Local Farmer's Markets Can't be Beat!

Dave and I took part in a workshop over the weekend offered by a local winter farmer's market. It was on raising your own backyard chickens. We were intrigued.

David's brother and other friends of ours have their own chickens, and on occasion, we've benefited with fresh eggs they've shared with us. We really enjoy them. I also love the idea of  producing our own food. We had some success with a backyard garden last year, and as we learn more, we're hopeful that we will get even better at it!

The chicken workshop was very popular -- standing room only. We were very lucky to secure two seats next to each other. There were poultry catalogs and books to browse through, and we were supplied with a lot of useful information.

Did you know that a chicken can naturally live up to 15 years, and that she will lay eggs for only about 2 of those years? After that, we can eat them... if we don't grow too emotionally attached!

We do need to come up with some kind of housing for suitable protection from predators, and then I think we might start out with 6 or 8 birds this spring.

After our workshop, David and I browsed around the farmer's market. I really enjoy the assortment of samples made with wonderfully fresh and wholesome ingredients! We tasted pasta sauce, butter, cheeses, pesto, and dips. We purchased lettuce, scallions, eggs, and a frozen seafood pie with the most incredible light flaky crust -- which we enjoyed for dinner that evening! Oh! We also bought some blueberry muffins. Baked goods are something we've been avoiding in our quest to eat better and shed pounds, but here we were 20 minutes before closing time, and those were offered to us at half price.

After the market, we planned to ride our tandem for a couple of hours. However, we actually spent more time there than we expected, and it was growing late. David also stopped to chat extensively with a man walking two Airedale dogs at our starting point. (He loves the breed, and he has always wanted to own one.) Turns out the man with the dogs also owns a Burley tandem -- just like ours!

We ended up shortening our route considerably, after the realization of our available time combined with a whipping wind sunk in. It was almost 40 degrees, but felt colder. Still, it felt great to get roughly 15 miles in.

Upon our return, we were surprised that daylight was still with us. The sunset time is now 5:35 pm ~ much later than it was just a month or so ago. We're looking forward to warmer weather -- and hopeful there will soon be sufficient daylight to allow us pre-and-post workday rides!