Marlena Chestnut Shifflett

Marlena Chestnut Shifflett

Windy Chickens

By Marlena Chestnut Shifflett

Growing up in the middle of nowhere, I learned a lot about what it means to be “country”; though I didn’t realize how “country” I was until attending graduate school. Being in the city I couldn’t wait to get back home where traffic meant more than one car stopped at the stop sign in town, and the open spaces meant parking was never an issue. Though my parents never owned livestock, they did garden and preserve their own food; I took these basics to a whole new level after my husband and I bought our home and land and established Shifflett Farms. Though we are a small farm of four acres, we plant a large garden, have an orchard, a small flock of chickens, and are in the process of getting honey bees and a family milk cow. Nothing goes to waste on the farm, what can’t be processed from the garden and orchard the chickens find delicious. We also make our own soap and cleaning supplies, as well as dabble in natural remedies. We recently welcomed our first child, a son, so now the adventure in homemade baby supplies has begun. There is never a dull moment on the farm, and what each day will bring is always a surprise. I wouldn’t trade it for anything!