10 Chickens? What’s that all about?

Well, there’s a story.

The wife and I knew something needed to change, and a plan had started to form. We were going to pull the rip-cord on our lives and vanish into the pine scrub of rural Maine, and as the initial groundwork for our escape, we had started implementing new practices that we’d need in the future. (The how’s and why’s of this deserve their own post, if not a full series, so… sit tight on that.)

In other words, we’d started road-testing certain aspects of a new lifestyle while still in the urban constrictor coils of South Florida. A large part of making our little disappearing act work involved significantly reducing food costs, which in turn meant buying in bulk, and with minimal processing.

Hence, ten (10) chickens. At once. To the suspicious glare of many a checkout attendant.

Anyway, as we planned our exodus, the eventual date seemed so far off as to be untenable, so we began counting down in units of bulk chicken purchases. As I bought my last batch before leaving, I found myself holding back tears (which probably looked suspicious, or at least incredibly unsettling in retrospect), and that night, we clinked glasses over our last ten chickens until Maine.

That was two years ago, and our new life has become stranger and more delightful than we ever could have anticipated. It’s our goal to share some of that here, along with the techniques and tips we’ve learned along the way, whether it’s making a blitz puff pastry from last-minute ingredients, or rebuilding a deck, or turning ten chickens into a hundred plates. Oh, and we fail. A lot.

So, hopefully this site will provide some modest entertainment, some light voyeurism, and maybe even something useful for your own life. You’re invited all the same.