From Chef to Farmer

My role has changed. instead of calling myself a cook who writes, I am now a farmer who cooks and writes and has chores to do every morning.

My day starts in the garage, our version of a barn. I feed and water the chicks, change out the bedding in the brooder and spend a little time bonding with the girls who will be our egg providers. They are starting to grow adult plumage. Real feathers instead of the downy coat they are born with. I am falling more in love with them everyday.

My next stop is in the field. Ok, it's not really a field, but I don't want to call it a LARGE garden. It is my field of dreams. Right now I water the starts, dig a bit more of the grass out of what will be the six or so beds, stir the compost and add the bits and bobs and coffee grounds from the house. I know it's not much, but by next week there will amending, and watering and weeding and more planting than I've ever done before. I am thinking of getting a new garden hat, like the ones I've seen in pictures of farmer's wives in the 1940s.

I am enjoying my new role and hope to be a success at it.