The egg-sact colour

It seems that all eggs in England are brown. Someone once told me that you used to be able to get white ones not so long ago. Back home, you can choose which colour you want to buy - brown or white. But what makes the eggs a particular colour?

All eggs start out white. The final colour of an egg shell is a result of pigments deposited during the formation process. It's down to genetics. Some breed produce white eggs, some produce brown and you get lots of variation in between. Some chickens can even produce bluish or speckled eggs. You can rub off the eggshell colour if you get to the egg as it is laid and while it is still damp.

White eggs do not come from battery hens any more than brown ones come from free-range chickens.

In general, chicken breeds with white ear lobes lay white eggs, whereas chickens with red ear lobes lay brown eggs. Although there is no significant link between shell color and nutritional value, there is often a cultural preference for one color over another. For example, in most regions of the US, chicken eggs are generally white; while in the northeast of that country and in the UK, they are generally light-brown.

Why autumn this year is more spectacular than usual

This autumn has been quite spectacular here in the southwest. Vibrant colours that I associate with parts of the US. The last time I remember it being so colourful was the autumn of 2003 - after we'd had a hot and dry summer.

The colours we see are always there but are usually masked by the green chlorophyll. It's only in the autumn, when the days are shorter and cooler and the trees stop making clorophyll, that we see them.

The red and purple anthocyanins and yellow and orange carotenoids come to the fore and we see the hidden colours of the leaves.

Apparently, the best conditions for intense leaf color to develop are dry, sunny days followed by cool (but not freezing) nights. This autumn certainly has been dry and not cold. And so that's why this autumn seems more spectacular than usual.