In the garden thinking these chicken brats aren’t cheap

I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses… I love that song. These tiny roses are on our front porch.

My garden doesn’t look picturesque but here’s my first harvest.  4 ripe grape tomatoes I used in my omelet this morning.

I also noticed the squash is growing so fast and it’s overtaking my garden.  I should probably have planted only two.  I didn’t realize they grow like weeds and I’ve planted about 5 of them. 

 This one is spaghetti squash. 

 I’m not sure if this is ready to harvest.  I don’t have experience with squash or starting a garden from scratch.  This is my very first.  I’m happy I did it.  The two dill plants are collapsing to one side.  I suspect my chickens must have gotten into my garden and scratched it.  One thing I noticed is that they don’t like basil.  That’s good because I love basil.  They love tomatoes though.

I fed the chickens some cantaloupe yesterday and they loved it (video below).

I admit keeping small flock of chicken does not make any profit. They pay for their feeds only in the spring/summer because they free-range.  But they will be forever paying for their ‘mansion’.  It costs more than you think. Absolutely no profits. I lose money to housing, wood shavings for their bedding, medicine, oyster shells, and some random deaths.  They cost me more than they are worth.  But having a fresh source of eggs is priceless.  Sure it’s cheaper at the groceries, but I know exactly what goes into my eggs.  There’s no comparison.  I figure it will take about 15 to 20 years to break even with what I’ve spent on the coop and my labour.  So I should just look at it as if they are my pets that produce eggs.  No profit to be made other than the enjoyment every chicken gives me!

It’s very relaxing to see chickens on my pasture.  It gets me into this meditative state only me can probably understand.  They are cheap entertainment too.  Each one has personalities.

I’m forcing myself not to get too attached to them because any roosters will have to go to the butcher before fall.  Everyone on the homestead should have a purpose.  Males mean trouble!