In 2022 my husband and I moved onto a friend’s property. At 1.7 acres I had never had so much open land to garden on! At first it was so overwhelming to even know where to begin. But our little community of 4 adults, 1 toddler, 2 dogs, 2 bunnies and 1 cat quickly got to work. We started with chickens. In the past year and a half our community has only purchased eggs a handful of times. We quickly learned 3 hens was not enough. So, we adopted more hens and have been able to actually give away some of our eggs! Our ability to remove 1 item 100% from our grocery shopping list has felt so amazing! The chickens were also our impetus to create a dedicated composting area. We have been able to compost our chicken and rabbit waste as well as any food scraps the chickens don’t eat. We quickly noticed the acre plus of land (previously used for horses) was not in good shape. We seeded the area with cover crop and chose a variety of things that the chickens and bunnies could also safely eat. As the cover crops continue to grow in we are seeing the benefit with lush pasture and free snacks for our critters. Last, we finally got to the garden. We purchased repurposed raised beds from a shuttered mushroom farm in Petaluma. Since we wanted to start planting right away we put out first year of veggies into the raised beds. Using cardboard in-between the beds were able to create beautiful weed free pathways. Our goal is to continue to try and replenish the pasture so we can eventually plant more directly in the earth. A small orchard of local apple trees was also planted near the garden. This past year we have put our literal blood and sweat into turning what was once just horse pasture into a sustainable farm to feed our community of 5 as well as having excess for our friends. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to be outdoors, work as a team and teach the toddler in the group where food really comes from! – Victoria D’Angelo
