"Poppy! delicate and fine,
Is it really true that you
Are no better than a cheat
Set among the golden wheat?
 
That for all your lovely [pink]
You will never make us bread,
That though with an elfin guile
You have caught the sun’s warm smile
Captive for a little while
There is no real use in you --
Tell me, tell me, is it true,
Poppy, delicate and fine?"
 
...
 
When the summer days are spent,
When the reaper’s hook is bent,
When is garnered all the grain,
Shall men say you lived in vain?
 
No, for, like a lovely thought
In a blossom’s semblance caught,
Your own meaning you have taught.
 
And I know, by Hope’s eyes brightened
By the weight of sorrow lightened,
By a faith deepened and heightened,
I know, I know it is not true
That there is no use in you,
Poppy, delicate and fine."
 
 
I came across the first pink poppy on the farm just there, next to the fence line of the flock on top of the first hill. In the afternoon of a hard day's work, chasing chickens, dogs, eggs, fixing fences in the scorch and dust and sweat, to lift up my eyes and see this pink poppy.
 
Yes, there is definitely use in you, our first Pink Poppy, with "sorrow lightened" and "eyes brightened".
 
 
 
#poppy #pinkpoppy #spring #useful #flower #pastured #eggs #freerange #lighten #sorrow #poetry #farmlife
 
-- from the poem "A Poppy" by the Australian poet Agnes L. Storrie, with modification by Hilltops Free Range

The salad bar is open 😊
Wonderful paddocks after the rainy winter, and where the chicken caravans have just passed through and fertilised generously.
 
#saladbar #greens #pastured #eggs #highgrass #spring #salad #naturalfeed

“A Drop fell on the Apple Tree –
Another – on the Roof –
A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves –
And made the Gables laugh –
 
A few went out to help the Brook,
That went to help the Sea –
Myself Conjectured were they Pearls –
What Necklaces could be –
 
The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads –
The [Hens] jocoser sung –
The Sunshine threw his Hat away –
The Bushes – spangles hung –“
 
 
And so our chickens wondered if they could make pearl necklaces from the perfect droplets of rain on the spring grass. We have had a wonderfully wet winter and can’t get enough of the deep green of the grass, the deep darks of the clouds, and the velvety brown of the hens.
 
#spring #colours #rains #pastured #eggs #farmlife #raindrops #clouds #nodust #pasture #wetwinter
 
--from the poem “Summer Shower” by Emily Dickinson, with modifications by Hilltops free range
 

“Dust if you must, but there’s not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.
 
Dust if you must, but the world’s out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.
 
Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it’s not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.”
 
Here go the young  puppies, swimming rivers and climbing mountains, no time to get clean 😊

#puppies #Maremma #freedom #dustifyoumust #poetry #farming #farmlife #pastured #eggs #muddy
--from the poem “Dust If You Must” by Rose Milligan
 
Photography by Haydn

Me and the dog when we finally saw a little bit of sunshine today 😊
It did not last long.
 
Rain…rain… rain… mud… mud… mud…
#rain #pasture #pastured #eggs #Maremma

“Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
  Thou art not so unkind
     As man’s ingratitude;”
 
Blow, blow the winter wind did today.
We have nothing but humble gratitude when holding a warm egg early in the morning, just being laid.
#warmegg #winter #wind #pastured #freerange #eggs #gratitude #warmth #shakespeare
 
--from “As You Like It” by William Shakespeare, Act II Scene VII.
 
 
-Photography by Haydn

“To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.”
 
During the darkest days close to Winter Solstice, we are putting our new birds to sleep in the caravans, and we can definitely confirm that the dark ‘sings’ and ‘is traveled by feathers and feet’ 😊
 
#dark #chickens #pastured #wintersolstice #shortdays #poetry #farming #sunset #beauty #nightclouds #eggs
 
--from the poem “To Know the Dark” by the poet – and also fellow farmer! – Wendell Berry
 
Photography by Haydn

One of our younger Maremmas, enjoying some play time on the first day of Winter, June 1st.
The importance of play, of approaching each moment as a new thing, full of possibility, discovery and beauty.
 
The freedom to play all day for chickens, Maremmas and – sometimes – farmers 😊
If this is what winter will be like this year, please bring it on!
 
#Maremma #play #winter #pastured #eggs #freedom #chickens
 

"There’s no shadow without a light
No shallow without a height
No love without a fight"
 
Half of this is frosted grass, minus 3-4 degrees at the farm at night.
The moment the sun shines, the grass becomes luscious once again.
 
Here we all are, like the chicken, caught between frost and warmth. Between shadow and light.
 
The yin-yang of winter mornings at the farm.
 
#frost #winter #yinyang #pasturedeggs #grass #frostedgrass #free #
 
--from the poem "Soft Shadows" by Natasha Turner

"Daily the low sun warms [us]
in a late love that is sweeter
than summer."
 
The flood of autumn colours: while picking some eggs in the autumn low sun, the chickens came to check on me, then the dog came to check on the chickens.
 
We all stretched and enjoyed the low sun glow love.
 
#lowsun #warmautumn #autumncolour #pastured #pasturedeggs #eggs #farmlife  #autumnleaves #leavesandeggs
 
--quote from the poem "Plums" by Gillian Clarke, with modification by Hilltops eggs farm

Did you know: the flower of Agapanthus is actually nice brown eggs  :)

Instead of the beautiful blue of the African Lilies we have around the house, we found among their green leaves hidden brown eggs The culprit was also captured in the photoshoot, can you spot her in the second photo below?
#freetoroam #chickens #newflower #eggs #pastured #green #hidden #agapanthus #africanlily #fromthegarden #findthechicken

“I will be the gladdest thing
    Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
    And not pick one.
 
I will look at cliffs and clouds
    With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
    And the grass rise.
 
And when lights begin to show
    Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
    And then start down!”
 
#afternoon #onthefarm #rainbow #pasturedeggs #cleanair #hill #autumnsky
-- from the poem “Afternoon on a Hill” by Edna St. Vincent Millay

The ‘kids’ are yawning and scratching, ready for bedtime. The last sliver of sunshine for the day, and all the animals are accounted for! 😃simple bliss.
#sunset #farm #pastured #animal #love #pasturedeggs

"There’s rain in my brain,
A pitter patter on the old grey matter,
[Chooks] and dogs in the cerebral cogs,
A shower dampening my mental power.
 
There’s precipitation in my imagination,
A cloud collision in my vision,
A deluge in my centrifuge,
A tidal surge has overwhelmed my optimistic urge,
 
A tsunami is rampaging through my spiritual harmony,
A lighting strobe just struck my frontal lobe.
There’s a vortex in my cortex,
An eddy in my heady,
 
A blizzard in my gizzard,
Hail in my vapour trail,
Sleet on my feet,
Snow on my big toe
Making me feel low.
 
I’ll pop a pill and rest my head
Upon a bed of feather
And when I wake I’m hoping
For bright eyes and better weather."
 
--- from the poem "Meteorological Migraine" by Alex Frankel
#rainyday #chooks #wet #eggs #pastured #farmlife #laninaweather #farm #rainyweather