40 room JUNE 2012 This trio of chicks roams freely in a portion of the barn.

roomJUNE 2012 41"He's small enough that he can crawl up in there, and old enough now to gather the eggs without breaking them," Eric explains as he walks among the colorful hens and roosters with his family on a recent Sunday afternoon.Eric hoists Milo up into the homemade "egg mobile" that he built to maximize grazing ground for their 600 pasture-raised chickens. Milo also helps corral the baby chicks.The family grows a bounty of vegetables: Spinach, Swiss chard, lettuce, mustard greens, arugula, cilantro, kale and Tatsoi, an Asian green, along with radishes, carrots, shallots, green onions, leeks, several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers, okra, beans and pumpkins.They also grow strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes and seven different types of garlic-all without pesticides. The property, once home to a one-room schoolhouse, was used as horse pasture for at least the last 20 years, ideal for growing organic produce. ?It's peaceful, but there's - Eric Menzel""always a lot of work to do."do.