It's easy to lend a hand at a community garden plot, but when we learned about Williams-Sonoma's new Agrarian Collection, the thought of just-laid eggs and fresh honey had us ready to get back to the land--our own, that is.
Here to transform our backyards into an agrarian paradise are three foolproof tools:
Besides freshly cultivated honey for toast and tea, a personal beehive yields a yard full of flowers. The Backyard Beehive ($340) has three boxes with built-in wax frames for your bees to make their honeycombs. Purchase it now and you’ll have a sweet harvest by summer. (Bees and apparel sold separately.)
This predator-proof Alexandria Chicken Coop ($880) comfortably houses four to six hens, with an add-on run frame ($400) to let them roam. One taste of a bright-orange egg yolk straight from the backyard and you’ll be swearing off the dairy aisle for good.
Foraging for mushrooms just got easier with this Shiitake mushroom log ($30). The hardwood trunk produces a new crop of organic shiitakes every two months for three years. Keep it near an open window--cover it with a plastic bag if you’re in an arid climate--and enjoy rich, earthy mushrooms in your salads and risottos.
