This is a picture (forgive the blur) of one of my fig trees, can I assume that this is a Fig? If it is then three of my fig trees have figs!
Posted on 05/30/2008 5:30:48 AM PDT by Gabz
5 foods it's cheaper to grow
If grocery prices have you thinking about cutting costs with a garden, you may be on the right track. But be careful what you plant; a garden could raise your food costs. Whether you save by gardening depends largely on where you live, what you grow and how well you resist slick gadgets and miracle solutions. If you're looking to save money rather than to start a hobby, here are five garden crops likely to give you the best return:
What about tomatoes? They require moderate care and vigilance, and in short-season climates, you can tend them all summer only to have them not quite ripen before the first frost. When they do ripen, everybody's selling them cheap.
But you can't put a price on everything. Home-grown, just-picked tomatoes are heavenly. Some foods you have to grow yourself to fully appreciate.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.moneycentral.msn.com ...
In the rest of the article, which is a really good read, it also lists 5 foods that are best to leave to the farmers.
I reccommend you all go to the link and read the rest of the article.
Weekly Gardening Ping.
I really hate to post and run folks, but my husband and I are painting rental cabins over on Chincoteague and we’ll be leaving here shortly and so I won’t be near a computer all day.........but at least I’ll be outside all day!!!!
Several of you pinged me to some really great articles yesterday, that I haven’t gotten to pinging the list, so if you could link them to this thread I would really appreciate it!
Have a great day Gabz! Don’t work too hard!
I support my local farmers. He does his job and I do mine. We’re both happy.
You have a great day, too!!!
Painting is not hard work, I actually enjoy it. We started the one cabin yesterday afternoon and should have it done by this afternoon, or Monday morning at the latest. The other one is smaller and we expect to knock it out by Monday, Tuesday morning at the latest.
I’ll be back later. TOODLES!
Whoa! How did William Alexander spend over $16,000 creating a garden and why is he cited in an article about saving money?
The guy seems to be lacking the common sense gene. LOL
He is correct about potatoes. I remember when we grew them on the farm. We used about 100 yds of a field terrace and had several rows. We could get a pickup load from about 50 lbs of seed potatoes.
We also used terraces for growing melons, cucumbers and cantaloupes. One row close to the top and let the vines grow down each side.
This year we are growing tomato's, cukes, radishes, lettuce, hot peppers, eggplant, carrots, bush beans and cantaloupes. Just few herbs, parsley, basil and oregano.
I joke to my friends that I'm growing a salad!
bump
Saving this repelling plant guide.
| INSECT PEST | REPELLING PLANT |
| Ants | pennyroyal, spearmint, southernwood, tansy |
| Aphids | garlic, chives and other alliums, coriander, anise, nasturtium and petunia around fruit trees |
| Borer | garlic, onion, tansy |
| Cabbage moth | mint, hyssop, rosemary, southernwood, thyme, sage, wormwood, celery, catnip, nasturtium |
| Colorado potato beetle | green beans, horseradish, dead nettle, flax, catnip, coriander, tansy, nasturtium |
| Cucumber beetle | tansy, radish |
| Cutworm | tansy |
| Flea beetle | wormwood, mint, catnip, interplant cole crops with tomato |
| Japanese beetle | garlic, larkspur, tansy, rue, white geranium |
| Leafhopper | petunia, geranium |
| Mexican bean beetle | marigold, potato, rosemary, savory, petunia |
| Mites | onion, garlic, chives |
| Nematodes | marigold, salvia, dahlia, calendula, asparagus |
| Rose chafer | geranium, petunia, onion |
| Slug | prostrate rosemary, wormwood |
| Squash bug | tansy, nasturtium, catnip |
| Tomato hornworm | borage, marigold, opal basal |
| Whitefly | nasturtium, marigold |
Me too! I just took three of my ceiling fans down and stenciled flowers on them. Hubby just shook his head. I’m getting ready to paint my daughter’s bedroom. She moved out and it’s empty. Have to do some patchwork first—hate that.
If you plant Tansy and Mint, you better like it a lot because it is taking over.
My tomatoes are growing really nicely, even though we’re gardening newbies. We planted Better Boy, an heirloom tomato, and cherry tomatoes. I’m so excited!
I planted a cilantro plant thinking that would be the herb I would use the most. It never grew any other leaves other than the great big stalks it used to go to seed. I’m going to have to figure that one out.
The mint thing seems to work. We had some chocolate mint—think peppermint patty—escape in the greenhouse. As long as we leave it be around the pump, no fireants. Clean the greenhouse, pull the mint up, and in about 3 days we have fireants inside. The mint will grow back—it’s also escaped to the outside and grows all teh way down the side of the greenhouse and out into the grass. Smells great when teh guys mow!
This is a picture (forgive the blur) of one of my fig trees, can I assume that this is a Fig? If it is then three of my fig trees have figs!
I know why he shook his head! LOL
I have mint confined to a planter. My wife likes fresh mint in her hot or iced tea. I told her the only way I was planting mint was if I could confine it! I watch it closely!
Good article. Planted 12 tomato plants, wrapped their little plot in wire to save it from the bunnies and the deer - so plants, fencing wire and posts have to be figured into the cost, although the fencing is reusable.
I was thinking of trying potatoes in one of those cloth sacks....one of the so called gourmet types that cost a fortune at the store. Anyone given that a try?
I have cucumbers and peppers in also. I plant loose leaf greens (lettuce?) in pots. They reseed every spring and every fall. I’m actually thinking of moving the pots into the sunroom - it may be cool enough to keep the production going over the summer.
We have a lot of herbs in pots, the herb garden is under construction. Not only does it save money, they taste so much better picked this minute fresh.
Fireants! We don’t have those out here, thank goodness. After what I’ve heard, I’d be scared to death of them. I don’t have any chocolate mint, just regular, but I love it.
Yes, that is a fig. Looks like that little tree is happy and healthy!
I have some mint, in an area where nothing else is growing. It does travel a bit, but I don’t know - out here where it is so dry, maybe it can’t do what it might do in a climate where it got more water.
I never even heard of tansy before.
From Wiki:
All parts of the plant are edible, but the fresh leaves and the dried seeds are the most commonly used in cooking. Coriander is commonly used in Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Indian, South Asian, Latin American, Chinese, African and Southeast Asian cuisine.
The leaves are variously referred to as coriander leaves in Britain; cilantro (from the Spanish name for the plant) in the United States, and dhania in the Indian subcontinent. The leaves, and especially the stems, have a very different taste from the seeds, similar to parsley but "juicier" and with citrus-like overtones. Some people instead perceive an unpleasant "soapy" taste and/or a rank smell. This is believed to be a result of an enzyme that changes the way they taste coriander leaves, a genetic trait, but has yet to be fully researched.[3]
The fresh leaves and stems are an essential ingredient in many Vietnamese foods, Asian chutneys, Mexican salsas and guacamole, and occasionally is used in sushi rolls. Chopped coriander leaves are also used as a garnish on cooked dishes such as dal and many curries. As heat diminishes their flavor quickly, coriander leaves are often used raw or added to the dish right before serving. In some Indian and Central Asian recipes, coriander leaves are used in huge amounts and cooked till they dissolve into sauce and their flavour mellows.[1] Another factor that dictates the quality of flavor is the time when coriander is harvested. If its roots consistently stay at a temperature above 75 degrees Fahrenheit, the herb will quickly bolt, causing its leaves and stems to yield a bitter flavor and become quite chewy. At this point, made evident by the thinner and finer leaves, it is practical to harvest only the coriander seeds, since the stems and leaves are no longer usable as food.
Only if you aren't smart enough to choose tomatoes that can be grown in short-season climates. DUH!
I have 5 kinds of mints in big pots. I dump the pots, hack the plant in half, add compost, put one half back in the pot, give away or trashcan the other half every spring. That covers maintenance. Lovely stuff for tea and for cooking.
Let it out of the pots though and its a thug.
My Sugar Baby Watermelon patch is thriving also. These pictures were taken this morning. To see how much it grew in the past two weeks check out my "about page".
Yep, that’s the big seed stalk I’ve got. It looks totally different than the cilantro leaves; at first I thought I had two plants!
My disappointment came in not getting any new cilantro leaves, I don’t know what to do with coriander seeds. Although I cook a lot, I’ve never had a need for coriander.
I do have several recipes in which I use cilantro, besides the usual guacamole and taco type uses, so I’ll have to learn more about growing it.
Interesting article.....I am soooo envious of some of you...we here in the Pacific NW (Seattle area)....need some global WARMING!
Everyone says mint will take over, I have never been able to get it to grow, always dies on me in a few weeks.
**great big stalks it used to go to seed. **
Cilantro doesn’t like heat, so try it earlier or later in the season.
I can’t stand the smell of it although I will eat it in salsa and such. It’s the only thing in the greenhouse that I hate watering—the smell is so intense, guess the heat and humidity make it worse.
Houston, we have a fig! Congrats, Red!
Sorry! Maybe you could do container gardening? I feel for you. When I was about 10 we moved from an 80 acre farm in Ohio in the middle of no where to a trailer park in NC. Talk about culture shock!
Hear you on the arthur. I’ve been going to the chiropracter and have done yoga. it helps alot.
Thanks, I will do that. I've got a long hot summer ahead of me, so I guess I'll wait until Fall, or, maybe try a pot indoors.
My husband hates the smell too, although he doesn't mind it in a finished recipe. I love it, just like I love the smell of basil and sage.
Do you know what? I am amazed! Fruit trees that were just sticks in the ground a few months ago and they are producing fruit! Not knowing a thing about figs when my wife asked me to plant some, I told her I would, but that it might take a few years before we see figs. What a hoot!
The fruit trees will take longer to bear quantities. Try to remember next year to spray them in Feb with a dormant oil spray. It will kill any insects/diseases that have overwintered in teh bark. Then follow up with a good fruit tree spray, starting when the buds swell. You’ll have to do it about once a week/every ten days.
I’m assuming here—since your climate is so similiar to here. :)
I got choked on it one day when I was watering. Sneezed and coughed —violently—for about half an hour. Very few plants affect me that way.
Sensitive to perfumes, bug sprays, etc and I avoid them as much as possible. Aerosol seems to be the worst culprit as dusts and granular don’t seem to bother me unless I really get a big dose.
My father had bought a small tiller many years ago (it had never been taken out of the boxes) and he just stored it. We had put it in our yard sale last year because I thought it was to small to be of any use to me. It did not sell. Boy am I glad! That little thing can dig up some tough ground!
Point is - my garden has not cost me a lot. I did till in about $100 of composted manure into the tomato patch, raised beds and watermelon patch and may be used a gallon of gas for the tiller. But I also had a great big ol' pile of home made compost (mostly grass clipping from last year) that helped the soil. Other costs were minimal seeds, fish emulsion for the seedlings and that is about it! I did spend on average about $15 each for the fruit trees.
I will be getting back to you later on the sprays you mention. You have been so helpful. What ever small amount of fruit is produced this year will still be amazing to me.
No prob. Growing things is so amazing! From dirt and seed to sprout and then plant and then finished product. I adore it!
Semper Fi
Shooters, you may commence firing when your DOG target appears!
Have you ever pickled cukes? I am trying a batch of Clausen style, cold process, to see if I can do it! It is the only type of pickle I like. They have been in the jar for 3 days now and producing some nice small bubbles. I used some distilled water, a heaping tablespoon of Ball Kosher Dill pickling mix, some garlic and pepper corns. I think I will wait another day or two and then add some vinegar and let them pickle in the frig.
When do you retire? My Father was in the Corps for 25 years retired in 1963 as a MGySgt (I think he was one of the very first to earn that rank). He and our family spent the next 10 years in Laos (that secrete war). I went back to the States and joined the Marines in ‘69. Got out, earned a degree in Geology at Miss. State Univ. and am now retired and enjoying my time left.
Nah! Had Weds off but I’m stuck doing paperwork so I’m sneaking in some desserts along with the ho-hum!
Never tried pickling anything but okra. One of my customers brings me bread and butter pickles-my favorite. My crowd doesn’t like them so I ahve them all to myself. Tehy are truly wonderful in potato salad!
Are you sure the leaves are part of the cilantro? If I remember correctly, ours didn’t have any leaves other than the lacy ones with the seeds on top.
A great little gardening tool from the web !
http://lifehacker.com/394044/track-your-garden-at-myfolia
Stay safe !
Mark for later
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