If you’re over 40 years old, chances are you’ll remember having or knowing neighbours who had a big vege garden, fruit tree and chickens at home. In fact, if you were around in 1960, statistics show that over 90% of Australian households raised backyard chickens for eggs and meat, and grew their own veges and fruit, often swapping these around the neighbour with others who had surplus food to share. I remember those days well. I grew up on a farm. We had fresh cow’s milk, beehives, my dad grew tomatoes commercially and we had also had an oyster-opening business, with oysters coming from our family oyster farms.

These days, living in suburban Brisbane, I still have a few chooks and ducks for eggs and we grow a lot of our own veges, herbs and sprouts, with increasing areas around our house being converted into edible garden space. If I could legally have more animals, I definitely would. Friends who have gone green and gotten their own chooks and are growing their own gardens seem realy happy, especially that their children are sharing such green experiences.

Even for non-greenthumbs, growing a few veges and herbs, and raising a couple of chooks is so easy. Once you have some simple things in place and a little more knowledge, it becomes a pleasure to grow your own and collect fresh eggs everyday. My dream is to see every backyard in Australia have its own vege and herb garden and a few chooks. In Qld, most houses are on fairly large blocks, but many seem empty or unused. Why people choose the time and cost of mowing an unproductive lawn over having their garden and some chickens baffles me.

Here’s how easy it is:

• I have chickens and ducks, which cost me around $22 per month to feed (that’s bought chicken food). They eat most of our kitchen scraps (the rest is composted), are great lawnmowers, provide us with fresh eggs daily and are fun, friendly company. A couple of chooks will cost less to feed and require less space. I can show you how.
• A 1 x 3 metre garden bed is enough to provide daily salad greens, tomatoes, beans, corn, a variety of herbs and much more for an average family. Of course if you have more space, then you can grow more produce. For Brisbane, we provide garden kits with everything you’ll need to get started growing your own, with garden beds tailored to suit your area.

Contact Green Dean today to find out how easy it is to have your own garden and chooks at home. We also run the KFC Project – Kindness for Chickens – a battery hen rescue project. If you’d like to adopt or foster some rescue hens please visit The KFC Project.