My next hot thing

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2004419952_citychickens170.html

Chickens.

Yes, chickens.

I've promised Ryan to hold off until next spring, but if things go according to plan, my neighbor Sarah and I are going to become chicken owners, sharing the chicken-stewardship.

The idea behind it is the same as all of the other stuff - humanely raised animals, living off our kitchen scraps (which is good, because even with two worm bins we produce more than the worms can handle), producing healthy eggs, all organic. No carbon footprint to speak of - talk about local food. I assume that it's cheap, at least break-even, but we're still looking into this.

I have a corner of our yard figured out (by the fence dividing the front and back yards, tucked in the back where the kids don't play).

Some reading this will think, "Way to go!" but I'm pretty sure that the majority of my readers/friends will think that I've lost it for sure this time. I can live with that.

And I'm not doing anything NOW, I'm waiting to make sure that I can actually harvest our garden before I take on another project. Assuming that I don't kill off the garden in July, and that we make it all the way 'til September/October with our garden crops, I will move forward with chickens in '09.

Much more fun to think about than cancer, don't you think?

Edited to add: Chickens for EGGS, not MEAT. The butchering process feels really, really beyond me, and even though I don't expect to bond with chickens, I do not relish watching them grow and then eating them. This is an egg business only! I know, I eat chicken, so it shouldn't be a problem. But still, I have my limits.