The Market is Back!

After a few months of rest and more importantly the birth of two beautiful, healthy goat doelings, the Altadena Urban Farmers Market is back, featuring locally grown fruits, vegetables and prepared foods.

The market also will be celebrating the lift of the citrus quarantine. The quarantine has hampered local growers' efforts to safely and legally transport backyard fruit. At the May market, patrons can expect plenty of fresh, organic fruit and vegetables for sale.

The market is set from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, May 29, at the Zane Grey Estate, 396 E. Mariposa St., Altadena. Proceeds from the market benefit the ongoing work of the nonprofit Arroyo Time Bank. Check out the ATB's link here.

Mothercluck's line of jams, jellies and preserves will be back along with a host of other regular vendors. We all will be so happy to see our regular customers again.

Truly, the Altadena Urban Farmers Market is one of the best markets in Los Angeles County. Stop by, shop and make sure to pet the goats, including babies Dorothy and Poet. You'll be glad you did!

Good Stuff to Eat! Altadena Urban Farmers Market

So proud to be affiliated with the Altadena Urban Farmers Market! If you are in the Los Angeles area, shop locally and attend the monthly market which is held at Zane Grey Estate in Altadena. February's market will be held from 1 to 4 p.m., this Sunday, Feb. 20.

In addition to Mothercluck Artisanal Jams, Jellies, and Preserves, there will be vendors selling natural, organic chickens, bacon, eggs (yes, I'll have a few dozen to sell), artisanal bread, gluten-free products, amazing greens, and starter/edible plants for your own urban homestead.

If you care about where your food comes from, stop by and meet other like-minded homesteaders.

Logo is courtesy of artist and illustrator Joseph Schuldiner, whose book Pure Vegan is due out in early 2012.

The Girls Are Back!

Nothing like having three fully functional girls back in action after the winter months. It was the first time that we had hens fully recover from a molt and produce eggs.

It just goes to show that when you start with a healthy flock that's fed a good diet, magic can happen.

Sleeping Broody

This morning, the spell was finally lifted.

Like Sleeping Beauty who came to life after a long sleep, our Black Silkie, also affectionately known as Black Broody, is done being all cooped up.

It’s awfully late in the season for chickens to be broody. Broodiness usually occurs in the spring when something goes haywire in a bird’s small brain and says, “I need to be a mother, damn it!” She stays in the coop basically all day, believing that she's going to hatch a chick any day now. It doesn't matter there's no rooster around. That hen believes she's going to have a chick.

And that will be the hen's commitment for the next five weeks or more until she wakes up one morning and thinks, “Well, that’s stupid. Screw motherhood. I need a maggot!”

In the meantime, everyone suffers. The other hens can’t get into the coop because Black Broody is crazy, and she’s totally egg-less during her false motherhood.

This is the second time that Black Broody has gone, well, broody. The first time happened a few months back when the only time I saw her out of the coop was when I shooed her out and told her to stop making a honest hen of herself.When I suspected she had gone broody, I consulted my Keeping Chickens book where it said that the Black Silkie will produce an average of “105 eggs before going broody.”

Oh, that’s what happened.

But now I know and, more importantly, know what to expect. Broodiness is no fun for the, um, brood and certainly no fun for the hen who cannot hatch chicks. It seems awfully cruel.

But that’s all behind us know. Black Broody is back. And in a good way.

Now lay me some eggs!

Organic Eggs?

Hats off to the Homegrown Evolution blog that posted a link to The Cornucopia Institute's newly released Organic Egg Scorecard. It's definitely worth a look if you aren't raising your own hens.

The scorecard identifies a number of excellent egg producers and, not so surprisingly, many household names that are "ethically deficient egg producers." 

Bottom of the list? Eggs from Trader Joe's, Whole Foods (365 Organic), and Costco (Kirkland Signature). The Institute noted that these eggs are "produced on industrial farms that house hundreds of thousands of birds and do not grant the birds meaningful outdoor access."

The top egg producers included farms in Wisconsin, New York State, and Michigan. 

So What's in Your Compost Bin?

I opened our handy kitchen pot that holds our daily compost scraps and I thought to myself, "Damn, it's been nearly a year since I've last posted something on Mothercluck.com. I've got to do something about that."

And so here I am.

A lot of things have happened since my last post, The Big Molt. I was offered an unexpected job, and, unfortunately, I lost that job unexpectedly nearly a year later.

Chicken and Pox, the poster children of Mothercluck.com have both died. Our homestead also lost Gracie, The Ugly One, this past April when she no longer could walk because of an unfortunate neurological ailment. I still miss them all, especially Chicken and Grace. I'm sure there will be a post about them in the near future.

But there have been some blessings, too. My son entered kindergarten this year and is thriving. We have added three new chickens to our flock,  and they produce some exceptionally brilliant and beautiful blue, taupe, and cocoa-colored eggs. We've had a bumper crop of tomatoes and other vegetables because of our chicken poop/compost pile.

Oh, and I can now add that I'm an award-winning canner and preserver. Again, more about that later.

So, welcome back and enjoy. My husband still hates farm chores, so I've got to go empty the compost scraps. There's some serious mold growing in there!

The Big Molt

It's the beginning of molting season here at mothercluck and although Pox continues to lay eggs like it's summer, Chicken hasn't laid one since Halloween. The top egg is a big picture snapshot of her last fully developed egg. And then here's a close up:



And then before you knew it, I dropped it on the floor.

Too Many Chickens...

A phase? Too many chickens end up in the city shelter or worse, killed. From the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/dining/23sfdine.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=chickens&st=cse

Chicken Envy

For those of who continue to have chicken envy.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Monthly Egg Count

Chicken and Pox exceeded all expectations: they laid a total of 56 eggs during the month of July. Not bad considering the weather has been extremely hot and production can be spotty during times of stress.

I celebrated the beginning of a new month with two fresh eggs...over easy of course.

Eggs of a Different Color

As much as I try, I don’t and can’t eat a lot of eggs. My morning chores barely allow me to have a good, decent breakfast and by the time I get to my destination, my sustenance of coffee, two cheese sticks, and a yogurt have to be good enough to carry me until lunch.

On the rare morning I have eggs, the shape, size, and texture of them always surprises me. Always. Chicken and Pox’s eggs never disappoint. Chicken is older so her eggs are smaller and a touch paler, while Pox – in all her youthful glory -- gives me rich golden tones. They are divine.

I believe it’s true you are what you eat. Chicken and Pox eat a solid diet of tomatoes, corn, lettuce, peaches, and a whole host of composting worms. All these tasty morsels add up to a splendid tasty egg coated in a gorgeous shell.

In the coming weeks, my morning routine of dairy and caffeine will change. I’ll have more time to enjoy Chicken and Pox, their crazy, desperate morning clucks that cry for freedom, and the wholesomeness of their speckled brown eggs. I cannot wait. Chicken and Pox -- and their eggs -- deserve to be appreciated.

Morning Pickins'

Harvested and gathered this morning.

Which Came First?

The chicken or the egg?

Eating Outside the Box

Back in March when we first brought the girls home, Joe was so excited he had to have his lunch on top of the chicken coop. What a lovely way to welcome them home.

Monthly Egg Count

It was a very productive month at Mothercluck-land!

Chicken and Pox laid a total of 52 lovely eggs during the month of June, matching May's egg production total.

It seems the hens are on a regular schedule – each one took a day’s rest four times during the month. And unlike a serious disgusting problem in April, Chicken produced healthy, hard-shelled eggs every time. No yolks running down her leg! Thank goodness.