Evelyn's Eggs

At first, we thought it was all hype - the glowing reports about organic urban eggs. The gushing that we've heard from foodie friends and across blogs we read.

But now that we've been eating eggs that our friend Evelyn's brood lay, we are sold, and with deep snow, cold temperatures and no eggs it's hard to go back to those you get at the store.

So, here goes the bandwagon speech... bear with me.

The yolks are so... creamy.  Unlike the every-egg-is-the-same-yellow color from egg to egg that you find in the grocery store, back yard organic ones are all such a bright orange the contents of each one is like a little surprise. You can almost tell which hen laid which egg by the color of the yolk as no two hen's eggs have the same colored yolks! It is the weirdest thing to experience - especially after having eaten nothing but store-bought eggs for all of my life, save the last month or so.

The whites are thick and firm, and the shells are rock hard, they can really take a pounding - they are not at all like the thin shelled variety found in the market.  And, looking at the eggs, you can see a pattern of similarity between them. The colors, the shapes and the size - each little present ...

Some are dark brown, others a soft beige and still others are speckled, as though they've spent a wee bit too much time in the sun.  We've not yet had any green ones, nor have we had white ones. While those are the ones most often found in the Grocery, they aren't as common in home flocks.

Evelyn's eggs have been so yummy that I've spent this spring break reading about and learning as much as I can about hosting our own little brood.

Charles's thinks that it is very nearly a possibility as well. He is adamantly against the minions and I getting a hedgehog... but chickens... Well, he seems to be ok with that.

So far at least. He's even started sharing coop ideas and plans. Is this reverse psychology at work though? I guess we'll see when it comes time to break ground.