A busy month selling eggs

We are now at our busiest time of the year, with holidaymakers descending on Phillip Island, one of Australia's premier holiday destinations. It means that all the shops and restaurants which we supply with eggs need more. And our regular farmers market at Churchill Island (just off Phillip Island) is now held every week until the end of January.

At this time of year its always hard balancing production and sales. The hens don't lay more eggs just because it's holiday time. We always try to meet demand by running an extra flock of Isa Browns at this time of year.It increases the workload but as long as markets hold up, there is a good result.

Super Bikes keep people away from Churchill Island Farmers' Market

Bass Coast Shire and the Victorian State Government like to boast about how wonderful special events are - like the Superbike racing at the Phillip Island racetrack this weekend.
The reality is that few of those events provide any local benefit. Today has been a case in point. So many locals have either let their houses at enormous rents for the weekend and headed off for a quiet time, or they have stayed indoors with the air conditioning on!
Churchill Island Farmers' Market had about one third of the customers expected at this time of year and not one of the stallholders was happy.
No-one wants to be on the roads with the clowns who think they are on the racetrack and can drive as well as anyone!

New flock just starting to lay

Our new flock of 300 Isa Browns is just starting to lay. Seven eggs yesterday so they should soon be up to speed.
It means that we will have pullets eggs for the Churchill Island Farmers' Market this Saturday..
Lexie is the Maremma charged with looking after them and she is doing a top job.
I've had to rig up a light in the shed which I turn on just before dusk so all the chooks can see to perch - then when they have all settled, it can be turned off.  Some flocks need a bit of light to see what they are supposed to do - but some happily jump in the sheds in the late afternoon and find their own perch. It largely depends on the time of year. Extended evening daylight gives them plenty of time, but we need to give the youngesters a bit of help at this time of year.

Good weekend sales

We had Churchill Island Farmers' Market on Saturday and Red Hill (for the first time) on Sunday so I didn't spend much time on the farm over the weekend.
Churchill Island was good but Red Hill was a bit slow so hopefully it will improve over the next few months. I was able to do a delivery on the way home on Sunday so it wasn't a wasted day.
It's just under an hour from the farm to Red Hill and that makes it within our food miles policy. It's on the Mornington Peninsula which means I have to drive around to the 'other side' of Westernport.
Everyone says it's a small world - and it certainly is. On the stall next to me at Red Hill was a lady who used to work with the Department of Sustainability and Environment, promoting Landcare on Phillip Island and in West Gippsland. I hadn't seen her for almost 10 years and I had no idea she's now into making goat cheese.

Busy weekend coming up

We will have a couple of busy days this weekend with two Farmers' Markets - Churchill Island on Saturday and Venus Bay on Sunday. Both should be pretty good markets as it's the Anzac weekend.

With a bit of luck we should have 200 dozen eggs available as the hens are still laying well even though we have been sellling off some of the oldest flock to people who want hens for their backyards and the new pullets haven't started yet.

It's great to have enough eggs to fill all our orders without having to rush around   grabbing eggs as soon as they are laid.

In the past we've often had to delay a delivery run while the chooks laid enough eggs to meet the day's orders.