VERY early berries

It looks like this could be the end of the strawberry raffle...we decided this does not count though. These berries were the very first and they took Wayne a good long while to collect, walking hundreds of feet up and down every single row of berries. The quality and quantities do not qualify as the first basket of true, good berries signifying the onset of a continuous strawberry harvest that our farm stand strawberry raffle boasts.

But these berries were very good. They needed a good washing as the rain had splattered them with a lot of grit and they weren't entirely red, but in comparison to no strawberries, they were delightfully sweet. Now the rain is upon us again which is no benefit to more harvests like this, but there is not frost either which is a benefit. Perhaps it will be an early strawberry season this year....I promise to keep you posted.

Spring Field Activity

The field crew of three was caught covering the arugula and other crops prone to flea beetles or other on-coming insect pests. Row cover is magic when used in the right circumstances. Who does it keep out? Not slugs or other mulch-loving pests. The leaf hoppers are excluded. Cucumber beetles, flea beetles, aphids. With the use of the row covers, the pest is excluded before there is ever a problem. This way we are more likely to have arugula that does not look like a fancy snowflake doily, covered in holes as a result of an insect feast.

Next the guys were off to plant the sunchokes. This happened pretty quick as these guys are well versed in working together. Pablo leads the operation on the tractor and Jesus and Jose follow along dropping the seed chokes into the soil furrows at the proper intervals. As I observe these guys plant and cultivate spring crops I imagine they must be as relieved as the rest of us that spring has arrived and the wet and cold days are falling behind.

This looks like a broccoli to me. This is the status of your spring brassicas...recently transplanted on Wednesday of last week, this is the first wave of transplants for the spring. Note the high quantities of crop residues in the soil as the cover crop was quickly turned in prior to planting. When the soil dries and the temperature rises, it is a farmer's opportunity! Many seeds and transplants made their way into the field this last week so we are on our way to a new season's harvest.

Located close to the farm stand, come and visit the newly planted beds in coming weeks....watch them grow and learn a few things about the food you eat.

The People of Tierra and Who Does What: Wayne

What doesn't Wayne do? It is a daunting task to report the day in the life of your farmer, Wayne James. There are those things he sets out to accomplish, then there are those things he gets pulled off to respond to in support of others, and there are all those things that MUST happen as this is a business. Not only a farmer, but also CEO of a small farm business, Wayne stays quite busy in the field, office, kitchen, farm stand, and busily moving about between all these places.

Notoriously donning bare feet under all circumstances and often accompanied by not just Willow, but now his new pup Oso, Wayne is easily recognizable around the farm and I do think most of you know him. Married to Evie and brother of Lee, employer of all us farm employees, he is a central figure that we all turn to as a leader and foundation of Tierra Vegetables.

Wayne is in charge of hiring, payroll, billing, taxes, sales/invoicing/accounting, farm data base management for both crops and customers. He makes packaging labels for products, develops spreadsheets for crop operations and facilitating sales. I think it is obvious he is the computer guy.

While this myriad of office tasks does keep him well tied to his office space that adjoins the commercial kitchen in Windsor, he does find time for the farm field and must do so as he and field manager, Pablo, cooperatively make seasonal decisions. Wayne walks the 17 acre field frequently to keep up with what is ready to harvest, till in and replant, what seeds has germinated with success or not, etc... Customers of the farm are constantly wanting to know "what is next" in the seasonal scheme of things. While a general guess can be made based on past seasons, each year is unique and only a regular survey of the farm will really tell you what is happening out there.

Luckily, Wayne does not have to do all of these field walks alone as he is in constant companionship with his newly acquired Shelty, Oso. Brother to Lee's new pup, Cloudy, these two joined the crew last fall when Lee and Wayne's parents had a large litter on miniature Shelty puppies....just what everyone had been waiting for. There are now three of them scattering the farm scene, in addition to Willow (making 4 farm dogs) who is really Evie's side kick. All of them love carrots very much, by the way.

Wayne starts his day in the office/kitchen usually, catching up on whatever is piling up on his desk or last minute packing of products for daily sales. Off to the field and farm stand he is involved in setting up for business, packing and organizing the CSA, planting the latest crops, whatever the day calls for. Wayne turns and makes compost, plans for the future of the farm and how to innovate and improve and increase production and sales, of course. When harvest season sets in, life gets pretty darn complicated with bulk quantities of dry corn, beans, and chiles for processing in the thresher or smoker and dehydrator. Wayne plays a central role in all of this delightful farm chaos.

While Lee is in charge of things like jam production and other kitchen activity, Wayne and Evie are ready to step in on these tasks at a moment's notice. These three are a team and while each has their focal point relating to individual strengths, they come together to celebrate and accomplish those activities that are crucial to the farm survival. In this case, the chile jam has been a very popular item for years and diverse annual production is important in serving customers and making good use of a wide array of chile types in a storage product. Wayne also helps make sauerkraut, mills the corn meal in periodic batches, and serves as kitchen assistant whenever duty might call him away from his desk. That is the unfortunate thing of having an office space adjacent to a busy commercial kitchen facility. Distractions emerge at a constant rate. Not only do they use the kitchen themselves, but also lease it out to a handful of other local producers in need of such a work space. This creates a little bit of kitchen and people management on top of everything else.

Needless to say, your farmer is working and living a busy, busy lifestyle to feed and serve the customer and community at large (I'm confident I forgot to mention many things Wayne does here). Take a minute to say thanks....as someone who observes from an intimate perspective I can tell you these guys deserve it.

Edible Pea Shoots and Turning Under Cover Crops

This week we started bringing some spring fare into the farm stand in the form of pea shoots that are found scattered throughout the cover cropped fields. Nothing brings in a nice bit of spring color like a pink/purple flowering pea vine (except maybe a strawberry). This crop had a duel function for the farm as a nutrient enriching ingredient of the cover crop mix, but also a harvest-able and edible crop during the meager days of spring transition. Edible raw or cooked, these are a beautiful option for spring salads or stir frys.

The first of the cover crops have now been disked in. The fields have had a moderate chance to dry out and we are jumping on the opportunity to get some of the green manure/cover crops (made up of a mix of peas, vetch, beans and grasses) chopped down and cut under the soil with the disk attachment on the tractor. This is the first step towards spring planted crops. After a few days of letting the green material settle in and break down, beds can be formed and transplanting can begin (rain complicates things-keeps your fingers crossed). The first activity this spring will occur in the southeast farm field, near where the chiles were last season.

Here is that little section between the farm stand and the notorious cardoon plants. I'm uncertain of the fate of the cardoon from this point on, but I am hopeful that this little section of the farm could be my personal palette for some cut flower growing trials this season. It is nice to have a side project when you are in charge of operating the farm stand and this spot on the farm is ideally situated. Additionally, it its right in front of the parking area and ought to provide a beautiful show if covered in flowers when people pull in day after day. We shall see. Also in the works are ideas and planning for a Children's Garden area this season. I know this would be well used by many of our regular visitors and will do all I am able to bring the idea to fruition.

The People of Tierra and who does what: Roxie

Here Roxie displays one of many products (the favorite Chipotle Powder) that she so proudly stands behind. It is the tangible result of her efforts. Primary packet-production expert, Roxie is the one who prepares the final weighing and packaging of all of those dried chile, mixes, powders, corn meal bags, etc.... A diversified and exact task, it is her job to ensure the proper quality ingredients are measured out and packaged to keep the inventory complete so that each market week a customer might find their favorite Tierra product available whether it by the HOT Chop dried chile mix, Golden Cayenne chili powder or the Hopi Pink Corn Meal (if you find pink pen labeling your pink meal you can be sure Roxie was behind it's packaging).

When employed in this market-prep packaging work, Roxie remains behind the scenes in the commercial kitchen on Shiloh Road in Windsor. But the first time I met her she was hard at work at the farm....the first one at work that day to pack the CSA. She remains flexible in this role, more or less, adapting to the farm needs. Currently she is assisting Lee in packing and organizing the once a month winter CSA box. In the past she has arrived twice a week to pack hundreds of weekly shares for Tierra customers and delivering the Piper Street boxes on her way home to Healdsburg.

Friend and long time employee of the farm (Lee and Roxie first met as vendors at a farmer's market years ago), Roxie reliably steps in to help when the farm runs short handed as the transiency of seasons and employees alter priorities. Working for herself in professional landscaping and horticulture and specializing in rose pruning, she is able to afford the flexibility.

Roxie's role in processing, packaging and facilitating distribution of Tierra's products is instrumental in making things happen around the farm. There is always so much to do around here, we all just kinda pick and choose our battles throughout a day's work. With a grand internal knowledge of the farm and it's products, Roxie makes things happen and gets things done. As a huge side benefit, she serves as mother and care-taker of us all.

Strawberries and previous week's frost effects

Good berry on left, burned berry on right.

Remember just days ago when there was a thin layer of frost covering all things in the morning....not this dry and breezy early spring heat wave we have now evolved into, tricking us into thinking strawberries are already ripe for the season. This is the current reality of the Tierra June-bearing strawberry crop. Some berries frosted the other week, some did not. There will be a lighter crop of early berries than if it has not frosted and it COULD still frost again before these make it to red and sweet status. Cross your fingers.

And one more view. Good berry on left, burned berry on right. This is how many of the plants were effected which is fascinating-why did one get hit and not another right next to it?

Otherwise, the plants look great!

The People of Tierra: Evie

Evie serves as your number one Point of Contact when it comes to dealing with Tierra Vegetables. She is really the Marketing Manager, but this also evolves into people manager. Luckily, she is darn good at it and well suited to answering the calls, questions, emails. She is the face you almost always encounter when visiting the farm and farm stand, others off working behind the scenes. Evie seems to know everyone. She maintains the CSA membership and literally knows each and every member's personal story and history in her head. In addition to farm stand sales and CSA memberships, Evie might also wheel and deal with restaurants sales and, less frequently, some wholesale orders. Much of the vegetable sales interface passes through Evie one way or another, therefore, the majority of you all know her well.

Who better suited to be tucked away in the office to manage the CSA member data base? A computer spreadsheet accounts for each farm subscriber. Wayne and Evie both work constantly to keep this information updated as members pay, move, change phone numbers, and make special requests. Because all of this specific information causes additional work on the end of the farm, a CSA member is rewarded with savings if they pay all at once (that is less visits to their row in the spreadsheets). Phone calls and emails galore make up this system of ensuring everyone gets what they pay for and arrive at the right pace to pick it up.

A favorite component of the CSA is the menu that accompanies each vegetable pick-up. Evie fabricates this entire thing with her expert understanding and use of vegetables in the kitchen and ability to research and dig further when Wayne and Lee have produced something a little less ordinary. At Tierra, you are likely to encounter a new vegetable from time to time in your box and, fortunately, Evie is here to interpret this item and make suggestions for what we all might do with it.

And what about accounting for all the the sales? Evie is usually in charge of this portion of the office work too. Quickbooks facilitates the process of creating invoices and receiving payments for each and every customer and sale that goes through Tierra Vegetables. Nothing is left unaccountable!

A weekly email is produced (twice weekly when in the depths of main season produce) reminding you all what is in season and what you might expect at the farm that week. Whether it be first of the season asparagus, strawberries, a glut of eggs or the introduction of a new product, Evie ensures you know what is happening each week as she provides updates featuring the seasonality of farm products.

While you may see Evie as the friendly face that is usually to be found at the farm stand, her role within the company encompasses much more behind the scenes too. As for that friendly face, children galore come to see just that face at least weekly. They might earn themselves a free carrot or strawberry, learn to type a few numbers into the cash register or weigh their produce. Great with children and folks of all ages and types, Evie is a friend to us all and a community figure we are all missing presently as she takes some time to focus on her health.

It is no secret Evie began her personal battle again ovarian cancer during the holiday season. It is only as a result of this that I have learned first hand how diversified her role can be as I face her customers each week, ensuring them she is doing the best she can under the circumstances of her treatment.

I'm not Evie, but she is trusting me to stand in for a bit and I'm doing the best I can with it. As we each have our own unique strengths and weaknesses, Evie's character and knowledge is certainly missed by all those who know and love her. She hopes to return by the time summer kicks in and she is still out there behind the scenes making her irreplaceable contributions to the farm operation.

Sorry for a limited number of photos on this post! I need to chase Evie with my camera in 2010, she seems to have slipped past me so far.

The people of Tierra and who does what: Lee

If there is one thing I have discovered again and again while operating the farm stand this winter/spring it is that not enough of you all know Lee. Lee James is the "sister" half of the farming team, Wayne compensating for the the other half. These two have been paired up on this project since 1980 (about the time I was born), Evie joining them as expert sales and marketing manager and point of contact, hence most of you know her well.

Lee operates the newly completed greenhouse out on Chalk Hill Road in Healdsburg, also her home and also the original business and packing site of the farm prior to gaining an office and commercial kitchen in Windsor a few years ago. She is the one who selects the seeds and varieties of vegetables that we delight in all season long. She plants, coddles and cares for these seedlings this time of the season.

Then, once the greenhouse is situated for the day, Lee is off to the commercial kitchen often times, working to concoct new and unique products with the vegetables she has grown. It is hard to go wrong as the ingredients are always fresh, incredibly well grown and different from anything you might in conventional grocery shopping outlets. In this scene she is overseeing a huge batch of chile jam...there is also hot sauce, sauerkraut, dried chile powders (there is lots of coughing when this task is being executed). She is not afraid to try to creatively preserve anything for you all to discover and is absolutely an expert at traditional and innovative methods of doing so. From Mole and Enchilada spice mixes to slaked hominy corn, you never know what you might find brewing in the Tierra kitchen.

Seemingly a busy lady already, there is plenty more. Lee is the primary packer of the CSA. She oversees the doling out of goods, especially those that are delivered to three sites across Sonoma County each week.

Then, she and Wayne convene at the field to plant and oversee management of field operations. She assists in stocking the farm stand with items from the kitchen or storage which is often from a great old barn on her place.

Then, as Friday rolls around again, it is time to prepare for the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market. If anything dictates her weekly schedule, it is this priority. A good market is a good source of income for a small farm and that is what this market has become for Tierra over the years. Friendship with vendors and customers make all the hard planning and work worth while as Lee packs up each week for her longest day on Saturday.

Lee and her Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market neighbor, David of Little Organic Farm, indulge in popcorn samples in this image. Note Lee's felted hat....you will always find her in this during the cold season. Additionally, she is now accompanied by not just one, but two Sheltys. Her non-farming expertise happens to be in dog behavior and her pups are the best behaved I have ever known.

Standing in her chile patch, Lee was filmed and interviewed by the Emeril Green show last summer. She speaks with expert confidence on the topics of what she does for a living....a never-ending source of information on growing, harvesting, preparing, storing, and selling vegetables. She also likes to have fun while doing all of these things. I'm often delighted to see her having fun with the minuscule tasks of her day.

If you have never met Lee before, she is a pleasure to know and quite an important figure behind the entire Tierra operation. Keep your eye out for the felted hat in the winter or the trail of puppies in the summer time and say hello to one of your farmers. She works incredibly hard to serve us all!

Spring Crop Field Tour

Here are the strawberries as of early March. These are the Chandlers, the June bearing, first to produce crop....not far down the road the main season strawberry will be planted. I think that one is Seascape, but I'm not sure. The Chandlers here look well! Well weeded, healthy growth habit and just a tad of recent damage by the lights frosts of recent nights.

I reported similar findings last season about this time. These flowers look good to me, but I did see some frosted browned berries that had been working their way to production. This is not Santa Maria, the strawberry capital of the nation that is covered in black plastics and anti-fungals. This is brisk and risky Sonoma County small farming and I think we are doing a darn good job all things considered. Strawberries will return before you know it and we are spoiled with such a lengthy season of sweetness.


The early asparagus spears have also taken a small hit with recent ice layered nights. It is the tiny tender tips that were just poking out of the soil that may now never produce a quality spear. There will be more though...just be patient as the season and the crops cooperate, it will come.

Fava flowers! These are beautiful and do we ever give them due attention? This stage is appreciated for it's cover cropping value...when at the flowering stage fava plants have fixed the maximum amount of nitrogen to their roots and this is the optimal time to turn them under for soil fertility. That is, unless you are growing them for the precious beans. A few weeks off still, the favas are flowering now and fruiting soon.

Overview of just-seeded spring crops.... Yes, it is tough to see much. What you have here is s somewhat crusted soil from all the rain. The beds were hastily prepared between constant wet periods this spring, grassy weeds were turned under, but still visible and present as they did not have time to break down entirely. Despite the uneven seedbed that tiny seeds love, the germination of recently sown seeds had been a great success so far!

I have not yet visited this region of the farm with Wayne or Lee so it is up to my informed imagination about what these crops may be. I know this is one of three things. Radish, mustards or arugula all come up quick and have this similar characteristic appearance. Likely all three are out here someplace.

Here is the spinach, impossible to miss as it waves it's long cotyledons (first true leaves), welcoming a new round of greens. Let's hope the slugs don't get a glimpse and munch it all away before we get to harvesting.

Tiny lettuce. Looks like the heirloom black seeded simpsom variety to me based on the color, but who knows. Salad will return to the farm stand selection soon.

Snap peas! Grown year-round on the central coast, our winters are more challenging. Timing is important to miss the hard and killing frosts that can wipe out a fall or spring planted pea crop. Let's cross out fingers this planting succeeds to maturity so we can all indulging in some sweet snap peas.

And finally, the other sweet pea crop...the floral and scented display that I stumbled into right next to the cardoon near the parking area out front. It is now easy to find as Pablo installed trellising for the successful sowing of sweet peas. I was delighted to find my favorite flower crop had been coming to life all winter long and I had no idea...this should put on quite a show for early summer.

Full Field Tour-Fall Planted Crops

It is getting more difficult for me to wander out far into the field as I have been tied down to the farm stand in order to facilitate the trade of cash for vegetables. I finally squeezed in an afternoon of farm field observation yesterday. Because I saw so much, I will have to report my findings in two segments. The first is relating to those crops that were planted for Fall/Winter/Spring and how they are cooperating with the environment and season.

Let's start with the celeriac, or celery roots. They are still out there, but getting sparse and large. I have always enjoyed the way these look both in the ground and post harvest. It is a fascinating vegetable all around. A few celery and celeriac will continue to harvest for the next weeks in March, but when the spring fever hits, I imagine these plants will go over the hill if not harvested first. The new round of these are likely up and living in the green house, a long, long way to harvest. They can take weeks just for the seed to poke up from under the soil.

The leeks are still abundant. That is important because the onions have since deceased for the season and the leeks are providing that spicy onion infusion to all the cooking these days. Continue to enjoy them in abundance..as with many of these fall planted crops, the challenge is to get through them before the season changes too much. If spring hits the leek will then set up a flower shoot and try to reproduce thereby ruining the tender and edible quality of the plant. I have no doubt we will enjoy every last bit of these leeks though...between the winter CSA, the Ferry Plaza and the faithful farm stand Tierra has plenty of hungry mouths to feed.


Whatever became of all the dino/lacintao kale? Just as I described above, the spring fever flowering syndrome kicked in for many kales, broccolis and mustards about the time the yellow field mustards started blooming. When it was warmer a few weeks back, many of these shorter season winter varieties hit the end of their life cycle causing the crew to turn to other more long lasting varieties for the harvest. Swiss chard takes the spring weather much more gradually and puts out beautiful new growth this time of the year. Time to enjoy the chard and wait it out for the new crop of kale later this spring.

This is the leafy, pretty speckled Castelfranco radiccho. Heartily carrying us through the winter a a lettuce substitute, these greens are slightly bitter, but make a perfectly beautiful and tasty salad serving. They can also be cooked if you like your greens a little more wilted before eating. There are a few of these still out in the field in addition to a few more well known radicchio varieties. Not a lot though! The puntarella, a similar bitter Italian green, is over the hill and done for the season. It is the last chance for this stuff and will be ifffy to see if any of it actually makes it up to the farm stand out of the field....some times it just isn't worth while.


There is some nice looking fennel....this is something to enjoy NOW! Fennel is a nice little crop, almost weed like, as it grows most of the year round and seems to endure many conditions that the seasons present. Note the wild fennels that invade our local road sides. Leave it to mother nature sometimes to remind us what we ought to be growing.




Broccoli or cauliflower, that is the question. Who knows for sure? Perhaps Lee who chose the seed, but even she loses track as the plants more to the field and time passes by. If you ask Wayne or myself, we might give you opposing answers. This
one looks cauliflower, if you ask me. The plant on the left is characteristic of a cauliflower, in addition to a more cauliflower-like "flower" texture. Many of our broccoli and cauliflowers are interchangeable as they are all these fancy Italian heirlooms that look beautiful and are hard to distinguish from one another. The image on the right is likely a purple broccoli which is again confusing to folks. No one expects their broccoli to be colors other than green. Don't worry too much whether it is actually a cauliflower or a broccoli...they are really all the same thing if you ask me.

Our final image for the fall crop field tour includes a characteristic, perfect cabbage by Tierra Vegetables. Are these for your fresh eating pleasure or Lee's last batch of sauerkraut, I do not know. Likely both. When getting caught up looking around for lettuces that are not to be found, be flexible and switch your perspective on over to opportunities like fresh cabbage salads and all that other seasonal, local food that has been more hearty and made it through our chilly, wet Sonoma County winter.

Spring crops to come!

The Compost Pile

I have previously suggested that your farmer Wayne is a pretty good maker of compost....he has great ingredients and puts some regular effort into turning and tending his piles to ensure they are hot, active and breaking down into nutrient enriching soil amendment.

Not only are there excess vegetables that come out of the farm fields but also landscape trimmings from local maintenance crews, kitchen scraps from the Tierra commercial kitchen operation, and occasionally specialty aquatic infusions like pond or sea scrapings.

Usually the pile would be turned before it gets to this stage of being covered in compost-able debris. Alas, the on-going rains of this winter/spring period have halted access with the tractor as the mud around the pile is squishy and could very well trap the tractor in place. Therefore, we have quite a science experiment and ecosystem establishing itself in the pile. Mammals, insects (both good and bad) and tossed vegetables are thriving in this single spot that provides food, warm and diversity for survival. On the right, a parsnip sends up foliage for a second wind in it's life cycle.

Next are the onions. Onions are called biennial, versus annual or perennial plants. This means they require two growing seasons to come to reproduction, or set their seeds. These specimens are the fall 2009 crop that did not store and were rotting, hence got tossed in the pile and now have found rejuvenated life in the resources of the pile, undisturbed by the usual turning that might interrupt them if Wayne could get at the spot with the tractor. And so these onions grow and if were left to their own devices would set seed by early summer that could then be harvested and saved for future crops.

This familiar foliage represents potatoes that are reaching out for a new generation in life. Kinda a weed, potatoes will start growing pretty much any place this time of year and are no surprise to see poking out of compost piles or pathways where a tuber may have fallen the previous fall. Framed by a smattering of cardoon, sunchoke, giant carrot, and purple cauliflower, these potatoes will likely be disturbed and turned under once the ground dries out properly to allow the pile to be tossed and turned in order to facilitate decomposition.


Until then, enjoy the unique vegetable and animal insect empire that is establishing itself out behind the farm stand. There is so much to observe here!

Purple Peruvian Potato

The Purple Peruvian heirloom variety, purple flesh fingerling potato is still well in season for the time being. I spent a bit of time with this potato yesterday as a side project...they do need some TLC at this point in the season as it is their habit to send up shoots and attempt to grow a new generation of potato fingerlings. But if you knock away these shoots, they will simply store and store, waiting to be chosen and brought home to a warm and friendly kitchen that seeks flavor, color and nutrition all at once.

Our "seed" for this potato was originally obtained from fellow grower David Little who grows about 20 varieties of potatoes in the Tomales area. As spring rolls around we continue to plant seed from this stock, keeping the local and heirloom origin alive and well and saving the cost of purchasing in expensive seed potatoes. While this practice can be risky for potato scab or other disease, so far it has worked well with this little purple variety.

I even sent some off with a young, inspired grower who happened upon me clearing off the tiny shoots yesterday in the farm stand. She has every intention to use them for a gardening experiment and I would recommend the same to any one of you. My personal greenhouse is scattered with pots full of potato tubers already planted and protected from frost and gophers for early production.

Good for eating, planting, or admiring. Even though potato crops were harvested way back in the previous fall (must get them out of the ground prior to rain and frost or the crops will rot or freeze), they are intended as storage crops thereby keeping them in season for quite some time. These ones may last another month or two....don't forget to enjoy them when browsing the farm stand selection.

Eggs!

I think egg season is coming on. Last week, we even had enough to display a few for sale (usually there are only enough to hide a few for customer reservations). I don't know much about keeping chickens and egg production, but I do think spring is the season of the egg. This makes some sense with the timing of Easter, all the other critters hatching out of their shells, etc...

Eggs at Tierra are precious. They come from Wayne and Evie's chickens who live just around the corner from the field and farm stand. As you may observe in Evie's creatively constructed, handwritten sign in the image above, these chickens enjoy a wonderful life therefore allowing us to ethically, nutritionally and financially value these eggs.

The shells come in mostly brown with a few greens scattered in, yolks are dark yellow, sizes vary per bird. If spring seems a meager time in the vegetable and berry world, consider some eggs to fill in the holes.