Last year my sister found out her breast cancer had come back and it was so aggressive. I put all my plans on hold, including becomeing a chicken owner, so I could help her and her husband on their farm and with getting her to her appointments. I cannot say how sad it makes me to know that despite her amazing courage and her strength of will that the cancer took my sister at the end of 2011. I miss her more than I can express.

Part of me healing my grief is to continue my plans to have a more healthy lifestyle, including having home grown eggs. My sister was a farmer, and now raising a few hens and growing my garden is a way to honor her memory.

This weekend (Friday the thirteenth of April) I picked up my first chicks since having chickens as a kid. They are three gold sex links of five weeks of age. They share the yard with a German Shepherd female who cannot be trusted with them, an adopted farm dog who is the chicken minder and guards them in their run, a growing number of red wiggler and african night crawlers who will eventually supplement the chickens foraging, and my husband and myself. My goal is to have enough eggs for my husband, dogs and myself, as well as my parents.

It is good to back!