Here is a sure fire way to know that the seasons are changing, even though it is only 40 degrees outside: everyone, Pauline, Hilda, Louise, and Lena, are laying again. I am swamped with eggs. With 3 to 4 eggs a day, it is easy to get way behind on egg consumption. I'm baking! I'm poaching! I'm frying! I'm quiching!
Although they are all officially "brown" eggs, I can tell who laid each one by the color and shape. Lena and Pauline lay torpedo shaped eggs. Pauline's are almost purplish brown, and Lena's are very pale, the lightest of the bunch. Hilda's and Louise's are more egg shaped, with Hilda's being darker in color than Louise's. All are large and beautiful and tasty.
The hens really eat a lot. We give them free choice laying pellets in their feeder, then supplement once or twice a day with a treat of mixed scratch grains (mostly corn). I also pull up chickweed and lespedeza weeds from the yard for them, and give them all the greens trimmings from the garden. No matter how much we feed them, they always act as though they are starving. I guess they fit right into the family: they love good food.
You also can see the new lettuce transplant seedlings that are growing in the attic under grow lights. Today I want to plant some tuscan kale seeds as well. I am a little late again this year on transplants, but not as late as last year!
The sugar snap peas are up in the garden, and I am thrilled. Soon the gardens will be filled with fresh salad greens and growing vegetables, and it will be the best time of the year for feasting. (Although having access to sea scallops harvested about a quarter mile from the house is pretty amazing right now, I have to admit.)
