This morning's harvest

As I gathered eggs this morning, I was so struck by how beautiful they are.  Each has it's own unique hue of color and shape.  Each chicken lays an egg with her "signature" on it, be it color, tint, shape, speckles; each one is so unique, and so beautiful in it's own way.  Eggs somehow entrance me.  They are the beginning of life, the very essence of what life comes from.  I often look at them with fascination.  

I was watching the Royal Wedding this morning and was thinking about Prince Charles.  He has been an amazing advocate of chickens, organic gardening and organic food for more than thirty years.  His garden at Highgrove has been an inspiration to me.  I bought a book about Highgrove when I was first married to Woodman eleven years ago.  I have thumbed through the photos and read about the transformation of the estate since it was purchased in 1980.  Sheep and cows "mow" the grounds, water is recycled and collected; it is a very good example of focusing on and incorporating the environment into something beautiful, organized and well run.  The kitchen garden at Highgrove helps to self sustain the estate in fruits and vegetables.  The chickens are, of course, pedigree chickens, such as Light Sussex and Welsummer, and he houses some other unusual varieties.  The flock at Highgrove totals 190 chickens.  If you have ever had a chance to see a photo of Prince Charles chicken coop, you will know what I mean when I say spoiled!  What a marvelous design and beautiful coop.  Really, it is more like a palace, in fact, it bears the same name that our coop does, "Cluckingham Palace".  The Prince has also been an advocate for better food and healthy living in Britain, and his philosophy is that "it is better to work with nature than against it".  Last year the Prince encouraged everyone to grow an organic garden, big or small.  Even a small garden has benefits: it produces food, reduces your carbon footprint and feeds wildlife and birds.  I am one of his supporters when it comes to his views on gardening, organic living and chickens.

In celebration of my beautiful egg harvest this morning and the Royal Wedding, I thought that I would post a few pictures of what I gathered today.  I also had to show our new packaging, I am so thrilled with it!  Finally, the logo is finished thanks to Farmgal Jules!!!  The pink cartons are made from recycled paper and are so fun.  I love the bits of brown and green shell that peek through the tops of the cartons.