It's not Friday?

Since taking the afternoon off two weeks ago to watch the Downton Abbey movie, it feels like I've been going non-stop! Women's Conference at our church, our little guy's birthday, behind the scenes work for Rent The Chicken, a local Norwex retreat, an online Norwex party, planning for local Rent The Chicken pick-ups, prep for in home Norwex parties, and of course preparing for the launch of our 2020 Rent The Chicken and Hatch The Chicken reservations!

No wonder I didn't get a chance or make the time to check in here last week or yesterday! So let me fill you in on some things... My motto for 2019 has been the "Year of the Harvest". "the Harvest" isn't just about the bounty that comes a few months of the year. It's about putting in the work, preparing, getting others involved, building community, tending to the crops / project, pruning, carefully growing the crops, and then.... THE HARVEST! It doesn't end there. All of the fruit and vegetables in the garden becomes nourishment and deliciousness! Some of it is consumed right away and others is made to last through the year until the next harvest. At the same time, clean up needs to occur and while winding down from the harvest of this year, it's already time to start planning for the next. Although when I claimed "Year of the Harvest" as my motto, I thought it was literally about the actual Harvest and reaping all of the great benefits of harvest-time. Every year we put in the work to build and grow our Rent The Chicken business. Every year we build and grow. This year though.. WOW! We prepared, tilled, planted the right crops, groomed, pruned, nurtured, and and and and...! As expected, because of our Affiliates, our Renters, and God's provision, we had a stellar year of growth and Hatch The Chicken & Rent The Chicken Rentals!

That brings me to the next topic as mentioned above, a LOT of work has been put in for the launch of our 2020 Rent The Chicken and Hatch The Chicken rentals to be available for reservation. Don't hold back... our dates and coops are reserved so quickly and some locations sell out in the first few months after the launch. We've reserved over 20 rentals this week network wide and that was with gentle marketing. What a great start to our 2020 Rental Season!

So of course I would love for everyone who reads this to make a reservation for a 2020 rental but it's more than that! I'm egg-cited for the things to come because of our focus this year. The planning for one harvest overlaps for years to come - both personally and professionally!

Here's a photo of my friend Becky and I at the Women's Conference at our church recently. What a cute photo opp area, right?! You can find Becky's blogs over here: MrsGregWillis.com

I'll leave you with this. There are two songs that have impacted me recently. One last year (Do It Again) and one just very recently (So Will I). I found this YouTube video of both songs here:

*taps the mic* Is this thing on?

It's been a LONG time since I wrote here. Much longer than I expected when I looked yesterday to see how long it really had been.

I have a lot to catch you up on but I won't spill the beans on everything at one time! :) The summer was lovely. It was full of laughs, hard decisions, and lots of purposeful visits with friends and family! I'll rewind though! We had a FANTASTIC delivery season since you heard from me last. Across the board with all of our Rent The Chicken Affiliate locations and our own, we met and exceeded goals for both Rent The Chicken and Hatch The Chicken for 2019! We could not have done that without the support of our friends, family, Affiliate partners, and of course our renters!

We were told our RTC SUV needed extensive work right towards the start of our delivery season. We prayed and decided to trade in our little car for a pick up truck and that we'd pay the boat load of money to fix our SUV. Turns out... the shop who quoted the extensive work was off by a few thousand dollars and our regular mechanic had it done for under $100! Granted, we had to take it back within a month for some more work but it hasn't been back to the shop since! So we officially have a fleet of RTC vehicles in Western Pennsylvania! (2 makes a fleet, right? haha) We sold our old little RV and bought a modest pull behind camper and enjoyed a number of small and one larger trip this summer. We had a super great time at our local county fair - The Great Dayton Fair! I'll post more on that another day as there were loads of ribbons earned!

Homestead Phil surprised me with a small and lovely vow renewal for our 10 year wedding anniversary! Our niece, Brooklynn, from Oregon visited again this summer! This time, it was only for 6 weeks rather than 10 like last summer! The garden was great this season with more to come! Loads of onions, about 75# of tomatoes (salsa & spaghetti sauce!), hot peppers, green peppers, and a high yield of weeds!

I continued to help with the Girls Ministries at our church and have taken on a new role which is co-leading the "Friends Club" group for our 6th grade young ladies! I even chaperoned for a Girls' Retreat for the first time! Homestead Phil no... Commander Phillip continues to volunteer his time with the young men of our church with the scout group - Royal Rangers. They are stoked to attend a week long camp next summer call Camporama! We traveled to Indianapolis for Coop Camp with Coop Dreams where we separately held babies goats. Don't get any ideas, Homestead Phil!

We took in a Pittsburgh Pirates game with our little guy and his little friend earlier in the summer. We also went to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky with Brooklynn and two of her little friends. So powerful! We watched a parade then we were IN a parade and we even enjoyed a day at Kennywood! We also experienced our first Sprint Car dirt races! (Only spectating!) It was like motorcycle dirt flat track racing but with cars of varying sizes. Intense!

Givi Kitty is doing fairly well. Lots of partying at night and sleeping all day :) Oh and she thoroughly enjoyed multiple camping trips this summer as well! As if I don't wear enough hats and I don't have enough titles, I added "Norwex Independent Sales Consultant" to my resume! Norwex offers cleaning products without needing the use of chemicals or paper towels in less time! Let me know if you'd like more information or click here to peruse the webstore. And of course I still refer to myself as Homestead Jenn when I'm selling Norwex! :)

And.. I made it my goal to make sure all of the local ice cream shops stayed in business this year. My fav: Hand-dipped Caramel, Chocolate Covered Pretzel in a waffle cone. Wow. The rest weren't awful but that was my fav!

Catch you next time!

The Great Dayton Fair!

We LOVE our local county fair - The Great Dayton Fair! It's not the "Dayton County" fair as our county is Armstrong County but the fair is located in the very rural town of Dayton. This is year two of us camping in our little RV next to my sister and her family who have been camping at the Fair for likely 10 years or more! When we tell people that we will be camping at the fair, they assume we are showing animals as most people who camp do show animals. This fair does not have a poultry category so the chickens stay at home. We love our local fair so much that we want to enjoy all of it and not have to make the 45 minute drive home every night then tackle bedtime upon arriving home. Between our niece Brooklynn's, Our Girl's, and my entries (which Homestead Phil of course takes part in!), we submitted 30 exhibits in varying categories of canned items, baked goods, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, as well as items created at the 4H craft camp that the girls attended this summer!

Here's what Fair week and the week before the fair look like for us:

A few weeks before the fair, I start perusing an almost 200 page booklet to decide what items we should submit.

Before the Saturday a week before the fair starts, the official entry form needs to be filled in and submitted.

We trek to the Fair Grounds to reserve our camp site, pay for our wrist bands, pay for the ride all week passes, AND submit the forms.

Grocery shop for ingredients of the proposed baked good submissions.

Wednesday and Thursday before The Fair starts, the baking commences, the lego building is finalized, the craft camp items are gathered, and the eggs are weighed.

On Friday morning, the baked goods are plated. It's decided which of the vegetables we are able to submit vs ones we want to eat! The canned items are retrieved from the basement. The eggs are carefully wiped and placed into the cartons. The craft camp items are given a once over to determine if anything needs any last minute glue!

It's time to load the vehicle! Submissions are accepted only between noon and 7pm!

Exhibitor tags can be picked up earlier in the week but since The Fair is 45 minutes each way, we decide to tag our items at the Fair Grounds. We bring a stapler, scotch tape, a hole punch, a marker, and yarn to attach our appropriate tags! (not my first rodeo, friends!) This garden stone was created at Craft Camp. Imagine that the silver is the plate then you'll see the masterpiece all come together! This is an example of the tag with the yarn showing our heart shaped hole punch :) Without the yarn and the hole punch, I have no idea how we would have attached the tag!

We form an assembly line at the vehicle after picking up our tags.

There's a station for each category. Kids are in one line while I'm in another before going back to the car to tag and retrieve more items!

30 items submitted! Record amount for us!

Then we wait. The building doesn't official open until Monday morning to see what ribbons were earned for each item! Oh the wait!

There's still plenty to keep us occupied as we have to grocery shop for the week, prepare the RV, and load it up!

There are pre-fair events that happen like horse pulls and the like. Our main goal was to have the RV set up with time for relaxation before the crowning of the Dayton Fair Queen which happens on Sunday evening. This event was near to our hearts this year as our niece, Gabi, was handing over her crown to the next Dayton Fair Queen. Gabi's reign of 2017 Dayton Fair Queen came to an end that evening. Brooklynn and Our Girl knew the 2018 Dayton Fair Queen from their time at Craft Camp and were thrilled to be able to say they knew the Queen!

In other news, we were able to get into the Exhibit Hall to get a sneak peek of some of our categories that were already judged! Say, what?! We didn't have to wait until Monday! I'll share the ribbons below. To fill you in, we received ribbons for 20 of our submissions!!

Throughout the week, we enjoyed a concert of Danny Gokey, unlimited rides, plenty of rain, limited fair food, watching our nieces compete with their horse, seeing all of the fair animals, meeting up with friends & family, and of course, showing off our ribbons to anyone who would walk to the Exhibit Hall with us! :) Oh.. and of course the Demolition Derby & the Rodeo! Brooklynn exclaimed "I saw a real life cowboy riding a bull!"

Remember when I offered selfies with Reba The Chicken at the Southern Women's Show? Well.. I met her cousin! Reba The Horse! Of course I took a selfie! (I know you were just thinking "Did Homestead Jenn snap a selfie!?")

Friday night of The Fair, I caught up with my friend Molly and her family. Her husband's family has been involved with the fair FOREVER! His great grandparents had their name on a bench at The Fair for years. The Fair is working on replacing the old benches with new ones and offered the oldest benches to be donated back to the family members. Molly and her family had been walking around The Fair all week to look for the bench that they had no problems finding each year previous but without success. I made it my duty to try to find the bench on Sunday. I gathered up two of my nieces plus Brooklynn, and a few other random horse kids who camped near us. We strategically walked around the ENTIRE fairgrounds to try to find the bench. We were also determined to get our pictures in each of the wooden displays around the fair. It was quite an adventure! I promised ice cream at the end. I'm fairly certain that we walked for more than two hours! The littlest kiddo was 4 or so years old! *blink* The oldest was 14. We had fun! We took one last look at all of our ribbons and by this time, moldy baked goods :P We sadly did not find the bench but we did find ice cream! Molly and family were able to retrieve their bench on Sunday after The Fair. Turns out, it was in rough shape, still covered in cobwebs so it was thought that it wasn't even used this fair! We got a good walk in at the fair and enjoyed ice cream nonetheless!

The girls' ribbons:

Our ribbons:

There are a few items that we hoped to submit that we just ran out of time for. Next year, we are hopeful there is still a Duct Tape contest - make anything out of Duct Tape and submit the creation! I also hope to crochet some over the next 11 months and submit a few of my creations. See you next year, The Great Dayton Fair!

In the news and more!

Has it been a week already since my last entry? Time sure does fly when you're having fun!!

Two big news segments hit this week for Rent The Chicken!
1. Our episode on the Vegetable Gardening's show was published! It was a fun interview with Mike the Gardener! Click here to watch on YouTube

2. THE TODAY SHOW WROTE ABOUT US! Full disclosure: Our awesome journalist friend, Terri, works for Today.com and hooked us up! She wrote the article and then the Today Show, Today Parents, etc. What a blessing! Here's a link to the article: Curious about raising chickens? Thisi company lets you rent hens for your backyard

AND....even bigger news! Our Girl moved in officially this week! We could not even be more excited and proud! Thank you for your support! We had a surprise Welcome Home party for her upon our arrival and boy was she surprised!

AND... I made my first ever ice cream cake following the directions from This Recipe. We can't publicly post her name or photos of her at this time.

"Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life" - Dolly Parton

Tonight, we watched our oldest niece walk across the stage for her high school diploma. She was also one of two commencement speakers. We are so proud of all of our nieces and nephews! Today we are especially proud of this one for her accomplishments so far!

I also snuck in a few selfies with her sisters :)

Their class quote is "Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life" - Dolly Parton

This is so true. We work A LOT this time of year but that leaves us working less other times of the year. It does seems as though our "busy season" get longer each year. That's OK though as we REALLY enjoy what we do with Rent The Chicken and who we work with - our Affiliates and our Happy Renters.

It's yet again late on a Friday as I'm writing my blog entry/entries for the week. I also REALLY enjoy writing this blog as it's a bit therapeutic for me. Sure, all of you read it to get to know us and behind the scenes of Rent The Chicken but there's more to what we are up to than what I can list in a short status update on Facebook. Today, we had to step away from our desk, go outside, and prep a few coops for upcoming deliveries. I made a joke to myself that I say to myself when I'm doing something that isn't in my usual day, "Not everyday is international news interviews and glamor..." as I am in my old clothes preparing to paint a few chicken coops. We're still accepting deposits for rentals and we're answering the phone to chat with our new chicken friends who are getting comfortable being good chicken keepers!

Needless to say, we try to take a walk a few times a week. Today instead of a walk, we prepped coops together. We skipped Spring this year and went straight to summer! It was sooooo beautiful today! "Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life." We are so blessed that we get to make a life while making a living! Phil's garden is well on its way! He has already planted: potatoes, onions, peas, pole beans, bush beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and likely more that I can't remember! I snapped this photo tonight to show off the inside of his green house with the pole bean set up!

Today, we fielded Hatch The Chicken support calls, closed a few Rent The Chicken rentals, and chatted to a few renters with some questions. Like I said, we prepped some coops as well. Our Rent The Chicken vehicle had been in the shop so we picked that up, came home, and were ready to go to the graduation in no time. We enjoyed a nice time with family at graduation and then out for some dinner. My sister called ahead for seating for 11 only to have enough for 9 at two large middle tables while Phil and I sat "with them" at the booth across the aisle from them. Wendy's is next door and I said "We're so far away, we might as well be at Wendy's!" It was so funny! The jokes continued through our meal as to how far away we were sitting. They said funny things like that we were in the "west wing" of the table. Homestead Phil was using Morse Code with the flashlight on his cell phone. Too bad none of the 9 of them know Morse Code to know what he was saying nor to respond! haha

In previous posts, I chatted on about being Foster Parents with a current plan of foster to adopt once a match has been found. After reading many short profiles online, reading many long profiles privately, and interviewing with case workers regarding specific children, we have been matched! I can't say much more than that other than we've met the child and we are all excited about our match! What I can say is... "IT'S A GIRL!!" I really really really enjoyed being a boy mom with our previous foster placement and assumed we'd be matched with a boy but God knows better than we do! As I can share more I will but for now, know that she loves her new Rent The Chicken hat and is egg-cited to be part of our team/family!

No title can do justice of this blog post. :)

Believe it or not, not everyone starts their backyard hen dream through our service, Rent The Chicken. I know, you're astounded! (Please note my sarcasm! :) ) A few days ago, I was defending the right to backyard hens in a suburban area where most properties are more than an acre. Someone rebutted my argument by saying "Your income is based on selling people what others may deem a nuisance. I am merely the unbiased messenger. You are extremely biased and financially interested in selling your chickens to people." WOAH. We are so much more than a chicken rental service. Of course, we want EVERYONE to participate in our rentals! Chickens and eggs have been part of the food chain since the food chain started. Believe it or not, Rent The Chicken wasn't founded until 2013 - well beyond when the food chain started! haha

Honestly, if I never rent a chicken again and everyone has backyard chickens, a garden for fresh vegetables, and knows their farmer, then all will be well in my world. When we help communities to change their ordinances, it's not about us renting more chickens. It's about making progress in the local food movement. We celebrate with anyone who is legally permitted to have chickens after having laws changed. We celebrate when someone harvests their first tomato from their first tomato plant on their porch! We celebrate when the special needs folks find a connection with chickens that is beyond just eggs. When we are at events to showcase our business, people ask about the noise level of chickens, I lean in to the chickens and say "listen to them". Some people don't even realize that we have chickens in the coop with us. The only reason I mention our business in public social media groups is to gain credibility. If I just started spewing chicken facts and no one knows why I am so educated on the subjects, my credibility would be questioned.

"Who in the world is this lady and how does she know so much about chickens, local ordinances / bylaws, and tomato plants?!" I'm sure that's what people would think if I say random things in a chicken related conversation like "With community involvement, an "on the go" family, can share responsibility of chickens and eggs on those tournament weekends. 2-4 hens is not going to make an impact to the water table. Coyotes and raccoons are already there. A good chicken keeper will do everything to keep their chickens safe and to not cause a draw. Predators are attracted by excess food, bird feeders, trash cans, dog waste, outside cat food, and backyard gardens. Hens are less noisy than most children and most dogs. 2-4 hens produce less waste than a German Shepherd." So I simply add "My husband and I are the co-founders of Rent The Chicken. We are very passionate about helping our local communities to have food sources as close to the table as possible - backyard chickens for eggs, garden beds, CSAs, knowing your local farmer, etc."

That brings me to my next thought. Spring is in the air! Well except it snowed 2 more inches last night where we are and I just chatted with Homestead Christine in NH and it snowed 16" just in the last two days! But I'm sticking to it... Spring is in the air! I think that Spring is an even better time to evaluate new life and new lifestyle choices than in the dead of winter with New Years Resolutions. Don't you?

Many can agree that the animals in the big factory farms are not treated well. Many can also agree that an animal raised and harvested for consumption can be done in a way that it is more ethical than how factory farms operate. Many also have no idea how to move away from the processed food that we've grown accustomed to. We are so far removed from our food sources that we have grown complacent and let the big food producers set the standards for what we digest. (Legal limits of arsenic is permitted in the chicken we consume!) I truly believe with Rent The Chicken that we are helping chickens from being dropped off at a cat / dog rescue who are not set up for chickens. We are also helping people to re-evaluate food choices. I'm not talking about non-gmo/organic choices. I just mean... we're coming in to Spring so find a farmer who will grow your produce. Plant some lettuce in a box on your porch. Plant some potatoes in your flower bed. Find a local CSA (google it!) to join. Stop buying your meat from the grocery store. Know the farmer who raises your meat. It's not difficult but it does take some effort. With a quick google search I can help you find a farmer for you to connect with. How can you make better food choices? Homestead Phil and I aren't 100% on target with our food choices but we give it a go! Here's a proud plate photo - potatoes and beans from our garden and steak from a local farmer friend, Brett.

Are you going to choose to plant some lettuce in a planter on your porch? Are you going to buy an AeroGarden and grow some vegetables in your kitchen or den? (That's how Homestead Phil started!) Will you buy a tomato plant to grow on your deck? Is this the summer that you will Rent The Chicken?? Is it time to google CSA? Include your town name or your region when you search for a CSA. A number of our Rent The Chicken Affiliates offer a CSA, meat share, or simply sell meat. Click here to read the About Us on our website and see if a location close to you offers what you are looking for. Or contact me and I'll direct you! It's time make a Spring Resolution! Who's in?

Why "Homestead Jenn"?

I may have jumped the gun on this whole "I'm a blogger now" thing! Apparently there are new phrases like "pinterest photo" and "blog hops". There's a way to make a posted photo be "pinnable" - another word I just learned! haha I'll have to save the learning of those buzzwords for another day! I did learn how to add the social media icons to my blog and to Rent The Chicken.com! If you need to learn how, be sure to read Christina's igottacreate! blog!

Before I describe to you how I became "Homestead Jenn", it's best to back up to tell of how "Homestead Phil" came about. Good ol' Homestead Phil has always been a dreamer and a visionary. When we were planning to transition from life in the city to life in the country, he had big dreams of a large garden, raising meat rabbits for food, and having backyard hens for eggs. For as much as he is a visionary and a dreamer, he doesn't always envision the steps it takes to get to the dream. That's where I come in! I'm the planner, the list maker, and the "what do we have to do to get to the dream?" of the team. Before we even moved, I put my foot down to say "You can pick two things of the three!". Needless to say, my foot didn't stay down very long! Phil was listening to pod casts and watching youtube videos on homesteading preparing for the next stage of our lives.

Once we moved from outside of Baltimore, Maryland to the country in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Phil started to convert into Homestead Phil! He studied the seeds to buy for his garden. He researched the best meat rabbits to buy and breed. One random day when I thought it was far too cold to buy baby chicks, he said "I'm going to buy baby chicks. I'll be back after bit." (Notice: I didn't say he researched! haha) I think he said it when he was going out the door so I couldn't give a rebuttal! We had ZERO supplies for chick raising. We did EXACTLY we don't recommend for people to do when getting into backyard chickens. Phil started calling himself Homestead Phil. He created a Homestead Phil email address and even posted to a YouTube channel for awhile until we shifted social media to focus on Rent The Chicken. I ultimately did not get crowned with the Homestead Jenn title until we hatched Rent The Chicken.com! So apparently, I'm "Homestead Jenn" by association. :) Each of the families that offer Rent The Chicken from their farm/homestead are also called Homestead So-and-so! You can read about all of them on my favorite section of Rent The Chicken.com: The About Us Page.

So here are some flashback photos of the start of Homestead Phil! The chicks that started the vision for Rent The Chicken are being inspected by Givi Kitty! There were no chicks harmed in the snapping of this photo. haha The baby rabbit was our first ever breeder rabbit, Fiona. The sprouts are cucumbers growing inside. Eventually when the weather broke, they were transplanted into the garden. Rabbits love to snack on cucumbers! As much as Givi Kitty loves having me around, she is truly Phil's kitty. She will pick his lap over mine almost every time. She likes to sleep on me at night though so it all evens out! :)