As luck would have it, our watchful cat and masterful hunter, tipped me off this morning to something going on in the passion flower vine. The 6 foot vine grows at the northwest corner of the house shaded by a young redwood tree from the adjacent property. Hiding among the web of flower buds and greenery hid Meatball sitting on three eggs.

Did I mention Meatball's secret nest is outside the perimeter of The Yard? It seems Meatball (new nickname: Houdini) has been escaping on a regular basis. Experts recommend leaving a fake egg in the nest to encourage a laying pattern. Meatball likely won't be fooled by two golf balls, but ideally she will make a new nest in The Yard. My guess is the nest inside the coop with the avocado pit wasn't inspiring.

QCR No. 1

Quality Control Report (QCR) just in from the Test Kitchen: the cookoff was between the Brown Urban Farm day-old and a [X brand] (date of freshness unknown). The large Brown egg as compared to a jumbo [X brand] surely held up nicely to over easy cooking. The Brown egg white was significantly more substantial, subtely gelatinous in consistency; it cooked up fuller with a richer taste than the watery [X brand] egg white. The Brown yolk was much deeper in color like a golden marigold blossom. Aside from the freshness of the Brown egg another variable is likely diet. The opponent's eggs are 100% vegetarian fed and the Urban Farm girls are omnivores as they have been known to feast on a tomato hornworm or two; they also spend most of the day discriminating between delectable and organic food scraps (aka: high quality compost) where grubs and worms are known to dine (and become part of the food chain). Conclusion: the Brown Urban Farm egg made a perfect breakfast. Sunnyside up or over easy? Bon appetit.

Numero Uno!

Two weeks premature our first egg has arrived! All are well and mother and father are very proud. The Very First (brown) Brown Egg is much larger than expected. Mom is doing fine and this finding may explain the raucaus earlier this evening in The Yard.

Arrival date: August 26, 2009
Time: Unknown
Weight: 2 oz.*
Width: 14.5 cm
Length: 16 cm

*A brown fertile jumbo grade A egg from Rock Island weighs 3 oz. on average.

SPECIAL NOTE TO DAL: warmest regards for your continuous generosity in providing us with egg cartons! Your delivery will be made after the Test Kitchen has issued the Quality Control Report (QCR).

Good night Mary Ellen, Good night John Boy

Having watched nearly all of the television episodes of The Walton's in the '70s, my subconscious mind frequently recalls the closing lines of the show at bedtime. With the Autumnal Equinox nearly one month away, the chickens are returning to the coop to bed earlier each night. Tonight they began the climb up the gangplank at 8:10 pm. Good night Meatball; good night PeeWee; good night Pecky, and to all, a good night.

P.S. Meatball's wattles and comb seem to have doubled in size in just two days. This obvious growth must be a sign that full adolescence is right around the corner, which means the pullets will soon begin laying eggs. The wager is placed on the first orange yolks some time after Labor Day, but before Halloween.

Who Won the Prize?

This morning, shortly after sunrise, this three inch Tomato Hornworm (huge green caterpillar) graduated a notch on the food chain. After finding one half of a green tomato devoured, we reckoned with being Zen. These monsters are the offspring (larvae) of the Hawkmoth and the Sphinx moth and they are masters at camouflage. They suck the life out of tomato plants and fruit. But this blog isn't about moths and caterpillars, or tomatoes. So it was decided that the pest become today's green plate special, which went to one lucky diner: can you guess?