The hot chicks

Today in the garden, I witnessed my chicks hunt down and eat a worm AND a bee. That was much more exciting that it should've been, I'm sure. They now spend all day and night outside in their coop and come to the garden with me every few days. I'm still nervous that they will get too cold outside in their coop and I miss having them inside, but I suppose it had to happen some day. Talk about empty nesting!

The chicks go to the garden

This afternoon, we put the chicks in the veggie garden so they could get some sun, peck around, and have a little adventure. I was a little nervous, but it went very well. The chicks followed me around like I'm the mother hen. I had to keep looking down to make sure they weren't underneath me so as not to step on them.

Pepe stayed on the outside of the fence and was very happy to watch his little sisters walk around. He knows that he isn't allowed to get too close to them, so he just sort of laid down and watched from the side lines. He's such a good dog!

The newest additions to our family

Today marked the day that would have been my Mom's 53rd birthday. The last six years has been very hard. On the day of my Mom's birthday—every year—I do something special to honor her. In the past, I have volunteered or worked in the garden. She was an avid volunteer and gardener, so I feel that if she were still here today, she would want me to spend the day with her doing one of those two things.

This year, my vegetable garden is going to be larger than it's ever been. With the help of my Sister's boyfriend, Chris, we came up with the idea to use chickens as pest control in my veggie garden as opposed to pesticides. I thought there was no better day than today to go with my Dad and Sonja to pick out these new additions to the family. Please join me in welcoming them!

The brown one is named Mavis and she is a Welsummer chicken. The yellow one is named Henrietta and she is a Buff Orpington chicken. The black one is named Chris The Spider Killer and he is a Black Sex Link chicken. Chris is named after my Sister's boyfriend since he was instrumental in helping me to find a solution to the pests (mostly spiders... ew!) in my garden.

The chicks will also produce 3-5 eggs a week for us, so we are looking forward to never-ending combinations of quiches and omelets. If you have a recipe you would like to share with us, please do!

With Dad and Sonja just getting on their flight to head back to Seattle, I am sad because I will miss their company but I am thankful that they were here to spend the last few days with us and be part of the yearly celebration of my Mother's birthday.