Happy Trails to Mr. VDL

Today is the last day of MN GreenCorps Volunteer John van der Linden. He began his stint last October and picked up the task of bringing Pine River into the final stages of becoming a GreenSteps City.
There was a large sendoff for this intrepid journeyman. Ice cream was served and speeches were given. He will be missed. Here are several photos of Mr. van der Linden and his stay here at the HUG Campus.

Taking care of the chickens was one of John's duties. While often times the work was repetitive and laborious, John always made sure their eggs were collected, they were warm in the winter and that they always had plenty of food. In this picture, John and Jim Chamberlin are wrangling up some misbehaving chickens.

Here John tries out a kite brought in by Ryan Hunt. It had the power to drag us around, but (un)fortunately, that day had a particularly weak wind.

John attended many official meetings as a representative of MN GreenCorps and Happy Dancing Turtle and even spoke at some of them. His insight into conservation and environmental studies was an asset to the conversation. He cleans up real nice, too.

John was always ready with a smile and quick to humor the oddest requests.

Good luck in Iowa, John. The HUG campus will be less without you.

Good Local Eatin'

One of HUG's core missions is to "Shorten the Loop." Which, among other things, boils down to "keep your food local."

While this is an admirable goal, the most basic reason to keep your food local is simply taste! The freshest and most tasty food you will eat will be the food that is grown closest to your own home. Therefore, we decided to put our money where our mouths were, so to speak.

We raised 20 chickens over the winter. With proper care and handling they have thrived, even in the cold winter. During the winter, the egg production diminished. However, once more sunlight became present, we started to experience up to a dozen eggs a day.

They make the best quiche!

While these hens are aged beyond the 6-8 weeks looked at for the best tasting meat, they can still be used for soups and broths.

Moreover, not only do chickens produce food for us, but their manure makes the best fertilizer. We're planning on using their manure to fertilize our gardens this spring, which in turn will help us make the freshest and most tasty vegetables. Why? Because they come from our own backyard!

What else do you think you can do to keep your food local?

Playing chicken

These little peepers are in their little playpen now. They still have to do a little growing up before they can play outside. Dave (the chick magnet) is keeping them in his house until they are ready for the fortress (see posting below).

Chicken fortress

This is the start of the summer home for Dave's new chickens.
Last year he lost his birds to a fox. This year the accommodations are being built more like fort knox.