Spring has sprung!

Spring has sprung around Amazing Grasses and not a moment too soon.  The chickens have been needing more and more fresh grass and only now has Mother Nature provided enough to keep up with these hungry ladies.

They've been in the hoop-house since late fall and I think they'll be glad to get back on to pasture.  Plenty of fresh water, sunshine, and available greens, worms, and bugs make the hens happy and our customers happier!

If you look closely at the pictures above you may notice that some of our hens sport stylish red anklets.  These plastic bands tell us that the hens wearing them are nearing two-years-old and theoretically their laying will begin to slow.  We haven't seen it yet but it will happen.  When it does, we'll sell these hens to folks who just want to have chickens or a few eggs now and then.

This morning the boys moved the eggmobile within the confines of the electric poultry netting and began preparing it for the season.

The eggmobile is a mobile chicken coop that allows us to move our hens to fresh grass every 7-10 days.  This is good for the hens since they get a fresh area to pick, find bugs, and play.  It is good for the ground since it won't be picked bare and won't be overloaded with nitrogen from their manure.

Over the next day or so they will allow the hens to get accustomed to the eggmobile again.  Once they are roosting in there rather than the hoop-house, we'll move them out into the lush green field and they'll forget all about that plastic winter home.

Hoop-house B.C. (Before Chickens)

Once the chickens are out of the hoop-house, we'll start seed beds in there for the summer garden.  The hoop-house and the area to the left of it in the picture will all be garden filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and more.

Hershey at 6 months.

Hershey is now 6 months old and Josie is still giving about 2 gallons a day for our family.  The cream has really started to increase as she has access to more and more fresh grass.  Hopefully we can get back to making our own butter once again!

That's all for now, enjoy the weather and stay tuned to more great stuff from Amazing Grasses including some Pastured Pigs this year!

Changing our enviroment

I'm in one of those moods, you know, a mood where you would really like to strangle someone.  Come on, don't tell me I'm the only one who has those moods.

A customer just threw a fit (second time in 3 months) when I wouldn't accept her offer on a vehicle.  Did I mention I hate this work?  3 months ago she gave a low-ball offer and was mad when we said no.  It happened again today, and now I'm ticked.  I want to throat punch her.  But I won't.

Of course this post isn't merely a rant about some insane customer who I want to call and ask politely not to come back.  No, it's about how things affect us.

My entire internal and potentially external environment changed because this person is a less than charitable human being.  I could let it affect the rest of my day but I will choose to shake it off and move on.

There are so many things that affect our lives - people, weather, accidents, gifts, sickness, health, smells, sights, sounds.  We live in a constant state of bombardment upon our senses.  This bombardment can change us mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.  The smell of fresh baked bread can make us smile and brighten our day.  An auto accident can disturb our peace or change us forever physically.

Even little changes, over time, can have long lasting effects.  For instance, if I work out everyday or walk everyday, I'll enjoy better and better physical health.  On the contrary, if I take up cigarettes everyday or breath asbestos everyday, my health will surely suffer.

Major changes are easy to see; new baby, lottery, broken leg, divorce.  Small changes are more difficult to see; better health, more intelligence, cancer, asbestosis, old age.

Just as small or major changes in our environment can affect us, I truly believe that small or major changes that we make can affect the environment.

Now, of course I am far from some hippie-tree-hugging-nutcase, however, I truly believe that this is an undeniable fact that we can affect our environment.  I also believe that it's reasonable to deduce from this that if we can have an effect on our close (personal) environment we can also have an effect on our distant (communal) environment.  Think about it.