Audra Owen ’s nanna worked her garden with 6 - twelvemonth - old Audra play around her . That ’s when Audra decided to become a gardener . So , Audra ’s papa Matt helped her create a 4 - by-4 - foot garden to grow love apple .
A few years later , the menage relocate to 8 landed estate on Oklahoma ’s ruralCanadian County prairie . Audra plant blossom to pretty things up near their house . But again , she wanted a garden .
This time Matt plotted a 40 - by-20 - foot garden , and Audra grew vegetables . Audra kept add up more plants , and the garden blossom forth .
Three year ago , Audra bought various breeds of egg and meat chickens . Now the Owen family buy meat doll once annually , meatman and freezes them for kinfolk meals .
But Audra , the young hobby farmer , nurtured bigger plans for the egg . Audra Owen raises several breed of chicken include Barred Rock , Buff Orpington , Rhode Island Red and Brown Leghorn . She lets them free - range as much as possible to cut down on the tick population . Plus , the chickens love to exhaust saucy grass ! The family also gives the chicken remaining food food waste from their table . A lot of straw in the volaille coop help the cluckers stay put quick when Oklahoma ’s wintertime winds broom across the prairie . The chicken run play as a windbreak.(Carol Mowdy Bond )
Regenerative agriculture bring around the land on this California family farm .
Audra Owen raises several breeds of chickens including Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Red and Brown Leghorn. She lets them free-range as much as possible to cut down on the tick population. Plus, the chickens love to eat fresh grass! The family also gives the chickens remaining food scraps from their table. A lot of straw in the chicken coop helps the cluckers stay warm when Oklahoma’s winter winds sweep across the prairie. The chicken run acts as a windbreak.(Carol Mowdy Bond)
Origin Story
Two years ago at a local farmers marketplace , the family noticed a come society give away seminal fluid for unusual vegetable . They dilute up boxes of seeds and direct them abode , where Matt aid Audra plant them .
Audra ’s hobby farm became so huge that her blood brother , Talan , now a 14 - year - old eighth grader on the middle school day football team , start help with the oink oeuvre . On school day , these teens are up by 5:40 a.m. to care for the animals and works , and then off to school day .
moderately much in charge of the family line ’s agricultural task , Audra and Talan keep things running but with help from dad and mom . Matt Owen ( right ) is the family architect and construction engineer . But it ’s a full family experience when building anything . Matt and Logos Talan ( left ) , himself a young hobby farmer , are beside the nesting loge where Talan and Audra accumulate the nut they sell . They have a compost bin near the volaille hencoop , and they use tabular array scraps , bedding , Mary Jane clippings and anything else that breaks down as compost , which they then expend as fertilizer . ( Carol Mowdy Bond )
When Matt has time , he avail with the farm endeavors . But when he ’s unavailable , his wife Catherine ( “ Cat ” ) facilitate the two adolescent .
“ Everyone has their own job , ” Cat suppose . “ I ’m the cook . They farm it , and I ’ll cook it . We ’ve try a fortune of new thing we can deplete out of the garden . We consume about half of what we develop . We can a lot and immobilise our strawberries , blackberry and peaches . ”Young hobby farmer Audra Owen stands in front of the grapevines , only a tiny part of her garden , which is now a multi - layered family avocation farm . From January through April , she start most of her plants from seed inside the house under grow lights . When winter is over , Audra ’s dad , Matt , till the garden for her . She and Matt ferment together during planting season . After everything is glean in late fall , they imbed winter straw in the garden and raised beds . As a natural fertilizer , it add biomass to the soil . The family get the Gallus gallus pasture on the wheat , ply them a good protein seed in the wintertime . The chickens also fertilize the garden . Audra gets come catalogs in the mail , and then babble to her dada about plants she want to try . ( Carol Mowdy Bond )
record all about chicken manure compost — what does and how to get it .
Matt Owen (right) is the family architect and construction engineer. But it’s a full family experience when building anything. Matt and son Talan (left), himself a young hobby farmer, are beside the nesting boxes where Talan and Audra collect the eggs they sell. They have a compost bin near the chicken coop, and they use table scraps, bedding, grass clippings and anything else that breaks down as compost, which they then use as fertilizer. (Carol Mowdy Bond)
Give It Away
For the preceding few year , Audra has used societal medium to sell eggs , vegetables , and homemade muddle and jellies . She donates all the fund for children to attend Christian church program .
She and Talan do n’t keep any net profit .
Audra ’s now 40 - x-80 - groundwork garden is n’t just a garden anymore . She has all form of chickens , a gender - unknown zany name Goose Lee , plus family dogs Jelly Bean and Jangles , and Talan ’s hound , Bo .
Young hobby farmer Audra Owen stands in front of the grapevines, only a tiny part of her garden, which is now a multi-layered family hobby farm. From January through April, she starts most of her plants from seed inside the house under grow lights. When winter is over, Audra’s dad, Matt, tills the garden for her. She and Matt work together during planting season. After everything is harvested in late fall, they plant winter wheat in the garden and raised beds. As a natural fertilizer, it adds biomass to the soil. The family lets the chickens graze on the wheat, providing them a good protein source in the winter. The chickens also fertilize the garden. Audra gets seed catalogs in the mail, and then talks to her dad about plants she wants to try. (Carol Mowdy Bond)
Bo bring forth all the chicken . He take into the pens and counts them . The horse cavalry — Pancake and Baby — spend their days in a fenced grazing land .
Audra is now a 16 - yr - older high school day soph who watch Netflix from the couch . But the young hobby farmer is also a high - vim agricultural entrepreneur who has generated farming idea for 10 class . The wimp coop and yard field are like a massive apartment complex , complete with nesting boxes . Matt grew up in a home of DIYers . As a kid , he spend a lot of time at his granny ’s business firm , read horticulture from her . She also had an woodlet with legion variety of fruits trees . He hear about chickens from ally and family . Now he teaches Audra how to raise all her animals . “ It helps to have a pa who builds everything , ” Audra say . ( Carol Mowdy Bond )
Their hobby farm produces most of the family ’s meals . Audra experiments with her green groceries , and she ’s now trying to dry out vegetables while researching duck eggs .
The chicken coop and yard area are like a massive apartment complex, complete with nesting boxes. Matt grew up in a family of DIYers. As a kid, he spent a lot of time at his grandmother’s house, learning gardening from her. She also had an orchard with numerous varieties of fruits trees. He learned about chickens from friends and family. Now he teaches Audra how to raise all her animals. “It helps to have a dad who builds everything,” Audra says. (Carol Mowdy Bond)
And she ’s still selling chicken eggs , produce , and jam and jellies , while giving away all her profits . In 2018 , she give away more than $ 400 , which is exactly what she wanted to do !
This clause originally appear in the May / June 2020 way out ofChickensmagazine .
