Market report: old apples, recycling egg cartons

Brought home some terrific apples and eggs today from the Western Wake Farmers Market and talked briefly with the farmers who grew the trees and raised the chickens.



Stephen Godwin of Godwin Farm & Orchard inherited his farm from his grandfather. He grows about 15 varieties, although it's hard to tell exactly. His grandfather had tried to keep track, but didn't keep perfect records of every tree replaced over decades. Stephen does know that many of the trees are older varieties, including Rocksborough Russet, which was grown in the 1600s in Rocksborough Massachusetts. (Rocksborough is now known as Roxbury, as are the apples.)

In the picture above, you can see the three varieties I bought: big Dixie Reds, gray-capped Black Twigs, and Old-Fashioned Winesaps. He had about a dozen varieties to choose from with a variety of sweetness levels and sizes. I'm trying apple sauce recipes this week, so I was glad to find those Dixie Reds.

Ricky Barbour of East Wake Apiaries and Eggs gets big eggs from his chickens. They must like foraging in the acre of pasture that they have constant free access to.

Ricky said that this year, he'd bought hens that were nearly ready to start laying eggs, but this year he'll be buying day-old chicks and raising them himself. The more mature birds had had their beaks clipped, which made it hard for them to forage. He hadn't thought about it when he bought them, but he won't be doing that again:

I had two flocks, with the ones with clipped beaks in a separate yard. They ate twice as much food as the other hens because they couldn't forage as well. They're doing better now that their beaks have started to grow back.

The Western Wake Farmers' Market website says his hens are fed "a locally produced laying mash and lots of veggies."

Bring your clean egg cartons to the market for recycling, Ricky said. New cartons can cost nearly 50 cents each if you have to pay shipping. Just make sure the cartons are clean. Some people crack eggs and then put the shells temporarily in the cartons. He just has to throw those out. Recycling egg cartons helps farmers keep their prices down.


Other market finds. Gorgeous green beans, pepper, garlic, and cherry tomatoes from Redbud Farm. End-of-season tomatoes from Ben's Produce. I also spotted watermelons, eggplant, basil, arugula, new potatoes, sweet potatoes, and grapes.