As many North Fork families are preparing to color Easter eggs, you may consider a no-dye option. The ones bought from the grocery store — traditionally white or brown in hue — are often hard boiled and dipped into water dyed with artificial food coloring. Pink, blue and green eggs are fun to make in the kitchen, but nature has its own way of coloring eggs — plus you can scramble them once they’re done doubling as festive holiday décor.
There are about 20 chickens at 1760 Homestead Farm in Northville capable of laying these brightly colored eggs in shades that can range from olive green to turquoise blue and dusty rose. They are aptly called “Easter Egger” breeds and produce about two eggs every three days, which are diligently collected and sorted by owners Larry and Margaret Kaiser.
“People are always surprised to learn that white chickens don’t only produce white eggs,” Mr. Kaiser said. “It is a treat this time of year because a lot of people don’t know that chickens produce blue or green eggs.”
The Kaisers are selling the colored eggs by the dozen in their Easter Cartons this spring. The holiday cartons are priced the same as the regular farm fresh egg cartons at $7, but are curated to include an assortment of uniquely colored eggs.
“We package them for families,” Mr. Kaiser said. “We take the time to blend different colors together so people have a nice variety.”
Giving customers a sampling of what’s grown on the farm in one neat container is also the concept behind their “Honeymoon Bowls.” Twelve-inch planters are filled with a variety of the farm’s organic lettuce varieties such as mesclun, buttercrunch, romaine and red cross for quick, farm fresh salads at home.
“It is like having a kitchen garden,” Mr. Kaiser said. “It is great for people with apartments or small backyards.”
The “Honeymoon Bowl” gets its name because it’s “lettuce alone,” Mr. Kaiser said with a laugh. Get it? Let-us-alone…Though bowls can also be customized to include herbs for cooking and garnish.
The Kaisers purchased the 4.5-acre farm — considered the oldest farmstead on Sound Avenue in Riverhead Town — in 2013. It previously belonged to the Tuthill Family, which acquired it from the Terry Family, who built the original homestead in 1760.
The farm continues to be family operated with the Kaisers, and their son Travis, restoring the original 3,200-square-foot barn and farmhouse over the past several years while raising farm animals and growing toxin-free heirloom vegetables and flowers. The self-service farm stand, which opened for the season last week, has also added handmade bees wax candles and maple syrup to its lineup of provisions in 2019.
1760 Homestead is located at 5412 Sound Ave, Riverhead
North Fork in Bloom is a new weekly series covering things we love about spring on the North Fork. Have a post suggestion, email associate content director Cyndi Zaweski at [email protected].
