Urban Chickens and Gardens

This post is by Stacey, one of our guest bloggers. Self-proclaimed NYC Milkmaid, you can see more of her writing on her own blog, JustBraise.com.

As more people consider farmers markets and other local options, like Community-Supported Agriculture, I decided to take the next step and grow my own food. It’s no big deal, folks have cultivated private garden spaces since… well, the dawn of civilization, but through growing my own food I have become obsessed with the Urban Chicken.

I moved to New York City ten years ago, craving concrete as a refuge from suburban sprawl. Lately, I dream of greener pastures and my desire to eventually live off the land told me I needed practice. A few years ago I planted buckets of (unsuccessful) vegetables in front of my apartment. I was so meticulous in ordering my seeds and ushering my sprouts to produce, I didn’t think about selfish neighbors or the more dreaded urban squirrel, both stole ripe tomatoes on more than one occasion.

Over the years I have learned that my front plot is more acclimated to shade loving plants. I also learned that the less work I need to do to maintain my buckets the better (I can be a little lazy, okay). More recent years have seen arugula, swiss chard and celery to today’s mostly herb plantings of mint, thyme, basil and rosemary.

I eventually convinced my landlords it was smart for me to green the roof of the building (cool down their top floor apartment, make use of rain water and run off and put food on the table), but after seeing no easy way to haul water up a vertical ladder and my inability to trust the stability of the roof, I moved on to a community garden plot.

My first thought in acquiring the garden plot was to offset my Community-Supported Agriculture drops that last through November. (It also makes good use of compost.) Abundance on either end would be preserved to eat throughout the winter. Full of sun and (limited) space, I now grow corn, summer and winter squash, melons, beans, tomatoes and cucumbers. Getting past some occasional weeding, I’m amazed at the tenacity somewhat neglected plants have– This past week I harvest my first summer squash and see 6 watermelons coming up! Who knew my somewhat rusty thumb could be so green? I just need to figure out a good way to preserve summer squash.

But chickens…

Urban chickens are my next goal and I have been dropping not-so-casual hints around my fellow gardeners such as: “wouldn’t chickens really tie this place together?” or, “a chicken coop could fit right here.”

A few years ago I heard about folks in Brooklyn hosting chickens in their backyard. I began research and saw that hens are actually legal in New York City (as well as in many other urban and suburban locations one would be surprised to find them). If hen holders, or the curious, are feeling lonely or need advice there are plenty of message boards, blogs and general support groups online. My absolute favorite pages are the ones that deal in hen breeds and go into great detail on the eggs and meat the variety produces.

So I got to thinking, with the cost of eggs as high as they are, why not have a chicken around if you have the space? I have been told a healthy chicken can lay up to 6 eggs a day (without steroids) and eggs from free-range, bug eating chickens– forget “organic” eggs you find in the stores, have a visual appeal and flavor that is unforgettable. The biggest plus is that bug eat eating chickens lay eggs with nutrition levels well above those golf balls that pass for eggs in the supermarket.

With so many different chicken varieties laying a rainbow of eggs, the public should be outraged by how we’ve been shortchanged! White or brown!? How could these end up as our only options when blue, green and pink eggs abound!

Backyard Chicken is a great guide and how my love of urban chickens started. A sight I proudly admit to spending hours on is this Breeds of Chicken listing from Oklahoma State University. I also must promote the New York City non-profit Just Food, they are huge supporters of raising urban chickens and a group I have discussed chickens with often.

A few weeks ago I met a man better known as Bucky Buckaw. Check out his Sage Brush Variety Show for podcasts and links about keeping backyard chickens. They were recently featured on Deconstructing Dinner, a podcast series about farming in a city.

Do you or anyone you know host urban or suburban chickens? If so, please share your experience!