What did you do in the garden today?

[Minanora]

I don't think unwashed eggs would last 2 years, nor 9 months. I've never had unwashed eggs over 4 weeks old.

Yesterday I ate eggs that I put in the fridge, unwashed, in late April. They had a bit more air in them but were totally fine.

My very fresh eggs are for making things that need egg whites, like Italian meringue buttercream. Or any baking recipe. Fresh eggs have a better albumen consistency since none of the water has evaporated.

Older eggs are great for boiling, there's room in the egg where the moisture has evaporated so they are less likely to crack while cooking. 3 month old eggs is a little excessive, but I try to use eggs that are at least 6 weeks old.

I've boiled eggs that floated the whole time, they were totally fine.

I do not use the float test for determining "bad eggs". But my eggs are not fertilized so I'm less worried about them spoiling. Eggs you get from the store are usually at least a month old already. So I'm not super worried about getting sick unless it's an egg covered in poo. Those get sent to the compost or washed, scrambled and fed to the dogs.

I do freeze raw scrambled eggs for camping, but now that I have A freeze dryer, I'll be putting up eggs for long storage that way instead.

 

[WthrLady]

If you are from the Midwest you know when corn blows down it usually stands back up on its own. With the straight line winds we got a couple nights ago mine got flattened. Didn't come back up this time, so I spent way to long propping it up and I only have a small area planted. We have had the worst winds with so much rain. On the bright side, everything is growing well. Picking cherry tomatoes, zucchini is almost ready and more onions. I'm a little concerned my potatoes are going to rot with how wet it is. More loud thunderstorms forecasted for tonight!

The weather this year is BONKERS and that's coming from one who knows. I might have to bring in my potato bucket, the last one. I'm also worried about rot and pill bugs.
THE WINDS this morning. We went over 60 and it twisted, almost off, several branches off the birch tree. I was out there with a chainsaw before the rains started, and we're under a rain train since 930. I'll take it, but I really need a week to dry out and cut hay!

 

[gtaus]

Does anyone else just enjoy walking around the garden at night?

I prefer to walk around the garden during daylight hours when I can see it. On the other hand, I always find more work that needs to be done. Maybe I would be better off enjoying the garden at night when I can't see anything!

 

[Rick589]

I would say smell first. . Egg producers "can" take up to 30 days to get their eggs to a store, so some store eggs could be a month old by the time they arrive at the store.

Exactly, store bought eggs are, as you said, more than likely weeks if not months old. So, I would buy several dozen at a time and have them in the fridge for a month or better at home before using them and still have never had a bad egg. So, at what point does an egg become bad? Seems to be their refrigerated shelf life is open ended and a matter of personal preference rather than a one day good next day bad scenario…BUT, I have been wrong before.

 

[Rick589]

Does anyone else just enjoy walking around the garden at night?

except for tripping over things and running into spider webs and their creators, yes.

 

[Rick589]

We also ate all of the ripe blueberries testing them to see if they were ripe.

So…… were they ripe or not?

 

[TJAnonymous]

Mini rant ahead...

Yesterday I bought a quart of strawberries from the grocery store. I intend to make simple syrup with them. I looked them over very very carefully before purchasing to ensure none were rotten. They all looked in very good condition.

I ALWAYS soak my store bought fruit in baking soda and water before thoroughly washing. It helps pull out pesticides and gunk.

Well today, after washing the strawberries that looked great BEFORE being cleaned with baking soda, I was disgusted. Over half of them had black mold and rot all over them. I cut out all the bad spots and easily lost over a third of the berries.

It just (bleep) me off that they spray stuff on the produce to make the produce look fresher than it is... How is that not false advertising?

 

[cj2024]

Last year when I grew the Louisiana 16-inch-long pod okra from Baker's Creek for the first time. I didn't like the light green color and the hollow airiness of the pod. I preferred the dark green color and fleshy texture of the Clemson Spineless Okra. However, this year the Louisiana long okra is doing better in the heat, and I have overcome my bias towards the color and texture of them. I have been eating them raw at 12 inches, and they are still tender at that size.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

God is watering my garden today so there isn’t much for me to do, but the dill is finally bolting as is some of the catnip.

I also put some onion trimmings in the fridge, currently arguing with myself if they should go in the freezer instead since I have no current plans for them.

 

[C Siena]

Exactly, store bought eggs are, as you said, more than likely weeks if not months old. So, I would buy several dozen at a time and have them in the fridge for a month or better at home before using them and still have never had a bad egg. So, at what point does an egg become bad? Seems to be their refrigerated shelf life is open ended and a matter of personal preference rather than a one day good next day bad scenario…BUT, I have been wrong before.

We dehydrate for Long term use. As stated previously, we have dehydrated eggs that are 2.5 yrs old and still good. If electric goes out, they are good and we have lost our electric a couple of times for about 36+ hours.

Nothing wrong with keeping them in the fridge for 2-3 (maybe more) months. We don't have the room in our fridge for the extras.

We like a few options: fresh on the counter, dehydrated and a couple dz water glassed. Only an egg with a crack or one so dirty it needs to be washed, will be in the fridge.

We also have 2 roosters, so fertilization may make a difference in storage time. I have been wrong many times in my life. As you wrote, personal preference.