Homesteading in Oaktown

You may know this already, but Chris and I are busy farming here near downtown Oakland. After reading Novella Carpenter's blog last week, we deem our garden project "city farming." Doesn't that sound way more grand?

We have three chickens who have the rotating names: Emmy Lou, Jessie Rosalee Wildcat Tennessee, and Hawking. They started off needing a lot of care (heat lamp, personal indoor bedroom, daily butt cleaning) but now are pretty self-sufficient little creatures who each give us an egg daily (except on Saturdays because of Shabbat - seriously, that's the only reason we can think of). Our generous neighbor, Lor, has taken to giving the chickens amaranth, dandelion greens, and other choicest bits from her kitchen. Rachael, across the street, brings them apple cores and old bread. They are just loved, and they give us eggs to show their many thanks.

So our ears perked up at the thought of getting a turkey as our next project. Our own turkey for Thanksgiving 2010 - how neat would that be? Chris got online and found some really cool heritage breeds, but the minimum requirement for all orders is 15, simply so they huddle and stay warm during shipment. We really just want one, but they are social animals, so we'd have to get two. Somehow.

And then we read on and learned that turkeys can get a nasty disease from chicken poop called "Blackhead." This will happen especially if they live in the same smallish pen. Don't you just find that sometimes too much information can drive you away from your original great idea? We'll have to wait for more space or create another pen alongside the woodpile...Hmmmmm.