I was surfing through Criagslist yesterday. The farm and garden postings are my new favorite now that I consider myself part of the agriculture community. There are horses and goats and chickens for sale. And tractors. And tools. I find myself positively giddy and I daydream a lot.

I want a little farm. In some quiet corner of Alaska. Without neighbors who believe they are in the witness protection program. A place to raise animals, garden and run dogs.  One of the items for sale on Craigslist was quail eggs so I clicked on it to see the picture. The damn things are bigger than the eggs I’m getting from the bantam hen! Sigh.

The first egg. Now I have three!

Speaking of hens, she will lay an egg in the nesting box which is a raised milk crate. Then several of the other hens all stand around the box clucking amongst themselves. They only move when I collect the egg. Weirdos!

Feeding these creatures is like entering a feathered mosh pit. They get greens everyday which I carry in a plastic shopping bag. Well as soon as they hear the plastic they rush the gate and I have to wave them back. Yesterday out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the Americaunas try to make a run for freedom behind me. I quickly slammed the gate shut like I would do with a puppy making a break for it.

That’s when it occurred to me. A chicken is much more delicate than a puppy. I pictured a squashed bird with a surprised look on its face when I slowly turned around. Much to my relief she was standing behind me pecking at my shoe.

The garden is really green. Really, really green. Really, really, really green. Unfortunately there are no other colors like red (tomatoes) or yellow (corn and blond cucumbers). So far my yield has been one zucchini, one english cucumber and two pickling cucumbers.

One of my two pickling cucumbers. I will slice them very thin.

So yes I realize that while I want to be a farmer, I will most definitely be a terrible one. But I can live with that.