a little country corner // our kitchen garden

A welcoming sign from Lily amongst the hay!

We have been fun lately setting up our little 'country corner'.  It got real farm-like (in an urban kind of way) when four feathered friends came to join us at long last! 

Meet Boppy (named by Eli), Henny Penny (Lily), Mrs Scratch (Kate) and Winnie Churchill (Mark - he wanted Winston but I reminded him it's a girl, haha).

They are only twelve weeks old, so have a couple months to settle in and live in luxury before the laying is expected to commence!!! ;) They gotta earn their keep, you know! Oh, can't wait to get those lovely fresh eggs. We had a couple of chickens a while back, which *literally* went back to the farm when I was sick with hyperemisis (keeping my family alive was the main priority at that stage! Couldn't deal with animals too). But it was a great trial run before we now settle into really making these lovelies part of the family. They are both pets and producers - does it get any better?? ;)

And here is a view of our little work zone... (still a work in progress!)

It ain't pretty yet, but it's functioning :) Quite a bit still to do/adjust/change but so far we have: A chicken coop and run. Two vegie beds in, with two more of the same to go in front of the current ones (we are pacing ourselves!!!). We are going to grass all the area in front of the pavers, and put mulch or pebbles of some sort all around the back area (veggie beds and coop areas). The handy stepping stones/pavers (which have just been tossed down, not levelled yet) are great, so in the mean time we aren't all traipsing though the dirt! Got to do something about protecting the vegie beds from the chickens when they get let out for a roam too. Compost etc will probably go in there too, and some narrow beds along the fence. Ahhh, it's a work in progress and I am guessing will evolve as we learn and grow. We have a lot to learn!!

I should really have taken 'before' photos. This zone has really come a loooong way. When we moved in there was a huge jungle here, a big copper log trellis thing, and this whole area was filled (like, seriously jungle-like!) with random plants and cemented boarders etc. With three kids and all that associated busy-ness, progress has been sloooooooooow.... but we were determined to slowly but surely chip away at our project and vision. Bit by bit we have worked away at clearing it and now at last we are on the other side and can make it really functional. So, although it's very late in the season to be planting, we just had to jump in 'cos we were so excited to actually finally be  ready!

They love to eat. And drink. And eat. And drink!! 

Expect a few pretty chicken pics ;)

Lily's favourite game is putting out 'treats' for the chickies! She sticks leaves through the wire and squeals with glee
 when they peck one away!

Our new 'family hobby' is already bringing so much joy to our tribe. Pottering around out here as a family just feels so nourishing and enjoyable. A sweet little family past time. The kids are loving it and it's so fun to experience their awe and joy as they explore every facet of gardening and chicken-raising. Digging in the dirt, feeding the chickens, watering, weeding, and learning together. A family rhythm which will yield many types of fruit :) The kids will learn so much about growing, caring, life cycles, responsibility and so much more. Oh, and we will learn too. It's my new favourite place to be, all tinkering around out there together, enjoying our feathered friends and our teeny little plots of land. Like, practically farmers, right??? ;) 

I am certainly no gardener... very much the lazy 'throw the seeds in and see what happens' type. So it will probably be a long road but we will all learn along the way. And have fun doing so!

It's an area ripe for learning and sharing and growth. And time together... the sweetest fruit of all.

(Let's just hope something eventually grows though, huh??)

A lot of time just spent hanging out, observing, bonding with chickens :)

Getting a head start with a few seedlings in the vegie patch - though we plan to mostly plant from seed. I would say the kids were too impatient to get started but really it was me who voted for a few seedlings, heehee!

Lily's prized strawberry plant :)

Our cute seedlings. Sadly many did not survive the brutal heatwave of last week. Oops. We learnt a lesson there!!

A lot of hope in that little paddlepop stick!

E writing on the plant markers under the shade of the trampoline net.