Ever become a mini farmer by accident? I did. Except it wasn't really an accident. I made the conscious decision to buy chickens which evolved into goats and then pigs. Oops.
When I bought my first house, I couldn't wait to start "living off the land" as I used to say. The first summer I went straight to work planting a garden and, when I came across baby chicks, there was no way I could tell myself to leave empty handed. And my urban farm began.
I quickly learned that I planted way too many tomatos for one person to ever eat and not enough of anything else... so everyone I knew got tomatoes. I also learned that chickens fly out of their coop despite attempting to cut their wings (it doesn't hurt, just prevents flying... or so I thought) and make a nest in the woods to lay their eggs (which I eventually found and collected). Every morning my little chickies flew out to wander around the neighborhood and returned each night... until they slowly, one by one, stopped coming home and instead started getting eaten by a fox. I actually cried the night the first chickie didn't come home. Pathetic.
Well, my garden and chickens were the only two things I could actually benefit from... then I moved on to bigger animals. First goats and then a few piglets (not beneficial because they were pets and, no matter how much I love bacon, I could never kill my pets). But since I felt bad, I decided as long as I never let bacon go to waste, I wouldn't feel too guilty... and it hasn't been hard to make sure all the bacon is eaten... I mean, it should be a food group for goodness sakes.
Now, let me introduce you to Miss Zoey. She gets a special section because she holds a special place in my heart. I picked her up about a month after the first three goats I bought which were all males... so naturally she was a little princess... unfortunately the boys (one in particular) did not agree and was very jealous of her. He would ram into her with his head and one day I went outside and found my poor little girl on her side and unable to stand up... the vet came and we think he probably broke her neck!
Meet Abigail and Amelia. They lived inside for the first few months of their piglet lives. They had their own bedroom in my house, slept in a dog crate, went to the bathroom in a litter box and loved getting their bellies rubbed.
Eventually these girls were too big to poop in a litter box and live in my house so they joined the goats and chickens outside.
So Zoey became a house pet for almost 2 months while I PA'ed (nursed) her back to health. She lived in a bin because she couldn't hardly move and Mya and Ryder became fond of her. Ryder even tried to eat her hay... which he quickly learned wasn't appetizing. Zoey improved by the day and eventually was strong enough to move back outside with the boys... all of whom settled down and for the most part stopped being bullies... and when they did, Zoey hit them back (probably because she remembered her two massive dog friends had her back)!
When Ben and I decided to move in together, I couldn't take the mini farm I had created with me... our neighbors would not appreciate Zoey "Baaaaaa-ing" (yelling) at 5AM every morning when it was time to eat. Thankfully I was able to find great homes for everyone.
Now, we live in a more populated city and can't have farm animals (our neighbors have already called the police a few times because of our dogs barking... can you imagine the calls if we had goats "baaaing" and pigs "oinking"). But I am in the middle of planting another garden and can't wait (now if only I can keep our dogs from digging it and the bunnies from eating it, I'll be all set)! I love spending time planting and weeding and watering... and mostly checking every day to see if there are any treats I can collect. Because nothing tastes better than vegetables from your own garden.
And eventually, we'll move and have farm animals again!
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