At the start of October, Monica King posted about lucky chickens and using their eggs, and then I got the review copy of the book Epic Eggs. Then the fact that the name of the month begins with a sort-of egg-shaped letter . . . This is not the first time the universe has demonstrated its inter-connectivity to me.

 

No mater where you are in the chicken-keeping spectrum, Epic Eggs (Voyageur Press) is a useful volume. Not merely useful, it is also nicely written by Jennifer Sartell, a long-time poultry farmer.

First – if you have no desire whatsoever in keeping chickens, Epic Eggs has highly useful information about cooking eggs that explains the science of egg cooking without jargon – the antics of Alton Brown, which were fun in their own way.

 

Next – If you were ever thinking about keeping chickens, Epic Eggs is a wonderful book to start with. Jennifer shares stories of her starting out keeping chickens, and some pitfalls to avoid. She includes numerous photos of her own chicken operation, which includes geese, ducks, turkey, and guinea fowl. She talks about the merits of these and various chicken breeds.

If you already have chickens, it’s still a great book full of useful tips, in part due to the discussion on the various breeds, plus a chapter on adding to the flock.

 

For the daydreamer – I greatly enjoyed the chapter on which color eggs come from which breeds, and spent some time considering which I would like to have clucking and making their odd happy noise as they scratch around the yard. It is an indefinable noise that I think of as chicken purring.

What I like about having a book like this is that it is ever so much easier to gain information without wading past web pages that in reality have nothing at all to do with the information I am searching for. That said, Jennifer has fascinating notes scattered throughout – like the “Egg Flip Cheat” or “Eggs for 007,” Ian Fleming’s original James Bond, and which eggs he preferred! I leave that for you to discover. Time for me to go make scrambled eggs with chopped fresh herbs from the garden for breakfast!

Want to learn more? Look for my free lectures at your local Pima County Library branch, Tubac Presidio, Tucson Festival of Books and other venues. After each event I will be signing copies of my books, including Southwest Fruit and Vegetable Gardening (Cool Springs Press, $23).

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