I dream of clucking chickens, romping goats, and an overloaded greenhouse. Saturday mornings filled with hunting eggs, milking goats, and plucking seasonal produce.

Long afternoons will be filled with canning the harvest, whipping butter, culturing yogurt, and some experimental cheese making.

Lush strawberries will hang down trellises, tomatoes so plump they droop towards the bottom of the bed, and garden salads ready for table side preparation.

I wholeheartedly believe that a vegan diet is the best for our planet. I also believe in moderation and goat cheese. Weekday vegan works very well for me.

Inter-dietary relationships can be hard, and I find this works well for us. It can be difficult to make two meals for every meal. So if I’m going to eat meat or dairy, I want to know that it was raised as naturally as possible.

I want it to grow up romping around, eating grass, picking at bugs, and having a wonderful life. There are several farms in the surrounding area that treat their animals with utmost respect and do it the old fashioned way.

When farming is done traditionally is cuts emissions to negligible amounts. It’s a natural process done the way the earth intended it. No factory farms for me. I’ll talk more about my favorite farm in another post.

I know there are no perfect answers, but I will do the best I can to make the best decisions possible. I want to be an informed consumer.

The egg industry has a lot of problems. The labels “cage-free” and “free-range” don’t mean much especially if you’re a male chick.

Keeping backyard chickens doesn’t entirely solve the crisis, but I know the chickens do have a much higher standard of living.

I have some friends who have some adorable pet chickens who happen to lay eggs. Their babies are beautiful, healthy, and happy. They live in a coop mansion with lots of land to roam, plenty of bugs to peck, and delicious snacks.

I brought my porcelain egg holder which does a fabulous job eliminating the need for a disposable egg carton. It nestles perfectly into its own shelf in the fridge.

I was so excited to romp around with the chicks. They're so happy. I got to feed them and pet them. I hope they had as much fun as I did.

If you're looking for a better alternative to store bought eggs with misleading taglines you can check out localharvest. It can help you find farmers you trust.