Apart from a bigger house, which we could have found anywhere, a big reason for wanting to move to where we are now, was to be able to get a bit more serious with gardening, and to be able to keep a few animals.

We’d already decided that the first step would be chickens, and we’ve been talking about building or buying a coop, for keeping maybe 10 or 15 chickens, to keep us in both eggs and meat. We then happened to find someone selling four White Leghorn hens in this handy little portable contraption, so we packed the kids in the car, hitched on the trailer, and set off.

Here they are, just arrived at home, and coming out to feed. We decided to put them in a sheltered spot by the greenhouse.

Aren’t they cute?

Already on Monday morning, we had the first egg.

And by the afternoon, we had another three. One of them is really tiny, which apparently is normal. It was good to see that they’re laying, which suggests that they’re not too shocked by the move.

Today, we let them out in the garden to roam for the first time, which they seemed to really enjoy. They walked around in group, and were happily picking at worms, bugs, grubs, or whatever it is they like to eat. Our plan is that they’ll be proper free range, and just walk around where they like on the property during the day, and they should come in to go to bed at night. Getting them back into the coop was no problem, at all.

Every family should have one.

A quick bit of harvesting for today’s dinner. Wonder if that’s enough oregano for a beef casserole for three?

The quest is on…. We’ve got quite a few plants growing beautiful little gherkins, and started harvesting them this week. Some of them have grown beyond proper cornichon size, but I’m sure they’ll be delicious pickled anyway. In any case, they’ll be better than what we’ve found in any shops in Sweden…