Last week on Oprah, Lisa Ling gave us a glimpse into some of America’s farms – factory farms as well as organic farms – to see just how some of the animals we eat live before they become dinner on our table. They showed what the living conditions look like for egg-laying chicken, pregnant pigs and veal calves. Oprah had replica cages and crates on the stage to demonstrate the cage/pen sizes of animals in factory farms. “In an egg-laying hen cage, five to six hens could be in a single cage. The typical crate for a young male calf being raised for veal has enough room for him to stick his head out. Pregnant pigs—which can weigh more than 500 pounds—are about 5 to 6 feet long, while the cages they live in are about 7 feet long.”

There was also information presented about Proposition 2, the proposed Standards for Confining Farm Animals (specifically egg-laying chicken, pregnant pigs and veal calves) initiative statute that will be voted on in California’s general election this November. “The new regulations, which would go into effect in 2015, would require cages to be large enough to allow these animals to be able to stand up, lie down, turn around and to be able to fully extend their limbs without touching the side of an enclosure or other egg-laying hens.” My friend Melissa (Nature Deva) has some information about Prop 2 on her blog and there’s more information from Cameron at The Thin Green Line. If you live in California, I encourage you to look into it before you head to the polls so that you can make an informed decision.

The point of Oprah’s show was not to scare anyone into vegetarianism or veganism, but to educate people so that they can make conscious choices when it comes to buying their eggs or meat.

In the past, I’ve bought cage-free eggs from Vitamin Cottage because I assumed that meant the chickens were treated better and able to go outside, but after looking more into it, I’m not sure that’s the case.

According to Health Castle:

• Free-Run or Cage-free eggs are produced by hens that are able to move about the floor of the barn and have access to nesting boxes and perches. The nutrient content of these eggs is the same as that of regular eggs.
• Free-Range eggs are produced in a similar environment as cage-free eggs but hens have access to outdoor runs as well. The nutrient content of these eggs is the same as that of regular eggs.

I recently discovered a local farm stand (thanks to Alison at Green Me) where they have free-range eggs every Wednesday, as well as locally-grown fruits and veggies available Wednesday through Saturday. We’ve been going there for the past few weeks for some produce, but I bought my first dozen eggs this past Wednesday. They open at 10 on Wednesdays, I got there at 10:30 and got the last dozen they had! Seems I need to be on the ball Wednesday mornings if I want to continue to get them each week because they sell out fast.

Anyway, the eggs have been wonderful! Ava enjoyed carefully examining them all at home on the kitchen table (and I admit, so did I) because every egg looks different. There are slightly varied sizes, different colors, different shades of those colors, some with spots, etc. They aren’t cookie cutter eggs like you get from the grocery store and I think that definitely adds to their appeal.

On Saturday we went back to the farm stand and, because Julian wants to see the animals they have every time we stop in, we asked the owner if I was OK if we went back to look at the sheep and chickens and he was fine with that. That was cool to show the kids exactly where our eggs are coming from. I think most people want to believe that their chickens get to run around in a big open space like these chickens do, though in reality, they are generally packed 6 to a small cage for their entire lives.

Someday I’d love to have some chickens of our own, but that will probably need to wait until we move into a different house with a slightly larger yard. Ava already talks about how she will go out and collect the eggs every day. :)

Here are the kids and Jody observing the animals this weekend, and, at least with regard to the chickens’ eggs, seeing just where our food comes from:

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On Sunday we went to one of our favorite pumpkin patches from some pumpkin-hunting; corn maze walking; animal watching, feeding and petting, followed by pumpkin carving at home. A good time was had by all.

And lastly, my choice – punkins holding pumpkins – for Best Shot Monday:

See what everyone else is up to for Best Shot Monday.

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The kids had a great time playing in the freshly fallen leaves in the backyard this week. And there was more fun on the tire swing (which is always a good time). Ya can’t beat free fun right in your own backyard. :)

I can’t pick a favorite this week. I like them all. :) What about you?

See what everyone else up to for Best Shot Monday.

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My sister, who recently moved out of her rented house into an apartment, brought us the tire swing that she had had set up for the kids at her old house. We took down the baby swing in the backyard and put this bad boy up in it’s place. Ava and Julian like it – just a little bit. ;oP

See what everyone else up to for Best Shot Monday.

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This past week Ava began her second year attending Waldorf preschool. I still don’t know where we’re going to send her for kindergarten next year, but we were so pleased with the Waldorf-inspired in-home preschool we found (thanks to some friends) last year, we decided to continue with it this year. In comparing pictures from the two years, it was amazing to me to see how much Ava has grown and changed. Oh, and Julian too!

2007:                                              2008:

Ava took a caterpillar she had made the day before as a gift for her teacher.

Julian didn’t accompany us to drop Ava off on her first day this year, but he and I walked to pick her up after school (something I hope to keep up with regularly, walking, that is), so I took some pics of the two of them after we arrived back home.
2007:                  2008:

I think my pick for My Best Shot is the last picture of Ava and Jules together. See what everyone else’s best shots were over at Mother May I.

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Photography-wise, I only pulled out the P&S and I’ve got nothing to write home about this week. But as far as expanding my kitchen prowess goes, I’m very proud of these pictures. :)

On Saturday, we visited Berry Patch Farms where we ate picked organic strawberries and peaches, and had a great time doing so.


I was determined to get some of the big ones up high, so up the tree I went:

Something like 4 lbs. of strawberries and 15 lbs. of peaches later, our bounty looked like this:

Then it turned into this (after a fair bit of work) in the span of 36 hours:

That used up all of our strawberries, but we still have a LOT of peaches left that I may freeze or can as slices.

But the big deal here (at least to me) is that Sunday was my first time ever making jam or canning anything! While it was definitely a learning experience, it was also a lot of fun and I’m so proud of my first 10 little jars of jam. :) Those 10 little jars are my choice for Best Shot Monday, although they are hard-pressed to compete against Mr. Strawberry-face up there. ;)

I will be blogging a step-by-step guide to canning jam (with pictures) in the near future, so if you want to get started canning be sure to check it out.

More Best Shot Monday pics

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