Posted by shazzbat on December 24, 2011, 7:17 am
We've just been down to the allotment as is our wont on Christmas eve to
pick sprouts(good) and dig parsnips(ok ish) and the baby new
potatoes(disappointing).
But the strangest thing happened. When I put the fork in to start digging
parsnips, I dug up an egg. Yes, an egg. It looked like a hen's egg, brown. I
don't know whether any other birds eggs can be mistaken for a hen's egg. Do
any animals bury eggs?
I brought it home and it sank rather than floated, which would suggest it
was fresh rather than stale, but I don't know whether being buried would
have affected this. I broke it open and it didn't smell bad, but I'm not
brave enough to eat it. There are no chickens nearby as far as I know, and
we have the allotment furthest from the road, so unlikely to have been
brought in for a prank. I would regard it having been put there by another
allotmenteer as not beyond the bounds of possibility, but extremely
unlikely.
The soil it was in was dug up a couple of weeks ago when I last dug
parsnips, so it was loose, and also very wet this morning. The egg was
completely buried, so it must have been deliberate, rather than having been
dropped.
Any ideas?
Steve
Posted by Dave Hill on December 24, 2011, 7:40 am
wrote:
> We've just been down to the allotment as is our wont on Christmas eve to
> pick sprouts(good) and dig parsnips(ok ish) and the baby new
> potatoes(disappointing).
> But the strangest thing happened. When I put the fork in to start digging
> parsnips, I dug up an egg. Yes, an egg. It looked like a hen's egg, brown. I
> don't know whether any other birds eggs can be mistaken for a hen's egg. Do
> any animals bury eggs?
> I brought it home and it sank rather than floated, which would suggest it
> was fresh rather than stale, but I don't know whether being buried would
> have affected this. I broke it open and it didn't smell bad, but I'm not
> brave enough to eat it. There are no chickens nearby as far as I know, and
> we have the allotment furthest from the road, so unlikely to have been
> brought in for a prank. I would regard it having been put there by another
> allotmenteer as not beyond the bounds of possibility, but extremely
> unlikely.
> The soil it was in was dug up a couple of weeks ago when I last dug
> parsnips, so it was loose, and also very wet this morning. The egg was
> completely buried, so it must have been deliberate, rather than having been
> dropped.
> Any ideas?
> Steve
Could it have been that chap on "Escape to the Country" on TV last
week who said he wanted to grow Chickens?
On the other hand Foxes will bury eggs.
Posted by Martin on December 24, 2011, 9:56 am
On Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:40:04 -0800 (PST), Dave Hill
>wrote:
>> We've just been down to the allotment as is our wont on Christmas eve to
>> pick sprouts(good) and dig parsnips(ok ish) and the baby new
>> potatoes(disappointing).
>>
>> But the strangest thing happened. When I put the fork in to start digging
>> parsnips, I dug up an egg. Yes, an egg. It looked like a hen's egg, brown. I
>> don't know whether any other birds eggs can be mistaken for a hen's egg. Do
>> any animals bury eggs?
>>
>> I brought it home and it sank rather than floated, which would suggest it
>> was fresh rather than stale, but I don't know whether being buried would
>> have affected this. I broke it open and it didn't smell bad, but I'm not
>> brave enough to eat it. There are no chickens nearby as far as I know, and
>> we have the allotment furthest from the road, so unlikely to have been
>> brought in for a prank. I would regard it having been put there by another
>> allotmenteer as not beyond the bounds of possibility, but extremely
>> unlikely.
>>
>> The soil it was in was dug up a couple of weeks ago when I last dug
>> parsnips, so it was loose, and also very wet this morning. The egg was
>> completely buried, so it must have been deliberate, rather than having been
>> dropped.
>>
>> Any ideas?
>>
>> Steve
>Could it have been that chap on "Escape to the Country" on TV last
>week who said he wanted to grow Chickens?
>On the other hand Foxes will bury eggs.
as do turtles and crocodiles. Be very scared.
--
Martin
Posted by 'Mike' on December 24, 2011, 8:53 am
> We've just been down to the allotment as is our wont on Christmas eve to
> pick sprouts(good) and dig parsnips(ok ish) and the baby new
> potatoes(disappointing).
> But the strangest thing happened. When I put the fork in to start digging
> parsnips, I dug up an egg. Yes, an egg. It looked like a hen's egg, brown.
> I don't know whether any other birds eggs can be mistaken for a hen's egg.
> Do any animals bury eggs?
> I brought it home and it sank rather than floated, which would suggest it
> was fresh rather than stale, but I don't know whether being buried would
> have affected this. I broke it open and it didn't smell bad, but I'm not
> brave enough to eat it. There are no chickens nearby as far as I know, and
> we have the allotment furthest from the road, so unlikely to have been
> brought in for a prank. I would regard it having been put there by another
> allotmenteer as not beyond the bounds of possibility, but extremely
> unlikely.
> The soil it was in was dug up a couple of weeks ago when I last dug
> parsnips, so it was loose, and also very wet this morning. The egg was
> completely buried, so it must have been deliberate, rather than having
> been dropped.
> Any ideas?
> Steve
Rats
--
...................................
I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight.
...................................
Posted by Charlie Pridham on December 24, 2011, 9:55 am
> We've just been down to the allotment as is our wont on Christmas eve to
> pick sprouts(good) and dig parsnips(ok ish) and the baby new
> potatoes(disappointing).
> But the strangest thing happened. When I put the fork in to start digging
> parsnips, I dug up an egg. Yes, an egg. It looked like a hen's egg, brown.
> I don't know whether any other birds eggs can be mistaken for a hen's egg.
> Do any animals bury eggs?
> I brought it home and it sank rather than floated, which would suggest it
> was fresh rather than stale, but I don't know whether being buried would
> have affected this. I broke it open and it didn't smell bad, but I'm not
> brave enough to eat it. There are no chickens nearby as far as I know, and
> we have the allotment furthest from the road, so unlikely to have been
> brought in for a prank. I would regard it having been put there by another
> allotmenteer as not beyond the bounds of possibility, but extremely
> unlikely.
> The soil it was in was dug up a couple of weeks ago when I last dug
> parsnips, so it was loose, and also very wet this morning. The egg was
> completely buried, so it must have been deliberate, rather than having
> been dropped.
> Any ideas?
> Steve
Foxes often bury eggs
--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
XML site map
> pick sprouts(good) and dig parsnips(ok ish) and the baby new
> potatoes(disappointing).
> But the strangest thing happened. When I put the fork in to start digging
> parsnips, I dug up an egg. Yes, an egg. It looked like a hen's egg, brown. I
> don't know whether any other birds eggs can be mistaken for a hen's egg. Do
> any animals bury eggs?
> I brought it home and it sank rather than floated, which would suggest it
> was fresh rather than stale, but I don't know whether being buried would
> have affected this. I broke it open and it didn't smell bad, but I'm not
> brave enough to eat it. There are no chickens nearby as far as I know, and
> we have the allotment furthest from the road, so unlikely to have been
> brought in for a prank. I would regard it having been put there by another
> allotmenteer as not beyond the bounds of possibility, but extremely
> unlikely.
> The soil it was in was dug up a couple of weeks ago when I last dug
> parsnips, so it was loose, and also very wet this morning. The egg was
> completely buried, so it must have been deliberate, rather than having been
> dropped.
> Any ideas?
> Steve