Berry poor farmers

We didn't move to the country to become farmers, but with this much land surrounding us, it seemed inevitable that we would try our hands at 'growing' our own groceries. We always had a small veggie garden and a substantial pumpkin patch in town. Last year, ambitious as we were, we planted tons of veggies (even sowing a few rows of corn and a patch of sunflowers)--all of which did pretty poorly. Too much rain and too little human attention meant that our garden was overrun with weeds taller than our toddler. It was kind of sad. We promised to be better farmers this year.

And, in spite of my better judgement, I even allowed Hubby to bring home some chicks to raise and fatten up over the summer. Yup. We got chickens--nine meat hens and four laying ones, all living in our hen house slash tool shed. (An aside: We had two other meat hens, but we lost 'em last week. No idea if they were eaten by a woodland predator; chased away by Fergus, our orange tabby; or simply wandered away from the coop and the food supply. Chickens are not the brightest creatures--and we are still pretty pathetic farmers.)

Originally, Hubby wanted goats or sheep, but he settled for chickens. Although I did not want anything to do with the stinky fowl, the thought of tender, organic meat and fresh eggs was very appealing. That, and I rather enjoy my Hubby's begging--and telling him "I told you so" with regard to the fowl smell (pun intended).

In the end, I made him a deal that as long as I was not expected to feed or care for the beasts, he could have 'em.

But back to our garden. B and I went out to the field on Wednesday to check on our plants and were delighted to discover that the strawberry plants we put in last year have finally bore fruit! I showed B how to pick the little red gems and we both enjoyed the juicy ''farsies'' or ''farberries'' as she calls them (her take on combining the words "strawberries" and "fraises" together) right there and then. They were scrumptious!

I hope that some diligent pruning around our strawberry plants will increase our first summer crop. I would love to make some jam. I can almost taste the jam melting into the nooks and crannies of an English muffin or bubbling out of a heart-shaped cutout in a tiny tart...yummy!