We started our day bright and early this morning at the Tjelmeland Farm in Story County, just about 15 minutes down the road. We’ve been eating their eggs for weeks now (courtesy of Wheatsfield Co-op), and we set out to find their origin.  It was wonderful! Honestly, I was not too enthused this morning, when I had to get up early and leave without breakfast (we were scheduled to eat with them.) However, this morning’s visit was definitely one of my favorite thus far.

We started out doing chicken chores with Connie. I have always been pretty uneasy around birds, for various reasons, so it was a bit overwhelming to arrive bleary-eyed and step right into the free range area, surrounded by over 700 hungry and growing chicks. We moved the feeders (they rotate them every day), fed them, and changed the water and cleaned their containers. Then, we got a tour of the rest of the coop area, which included the roosts, laying boxes, hospital area, and the bigger hens and their pasture area. Connie also showed us her small, organic garden of squash and cucumbers, and we got to see the wind break that had been planted in the 1970s – and after standing up by the house in the heavy wind in the cool morning air, that was a welcome relief! We also went out to the grazing area for the larger hens, where we were introduced to Clover, the GUARD LLAMA, his friend, Daisy, the goat, and Rosie, the guard donkey. (Yes, it was as comical as it sounds. We all kept our distance to avoid being spit on.)

Next, we went back to the nesting areas to collect eggs with Mark. I was amazed at both the sheer number of eggs available (we couldn’t even fit them all in our 3 baskets!) and the docility of the chickens. As I said, birds freak me out a little bit, so I was timid when it came to reaching into the occupied boxes to get eggs. However, the hens were very accommodating, lifting up to allow us access to the 2-7 eggs beneath them. Mark explained that it was normal to have so many eggs, and he would have to go out midday to collect those eggs that didn’t fit in our overflowing baskets as well as the ones from the late layers. He took us down to the basement, where they process the eggs: this consists of cleaning, candling, and boxing them.

We then shared a breakfast with extended family and neighbors of scrambled eggs, local sharp cheddar cheese, pork sausage, orange juice, canned pears from their trees, and homemade blueberry muffins. Delicious! I also loved sitting around the big farmhouse table and getting to know everyone.

The last bit of our visit consisted of Mark taking us around to show us the conservation measures put into practice around the organic farm, where they raise soybeans, oats, and more. They had plenty of CRP acres and quite a bit of planted native prairie, as well as the aforementioned wind break. We rode in the back of Mark’s truck as he showed us his various fields and plants.

Connie, Dr. HN, and I got into a bit of a discussion at the conclusion of our tour on GMOs and organic farming. Legitimate points were raised then and also at breakfast, including the fact that conventional farming is expensive; requiring it or even subsidizing it imposes this form of agriculture on other peoples and cultures around the world; and that crops used to grow just fine on their own, without human intervention.

Bobby the dog accompanied us from place to place all morning and enjoyed plentiful pats from us all. I forgot to take my camera in my lack of alertness this morning, so all of the pictures in this post are from Sam.