This week’s Whole Farm basket contains a dozen extra large eggs, a bundle each of Swiss chard and green onions, and a couple radishes. We try to include items each week that pair well together, and this week’s basket is all you need to prepare eggs in a nest.
Spring officially begins in about 9 hours, but I’m going to unofficially declare that it is here! It’s in the air, in the songs of the birds, in the vibrant green of newly emerging birch leaves, and most telling, I know spring is here because the peeping and cheeping of baby chicks has been wafting out of the back of the barn all weekend!
This year, we ordered chicks through the mail from a well-known hatchery. I’d been in touch with the Post Office in the days leading up to their arrival. The Post Office actually offered to send the chicks out with the local carrier, but we wanted to get the chicks into their new home as quickly as possibly, and asked them to hold them at the Post Office for us to pick up instead. Friday morning, before the Post Office even opened, I got a call saying they had arrived.
By the time we picked up the chicks, the woman at the Post Office didn’t want to see them go; she was hooked on their sweet chirping. The chicks, however, probably felt differently. Their new home allowed them to stretch their legs (and wings) and afforded them their first meal. Prior to hatching, chicks absorb all the remaining nutrients in their egg, and can live on that for 72 hours after hatching without eating or drinking. This is what makes it possible for chicks to be shipped from a hatchery to would-be chicken owners the world over. Once released from their shipping box, our chicks eagerly explored their new home, quite literally stumbling upon their food and water.
Somehow, we did manage to get other things done this weekend besides oohing and aahing at the chicks. All remaining spring veggies were finally planted, and some of the summer veggies too. Some of the summer vegetables were damaged by last week’s frost, even inside the greenhouse, but surprisingly few plants were killed by the freezing temps. They have some browned-up leaves that they’re wearing like battle scars, but hopefully they’ll come out of it soon!
