With all the fuss lately about illness caused by salmonella in eggs from factory farms with highly dubious practices, it was especially delightful to take a trip—farther than the grocery store, but closer than our church—to Lake Meadow Naturals farm. They have a pick-your-own program on Saturday mornings, and we did just that, reaching under the hens to retrieve a dozen warm-from-the-hen eggs, at a price of $3.50.
Unlike many of that designation, these hens really are free-range: they were ranging all over the yard when we arrived, along with several other types of fowl, including guinea hens, which are the pest control service, being voracious eaters of ticks and other nasty bugs.
I really liked the look of the place, and the friendliness, and hope to return many times for wonderful, fresh eggs. I'm a little disappointed that the yolks are not the deep orange color of the eggs Heather gets from her farming friends, and of the eggs we ate at the bed and breakfast in the Ticino part of Switzerland. But there's no doubt these chickens are healthy, free-range, and lovingly cared for, so I'll be happy with that. Maybe when their less-common breeds are laying I'll notice more of a difference.
We also bought two duck eggs, which were good, but not sufficiently discernable from chicken eggs to encourage a wholesale switch, since we paid $1 each for them. Maybe next time we'll try the guinea hen eggs. :)
