecting the blog…. nothing since May!?!

Do you love the curious close up of Mayzie & Lavender…. funny little hens.

One of our flock, Susan, started to take on some very roosterish traits. She got a very red, prominent comb & wattle, which sometimes the hens in her breed do, and she was always the most aggressive and had the sharpest claws, which earned her the nickname “Susan the Terrible.” But then, last week, she started to sprout the most beautiful green-black tail feathers that just flowed over her tail, and I started to realize that I had been in denial… Susan was a boy. All week, Rick and I have been commiserating over what we are going to do with him. And of course the most practical solution is to off him and invite the neighbor over for roast chicken.

Rick’s been holding out on the hope that he’ll be a quiet rooster, never crow, and we can keep him… he is so pretty after all. And Susan has spunk! And why can’t we have a rooster, again? We’ve talked about finding a 4-Her to give him to so they can show him off at the county fair. But the fair started this week… too late. And we’ve joked about re-christening him “Stew” or “Kenny” (think South Park). But this morning, I think poor Susan sealed his fate. I let the chickens out of the coop, as usual, and Susan ran across the yard to his favorite spot under the lilacs, stretched his wings and crowed three times, as clear as day. **sigh** He’s so pretty, it’s sort of a shame, but it is the fate of most barn yard creatures, and what God intended them for. I guess chicken will be on the menu soon.

I’ll try not to wait so long between posts next time.

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Coop Construction!

Posted on May 11, 2007 by Anisa

Well, it’s almost 100% complete! Below are a few pictures of the process:

Still to do: Build the fenced-in run with gate, install coop window, add the ramp for the chicken door, and add just a little charm (paint, maybe an old tin “fresh eggs” sign, etc.).

Many, many thanks go to our awesome neighbor, Doug. He gave us some old tin from his garage for the roof and a left over piece of plywood when we came up short! Yay!!! Thanks Doug! You saved us a bundle!!

Categories: Chickens, DIY, Garden, Urban Homesteading | Tags: DIY | 6 Comments

I witnessed this first hand today….

Posted on April 29, 2007 by Anisa

Henhouse Henery

This is what happens when you have the chickens outside and Josie on the chain. Too Funny! Check back for pictures later of Rick building the hen house… our project this weekend.

Categories: Chickens, Garden, Urban Homesteading | 1 Comment

Our Local Vacation…

Posted on April 25, 2007 by Anisa

Ahhh… vacation. Rick had a whole week off of work… last Wednesday to this Tuesday. Yippee!!! So what did we do all week? Well, more than once we could be located outside with our noses to the ground checking out the veggie sprouts in the garden.

We did go the the dentist (nice to get it out of the way). We visited friends and family. We stayed up until 1:00 am playing Monopoly. We took a trip to Georgetown and hiked all over Guenella Pass. We went to my sister’s housewarming party. We laughed at the growing chickens… and complained that they weren’t big enough yet to live outside (there is a thick layer of dust covering the entire office thanks to the little birds). Notice the amazing growth… the first two pictures are from the 14th, the last is from the 23rd.