Field trip to Cluck the Chicken

On Saturday morning, Jay, Matt, Marissa and I drove south of Madison to Paoli, where we visited the specialty shop Cluck the Chicken Store. We were immediately greeted by the owner, Susan Troller.  I felt immediately at home, and Susan's enthusiasm for our project was contagious.

When she learned that the four of us were doing a next door neighbor chicken co-parenting thing, she got particularly jazzed up about our project. "I think one of the best things to build community in a neighborhood is people sharing chickens like you are," she said to us.

The front half of the store is a wonderful collection of all things chicken – if you can think it, she's got it with a chicken printed on it. Plates, napkins, stuffed animals, candles, silly magnets – you get the picture. She also had some wonderful books, Jay and I bought two, and Matt and Marissa bought one. I imagine there will be a lot of sharing across our driveway :-) I'll write more about the books as I read them.

Jay, Marissa and Matt at Cluck the Chicken Store

The back half of the store is where it gets a bit more practical – large and small bags of feed, watering systems, vet supplies, etc. But one of our big reasons to take this field trip, was to see their chicken coops outside next to the store. Susan was very happy to show us around, and was particularly excited because today was the first day the outdoor  displays were open to visit.

Almost immediately after she started showing us around, she was needed in the store, and her husband (whose name I simply cannot remember, I'm sorry about that) stepped outside to show us his latest coop designs. In the 20 minutes we spent talking with him, I learned a great deal about what to do, and what not to do as we design our chicken coop.

 This coop has it all. Easy access to remove eggs and manure, very safe and predator proof, lots of ventilation and even a cubby for electrical connections so they're protected from the weather and curious chickens.

Finally, Paoli itself is a real treat.  In the span of two blocks, there is a lovely antique store and an art gallery in an old grist mill, which in itself is a spectacular sight. There's a teeny cheese shop and the smallest café with a chef with the biggest heart. You really have to check out the Paoli Bread and Brat Haus.

It's true, I'm turning into a "crazy chicken person." To that I can only reply, "Why haven't I known about how fun chickens are before?"

Co-parenting chickens

Jay and I had lunch with our next door neighbors last weekend. I mentioned our upcoming lunch a few weeks back. I planned to serve an arborio rice and butternut squash soup. Jay said we had to serve something with eggs, so I made two quiches, one with mushrooms and one with spinach. OMG they were good. And I was reminded of exactly why we're doing this chicken thing. Just look at the difference in these eggs!

Our gathering went exactly the way I'd hoped it would. We got to know one another, talked about what we each wanted from having a backyard flock of gallus gallus domesticus and enjoyed a meal made possible in part by the three hens we are currently chicken sitting.

I could sense both Matt and Marisa's excitement building throughout lunch, and by the end, we planned a field trip together to Cluck the Chicken Store in Paoli, Wis. to learn more about having a flock and to get some coop ideas. 

After lunch we went to visit the girls in the back yard. I popped open the door and was delighted to find someone had left us an egg. I gave it to Marisa (even after today's quiche, we've got lots of eggs in the fridge). 

I am pretty darn excited about this upcoming adventure - that has already begun!

Building community one chicken at a time

Jay and I are relatively new on our block. We just achieved one year of moving into our home on Mifflin Street. I'm pleased that within the year we have gotten to know some of our neighbors well enough to borrow a cup of sugar (literally), and others who we wave at as they drive by (and they wave back) or who stop as they are walking their dog for a bit of small talk.

These casual friendships are wonderful, and I would like to deepen our friendships and relationships with a few people on the block. This reminds me of a story my dad once told me. Early on when we were on our farm, he met some people who were even newer to the area than my family. This fellow asked my dad, "How do you get to know your neighbors?" My dad replied, "Your borrow something and return it better than when you got it." They then parted company. The next day, that same fellow came up the hill and asked to borrow a tool from my dad - and that family has been life-long friends since.

I love that story - it says so much about neighborliness, and taking risks to ask for what we need, and taking risks to trust people.

A great example of building community is the growing "Little Free Library" movement. Here is one across the street from our hours that the creator and owner incorporated photos of children and pets from our block.

So with that favorite story in mind and after discussing it with Jay, one afternoon last autumn I crossed the driveway to our next-door neighbor's house, knocked on the door and said "Hi there, have you two ever thought of raising chickens?" No sooner had the word "chickens" left my mouth when Matt called to his wife in the house and said, "Come here, you're going to want to listen to this."

It turns out they were interested in raising chickens, but were concerned that their two dogs wouldn't get along with them. My proposal was to build a coop together on our land (away from their dogs but really close to their house) and co-parent a small flock together. They were in.

This winter we are going to plan our coop, work out the co-parenting details and figure out how to do this together. 

This is exactly the kind of thing I want to do with my neighbors, and it feels very much like building community up around me. It's also good to remind myself that community building happens in small increments, and before we know it, we've got something we can all love and appreciate.

Little Free Library #2805

There are many reasons we built to our front-yard orchard. We wanted fruit trees, yes. But we planted them in the front to weave it into the fabric of our block, to create something for more than us to enjoy and learn from, and to share it. 

I feel the same way about the Little Free Library movement. Have you seen one of these pint-sized wonders in your neighborhood? They are small lending libraries in front lawns and other public places around the world. They reflect their owners or the neighborhoods where they stand. And I love spotting them around town.

 So you can't imagine how excited I was to learn that our neighbor, just across the street from us, was already putting one together for her front yard!



And this week the 1900 block of Mifflin Street became home to the newest Little Free Library, #2805. 

The sponsor, MariLou, decorated it with images of young people and pets from our block, including our cats! 

I love how MariLou painted the library to match her colorful house.

There are many ways to build community - I'm trying one with our front-yard orchard. MariLou is trying another. Together, they make a handsome pair on our block.

Building a front-yard orchard

Jay and I moved into our new home on Feb. 16, and a week and a half later I had surgery, after-which I was largely home bound for four and a half weeks.

Needless to say, I had a lot of time to think about what to do with our new front yard. When put together with my desire to cultivate community on our block and the little I had already learned in the first class of the permaculture course, building an orchard in the front yard seemed like a perfectly outrageous thing for us to do. So naturally I began planning.

Building community around me, in the place where I live, has always been a deeply held value of mine. I attribute this to the wonderful community of people that my parents built around my brothers and I as we grew up on a small family farm in rural western Wisconsin. The idea of community where I live was also fostered by memories of the wonderful community I built around me when I first lived on Madison's East side in my house on Upham Street.

I'm calling this front-yard idea "An orchard for birds and bees, you's and me's." The idea is that as the fruit trees mature, we want people to come to our yard, pick some fruit, visit with us and other neighbors and get to know one another. It's part of watching out for one another, growing food to share, and sharing ideas to grow. 

Little Free Library
And our orchard will get along perfectly with the "Little Free Library" that our neighbor across the street will be installing later this spring. I have a fantasy of putting a sign near her library that says "Grab a book, cross the street, pick an apple and sit for a spell."  Admittedly the apple trees won't be producing for several years, but maybe next year someone can pick a gooseberry, jostaberry, honeyberry or contorted quince.

Cement bench finds a permanent home
Those who visited my house on Upham Street, Jay's house on Rae Lane, or helped me move from Upham or Rae Lane know that I have been carrying around a 400 pound cement bench for the last six years. You'll be happy to know that it's final resting place will be somewhere in this orchard.

Orchard installation details
The Orchard will be installed on Saturday, April 27 in the morning. Partly because I am still restricted to what I'm able to do following hip surgery, and partly because planting even a small orchard with just five trees and a dozen small shrubs is a large task, we are enlisting all kinds of help for what's commonly known as a "garden wheel." Think of it as a barn raising or a quilting bee for green thumbs.

The reason this is a larger task than simply digging five holes, is because we're going to be doing much more than planting trees. We're going to smother the grass by burying it in coffee grounds and cardboard and compost and hay, build earthen berms to divert water and dig swales to capture it before it runs into the street and storm sewers. And only after all that is done, we'll tackle the easy job of planting the trees and fruiting shrubs.

If you're at all interested in learning about permaculture and this orchard installation, or if you'd like to dig in and help, you are invited to join us. And if you happen to be a member of Dane County TimeBank, you can earn hours for participating in this garden wheel.

April 27, 8 AM to noon, and then a vegetarian chili and sloppy Joe lunch!

1933 E. Mifflin St., Madison, WI.