Awesome that you are helping, Jan......

That's awesome Janice

all! 😌

It's that time of year when the chill is settling in. Went out this morning and picked huge batches of Basil, Catnip, Nasturtium and Marigold flowers, Rosemary, Thyme, Lemon Thyme, Spearmint and Chocolate Mint and Oregano. I have it all bunched and hanging to dry in the basement on the clothes line. (It smells delightful) Once dried they will go into a Tupperware container and fed to the Hens over the winter.

so this is a super silly question, but does what the hens eat have an effect on the taste of the eggs, much like cows that eat onions have onion flavored milk?

Good question! Cellar must smell heavenly.....I've never dried any herbs...too lazy I guess!

Yes Herbs make all the difference when fed to the Chickens. The eggs have an amazing orange yoke and are awesome..... When we had Chickens before I always made sure to grow lots and dry them. I also use the herbs in the nest box, it makes the chickens nice and relaxed and want to go in and lay. Herbs have lots of healing powers as well. My Chickens in the past loved to eat the herbs just like treats.

My Cellar smells amazing as well as my kitchen which has lemon thyme in the dehydrator. Have Rosemary hanging in the half bathroom which is a delightful aroma.

Can smell your house from here! Awesome!

Makes me want to try some drying......

Marilyn it's super easy. I pick the herbs, wrap a rubber band around the stems and then take a paperclip and loop it through the rubber band and they are ready to hang.

Anyone growing orange mint? Big clump of it in community garden. I'm dry as many leaves as I can to flavor tea and water this winter. The scent alone is wonderful.

I don't grow orange but do have lemon and just love the smell. Never thought to dry it

I didn't think of it either. When I mentioned how much I would miss just being able to smell it come winter, someone gave me the info on drying and use. Bet the lemon is awesome too!

Thanks, Karen....that sounds easy-peasy! I have black mint & spearmint....found a few green toms in the garden yesterday & I pickled them.....

I have pineapple mint and chocolate mint but thinking of tossing them due their invasiveness. Tips on how to control this would be great! I tried the pineapple mint in a pot but it didn't like it.

I have pineapple mint as well. I pick it and wash the leaves then add water and simmer it for a few hours. I then make mint jelly with it. It's awesome. Once you have the mint jelly made you can add 1 pint of jelly to 1 package of cream cheese and blend it together to make a dip for fruit cubes. I also dry it for tea which my daughter adds into her black tea infuser ball.

Janice I had 4 types of mint in containers.. only 1 returned after last winter.. had them for years that way too.. the orange mint is one that didn't come back

Darn. Was hoping to grow some on window sill love winter. Turns out the clump, which is huge, is so solid, couldn't get a piece with roots. If you remind me, maybe I can get you a piece in the spring when it's just coming up.

I have 2 gallon-sized containers of rainbow carrots.....I decided to roast some for Sunday dinner since I'm roasting a chicken as well......now, about the beets....I should pickle some, but I'm getting pretty lazy.....maybe I'll just keep them in the fridge instead of canning them.....

We harvested our Horseradish bed this year cause it has to move to a new location. We where kinda sad to see that we didn't dig up lots of huge roots as the plants where just gorgeous. What we did get was tons and tons of smaller roots about 2 foot long and about the thickness of a pencil. I've been washing them and peeling them for the past 3 days. My sinus's are pretty much gone at this point. I've managed so far to jar up 6 pints of horseradish so far and 6 half pints of cranberry horseradish sauce that is just awesome on a Turkey sandwich. I've been putting them all in the freezer to last through the winter. Fresh horseradish is by far superior than those huge roots you buy at the store. The fresh has such a nice kick to it.