Winter Rain

Cold & wet ... the most miserable weather!

Winter Garden

Life is good when you can eat out of the garden in December! We're currently enjoying the collards and the salad turnips.

Wrinkled Egg Shells

Last week we collected two eggs with "wrinkled" shells. There was a vein-like texture to the shell. The eggs were obviously from two different hens (one dark brown, one light brown). The insides were normal. We ate them.

Knowing that the waterer had gone dry one day last week (my bad) my theory was that a couple of hens might have become dehydrated while these eggs were developing. Very creative thinking, but not correct.

Today, we collected another wrinkled egg! No shortage of water this time. What's going on? Well, I needed some expertise, so I did what I always do when I need to know something. I googled it! Turns out wrinkled eggs are a real thing.

Basically, if the white of an egg is watery, it is harder for a shell to be built correctly around it and can cause an egg shell to be wrinkled. This is a problem of old age (we do have a lot of old hens) and some diseases, such as infectious bronchitis. Our hens eat a good diet and appear to be healthy. I guess they're just getting old … like me! The eggs are perfectly fine to eat.

http://poultrykeeper.com/egg-problems/wrinkled-egg-shells 

The Last of the Peppers

They're calling for frost tonight … a low of 29 degrees. The last of the peppers have been harvested.

• Poblanos stuffed with a seasoned and spiced mashed potato mixture for Andrew's graduation celebration last Wednesday.
• Anaheims roasted on the grill this morning. Chopped chili verde in the freezer.
• One more batch of jalapeño jelly? I have enough peppers...
• Sweet peppers chopped and frozen for future use.

Planting Garlic on a Beautiful Fall Day

Garlic

Friend and Master Gardener, Chris Diggs, gave me several varieties of her famous garlic during a recent visit from her home near Seattle. I separated the cloves and got them all in the ground this morning.

• Chesnick Red
• German Red
• Incheliuon Red
• Shantung Purple
• Toch
• Braque

The best time to plant garlic here in the Piedmont of NC is late September through early November. It's not a hard task. Here's everything you need to know about growing garlic:  http://www.almanac.com/plant/garlic

Autumn View

Looking toward the garden from my back door