Aren't these grand? Just picked from my garden, French wax beans called Roc D' Or. You can get organic seeds from Seeds of Change. These are a crisp bean with a buttery flavor. Plants don't take up much space with a max height of about 15"-20". I direct seeded these into the garden for fall harvest back at the end of August/early September. In our area of zone 8 you can plant beans in early spring, around the end of March, June and again in mid- August through early September. I find this last crop to usually be the easiest.

These plants will continue to produce until it gets cold. All the while, these helpful legumes are enriching the soil with Nitrogen they fix themselves from the atmosphere. A nice bonus for the next crop you plant in that spot. What beats free fertilizer? Ok, a few things, but hey, in the vegetable garden you take the free fertilizer! Mmmm, can't wait to eat these...

I planted a small container of this Passiflora violacea 'Lavender Lady' in the middle of summer. It took off like gangbusters and has spread about twenty feet...along the chain link fence, up the hackberry, you name it! In the photo, it is commingling with some blackberries. It's covered in blooms right now which a welcome sight in the dreary rainy weather we've been having. I'll post some photos of the sky vine in bloom tomorrow.

Beautiful Blue and Green Eggs

We got a full dozen eggs last week and another three today. Lovely blue, sage green and pure white eggs. They are a beautiful sight on the kitchen table. I believe that either 3 or 4 out of the 5 hens are laying right now. Einstein of course, who is laying the smaller white eggs, Eunis, who is laying green eggs, and Honkers who I believe is laying the blue eggs.

It's possible that Pecker is also laying and if so I think she is also contributing green eggs. Phyllis may be the last hold out. She is quite the individual. We didn't have to buy eggs at the grocery store today...how nice! I just bought a unique ceramic bowl this weekend at an antique store in Mineola to display the eggs. It's a lovely pale blue color. I'll shoot a photo of it with our lovely eggs next time.

PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Here's a quick update on what I'm harvesting from my fall garden right now.

Fall Garden Harvest
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Swiss chard I planted from seed is big enough now to harvest. The sorrel is going strong and has put on lots of new growth with all this rain. Cool season herbs like dill are kicking into gear. Lots of peppers coming right now and a few more eggplant. Some wax beans are ripening as well. Basil is still going strong. And I scored four eggs yesterday. Haven't gone out to check on today's nests. The color didn't translate in the photo well, but there are two green eggs, one blue and one white.

Ok, you guys have been asking for organic feed, so I just placed an order or Organic Pullet Starter, Organic Layer Feed and Organic Corn today. We hope to get that in at North Haven Gardens within about a week. They will all be 50lb bags because after 6 months of haggling that is the only size I can get! Retail pricing for the feed will be around $60 a bag give or take (don't have final yet) and the corn around $50. So around a buck a pound for the organic. Still waiting on an eta but don't imagine it will be more than a week. We will still carry the conventional layer pellets and scratch. NHG carries lots of backyard chicken keeping supplies like handcrafted cedar arks, nesting boxes, feeders, waterers, supplements, food grade diatomaceous earth, books and more.

What's wrong with this picture?? I got here before 7am...still here....sigh. Inventory gone wrong....lol. Maybe I'll see bed by 2am if I'm lucky. Ah, ain't technology grand? LOL

Happy midnight surfing...

So it seems more of the gals have started kicking into gear while I'm on vacation...the neighbors on babysitting duty are taking photos for me. lol. At least one of the Ameraucanas is now laying...I have a feeling it's Pecker, since she looked like she was trying to do "the squat" the day before we left on our trip. I'm not sure if Phyllis has starting laying yet or not, it may just still be Einstein, who started laying last Friday.

Fresh Yard Eggs
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

The two smaller ones are probably from Einstein, and the larger one on the left is from one of the Ameraucanas...Lonnie said it's the prettiest sage color, but that's really not showing up in the photo.

They seem a little confused about where they're supposed to lay their eggs....lol...I think they're doing it everywhere except the roosting boxes.

If you look real close...you'll see one little egg in some straw on the ground below the coop...lol

Look at those beautiful orange yolks! All those good greens they eat. Plus, I add flax oil to their cook spaghetti...what's good for them is good for me! Commercial grocery store eggs??? NO THANKS!