Foe or Friend

Snails are considered pests to rice farmers. They are collected and left on the road to be crushed by passing vehicles.

They will be good protein for your rangers! You can gather them and blanch them in boiling water in a drum, then step on them to crush the shells. Those shells will be good for your layers if you kept some. If your neighbors have their snails crushed on the streets, you may ask for it after they gather...or, blanch them after crushed.

I just think that it is easier to handle them whole when dunking them in boiling water :)

Breakast At The Farm

Yesterday, we had to pick up our eggs for the week's delivery to Manila. The demand had doubled, maybe it went as gifts. This batch was the last delivery for the week.

As I went egg hunting, we dunked some in boiling water and came up with one of the best breakfasts one can have...no need for salt. The freshness was all it took.

That's a good new idea. Business of cooked eggs....soft boiled, hard boiled, poached, sandwich filling etc.

Healthward

Started the day to go to the farm. After a storm, you go out to assess situation. The morning got me several photos to post and discuss for other topics.

Great exercise and brought home some goodies of Dayap and other fruits.

Rare that we get to eat a a big breakfast, but today will be different. We bought hot pandesal. Opened a can of corned beef, and Doc Rey made an omelet.

While all that was in the stove top...I cracked my appetizer. Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwww I miss my homemade leche flans! They always thought I add some color to my flans to get that deep deep orange color. Fresh photographs best.


"Oh, Yes....I take it raw"

Hide And Seek

We pick our eggs off the range, literally. Our Sunshine grass fed layers produce the table eggs we sell to you. They are left free to roam, eating living grasses and herbs, fresh fruits on and off the tree and insects that they enjoy to run after.

There are no layer baskets where they lay their eggs. They choose their spot and DO it there :)

Yesterday, as Doc Rey was walking around to check on the farm...he calls me with a loud whisper and motions..more like convulsionly waving that I go to him...NOW

See what he has for me, as he steps on a patch of grass...

After a minute or so, the Sunshine stands and walks gracefully away...leaving the freshest, warm, brown egg!

Actually, that is our major problem. The egg picker walks through the range and goes on an "egg hunt" daily. That way, he doesn't really know where and when they lay. It is a presumption that he gets to see the day's harvest.

Truth is, we can't tell. We can't tell if we got all the day's lay. The rains are a major too. The range can get muddy and hides an egg or two from our eyes.

Oh why am I saying it is our major problem? At the end, the problem is the asset! We are able to honestly say and look at your eyes when we say we have eggs from grass fed, free ranging layers.

The occasional rotten egg is replaced and our regular customers understand and believe in our crude and basic way of raising our layers. That's the way we and they want it.

So it remains that we do our "egg hunts" daily and go hide and seek....it is easier to spot hatching eggs on Facebook :)

Meat And Eggs

Someone was inquiring today about getting all females for table egg production.

We may but we hardly do it. Takes effort, time and hard to say for sure. Best efforts are sometimes acceptable on day1, but as the booboo gets obvious, the customer forgets the agreement on best efforts :)

If you want 200 layers, I suggest get 400 day old chicks, which we box at random, straight run.

Today is perfect time. Why? You get to harvest the males in time for the graduations and fiestas. Then by September, you start having your eggs.

Think about the timing.

Salad Dressings

Now thinking about the healthy food bar that EDSA Garden House is opening, the everything PHP35...I remember the salad bowl she had. Fresh, healthy veggies and we were discussing different salad dressings. I gave her an input for fruit based ones.

Today I thought about making Chicken Sandwich and hey, why not make mayo from scratch, using eggs from our grass fed hens?????

That will be a great sandwhich and salad base. Use our Sunshine eggs to make healthy and delicious dressings.

Eggs From Grass Fed Sunshine Chickens

I haven't been to our farm for a long time now...when I say farm, this is our small farm in Santiago, where we live and our main store is based.

We have some Sunshines here for our own consumption of eggs and meat. The demand and request for eggs from real grass fed chickens have gone up and we started sharing our small harvests for the week.

I get to sell our produce at Market At The Hills, and it excited me to see the producers again. They are just a few, but seeing them graze, makes me proud of the eggs I sell.

I remember one known seller before who is supposed to be selling free-ranged eggs. Inquired from us about the reject eggs from our hatchery. Oh sure we do have them, but they are not sold by us, as they are not eggs from grass fed, free ranging chickens. Surely she knows that, and feigned memory lapse :) Well, I added that memory to my character gauging bank.

Few minutes later, guess what Doc Rey found amongst the bushes.

I had the freshest, warm, healthy, just out of the cloaca, egg...I eat our eggs raw. Threw back the empty shell to them. I should have taken a picture of the raw egg and how they fought for the egg shell. The calcium is good for them.

My Sunshines

Today was the first time I was able to visit our small bukid for a very long time.

Good timing as I witnessed transfer to a fresh range! The old range where they came from is now bald and an egg drop they got last week prompted them to make a new range for the future grass fed layers.


When friends ask me now, I may be able to show off eggs from my very own Sunshines.

Maawi Organic Farms Meets Zac Sarian

After Zac Sarian's interest in our Sunshines, capons and Zacsess stories :), we had been visiting our regular growers.

Farm visit #2 is Maawi Organic Farms in Alaminos, Pangasinan.

Very close to my heart, as Alaminos is where my roots started.

After the radio program and breakfast, March16...as Zac entered the vehicle, he asked in jest to make sure that there was an AM radio working. Why? Boxing! We didn't stop for meals, got to Lucap when the bout was on it's last two rounds, so we stayed inside the car :)

Good thing we knew who won....then we had lunch of assorted inihaw of seafoods and of course Alaminos longganisa. There was no arorosep. It would have been perfect.

Headed to Maawi Farms of Jocelyn and David. As usual, I documented the farm visit...taking photos of the picture takings and interviews.


The vegetables and fruits are grown organically, so are the Tilapias. We spent a lot of time under the shade of the trees and taking in fresh air.

Next stop was where the Sunshines are...before the sun sets :)

First batch of Maawi was in April2007, loading 1000 regularly. Since they were neophytes and not based in the Philippines when they started, they didn't have any market for their dressed chickens at that time.

I encouraged them to dress the males and keep the females. For one, the males were heavier and commanded a higher price. But the best reason was #2.....they will be the only ones who will have eggs from ranging Sunshines come October2007, perfect time for the Agrilink2007.

As we were talking last weekend, she saw the light to that difficult first steps in marketing and that yes, she is the only one now with eggs from ranging Sunshines, on commercial quantity. They are now thankful that her 2nd batch of layers have started to drop.

Now supplying several hotels, delis and restaurants with her organic fruits, vegetables, dressed chickens and of course eggs.

Watch out for farm visit #3