🐔 Backyard Operations: Chickens, Gardens & CRM, Oh My!

Hi, I’m Kristi—and I have chickens. 🌱🐓

Well, I have baby chickens. Five fluffy new chicks just joined our family, and naturally, my brain went straight from “Aww, so cute!” to “How can I log their egg production in Salesforce?” (You get it.)

What started as a backyard project with my kids—building a chicken coop and planting some raised beds—is quickly turning into a new kind of tech playground. One where I get to experiment with hands-on learning, creative tech tinkering, and the occasional pun-filled conversation about “CluckOps.”

🧠 Tech Playground in the Backyard

I’ve always believed that some of our best growth as architects, admins, and builders happens when we explore outside of work—especially when we let our curiosity lead. With this project, I’m already diving into IoT sensors, automation flows, platform events, and CRM Analytics—but in a way that’s low-stakes, personal, and honestly…so much fun.

I’m calling this project Backyard Operations: a Salesforce-powered system to manage our garden and coop with the same tools I use in enterprise environments. Except this time, I get to wear work gloves and a Solution Architect hat.

What I love most? This is learning in disguise. A fun hands-on way to explore new features and integrations that actually make me better at my job—because it’s all rooted in real-world problem solving, with just enough chaos (thanks, chickens) to keep it interesting. Right now, it’s still an idea in motion, but I’ll be sharing the journey as it unfolds. Expect some sensor setups, custom objects, nerdy diagrams, and maybe a few chicken memes sprinkled in. And maybe even some thoughts on how it all can be applied outside of the backyard… you know, for work and stuff.

🐣 Meet the Team

In the spirit of full transparency, I’d also like to formally introduce the stars of the show:

• Peanut Butter (fluffy, friendly, and clearly in charge)
• Chocolate (the adventurous explorer)
• Caramel (sweet and mellow)
• Purple (big, bossy, and cuddly)
• Olivia (sassy and suspicious in the best way)

The girls are only a couple of weeks old, so we’re still months away from eggs, but the ideas are already hatching.

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I’ll be chronicling the build, so follow along if you’re curious how soil sensors, chicken care, and Salesforce architecture can come together in one quirky little experiment. This is equal parts parenting, platform play, and professional growth—and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

Next up: Getting my first temperature sensor online and into a Salesforce custom object. 🛠️🔥

Until then, keep growing things—whether it’s plants, skills, or tiny tech-fueled dreams. 🌱