Instead of food, we’re consuming “edible foodlike substances” — no longer the products of nature but of food science. –Michael Pollen, In Defense of Food, An Eaters Manifesto

Leslie Citroen of Mill Valley is teaching the Bay Area how to get back to eating real food one chicken at a time.

Leslie and her children run Mill Valley Chickens. They sell chickens and teach classes on everything you need to know to keep your backyard flock happy and healthy.

I really enjoyed visiting with Leslie and her daughter Logan. Being in Leslie’s backyard with the chickens and talking with her adorable daughter about 4-H brought back a lot of memories. I grew up with chickens in my backyard and was a 4-H member! (Yes, we had chickens in Orange County.) I was impressed with 6 year old Logan’s knowledge and handling of the chickens.

Leslie has a multitude of different types of beautiful chickens. (I did say beautiful chickens – some of these chickens were beautiful!)

I saw chickens of all shapes and sizes. I even discovered a new chicken called a Naked Neck (see photo below). I learned these Naked Neck’s are popular among the boys… I think it is their almost Sci-fi creature like look. I have to admit when I first saw the Naked Neck I thought it was a hen that had been pecked by the others. I assumed she was at the bottom of the pecking order. Leslie seemed to have a weak spot in her heart for the Naked Necks, she talked fondly about how sweet they were.

The chickens are actually great animals for kids. As you can see, Logan was carrying the chickens all over the yard and they seemed perfectly content in her arms.

Since Leslie’s chickens are truly free range (pastoral) meaning they are free to roam around her yard they’ve started playing Easter Bunny. According to Leslie and Logan everyday is like an Easter Egg hunt. They find the eggs hidden behind trees, under bushes, in holes…

There are many benefits to having your own backyard chickens; here are a few:

• Fresh eggs.
• Chickens are easy enough to take care of that a 6 year old can manage it.
• Kids learn responsibility.
• Something fun for bored kids to do.
• Getting food from the source and avoiding the use of oil to ship the food to the grocery stores.
• Not supporting factory farmed chickens.

Even though I’ve focused on kids and chickens you do not have to be a kid or have a kid to reap the benefits of your own backyard chickens.

Fun facts about chickens:
Chickens lay more eggs when there is more sun light. You will get more eggs during the summer months.

You can determine egg color by the color of a chicken’s ears. ie. white ears equals white eggs, brown ears equals brown eggs.

When your chickens eat scraps and forage in your yard for bugs -eggs are far healthier and chock full of vitamins —  than commercial raised eggs.

Not so fun fact about chickens:
Factory farmed chickens are often stored is small cages where they can’t even move and the lights are left on 24 hours a day to encourage more egg laying. Besides the cruelty to the bird imagine what the stress does to the quality of the egg. I’m not going to go in to the gory details of our food industry… I’ll save that for another time and place.

Looking for something fun and unique to do this summer?
How about visiting Leslie and her family at Mill Valley Chickens? Just contact Leslie and set up a date a time. You can purchase your own backyard chicken and take one of her classes to learn all about taking care of your backyard chicken. The chickens run from $15 -$25 each. Chickens range in age from 3 weeks to 3 1/2 months so they are already past the critical chick stage and well on their way to be egg laying hens.

You can also purchase ready-made chicken coops from Leslie or arrange to have her build a custom one for you.

In addition to the chickens, I was very impressed with Leslie. She’s a licensed general contractor. It’s not every day that you meet a female licensed general contractor!

On top of taking care of the chickens, her business and her kids Leslie has a fantastic garden full of fruit, vegetables and flowers. I was lucky enough to be sent home with a bouquet of fresh cut flowers from her garden, a handful of eggs and some lemons.

To top it all off Leslie joined Twitter after hearing me rave about it. You can follow her at @MVchickens.

To learn more about Leslie, Logan, Luca and the chickens visit: http://www.millvalleychickens.com

If you are thinking about getting your own backyard chickens contact Leslie! She knows her stuff.

More information:

http://www.youthinarts.org/ispf.html

http://twitter.com/youthinarts

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This inaugural Giant Steps Charity Classic is a five-day horse show highlighting California’s finest professional and amateur equestrians who will compete in fantastic events to benefit Giant Step’s Therapeutic Equestrian Program. Sonoma Horse Park, a newly completed world-class facility located off Lakeville Hwy in Petaluma, will be the host. Ashley Griffin, owner of Sonoma Horse Park, says “Giant Steps greatly improves the lives of so many children and adults with disabilities who live here in our community. It is an honor to host these outstanding equestrians who come from all over California to compete in this thrilling Charity event.”  Giant Steps provides unique body/mind/heart-opening experiences to special needs children and adults. They are provided with a catalyst for life-changing opportunities that combines sensor motor integration with a deeply satisfying experience of accomplishment and social interaction.

Olympic Show jumper, Guy Thomas says, “I am both excited and proud to compete at the 2010 Giant Steps Charity Classic! I am looking forward to a very challenging course and great competition. It is an absolute honor to be able to compete at the highest level against some of California’s best riders and to benefit such an incredible charity.  I’m so excited about meeting Bridget and talking with her about the possibilities that lie ahead for her.”

“Pleasures of Petaluma” featured on Thursday during the Equitation Classic Competition, will highlight local artists and their work exhibited alongside local restaurants & wineries.  Friday afternoon will feature the Ultra Motor A2B Ride & Drive combining show jumping with a rowdy vehicle obstacle course. On Sunday afternoon professionals, amateurs and juniors will all compete for a large cash prize in a Hunter Derby.

On Saturday, the premier event of the week, the Grand Prix Gala (formerly Giant Steps Annual Steppin’ Out Charity Auction), will feature California’s finest horse and rider teams who will attempt 12-14 extravagant 5 feet jumps. “Saturday’s Grand Prix will be an evening of nail-biting, electrifying competition, followed by an amazing live auction, and gourmet dinner. This will be a celebration of the incredible sport of show jumping, and in tandem will allow Giant Steps to continue changing the lives of children and adults with disabilities,” says Ms. Griffin.

In addition to the competition, this event will showcase all the culinary delights that Sonoma & Marin Counties’ have to offer including wine tasting and pairing and dishes prepared by celebrated chefs. Local restaurants, vendors, artists and farmers as well as the community are invited to participate.

Sponsorship opportunities are available and will provide an ideal venue for a captive audience to see your company name and logo. There are also volunteer opportunities for getting in on the ground floor of this historical event that will surely become an annual highlight on the Petaluma calendar. To sponsor this event or become a volunteer, please call Giant Steps at 707-769-8900.

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For more information about this topic or to schedule an interview with Executive Director/Founder, Robert Pope, please call Lissa Ferreira at 707-769-8900 ext. 13 or email Lissa at lissa@giantstepsriding.org

About Sonoma Horse Park
Sonoma Horse Park is Northern California’s newest horse show facility.  This world-class facility offers nine beautiful rings for the 2010 English horse show season.  Its goal is to offer superior shows that not only cater to the equestrian world, but also showcase all that Sonoma County has to offer.  It is inviting wineries, local vendors, artists, celebrated chefs, restaurants, and farmers to its various events.  Watching the shows are free and there are also VIP tables

Giant Steps Therapeutic Equestrian Center  is located on the same grounds as Sonoma Horse Park at Riverside Equestrian Center.  Giant Steps helps children and adults with physical, emotional, and developmental challenges, such as, ADHD, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy.

The upcoming event for Giant Steps will be held on Aug. 4-8.  It is a Charity Classic Horse Show and should be loads of fun for the whole family.  Guy Thomas, Olympic Show jumper, will be competing.  There will also be a gala on the Saturday of the event.

Upcoming horse shows at Sonoma Horse Park
Equestrian Challenge (C) May 19-28
June Classic (A) June 16-20
Equestrian Classic I (AA) July 27 – Aug. 1
August Classic (A)  Aug. 25-29
September Classic (A)   Sept. 8 – 12
Strides & Tides Sept.(A)  15-19

You can happen upon them in Tennessee Valley. See yesterday’s post about the Turkeys.

Or you can go to Slide Ranch right off of Hwy 1 on the way to Stinson Beach where you can visit goats, sheep, chickens, and ducks.

Happy (almost) Wordless Wednesday!

Arepas – typical Venezuelan meal made by our daughter.

I’m thankful for all the wonderful cooks in my life!

I love the town of Claremont. In fact, I’d even consider moving here if it weren’t for the poor air quality. My Asthma and this area don’t get along very well.

Besides the air quality, Claremont is a very charming town. It’s a college town. You’ve got the 5 Claremonts, quiet streets with adorable little houses I assume the professors live in and a thriving downtown area full of great places to eat and shops. Claremont is actually one of the Top Best Places to Live according to Money Magazine it is number 5.

Yesterday my parents drove up from The OC to visit me here in Claremont. I took them on the college tour pretending I was the college student since our kids decided snow boarding sounded more fun than parents day at school. Walking around the Claremont Colleges is like walking around a botanical garden. It is so beautiful and each campus has a totally different feel in plant life, architecture and student culture. We first walked through Scripps which has Spanish architecture and beautiful old flowering plants and trees and secret gardens. We then went to Pitzer which is the more eco friendly school with modern green resident halls and  gardens full of cacti and other environmentally friendly plants for this area.

On a clear day the views from campus are breath taking. I got this picture yesterday.

After we toured the campuses we went downtown. We wanted something light and healthy and were delighted to find the restaurant So Fresh Salads.  This place is great! You can build your own salad. It’s not a salad bar but you tell them exactly what you want in your salad and they make it to order. I had a mixed green salad and Broccoli Cheese soup. Very, very yummy stuff! My mom had a chicken-lettuce- sundried tomato-artichoke heart-wrap. My dad had vegetable soup and a green salad. We were all satisfied customers. The salad was super fresh and crisp. So Fresh Salads is almost like fast food but fresh and healthy food. I love that a restaurant like this is next to the university. Our world could really benefit from more restaurants like this and less of those other fast food types.

For dessert we were happy to discover a Yogurtland nearby.

D Sharon Pruitt, photographer

My kids aren’t actually driving me crazy (they’re big) but it’s raining A LOT and I’m guessing other people’s kids might be driving them crazy. It’s really, really raining (for California standards). When the weather is like this I just want to stay home and enjoy my fireplace. I don’t like driving in the rain.

However, if you are a Marin Mommy or Daddy stuck at home with little ones during this storm you may be going a little stir crazy. I remember back in the day when I was a preschool teacher in the early 90s… there was one winter when it rained for about 40 days straight. Let’s just say that was a VERY long winter.

If you are feeling the itch to get out with your little ones check out the wonderful list of weekend family events happening in Marin over at the Marin Mommies blog. She has some great suggestions for fun activities with kids.

I just have to share something really cool I saw the other day. I wish I would have been able to take a picture. I was driving north on Highway 101 in Marin and the sun was out but the freeway was very wet. As the cars ahead of me were driving water was spraying up from their back tires creating a look of rainbows shooting out from beneath each car. It was a very cool site to see. I kind of felt like I was living in a psychedelic 70s cartoon.

photo via Flickr user Pink Sherbert Photography

Our teenagers (17 and 19) were troopers and enjoyed the evening. At one point, I looked around and realized just about every family in the audience had children under the age of 10. But we all decided to embrace our inner children and have fun even if we were a little bit older than everyone else in the stadium.

I love the music and the spirit of the Globetrotters. It’s all about having fun, which is my mission for 2010.  The tricks they do are absolutely amazing. They make basketball look so easy.

If the Harlem Globetrotter’s pass through your neighborhood I highly recommend embracing your inner child and going out and having some fun!

My Twitter friend @PoButler was also in the audience with her kids, we tweeted and found each other. She was sitting about as far away from me as she possibly could but we still saw each other and waved. My kids thought I was a bit strange for getting all excited and waving across the stadium to my Twitter friend. Even the Globetrotters are on Twitter.

My goal for 2010 is to have more fun! (Inspired by @Fun_Master)  So… tonight I’m very excited to be going to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the Oracle Arena in Oakland! The last time I saw the Globetrotters I was very young, maybe 8 years old but I do remember really enjoying the show.

Have you ever seen the Harlem Globetrotters?

I like what one of the Globetrotters in this video said about spreading joy: “You can spread joy for at least 2 hours for someone each day no matter where you are in the world.”

The dog bathtub rentals are run similar to a do-it-yourself car wash. First you enter the fancy store filled with dog toys, dog food, and homemade dog cookies that look like human cookies, then you go to the counter and pay $15  for a dog bath. (Yes his bath cost more than my haircut but this is Marin where even the dogs feel entitled.) You then lead your dog up the steps in to the tub, clip him in with cables that are attached to the tub walls, put your token in the machine and begin the wash cycle.

First you rinse your dog, then move the knob to shampoo/conditioning cycle, then rinse again, and rinse some more to make sure you get all the soap off. Then use the blower to blow him dry. Meanwhile your dog looks at you like he hates you but in the end he comes out happy, fluffy, smelling and looking good.

Afterwards you walk through the fancy dog store trying to explain to your dog that all the toys and snacks on the shelf are not actually his.

Anyway, washing your dog on a Sunday afternoon at Woodland’s is a fun family activity for everyone but your dog.

Poncho is very good at expressing his feelings.

Woodland’s
701 Strawberry Village
Mill Valley, CA 94941
415.388.PETS

I tried to take his picture after the bath to show you how clean he is but I think he is still mad at me. He refused to get up.