Anonymous wrote:

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Psych Lit wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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hmm i dont have a gazpacho recipe tho i can tell you my favorite 4 things to do with fresh garden tomatoes.  the first is a sandwich with fresh mozzerella and spinach. the second is to dice them, saute them with a lil olive and ground turkey and spread it over whole wheat pasta, homemade salsa is another and finally just plain eating them like an apple or worst guilty pleasure of all time a 'mater sammich on white bread with lettuce and mayo. ill have to wait a bit tho im salivating thinking of the latter. i have about 3 green tomatoes on the vine. i do have green beans tho and was able to pick enough for dinner.

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Anonymous wrote:

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Once they start here it happens quick. The sun is very intense now. There are more to the right that were cut out of the frame. The ones by the string are picked as of this am and, the ones near the bottom will be this evening. Mine still blooming too. The photo was taken around sunrise yesterday. I have 15 ripe in the kitchen. The big boy is in the shade and, not near ready. Anyone have a good gazpaccio (sp) recipe please post it. Gator

hmm i dont have a gazpacho recipe tho i can tell you my favorite 4 things to do with fresh garden tomatoes.  the first is a sandwich with fresh mozzerella and spinach. the second is to dice them, saute them with a lil olive and ground turkey and spread it over whole wheat pasta, homemade salsa is another and finally just plain eating them like an apple or worst guilty pleasure of all time a 'mater sammich on white bread with lettuce and mayo. ill have to wait a bit tho im salivating thinking of the latter. i have about 3 green tomatoes on the vine. i do have green beans tho and was able to pick enough for dinner.

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15! holy moley! how is the flavor? i moved my tomato plants this year hoping that the move will increase the flavor. they dont have the same oomph i remember from my childhood.

 

 

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Even though I said I was gonna and, have all the stuff to do so, I am not canning so far. I've handed out lots! The two plants in the earth box are prolific producers of the best tasting tomatoes I have had in a very long time. I've never got a phone call follow up thank you so much when I have handed out a few extra grown veggies. And, all the comments have been............they taste just like I remember in my childhood................a good old fashion tomato. LOL Gator

now thats what i am talking about! all the ones ive had in recent years are nearly as tasteless as the hothouse variety.

 

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Anonymous wrote:

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8 pints is alot. Are your blackberries wild?

nope. my friend gave me all of the raspberry cuttings when i first moved in and last year i got a whole 3 berries. lol. the blackberry plants came from wally worlds gardening center last year as did the blueberries. the blueberries havent borne fruit yet and i dont think they will this year. the blackberries were abundant, small but very sweet and flavorful. the raspberries are huge and just coming into season. i also have a bunch of strawberry plants but those are a bust again this year. i dont think the soil is right for them. i got a few but not enough to mention.

I saw a few plants tryng to spring up so, I quit mowing there and, they are multiplying. For 2 years now only a few berries. I'm not sure if my yard friends are eating them green or if they are not producing.

i covered mine this year. it was a bird problem. they love them. the mesh i put over them allowed the sun and rain in but kept the birds and bugs out. i think that was the big problem last year.

I put mushroom compost around some this spring and, that seemed to have hurt them more than help. I'm thinking I should just ignore them so they can do their thing. Definately want to read up caring for them for next year. I big time love berries. Gator

they spread fast. the cover most of my back fence now and i love that. one caution wear gloves when harvesting. my hands and arms are all cut up from the thorns:)

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Anonymous wrote:

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Psych Lit wrote:

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anyone ever eat fiddleheads?

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Nope and, I don't put epsom salt around grandmas balls either. Gator

 

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Psych Lit wrote:

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anyone ever eat fiddleheads?

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Nope and, I don't put epsom salt around grandmas balls either. Gator

I just love how their white spots are so often outlined in black, you know? :)

Psych Lit wrote:

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ive been told that i can turn my grandma balls blue by putting some epsom salts around them in the fall.

 

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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

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I absolutely love the photos........one of my favorites here..........Gator
Well, thanks. :)

The flower bed is now about 5' tall.
Pointedly, and I daresay almost Petulantly Purple, with some Puffs of Pink 
(It was a windy day, which is why the top of the pink one is cut off, LOL)

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Gator wrote:

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Hey, where are you owl? want to talk about your flowers and the eggplant and mint I planted today. oh and I got a fishing permit. Anyone like to fish? Gator

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yep, I like to fish. And I like quiet and stillness that comes with floating on the lake ... and watching the heron's fish and looking at all the pretty scenery .. although I'm not very good at coaxing a fish to bite. Still, I enjoy it anyway.

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

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I'm here. :) Flowers continue to bloom (new ones all the time) but I thought I was becoming a big boring talking about them so much, with all the photos.

 

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Gator wrote:

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Hey, where are you owl? want to talk about your flowers and the eggplant and mint I planted today. oh and I got a fishing permit. Anyone like to fish? Gator

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YUM!

I'm here. :) Flowers continue to bloom (new ones all the time) but I thought I was becoming a big boring talking about them so much, with all the photos.

Pulled one onion the other day from the middle of the bed. I've been chopping up the stems one at a time, and using them in various dishes, and am sort of tickled at what a wonderful addition they are. It really does seem as if they're "different" from the green onion stuff you get in the stores (MUCH more flavorful) but that's probably all in my head. :)

Gator wrote:

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ingredients and slow, elaborate preparation.

The dishes are rich and beautiful-sounding, fit to be eaten with the same care and ritual with which they are prepared. Most are presented in the context that Alice discovered or created them, and her memories are rarely mundane: One day when Picasso was to lunch with us I decorated a fish in a way that I thought would amuse him

i love this idea. care and ritual in both preparation and eating. what a change from the mindless grazing that most of us do even with regular meals.

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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

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The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book

A Classic Gastronomic Memoir Revisited

© Janeen Keelan

Feb 14, 2009

Alice B. Toklas (1877-1967) was born in San Francisco in 1877 and educated in the United States. At 29 she moved to Paris and fell in love with writer and fellow American Gertrude Stein. The women became lifelong partners, never separating until Steins death in 1946.

Originally published in 1954, the Alice B. Toklas Cook Book is a memoir of Stein and Toklas life together, from the salon years, hosting the eras artistic and literary elite in their famous Paris apartment at 27 Rue de Fleurus, through to the years when France was occupied by Nazi Germany. It is also a genuine cook book, containing about 300 recipes. The quality of these recipes, combined with the books undeniable literary quality, has kept the Alice B. Toklas Cook Book almost constantly in print for the last 45 years.

Recipes in the Alice B. Toklas Cook Book

To modern North Americans raised on canned goods, Toklas gourmet fare can be intimidating. There are a few simple recipes but most require fresh ingredients and slow, elaborate preparation.

The dishes are rich and beautiful-sounding, fit to be eaten with the same care and ritual with which they are prepared. Most are presented in the context that Alice discovered or created them, and her memories are rarely mundane: One day when Picasso was to lunch with us I decorated a fish in a way that I thought would amuse him

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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SOME GARDENERS SWEAR that they grow great
potatoes in old trash cans-either plastic or galvanized metal. Be sure
to punch some drainage holes in the bottom. (A barrel, a wooden box, or
any large container at least 18 inches deep with good drainage will
work.) Put a layer of soil about six inches deep into the bottom. Place
the seed potatoes inside, then cover with three inches of mulch or
soil. When leaves appear and plants are six to eight inches high, add
another layer of soil and continue hilling them up until they reach the
top. To harvest, simply turn the can onto its side and shake out the
crop!

 

Illustration by Sara Mintz Zwicker

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You know? That illustration looks pretty promising. I know here in Phoenix, they used to sell the old (big) recycle trash bins for $5 each (the ones that were wrecked) and you could turn them into compost bins, but then they started cutting them down and MAKING them (shorter) compost bins, so ... while it's better for the composter, I suppose, not so much so for the person who wants to use it as a garden patch. I confess, those potatoes way down deep like that look really promising, but gads, what kind of gardening faith would a person have to have, to "trust" that, without ever seeing above the soil line?
Mustard seed faith;)

I'd hate to do everything, and then on the grand opening day, tip over the barrel to discover I'd grown... a really big barrel of compost...

 

I doubt I will be able to wait till the process end. After a bloom I will be gently digging for a new potato or two. Yield is very dependent on layering after each new growth and, using seed about the size of an egg. I read of someone growing yukons in a 20 gal container and 2 store seeds and got a pound yield. Potatoes are not in the top 20 of high yield crop but, I'm still looking into all the other edible parts of the plant and, the blooms are impressive. Gator

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Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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I've been playing in the yard this am and, am plum inspired. I'm heading to the feed store to buy some sweet and, a red or, exotic hard to find variety of potato. I'm really into the weed free garden this year so, I am going to try this method I found at the "Old Farmers Almanac". Also, you can only plant a potato in ground one season and, then the soil is contaiminated so, this method takes care of that problem. Besides, I have other plans for the pasture and, will forgo worrying about trashing the back yard with weird containers for food. I'm on the lookout for a nice yard sculpture to lead the eye away till this class of morning glory blooms and overflows the can. I've heard you can eat the green until the harvest but, have yet to try them. Anyone here ever eat the foilage? I'd love to cop some wine barrels but, will make do with the trash cans sitting un used in my shed. Gator

SOME GARDENERS SWEAR that they grow great
potatoes in old trash cans-either plastic or galvanized metal. Be sure
to punch some drainage holes in the bottom. (A barrel, a wooden box, or
any large container at least 18 inches deep with good drainage will
work.) Put a layer of soil about six inches deep into the bottom. Place
the seed potatoes inside, then cover with three inches of mulch or
soil. When leaves appear and plants are six to eight inches high, add
another layer of soil and continue hilling them up until they reach the
top. To harvest, simply turn the can onto its side and shake out the
crop!

 

Illustration by Sara Mintz Zwicker

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I tried growing potatoes once. Not even CLOSE. : (
All I know about them is that they take more water and less heat than I can provide. Oh, and more land.

The bucket thing does sound intriguing, though. I wonder how big a crop that would yield? After that, I'm wondering exactly what kind of soil and climate would be required to grow a bucket of Yukon Golds... :) (I already know it's too hot for them here, but cripes... our markets do seem to take their name too literally, suggesting that they really ARE "worth their weight in gold" and we should pay accordingly.

I was reading about the bins (wire)before I decided on a 50 gallon container and, they say to just add plastic in arid climates. Containers take less water than in ground but, it must not dry out. I also saw where someone had Yukons growing in a 5 gallon pot and I imagine that it gets very hot in a small container like that. And, not enough room for any kind of yield. The nice thing is no soil is needed. They can be grown with hay or straw and manure. I'm doing soil because, I have a good size compost pile. Another nice thing is no need for fertilizer and, the less of that the sweeter the potato.

I didn't know that about one season of potatoes contaminating the soil for subsequent seasons. Guess they suck all the nutrients out of the soil? I wonder what, in terms of crop rotation, would be the best thing to plant the following season in that former potato patch.

They do suck the nutrients out of the soil but, the main reason is disease and insects. Remember the great potato famines ? A lot here rotate with rye and, corn. Gator

 

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Our potato sets are cut from certified seed, carefully packed and guaranteed to reach you in good condition. We supply large seed pieces (sets) which will grow more vigorous sprouts. These potato sets will be ready to plant when you receive them. Detailed planting information included.

Sorry, we do not ship potato sets to AK, AZ, Ca, HI, or OR.

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Ta Daaaaaaaaa...
Big whoop.

EXACTLY the same color as the Zinnias. I wouldn't be able to tell them apart at all, were it not for the shape of the leaves, and of course the stem.



Anyway...

"If you build it, they will come":

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

Whatever it is, it looks like it will be delicate ... just hope the heat doesn't do it in. This is the tall (tallest in the whole flowerbed) sort of fern looking plant, which once was almost indistinuishible from the African Daisies, and none of them have opened yet.

The others, the purple Zinnias, continue to bloom, though. I have about 13 full blossoms, with 2-3 times that many buds showing color. Also, some pink ones have cropped up. I really miss my tripod... am bummed that I couldn't hold the camera more still for this shot, but I couldn't. Anyway, I especially like the little scrolls, ready to unfurl:






And another:



"Watch Owl" (Still too early for the African Dasies to have opened for the day) :



You know? I was thinking, yesterday, about ... well, about people who have money for, and employ gardeners. There IS the thing about having a beautiful area to look upon and appreciate, which gardeners can provide, but separate and apart from that, at least for me, is the pleasure of sowing seeds, nurturing them, and then seeing what they become, you know? I mean... weird as it may sound, I really do have a sort of ... I dunno ... "relationship with" seems too far fetched, but at least "awareness of" each individual plant in this flowerbed, and that gives me something in addition to just looking at flowers, so I'm thankful that I was gifted with having to spend the better part of a day digging down about a foot and a half in this whole bed, and then hauling, shovel by shovel, compost over, and laying it (in, if I remember correctly,) seven layers of alternate compost and soil, and then picking the rocks out, sowing the seeds, and doing the daily watering. Having a garden is different from gardening, and I appreciate, and am thankful for, both.

-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 on Sunday 24th of May 2009 08:00:31 AM

 

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