While post Thanksgiving might be a funny time to bring up the merits of a roasted bird, it seems like a good time to point out the fact that this is anything but a special occasion-only dish. I roast a chicken almost once a week. This makes a meal that is always a wonderful dinner, then a very delicious lunch or whole other dinner, and keeps us stocked up on nourishing and tasty bone broth. The whole production is really three steps (one of them is eating!) and it makes the amount of money I spend on a pasture raised chicken go a long way. Find pasture raised chickens at the farmer’s markets or at specialty meat places. Organic/free range is okay if that’s the best you can find but there is more bang for your buck nutritionally if the chicken is certain to have lived outside, eating bugs and other wild chicken favorite foods. Remember, its good that organic chickens are not being fed industrial meat-packing waste, BUT chickens just aren’t vegetarians, so I don’t get sold on eggs or chickens when the package says they feed them as such.

I have used various recipes for roasting chickens and have finally settled on the simplest and most delicious (nice how it seemed to work out that way). I first started out with a Alice Water’s recipe in The Art of Simple Food. This recipe liberated me from the idea that I had to have a roasting pan. She said just to use a cast iron skillet and that’s what I do. She also guided my sense of improvisation when it comes to how to dress the bird, from filling the cavity with a lemon half and whole fresh herbs to putting garlic under the skin. Her instructions (and yes, I do like thinking of cookbooks as being guidance directly to me from the author) had me turning the bird from twice to move the juices around. This makes sense with a bird that is heavy breasted because it can dry out. But the birds I get are pretty proportional and tender so I appreciated finding another simple recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall a British farmer, writer, chef in his book The River Cottage Meat Book. A great resource! I now follow his recipe for herbed roast chicken that basically rubs the bird down with a mixture of butter, fresh herbs, salt and pepper, cooks it in a cast iron skilled at 400 for 15 mins then 350 for the remaining time (another half hour to 45min depending on the size). He also calls for basting and adding a half cup of wine to the pan when you lower the heat, but I’ve not done that and it still works fine. When you place the chicken in the skillet make sure there aren’t any gibblets inside (they are usually in a little packet) and place breast side up and open up the wings and fold the tips up and back so they are tucked under the back so they don’t burn.

Like with most recipes the words can be misleading and the first couple time I followed the Fearnley-Whittingstall guidance to “combine softened butter with herbs” I had chunks of butter all over my hands that seemed to be magnetically repelled by chicken skin. I could not get it to look like it did in the book, or in the picture above. I learned that “softened” really meant mostly melted (unlike “softened” butter for cookies). So I melt the butter about half way so it keeps it’s opaqueness, then I mix this with chopped herbs, salt and pepper and rub it all over the skin, wings, legs, back. This process is sort of why, if I cook chicken, I cook it whole. There is something more “aware” of the bird having all its parts connected, moving as something that walked around and flapped and pecked. I still have never killed a chicken myself, but at least working the the mostly intact body I have a greater appreciation for it’s chicken-ness.

Part of dealing with a whole chicken is learning how to break it down. This is also a good lesson for how chickens are built and makes me thankful for their life. I don’t know why this process makes me feel more thankful than with already separated cuts, maybe it’s just that same heightened awareness through doing the work. The carving and serving process given by Fearnley-Whittingstall was what really sold me. I used to carve the bird on a board (which makes for some significant clean up) and make gravy from the drippings. While delicious, it took time. Hugh said I can just cut it right up in the pan and serve it in the juices. Well, that one way to make the breast cuts more moist!

Super peasant style we serve ourselves from the pan. Potatoes or yams make a perfect side and a fresh salad with some lacto-fermented veggies and homemade yogurt dressing adds much needed enzymatic action. We make sure to keep all bones and when we’re done eating I take all remaining meat and put it in the fridge for another meal like taco night, curries, soup, or just cold chicken lunch. The dripping are saved. These are a boon to other meals. Re-heat chicken meat in the drippings and add to rice. I never made fried rice that tasted quite right until I added some drippings. Amazing! You can really see the gelatin power in the chicken dinner and that’s a very powerful thing for health and digestion. Cold, the drippings form into that old timey jello- aspic. You really could eat it plain, but I suggest making it your newest secret ingredient.

After we’re done eating all bones and the carcass get put in a pot, this would be a good time to add any heads or feet you managed to get from the farm. It’s all good for you and it the more of the chicken you add the better the stock (besides the feathers of course, or the liver…save that for something else). Fill the pot with cold water until just covering the top of the carcass and add a dash of apple cider vinegar. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer and let it simmer for at least 4 hrs or longer. You can also do this in a crock pot and leave overnight.

I have come to prefer stock made from a roasted chicken, versus raw which is what more recipes call for, because I like flavor and I don’t really love the texture of the meat from a stewed bird. I also don’t add any veggies. They get bitter from such a long simmer. You can add parsley in the last 10 mins, as this is very nutritive.

Let the stock cool and then pour in quart sized containers (I use all the Straus whole milk yogurt containers we have around). I don’t really even both straining it, I just pour or ladle straight from the pot. Keep these in the freezer and pull out for soup, rice, or just as a healthy drink that helps heal the digestive tract and makes all those minerals like calcium much more available for your body to use. For more on why bone broth is so great, go here.

                          

Given two recent reports about the dangers of pesticides there really shouldn’t be a choice. But that isn’t a guilt trip to people who won’t fork over the cash to pay for safer products. It is to say  no one should have to choose not to poison their kids or be forced to bring harmful chemicals into their system because the other options are more affordable.

The recent report by the President’s Cancer Panel reveals, finally, that the most important aspect of the issue of cancer is environmental factors. Factors that are have been grossly underestimated and under-regulated. The Panel’s report is called REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL CANCER RISK: What We Can Do Now.

It is almost shocking how straightforward the report is about the harm caused by the chemicals and environmental factors of daily life. We are so used to hearing measured responses to “possible health risks” associated with much of the stuff we are exposed to and taking these risks seriously in a consistent way can even make you feel a bit like a paranoid wing-nut. But now there is enough evidence and acknowledgment of that evidence prove that efforts to avoid plastics and pesticides are not wacky…but there is the disappointment, that yes, it’s as bad (or worse) than you thought. So yes, it’s an overwhelming report, but in all reality it’s a refreshing report because it finally puts these causes of cancer out in the open, and asks that be addressed. It is something that everyone should read which you can do in this pdf.

The report should be read so that as many people as possible know the harm of the exposure to these chemicals so that these chemicals will stopped being used. Rather than having choices about what products we are exposed to, these products, given the evidence, should be banned. Then no one can make the wrong choice.

The Pesticide Action Network sent out an e-mail to ask for support for  language in the Safe Chemicals Act that would give EPA more power to regulate persistent chemicals. You can contact your Senator through PAN here.

as this Washington Post report points out:

The panel said the country needs to overhaul existing chemical laws, a conclusion that has been supported by public health groups, environmental advocates, the Obama administration and even the chemical industry.

The current system places the burden on the government to prove that a chemical is unsafe before it can removed from the market. The standards are so high, the government has been unable to ban chemicals such as asbestos, a widely recognized carcinogen that is prohibited in many other countries.

About 80,000 chemicals are in commercial use in the United States, but federal regulators have assessed only about 200 for safety.

Chapter Two of the President’s Cancer Panel Report is “Exposure to Contaminants From Agricultural Sources”  It opens with this uplifting observation:

The entire U.S. population is exposed on a daily basis to numerous agricultural chemicals.  Many of these chemicals are known or suspected of having either carcinogenic or endocrine-disrupting properties. chemicals.

It goes onto explain the dangers of chemical use in agriculture to all of us, most especially the people who get their livelihood from the food system. Unfortunately the consequences of these chemicals are not limited to cancer. The other recent report that reveals the impact conventional agriculture on our bodies and brains is an investigation by a team of scientists from the University of Montreal and Harvard University, published in the journal Pediatrics, which found a connection between exposure pesticides and the presence of symptoms of ADHD.  Lead author Maryse F. Bouchard of the University of Montreal Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and the Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center says:

Our study found that exposure to organophosphates in developing children might have effects on neural systems and could contribute to ADHD behaviors, such as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

All this brings up that mantra of “Don’t panic, buy Organic”, which is more true than ever before. But again, it raises the issue of why this country has allowed this to be a choice. Sure we’ve carved out a market for those who are willing and able to pay the full cost of sustainably raised food but the remainder is too many people still being exposed to toxins, including those who paid to avoid it. We need to move beyond an organic certification to a certain market and apply those standards to all food. There is not enough evidence to prove that avoiding chemicals and feeding the people of the world are mutually exclusive goals, and remember that saying so sidesteps the issue that conventional farming isn’t feeding the world successfully either.

We are certainly in a better spot politically than we have been before to take these chemicals out of our system, and the more that people are aware of what is causing these diseases and disorders and choose, as much as possible to support practices and products that avoid them the better.

You can read more about the Organophosphate (OP) Pesticides addressed in there study here. You can also take a small action to, again through the Pesticide Action network, sign a petition to the EPA to ban Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate insecticide.

I guess the message for now is, Be optimistic about Organic- choose it until you don’t have to.

I admit that the choice for the video below is weird because Don Imus is not well respected since his many rude remarks, and he and his wife (Deirdre Imus) are friends of Sean Hannity and all their media is through Fox, but that doesn’t change the fact that I agree with Deirdre’s approach and her information and that ultimately she is doing good work on these issues. It’s always good to look at common ground among often divided groups.

                          

The best and worst part of the trip was eating. Walking meant we wanted and even deserved more food than ever, yet we had the constraints of what we could carry, what would keep well in packs, could be prepared easily on our one burner and two pans, and what we could afford. On top of that we still wanted to have food that was produced with fairness and health in mind for all involved. Believe me, that narrows it down and we made plenty of compromises.

The best meals were lunches. I think because they were the most nutrient dense. Foods that are ready to eat, which also has a lot to offer your body and tastebuds, are heavier than foods that take some preparation, mainly hydration and heat. Breads, meats, cheeses, snacks. So, we sacrificed some extra weight for really good and quick lunch food. Sardines in a can, a loaf of sourdough bread, a salami, aged jack cheese. Days just coming out of a town meant more fresh foods like avocado or other fruit.

We ate oatmeal every single morning (we opted to forgo soaking, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be possible) . I would be sure to put the raisins or other dried fruit (A Sunkist medley was a particular treat) into the cold water along with sea salt to make sure it was tender and plump. Once the oatmeal was ready I would add a thick pad of cultured butter, raw honey, and sometimes peanut butter for a really dense start to the day. Instead of getting sick of this same meal, it was the one consistency in our life on the trail and I looked forward to it every morning. We would take our time to fill our bellies and drink a cup of tea before starting out.

Walking and sleeping on the ground and spending a month outside connected us to the natural world in a way we hadn’t experienced before. But we still carried civilization and modern life on our backs.  The experience of nature was closer than ever but it was still more of a shelter around us than our true environment. Everything we really needed we brought in from elsewhere. We drank water from the creeks, but always filtered. We picked out good flat spots to sleep, but always with a pad. We ate outside and cooked in the sand, but never ate food from the spot we settled. We had a few breakfasts with picked blackberries, some wild mint tea, snacked on salal berries while walking,  and we could have added wild nettles to our meals, but I was too uncertain.

Trail conversations often covered what we would eat if we hadn’t bought four days worth of food at the last town and hadn’t had full bellies from a roadside diner. Some backpackers who are out for weeks or months will use small game traps to eat fresh wild meat on the trail. I would be up for this approach and I am very excited to learn more about pack goats. Apparently a very pleasing companion, a good pack goat can carry some weight and provide fresh milk! Go out long enough and you could even have some fresh cheese. Willow-Witt Ranch knows all about it, learn more here.

We made do with what we know how to do, which is to buy the best food we can find for the money we have and make something good with it. A stay at Gospel Flat Farm in Bolinas provided us with garlic until we got to Port Orford Oregon and got more garden garlic from friends as well as some carrots for a fancier rice and beans. (Minute Brown Rice was a major winner in our book, not organic, and no Massa, but it met a need)

We had a little burner that used denatured alcohol to make a nice hot flame, but we would use a wood fire as much as we could, or sometimes as necessary when fuel got low. Every evening we would scope out a flat spot to cook, with as little wind as possible and plenty of little surfaces on which to set food and the cooking kit, and of course a rock or log on which to sit. Going up the coast meant a lot of beach camping and keeping stuff our of the sand was a big priority.

The best spots were campsites away from cars and roads that still had a nice set up for easier living, meaning really just a picnic table, and fire pit with a place for pots and a decent composting toilet. With the basics there, life on the trail was an absolute joy.

                          

Consumer spending is close to 70% of our national economy, therefore we should never underestimate the impact our individual choices have on the overall system. We are not individual households engaged in the process of buying goods that is somehow separate from our neighbor’s ability to buy goods and support themselves. The economy is strained because our system operates with a eye only to the bottom line.  This priority has cut out workers and thus reduced the amount of consumers. By making decisions simply based on increasing the difference between spending and incomes, companies have undercut the sustainability of our communities.

Will anything change if households operate in the same way? We have to reassess the standards by which we make our spending choices, thinking beyond simple subtractions. Clearly we only have so much to spend and must make choices within that amount. But the majority of us have been guided to spend our money on as much as possible for as cheap as possible. If we shift the amount of stuff we buy to spend more on goods that support our neighbors, our bodies, and our environment we are taking the power we have as consumers and doing something about the mess the nation (world) faces financially.

Two recent New York Times articles have addressed the high costs of high quality food. In a post titled “When Money Is Tight, and Junk Food Beckons” health writer Tara Parker-Pope asks “How much does it really cost to eat a healthy diet?” She goes on to write about a couple who spent 30 days seeing what they could eat on a dollar a day, an extreme budget that reflects what many impoverished people around the world are able to spend on food including some American families with very limited food stamp allowances. A worthwhile experiment to be sure, but Parker-Pope doesn’t really answer her own question and she could also have asked a better question relevant to most of us with more choices than a dollar a day food budget: How much does it really cost, the nation and world as a whole, for people to eat unhealthy diets?

In “Budgets Squeezed, Some Families Bypass Organics” the decline in spending on organic (mostly processed, packaged) foods is addressed. Unfortunately this article doesn’t compare the decline in all spending compared to the identified slump in organic goods, so its hard to say if this trend really shows a unique change in spending. It also doesn’t looks at spending on organic whole foods (bulk grains, veggies, butcher meats etc) compared with processed or value added foods (which are by far the easiest way to spend too much on food).

Many [vendors of organic goods] are worried that if the economy continues to flounder, consumers — particularly those who only occasionally shop for their products — may decide they can no longer afford to let their conscience dictate their shopping list.

If it’s not values then what does guide us in the grocery aisle?

NPR’s Marketplace had a more encouraging report on the ways in which many people are looking at their tighter budgets and letting values trump. That is to say we may now be taking a broader look at our overall spending, across all areas beyond food, and how we use what we buy to prioritize certain goods that will often be more expensive in unit to unit price comparisons.

Here is what they say in this Marketplace report:

When Whole Foods reports its quarterly earnings on Wednesday, analysts expect to see sales growth between 0 and 1 percent… Which is not to say that consumers are ready to throw in the towel on organic food. What they are doing, is buying in bulk from organic wholesalers or shopping more at Whole Foods’ competition — lower-cost local grocery chains and food co-ops. Barth Anderson is a director at The Wedge food co-op in Minneapolis. He says business is up.

Barth Anderson : It’s wonderful, actually. The downturn in the economy has really brought a lot of people home. They don’t say, “Well, we’re going to order a pizza.” They actually cook.

But, will they keep buying more expensive organic ingredients to do that cooking? Sam Fromartz thinks they will. He’s author of the book “Organic Inc.”

Sam Fromartz: Consumers, if they really believe in the value of organic foods, they’re going to continue to buy it because it’s what they’re putting into their bodies. So, they’re going to cut back in other areas. They’re going to try to get them for as cheap as they can.

Daily reports on the role of slowed spending in the current recession reminds us of our purpose as consumers. As depressing as this fact might be the exchange of goods and services can be something fulfilling and meaningful.

In a simpler world there would be no question if you should buy the cheapest good when you have less money. But these are not simple times and buying cheap food limits others’ ability to support themselves and undercuts our own health. Paying more for better food supports more positive things than you could ever buy with the few dollars and cents you kept individually. I think we are ready for better questions that get to the complexity of the choices we really have in front of us, and if the decisions we make aren’t based in what we think is right, what kind of world are we buying into?

                          

The extent of the global economic crisis has understandably taken the majority of media attention in the last few months, and will likely continue to with the implications of the presidential election and the various decisions coming from the fed, but only in a few cases has the media brought up that everyday people have been having household level economic crises for the last few years. High debt, stagnant wages, more and more uncertainty. So I think its fair to say that while there has been more talk about thrift many of us have been at it for a while. And as more people pay more attention to their spending, and clearly they are cutting back, I think it is crucial that we not get tunnel vision when thinking about our personal economic situation. Now more than ever to we need to prioritize our spending so it supports workers, the environment, and health. These are investments. So while we need to personally cut back we need to be ever more aware of the impact of our consumer choices. Are the choices we make allowing other families to weather the economic issues. Or are we saving personally by undercutting others’ wages? (*cough* *cough* Wal-Mart).

Read the full post on this here

                          

This is the tortilla soup from my oft used and recommended Alice Waters Cookbook “The Art of Simple Food.” We’ve been feeling the pull to be a bit more carnivorous the last few days- many vegan meals have come out of our kitchen recently for a number of reasons; meat and other animal products make meals more expensive and we just don’t buy cheap meat, we have been cutting back on dairy just for our general wellbeing, and its honestly felt rather unnecessary in terms of flavor, nourishment, and what we ask of animals/workers/land to go through for sources of protein. So we’ve really cut back more and more. But I’ve always appreciated having flexibility and variety as a part of my eating habits- so I made plans for something with chicken.

I had some pre-soaked black beans in the fridge so I decided to base my recipe search there. I’m trying to get into the habit of throwing a cup of beans in a bowl full of water as soon as I remember to, regardless of what I am thinking about cooking next. After 5 or 6 hours I drain and put the soaked beans in a Nancy’s yogurt container and keep it in the fridge until I come up with a use for them. That way the prospect of using my bulk dried beans doesn’t become such a time commitment right when I need to be getting a meal together and I’ve taken advantage of a dirt cheap protein source.

Far from dirt cheap, the chicken in this soup was the most expensive ingredient. Though the recipe only calls for one chicken breast,and this is precisely why soup is so cost effective. A whole organic free-range chicken breast (with bone and skin on) was a little over 6 bucks. Other uses of this might have required on breast per person, relying on the chicken as the center of the meal which would be way more than I would want to spend on one dinner. The soup lets you spread that 6 dollars over four or five meals. I think we had two dinners (that is dinner for two twice) and three lunches.

To the recipe we added bok choy from the garden and this was also a great way to use our giant and not so awesome (mealy) tomatoes.

best flavors: lime (not in recipe), chipotle chile, anahiem pepper

Last week’s soup (I am detecting a trend) was a testament to the thrifty potential of the combination of soup, a garden, and bulk dried beans. I can’t really come up with a per meal cost for this soup, it was so nominal. Only major cost was the chicken stock- $2.50 for one quart.

Squash and corn from the garden:

(sad garden note however, is that this is the only corn we got from garden- monocrops in the home garden are not easy)

So three cheers for soup, timely for our global economic collapse and just in time for fall! (At least for parts of the country who experiences cold in the fall, apparently this is when the East Bay finally gets summer)

                          

I’d love your insight into our current scenario:

A peek into our kitchen would render a million spices and nothing to put them into, frozen chicken, strawberries and TJ’s frozen pasta dinners. Fridge with soymilk, condiments, an ancient bag of carrots and some miso. Cupboards of pasta, some soup, ramen and crackers.

The dinner bell rings and we balk and head out to dinner or opt for a quick fast food meal (painful).

WHEN DOES THE COLLEGE LIFESTYLE END??

I run into a wall I think because 1) I’m tired before and after work (who isn’t-moan) 2) IM THE ONLY COOK 3) We max ourselves out so quickly with eating out too often that it is RIDICULOUS that we balk at the grocery store 4) tendency ESPECIALLY to eat out for lunch daily/coffee/snacks..dios mio, right?

I’m curious what you feel like are the ABSOLUTE necessary at all time fresh ingredients to have on hand, what you like for quick breakfasts and convenient lunches.

I’m all for the planning of dinners and hope to utilize our local farmer’s market more along with aspirations of a garden of my own as soon as we’re out of this apartment (expect weekly HELP! calls on that one I’m convinced I have a black thumb).

I decided to address these questions here since I think her situation is largely universal and perfectly speaks to the idea of living mind to mouth.

To me her situation brings up some big issues about the state of our domestic life. I want to take this post to address the larger context we are in as workers (particularly women workers) trying to live well. In another post I will address the actual budgeting and pantry/menu lessons I have been trying to have in our own kitchen/life that may be helpful in hers (or yours! so stay tuned).

My friend’s situation speaks well to the difficulties facing modern Americans’ domestic life. These difficulties seem attributable to 1) that women’s transition into the workplace did not mean that skill sets necessary for “home economics” became shared across the household, they are often either still in the hands of the full-time working woman/mother or lost generally. 2) Even if these skills were had by all in the household, most Americans are no longer in a situation where one partner can work less than full time.

That womens’ role in the world has moved beyond the domestic realm is crucial for equality and to address “the problem that has no name“.

Domestic work as the entirety of ones life and responsibility became menial and even depressing with the societal assumption that you are essentially unable to contribute anything but domestic skills. So there is no question, the fact that America’s domestic life isn’t being upheld solely by women at home is a positive development for valuing women beyond the home and for women who want other options.

The issue though is that needs on the domestic front have not gone away, and managing the domestic realm in a thoughtful and efficient way has HUGE impact on the world. So how is this being taken care of? When and by whom?

Technological developments- electrical appliances, chemicals, disposable products, pre-made food etc- in their attempt to free us from domestic responsibilities has instead required us to work harder than ever to buy these products of convenience which create more waste and still don’t fully meet the need. And as people grow up in this context, our communities are more and more dependent on these things and are losing the skills to function without them.

Skills aside, when do Americans have time to buy healthy food and cook meals with their household? Steven Greenhouse in “The Big Squeeze” provides this sobering analysis of how much we work and how little it gets us:

Since 1979 hourly earnings for 80 percent of American workers (those in private sector, nonsupervisory jobs) have risen by just 1 percent after inflation…worker productivity, meanwhile, has climbed 60 percent. If wages has kept pace with productivity,the average full-time worker would be earning $58,000 a year; $36,000 was the average in 2007. The nation’s economic pie is growing, but corporations by and large have not given their workers a bigger piece… Millions of households have not slipped further behind only because Americans are working far harder than before…Viewed another way, the American worker’s financial squeeze has translated into a time squeeze…The typical American worker toils 1,804 hours a year, 135 hours more per year than the typical British workers, 240 hours more than the average French worker, and 370 hours (or nine full-time weeks) more than the average German worker.

(Suffice to say Greenhouse’s book is highly recommended, the ways in which America’s economic growth has been largely a “spectator sport” for most families are sort of endless, I’m in the middle of the book currently, it is more than timely)

(The end of this movie where they make all the family/life friendly policies like flex hours and job shares and they paint the office the put in plants seriously moved me to tears. But here’s something, who even just works 9 to 5 anymore?)

I think that this context is extremely important when addressing others’ questions about how to eat well. Trying to identify how to eat well on a tight budget with no time does seem to make healthy eating a rarefied experience.

But it can be done, and I think since I cannot personally address the national economic situation or make business to provide workers more time for life and decent pay (except on Nov. 4th!), which may address my friend’s first point, I will see what I can say about the others.

Next Posts on this:

Out of the Kitchen and into the Rat Race (and then into the kitchen again?): Eating well should be a shared task and working should only be paying for the things are really worth it- what are the trade-offs of time spent eating poorly but quickly, setting these priorities and responsibilities as a household.

Go Ask Alice: A shopping list and a budget from my own attempt at Living Mind to Mouth.

                          

One way to save money on local, organic, healthy food is to check out who in your community may have excess of something you are in need of. For instance, we learned in the craigslist ‘free’ section that a lovely family had taken in many many chickens to relieve people of finished class projects or failed personal homesteading endeavors. These chickens forage on their large plot of land, just the free ranging local food we are looking for. And since they were so busy with their clucking charges they were willing to trade for garden goods.

At the time of reading this post our neighbors who share our garden were out of town, and we had an unwieldy abundance of green beans, snap peas, and (of course) zucchini. We also had harvested a friends lemon tree, with this trade in mind. So we brought our extras for a wonderfully fair trade for some of the most darling and delicious eggs I’ve ever had.

We are excited about our ongoing relationship with the egg people and that our garden not only saves us money on the veggies we grow but is a resource to acquire other things we need as well.