Hiya tumblr folks. Its been awhile. Coming over my longestacres blog to give you all a quick hello and share a piece I have written about buying eggs. Yes, just the mundane weekly activity of buying chicken eggs. I feel very passionate about the issue because, well, I have been raising chickens now for over two years and I love them very very much. And, because I want all chickens to be raised with the love and respect that they deserve. So, please, read, and find out why even the ‘organic’ or ‘free range’ eggs you find at whole foods aren’t treating chickens with the care they deserve.
After I shared this article a reader wrote to me :
I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know I read the post on longest acres about eggs & chickens— as a result I decided to no longer purchase the organic eggs, we usually eat in our house (from the grocery store). I sought out and found a farmer about 30 minutes outside of Denver (where we live) and starting this Sunday, my husband and I, along with your two year old little boy (Hawke) will be driving out to pick up 2 dozen eggs every two weeks from him. The small farmer, Craig, is helping his son earn money by selling the eggs from his son’s chickens. He told me how the chickens have the run of their small farm, are cuddled daily, and well loved, as well as what they eat. He said they are very spoiled chickens, which really made me smile. He encouraged me to bring any kids we may have, because they have horses and 4 week old chicks for kids to touch and see first hand. I am really excited about this! I was also stoked when he gave me directions to their farm and they included “past the llama farm after the road changes from concrete to dirt”— Thank you for opening my eyes about this important issue! -sutton 3/15/12
And so I am asking all of my readers to please take a minute and read this piece and think differently about where they buy their eggs. And, to please reblog if you find you care about the issue too.
I have also told all of my longestacres readers that if they need ANY HELP AT ALL finding good, local eggs in their town or city to write to me directly and I will work with them to find a good source. write to me at kathryn.maclean@gmail.com
haven’t visited my tumblr in ages. but now, just to say goodbye.
ending http://longestacres.blogspot.com. back to diaries, and letters, and real photo albums, and the privacy of all of that for now. so long. and thank you for reading both iletaitunefois and longestacres.
and the first and final gratutious picture of our new farm puppy.
how quickly can a week go by? last weekend i drove up to the berkshires to see my parents and cousins and to see my oldest friend marry. it was a ridiculously quaint & satisfying weekend. with lots of squash and sweet potatoes eaten. a fall festival in little ashfield, mass complete with fried dough covered in maple cream. bonnie’s beautiful wedding in the old book mill over looking a waterfall. morning walks with mom & rudy. and i even got stuck in a hail storm in brooklyn for good measure.
and now all of a sudden i’m back. though i’ve already been back five days. i’m as busy as ever…trying to get all flowers and herbs and veggies out of the gardens before the frost. and i love it all. as always. but i do sincerely wish that weekend could have lasted just a smidge longer.
i cannot believe this used to be the beginning of my day as i climbed the stairs to the UBS building just above. how one’s world can change in four years.
this week is our one year anniversary….of quitting our jobs. we loved our jobs, but this really was the best decision i think we’ve ever made. its been a heckuva year. its taken us from california to the french alps to north carolina. we’ve grown our little family from us & rudy to include two little pigs, a goat, a couple thousand honey bees, a mama hen and her baby chicks, and two roosters (but they ran away).
so happy anniversary nick. here’s to many more phenomenally fun years.
good morning. this is edelweiss. he’s our new goat….well, not new as in just born, but new to our house. he is the son of flea. flea was our favorite goat. she died this summer while we were away. it just about broke my heart. but she did leave with us two lovely kids. edelweiss and onyx. edelweiss has fallen ill and we feel we owe it to his mother to baby him and make him better. so he sleeps in the shed behind our house on a bed of hay. i give him molasses on his food and lots of hugs and kisses. and nick and i argue over who loves him more. this morning we had a glass of oj while i read edelweiss the funnies from the new yorker.
do i remember? we were the talk of winter weekend after that performance…..weren’t we?? let’s add “duet practice” to the very long but awesome list of things we need to do next week.
Hey Kate, remember when we sang this? perhaps it’s too soon, but since we’re officially in autumn it’s making me think that it’s time to start planning for this years Christmas song.
We had plans all along to go visit our friends Nick & Kate on their farm in Snow Camp, NC. When we talked last week I gave Kate one task “Find the best tree on the whole farm to have a picnic under”. Sadly, the rain kept our outdoor picnic at bay - so we sat around the table at their little farm…
nice. both of us with our eyes closed. either way, open or shut this girl and her family gave us big smiles yesterday. they came for a farm lunch and after, we walked the property in the pouring rain showing them everyone.
its been hard to socialize at times. here on the farm. we love our work. but our work completely consumes us most days & nights. and we miss our friends. a lot. so it means the world to us when we get to see brent and melissa and little everly. now we need to get back on our summer schedule of planning fun outings with them.
…next up fried turkey legs and twinkies at the north carolina state fair.
its raining. quite nearly cats and dogs. weather.com seems to mock us farmers. first we want rain. we need rain. then when we have our rain, we need sun. it’s a very simple but delicate equation. rain + sun = things grow. too much hot hot sun + too many buckets of pouring rain = scorching then drowning.
