I counted thirty eggs in the basket yesterday morning, and that was before I'd even checked the nest boxes by the barn. This is the stretch of the year I plan for. The hens don't slow down, the fridge fills up, and I end up back at the same two dishes I always turn to when there are more eggs than plans for them: hard boiled and deviled. Neither one is fancy. That's the point. When you've got a dozen eggs staring at you from the counter, you don't want a recipe with fifteen i

Hens in our farm are laying like it's their job. Which, I suppose, it is. Long daylight hours push their bodies into peak production, and this time of year I'm collecting more eggs than I know what to do with most mornings. If you keep chickens, you know the feeling. The basket by the door fills up faster than you can plan meals around it, and eventually you start hiding cartons on neighbors and tutoring center coworkers just to keep up. So instead of letting eggs pile up in

Some mornings I go out to collect eggs, and the nesting boxes look like they multiplied overnight. Longer daylight hours push egg production up, and by early summer I'm gathering more than we can eat fresh in a normal week. If you keep chickens, you know the feeling. The basket fills up faster than you planned for, and you start looking for ways to use them before you're tempted to just give dozens away. Mornings on the farm don't leave much time for cooking, so this is the t

I've been doing farmers markets for years. And I'll say this upfront, the first one is the hardest. The nerves aren't really about the selling. They're the not-knowing. What do I bring? How does the setup work? What if no one stops at my booth? This is what I wish someone had told me before I loaded up my first van. The Sign-Up Process Every market is a little different, but most established farmers markets require an application. You'll usually fill out a form listing what