Farm: FRESH

“I don't think we have enough eggs at the market. They always sell out quickly”

It's spring on the Spexarth farm near Colwich, and the hens are a-laying

I loved it when Carolyn Spexarth told me this week that in the wintertime chickens depend on sunlight to lay eggs. It's one more piece in the puzzle of nature that fits. And visiting the Spexarth farm outside Colwich, aflutter with chickens and roosters, bunnies and puppies the first week of spring, just before Easter, fit too.

The grass was greening up, the children were running around in short sleeves, the baby animals were playing, the sun was shining -- and yes, the hens were laying. It had been a long winter without the dark orange that yolks display when chickens can feed on grass. Read more