Houston...We have a problem!

Grateful Graze pullets have been laying for a few weeks now and we need your help. We get asked on occasion what people can do to help us in our quest to provide local, great-tasting food? At this very moment, the answer is...BUY SMALL EGGS.

It's easy to sell the large, x-large, and jumbos but most people overlook the small eggs. As a matter of fact, you can't buy small eggs in the grocery store. But our girls are working overtime learning their new job producing a little beautiful rich creamy egg.

As you can see our eggs come in a variety of colors and sizes. A young chicken will start by laying smaller eggs and after a few weeks will reach the preferred market size of large or x-large.

I purchased a dozen eggs from the local Dollar General for comparison. Can you pick out the store egg? From top row left to right - Grateful Graze Young Pullet, Grateful Graze Large, Grateful Graze Jumbo (double yolker!) Bottom row left to right - Grateful Graze X-Large, Store Egg, Grateful Graze Small. There is a difference in the yolk color and that is directly related to the food the chicken eats. The more green grass, the deeper the yellow color.

Then it was time to do a little test in the pan. The two eggs on top were the store eggs. The bottom left is the pullet egg and the bottom right is the jumbo. What I noticed is the egg white from the Grateful Graze eggs stood up as did the yolks. The yolks remained round in shape and did not flatten out like the store eggs. The firmer egg white should make your baked goods and meringues fluffier. We believe there's a difference in the taste and customers tell us all the time how much they love the taste of our eggs.

So how can you help? I'm glad you asked! When you place your next order go ahead and add a dozen or two of the small eggs at $3.00 a dozen. By the way, I paid $2.15 for the Dollar General eggs and I have no idea where or how those chickens lived and what they were fed. With a Grateful Graze egg we can tell you exactly what was in the feed we ground from our own grain and most likely what field it came out of. Prices are crazy right now, but there is a tremendous amount of labor and love that go into gathering and delivering each egg.

Or stop out at our little pickup location (19065 IL Hwy 81, Cambridge) and purchase as many as you'd like. It's self-serve and we will try to keep the refrigerator stocked. There's a place to leave cash securely or you can place an order and pay for them using your Grateful Graze account. The instructions are there for you inside on the counter.

If we haven't said it often enough, we appreciate our customers and their willingness to support our regenerative farm!

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" Hippocrates