The Renegade Poultry Project

Thanks to our good friend & beloved market farmer Ben, we found some land in the South Valley of Albuquerque to start our farm! FINALLLLLLLY we are so stoked to share this news! Everything about this just feels right. As the wise say, "trust your gut" - my gut is resonating with excitement! Cameron with Ben's corn stalks ...that also means we will no longer have the time/energy to commit to Rent-A-Coop.  We've always felt like it was just our 'starter project' while we searched for land & resources to get the farm going.  Of course it is with a heavy heart that we let this project rest.  It was our eccentric entrance into the community that is now like family to us, it was our first project together (beginning only 2 months after we met) & we made some incredible friends along the way!  We could bring it back someday, though it will probably take on a different form...who knows, life is cyclical.  Though unlike most I find comfort in chang

It's been a while friends, we have been keeping busy! For the past few months we've been on the look out and have been scouring central NM for a small piece of land, even for someone with some land we can use or rent out an acre. there will be lots of sunflowers  Its an exciting time and we find ourselves having endless conversations about what we are envisioning or just bouncing ideas off each other, in the car, at the farmers market, in bed, texting while the other is at work just because we need them to know this incredible idea that just hatched a trove of possibilities ASAP!  We are both hours deep into farming books by the best & most practiced.  We draw out plans while out getting dinner on the back of whatever piece of writable surface I can find in my purse, and can barely eat with all the thinking going on.  We research the cheapest ways to acquire or build the equipment we will need.  Using our combined abilities to the fullest capacity and having eruption

The feeling after a good market day is it's own kind of feeling, one of accomplishment but also the feeling that a miracle took place.  Every week its a difficult balance to obtain - a very important vendor can't make it which I know will disappoint a certain number of market customers who came just for that vendor's product.  But it could also be, the folks who are coming to put on that week's activity "completely forgot".  The market days when I don't wake up to 7 missed calls, or there isn't a poor turn-out due to the heat or rain, this is when it feels like a miracle...when all the moving parts line up and charge ahead, which is happening more and more often!  When the vibe (and I don't abuse this word by using it often) is one of satisfaction, comfort, & ease - which is exactly the type of feeling I'm trying to produce each week.  At my dream farmers' market, I come to buy fresh, organic food & artisanal goods, meet my n

Cameron & I love Rent-A-Coop and love all the incredible people we meet because of it, it hasn't even been 1 year yet and we've had over 25 renters already!  That's 25 different families and personalities we've happily come in contact with, and made some relationships that we never see coming to an end. Only in the 'land of opportunity' the beautiful USA could we have this business...seriously I've told my friends in Europe about it and they think I'm crazy, the response is: "You could never do that in __ (insert European country here) _!"  Its true we as a nation are free-thinkers, capitalists, and all a bit eccentric compared to our ancestors in the Old World! classic Nob Hill, Route 66 As a nation we are accustomed to high productivity and rapid results , just look around there's drive-thrus on every corner, there's all-you-can-eat buffets, there's 24-hour shopping centers, etc.  If you've ever been subjected to

'Tis the season... Everyone gets all green-thumbed, outdoorsy, and turns into the grill-master - so what better for the backyard than some local fauna, by local we mean ABQ raised chickens (not too close to the grill though, hmm!) We got a hand full of sign-ups recently, so back to the good 'ol No Sleep routine...so with the recent heat we've decided to take up the Spanish art of the siesta , though instead of spending the night drinking at the disco, its to the workshop for a whole other kind of disco (there is of course still beer, music & lots of dancing, ask Cameron about that- viva Nuevo México!) Recent projects : 'Home Sweet Home' brought to the Mile-Hi Farmers' Market last week and dropped off to a renter's backyard after! You guessed it: 'Home Sweet Home Coop' ode to the magic & traditions in the New Mexican wind Red or Green...red for this one - Ristra 'Chickens in Space' the inspiration for this c

whewwww, we've been scrambling these last few days to get everything completely ready for the Mile-Hi Farmers' Market which starts this SUNDAY JUNE 14! Can't believe its already here! Since taking on this project in March I remember thinking "June will come so fast, there won't be enough time" but now with Sunday fast approaching I feel like we've been running the market as long as the business.  It's insane how much I identify with being the Mile-Hi Market Manager now, when only 3 months ago it seemed an impossible feat.  By carrying around my binder and going though it everyday, writing myself sticky-notes and setting constant reminders, it doesn't even feel like it was all that much work. Now we're more concerned with getting the Renegade Rent-A-Coop booth ready.  We've been so much more focused on the market as a whole that everything we envisioned for our booth this year isn't exactly there yet....but we still have 20 hours!

After a trip to see old friends in the old world, a Hungarian wedding, and an adventure due to tornadoes in Texas, I'm thrilled to be back in our life here in sunny New Mexico. If you've noticed our Instagram has been all chicks lately, in April we watched our first little Renegade Chicks break out into the world!  This was a totally new experience for Cameron & I, we rescued a rooster "Paddie" back in February with the intention of incubating soon after. Americauna (rescued) Rooster- "Paddie" We got around to it when Molly came to visit and we made a trip to Dan's Boots & Saddles to get 5 day-old chicks and an incubator.  We quickly plugged it in and placed 30 eggs inside.  Looking back we didn't even think to clean off the eggs, and learned after the fact that the bacteria from the little bit of chicken poo on the outside of some of the eggs can traverse the shell and compromise the growing cell.  Now that seems obvious, but