Many talk of living a lifestyle in communion with the earth,  but few actually do that. One young couple, Liston and Calvin Marsh have made living close to their rural roots a choice.
A small segment of that choice is 16 breeds of brightly colored chickens among the over 50 birds that they own.
With fresh-faced and healthy children who do their chores without being asked or reminded, and the boys that play soccer outside on a frigid day, the results of their deliberation shows.
Last Friday was such a cold day that even many of the birds the family owns preferred to stay in the chicken coop and only the lure fresh veggies bribed some of the  chickens to venture out. They range the full spectrum of color from darkest black to pure white and nearly every color in-between.
“Each one has different qualities. I like lots of color,” said Liston explaining why they have the different varieties of chickens, a bunch of guineas, some ducks, and a few geese.
They range in breed from a blue laced red Wyandotte chicken, dominique, Rhode Island red, muscovy ducks, Polish and Phoenix. The eggs they lay range from cool peach to  lightest sky blue to pale green to shades of brown. They were ordered from a hatchery.
The Marsh’s have three children, Dominic, 12, Liberty, 10 and Deklin, 7. The kids helped pick out the chickens, chosen for a variety of reasons such as color, and name. Liston admits some were chosen just for their looks, such as the Polish chicken because they are only fair layers.
The family eats a lot of quiche and Liston keeps her eyes open for egg recipes.
The country life is not new to the couple. Liston grew up on a farm by Olmitz, and Calvin also grew up in the country.
“We wanted to raise our kids to be more self-sufficient in raising our own meat and having our own fresh eggs,” said Liston. “That’s been our goal.”
She said that eggs from free range chickens are five times healthier than cage grown eggs. The family eats the eggs of all of the birds.
Liston said duck, geese and guinea eggs  really don’t taste far different from chicken eggs, but the size and color of the egg whites do vary.
“They all taste pretty much the same,” she said.
Nothing goes to waste and after they are done laying, two chickens and a duck have become dinner. Dominic and Calvin have butchered and plucked.
Not only do they have animals, they also have a large garden full of heirloom vegetables in a rainbow range of colors, four cows, a couple of cats, and a house that they plan to add on to, the family stays plenty busy. They’d like to add a few goats to the mix, although Liston says goats can be feisty.
They have also planted plum, pear, apricot, nectarines, red raspberries, and cherries. They’ve only lived on the farm for two years, though, so they have to be patient, waiting for the fruit to produce.
“The ground out here is clay,” said Liston, which makes growing some plants a challenge. Plus, “It has flooded six times in two years.”
Still, the family persists. Liston and the kids went to the compost site and brought back three trailers home full of dark dirt to amend the soil.
Liston would like to have a sunroom to grow oranges and tomatoes year round. The heirloom dark greenish red and black tomato, the Japanese trifle, is her favorite heritage tomato because it’s bursting with flavor and texture is a favorite.
“I like to be outside,” she said. “I love nature.”
She and the kids have sewn aprons, plan to make a quilt, and fashion jewelry. The family also loves to travel and hike, and have been to South Dakota, Texas, Yosemite and Colorado.
But mostly, the focus is on family. “We like to spend time as a family,” she said.