What did you do in the garden today?

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Have you thought about waterglassing as a way to preserve eggs? I plan to start doing that when we can't keep up with eating them. They can be preserved for a year to 18 months. I'll need them next winter.

That’s way too much work for me. I just limit my egg sales starting in August and store unwashed eggs in the basement refrigerator. My girls usually are still laying through mid October and start laying again in mid January. So the eggs I store in the refrigerator is enough to get me through the winter. I haven’t bought eggs since my first chickens started laying in early September 2018.

 

[WthrLady]

Can we all agree -"HOLY CRAP that's a really PURPLE sweet potato!!!"
LOL I was short one for dinner and grabbed one at whole paycheck, and didn't realize I grabbed a purple one. Never had one THAT purple b4.

 

[Elyrian1]

Watered, brought everything inside for the night because it'll be right about frost temps. Chicks are fast asleep and happy in my living room once more after being out for 36 hours. They've feathered up enough that they don't need a heater indoors anymore. I'm only worried when the temps dip down around 60 or lower at this point, then I plug their brooder plate in.

I had hoped to plant some onions and potatoes today, but we had a dirt in your teeth kind of windy day today. It was also "tumbleweed in grill" day for DH at work, lol.

 

[chickengr]

I haven't put the avocado seed outside. I still have that one inside on a south-facing window ledge so it gets plenty of light but not any chill. If it doesn't sprout in the next 3 weeks, I'll simply go buy another one and try again... This is like my 4th try.

I'm in the same boat on the eggs. Getting close to 2 1/2 - 3 dozen per day and not enough room for all of them. This is when I start dumping excess eggs into the garden soil.

I cook the excess eggs to my chickens. it helps the feed bill.

 

[chickengr]

You can dehydrate eggs and store the powder for a year. You can use it in baking. I can’t understand wasting food when so many are struggling right now. JMHO.

how do you dehydrate eggs?

 

[littledog]

What's everybody's take on using "Bio-Solid" compost in the garden?

I use our free local bio-solid product. It's not a compost-type product (agree that would not be safe) but the stuff we get from our municipality is a fertilizer, completely dried out and meant to be used sparingly. I usually get 2-3 five-gallon buckets every year, sprinkle it on my beds in the fall along with composted horse manure, cover with thick mulch and let it sit until spring, then mix everything up and add my own compost from my pile before I plant.

I trust our local waste-treatment plant. I took a tour of the plant before deciding to use their product, and was impressed with how high-tech it is, like a science lab. We saw how they send everything through a UV filter that kills the majority of the pathogens, another filter with magnets to remove the heavy metals, and the final product is roasted at high temperature until all the moisture is gone. The final bio-solid product is tested for NPK, pathogens, heavy metals, minerals, and the results posted on the shed where they leave it for people to pick up. The water that is let into the river is tested several times a day, and consistently tests as clean or cleaner than the river water, and at an appropriate cool temperature to not harm fish or other organisms who live there. I also know a couple people who work there, and I'm confident they're not taking shortcuts or being dishonest about their test results.

That said, your mileage may vary depending on your municipality. If you're considering it, ask for a tour, and if they're not transparent about their product, I would avoid it. And I definitely would never buy any product from a store, that included "bio-solids" as one of the ingredients. Who knows where it came from! But I feel confident about the safety of where mine comes from.

All my seedlings have sprouted, except the luffa Cabbages, San Marzano and Sungold tomatoes, even the leeks which I've never had luck with before. Had to reset my grow lights, I messed up the timers so one was off when it was supposed to be on, and the poor seedlings were turning their heads every 12 hours. Got them straightened out before any harm was done, hopefully! And replanted some luffa seeds.

At work, I happened to bring a jar of my pickles as a snack, and a co-worker friend wanted a taste, he loves pickles. Score! I have so many pickles we'll definitely not eat before the next batch is ready, and he offered to trade some of my pickles for some unused canning jars. Pints, just what I am short of, that I need to experiment with pressure canning in my instant-pot! I love trades like this.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

There are 2 methods sort of. You can scramble raw eggs then put them in a non stick pan and dry them in an oven at low temperatures or put them in a dehydrator. If you cook the eggs first then put them into a dehydrator I believe that would be the safer method. You can google the process for more specific information.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

My tulips are coming up. The peach trees are budding out, but it's too cold and I need to spray them first anyway, so I hope they hold off for a few more weeks.

 

[Sueby]

@Wee Farmer Sarah I mostly meant freeze eggs now for him to eat shortly - he eats 2 egg muffins a day so if I can do a huge batch now I can relax for a bit. But, with that said, if I cook them now & vacuum seal them they'll be fine for over a year. I started around August hoarding eggs too, but then my girls all stopped laying in Sept! I wasn't prepared for that! I'd only ever had RLS & they just never stopped laying at all so I was totally caught off guard. That won't happen again. It's a good idea to feed some back to the girls too, especially with the price of feed right now. Thank you for that reminder @chickengr.

 

[jerryse]

Rainy chilly day here . I have hollyhock seeds sprouting .