Agri-business

A day or two ago my friend Margaret called.  She wanted duck eggs to give to an Asian co-worker.  (Some Asian populations deem duck eggs as a specialty.)  I was happy to give Margaret some eggs, since our ducks are currently laying 8-10 eggs each day.  (Although I have noticed a nest of eggs out under one of our pine trees and I suspect one of the ducks will begin setting in the next few days...)

Margaret came over to collect eggs yesterday, but I was not home.  She returned today, and yes, I had eggs, but I had not washed them yet.  Duck eggs tend to be dirtier than chicken eggs, plus, I had weeded the gardens and then collected the eggs this morning with muddy hands, so the eggs were pretty unsightly.  I told Margaret I would wash them and we would connect later.

Later, I did take two dozen eggs over to neighbor Margaret (six miles away).  We visited some more, and Margaret told me she would bring over some sweet corn when it is ready, in payment for the eggs.  This is how we do it out here in rural Kansas. 

What a fun surprise this evening when I spied Margaret at our garden gate with a bag of sweet corn!  I didn't expect sweet corn for another week or so.  It turns out, Margaret and her husband went and picked sweet  corn down the road (ten miles) at the organic pig farmer's place, because he was trading his sweet corn for some of Margaret's other garden produce, and Margaret thought she would share the wealth this evening.

Agri-business, at its best.