Right on cue, we've run short of eggs to sell. This is harvest season, so the farmers' markets are jammed with customers. That's part of it. And we're in the long, slow decline in egg output that starts at the end of May and continues through December. This happens every year.

Next year, we'll try starting an unusually large number of pullet chicks in January and February, to fill the production gaps with young hens who are just starting to lay. Maybe we can delay the day of reckoning until October that way, after the harvest-season crowds start to slacken and the problem starts to solve itself.

That's the problem with doing the "real outdoor hens" gig -- it's harder to fool Mother Nature. Eggs are more seasonal than with confined hens.

So if you're one of our egg customers, show up at the farmers' market early to avoid disappointment!