Buying Farm Fresh and Local

I think I'm done buying chickens this year.

Yesterday I visited a local small farm, Filbert Acres Farm, inquiring about their rare Buckeye chickens and Copper Marans. I bought 10, which brings the fowl total to 28 chickens. Firstly, I love this farm's mission:

'We are exploring organic certification. For now, be assured that our land has not seen chemical pesticide or fertilizer use for more than a decade. It is our conviction that we have a responsibility to farm sustainably.'

Sadly, a large portion of their Filbert grove had been cut down last week due to blight. It was sad seeing these 60 year old trees as piles of limbs, and I realized that this was a large part of the farm's income that had suddenly been lost. Farming is damn hard work and the payoff is small, and breaking even is a cause for celebration. I won't go so far as to say that what I have can be considered a farm at this point, but I very much feel the price of things these days.

Anyways, I'm signing up for their CSA share as this is the type of farm that I want to support. I feel more connected and linked with the communtiy when I buy local instead of from Safeway, and that gives me warm fuzzies. So do these:

The Java hens are growing fast. Last night they were perching
and pecking like old pros. They are about 2 weeks at this point.

The new additions hatched on Friday. These are my sweet
little Black Copper Marans, and yes, their legs are feathered
already! There is a Buckeye in their somewhere, and possibly
more to come in the next few weeks. It kind of sucks having
different age groups in the brooders, since it will be harder
integrating them due to size and pecking order, so I may wait
to add more chicks until these are out of the brooder and more
independent.