Babies.

Well, spring is the season of new. Here that has been new growth in the garden and new animals added in our quest to produce more of our own food, by way of chickens for eggs and goats for milk. This week we were greeted with what may be the coolest addition to date.... baby chicks! I mean seriously. It is so cool to watch how perfectly nature is created. God knew just what He was doing.

22 days before, one of our layers parked herself in a nesting box. Unfortunately, said nesting box was empty. No eggs. Yes, seriously. Secondly, we don't have a rooster so even if there had been eggs they would never hatch. So what's a backyard "farmer" to do? Well, we called friends and took on  5 of their fertilized eggs as foster eggs.  The length of time it takes for an egg to incubate was debated by the folks we talked to so we settled on a window of 18-21 days. We marked them on the calendar and crossed our fingers. She was dilligent. She sat and sat and sat. Getting up once a day for a quick snack, drink and pottty break then back on the eggs she went. (Motherhood is a labor of love across the board it seems.)

 I had started asking around about what we should do if they didn't hatch. After all, it had been  22 days. I was starting to worry. I was getting ready to get involved. (Don't ask me what that would be, I have no idea.)  Thankfully, it was all just fine. We were wishfully hoping for 2, or if we got lucky 3, of the 5 eggs we put under her to hatch. I was completely shocked when I finally got a look and there were 5 chicks! I know I've said it already, but I'm going to say it again, watching nature work is so cool.

 I am confident that nothing in the world will teach my children (and my husband and I) more about the beauty of this planet than sharing this piece we call home with animals. Our yard may not ever win any garden tour awards but I feel blessed that the animals and plants we share it with can feed our bodies, our minds and our souls. What is more beautiful than that?