Folks flock together together

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Is anybody up for green eggs and ham? It's definitely on the menu for folks who belong to a couple of chicken cooperatives in the area.

Americana chickens lay blue-green eggs. Of course, that's only the color of the shell, but these eggs do intrigue the children involved in the cooperatives.

In fact, children benefit in lots of ways from these community enterprises. Besides meeting new playmates, they get to see where eggs come from, learn about the care of animals and learn responsibility from sharing in the work.

Two chicken co-ops have recently sprung up northeast of Fort Collins. One, located off Douglas Road, is headed up by Rosemary Jedel-Graff and was started a year ago. A second, located off Country Club Road, just hatched this year and is led by Rose Lew. The two co-ops, which operate on small acreages, are geographically close to each other, and the new co-op is learning a lot from the "old" one.

Jedel-Graff's co-op has 10 families, while Lew's group has five. The member families share in the costs, the labor and the bounty of the venture. And, according to both Jedel-Graff and Lew, membership provides much more than wholesome, fresh eggs.

Community building is the big plus for both groups, especially since both Lew and Jedel-Graff have young children.

"It can be very isolated here," said Lew of the rural home where she and her family live. "With the cooperative, we get to know people through doing something together. It's work, but it's also fun."

"The co-op meets my need for sociability," Jedel-Graff said. "Some people have to drive to a park for socializing. Here, I am the park."

Indeed, her seven-acre farm is bustling with people, because in addition to the chicken co-op, she also runs a preschool co-op and a gardening co-op. There's even a designated parking area for all the people who come to participate in these community ventures.

The women's husbands both have daytime jobs, but they chip in when it comes to the building projects and the work parties.

"I like the multi-family effort," said Lew's husband LeRoy Poff. "And, it gives me a chance to hone my construction skills without serious consequences if you screw up.