Weekly Garden Thread - July 8-14, 2023 [The Rich History of Basil Edition]

July 8, 2023 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Pollard]

Oh, no! I’m getting the ITCH again, LOL!

It constantly pops up in my mind. My goal in moving here was to homestead to some degree, feed myself as much as possible and make a few bucks. I'm not all that far from retirement age but will be living solely on SS so I'll need tiny bills, including food and a little income.

Yesterday I was thinking about how I need my mater starts to be more consistent in size and also get bigger quicker. Both are a matter of good watering habits and fertilizing them earlier than I have been.

Right now, I can criss cross them during lean and lower, rig something to hang in a totally different direction etc. Will be a bigger deal in the tunnel with the goal of high production which means close spacing and a lot of plants.

There will still be oddball starts so my first thought was, sow lots of seeds and sell the oddball starts.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Do you have, or have access to cheap (or free!) cattle panels? My BIL made some collapsible tomato cages long ago. Those things could withstand a tornado!

https://www.1905farmhouse.com/make-your-own-tomato-cages/

(This is a helpful site all the way around.)

As far as uniformity on the crops you’re growing, if you are going to sell tomatoes in the future, grow ‘Celebrity.’ That’s the one we grew for restaurants and for market. Pretty much a perfect red slicer. :)

And, at my other farm I had great traffic flow, so I sold extra starts of tomatoes and peppers in the spring, as well as eggs, pesto, cut flowers, etc. It was a fun little enterprise. Won’t work here, as I’m 2 miles from a not-well-traveled road. And all my neighbors garden, so they don’t need to buy my stuff. 12 miles to town. Profits would be eaten up in gas running things here and there.

But, there are a lot of ‘income streams’ you can have when you have some land. I am still trying to talk Beau into taking advantage of all the woods we have, as far as FREE hardwood (we have a TON of Black Walnut and that stuff goes for a good price!) and firewood (Governor Dodge State Park is nearby, as is Blue Mound State Park - campers!) and wood for home heating/fireplaces.

So many ideas, but so little ambition the older we get, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Proving that Basil can do just about anything, I present the Coconut Basil Mojito!

This coconut mojito is delicately flavored and zesty. You’ll love the fragrant basil, juicy lime juice and sweet aromas of white rum and coconut water.

1 sprig basil, plus more for garnish
¾ oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
2 oz white rum
2 oz coconut water
2 oz soda water

Instructions

Combine basil, lime juice and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Gently muddle the basil to release the flavors.

Add rum and coconut water, then fill with ice and shake until chilled.

Strain mixture over fresh ice into a highball glass. Top with soda water and garnish with a sprig of basil.

https://www.withspice.com/blog/coconut-basil-mojito/#tasty-recipes-3051-jump-target

[SisterK]

I made have made pesto with raw pecans and that too is delicious

[Pollard]

So many ideas, but so little ambition the older we get, LOL!

I hear ya. I slept wrong last night and woke up with a hurt back.

Do you have, or have access to cheap (or free!) cattle panels? Free in cattle country? LOL

Funny you should mention that. I was just thinking yesterday about how useful a cattle panel ceiling of sorts would be in a high tunnel. Hang anything anywhere, attach overhead infrastructure. Then I started adding up $30+$30+$30+$30+$30+$30+ and .... Cattle panels with a frame for gates is new to the to do list.

I wrapped cattle panels around my little front yard garden this year because the goats got over the field fence last year and stomped the plants down that they didn't eat. Being a fabricator, I have lots of ideas for them and get them for $30 at the feed store. I already have a firewood rack, 24" x 24" x 78" tall firewood rack sitting next to the wood stove. I made it a few years ago out of one panel. No real frame so it has to be attached to the wall/studs but it's been stuffed and the shelves hold up good. A 16" panel cut into 4 pcs would make a nice newly planted tree protector. We have pot/pan racks made from them before that I did 20 years ago from small sections I found.

But, there are a lot of ‘income streams’ you can have when you have some land.

I've started growing shiitake mushrooms twice now but done a piss poor job at it. Mostly at keeping the logs moist because I had no good way to do so. That tank sprayer will help with that. The woods are too rocky for things like cultivated ginseng and the various roots that grow here wild and have value.

I am still trying to talk Beau into taking advantage of all the woods we have, as far as FREE hardwood

I cut a couple of TRUE red oaks when putting in fence. They were over 2 foot in diameter and the branch/knot free logs would have brought some money but were deep into the woods. We kept really warm that year. It's the top rated wood for heat production.

First time we lived in MO I cut a Black Walnut down because it was in the way. Got $250 for a 18" log, 16' long. That was 20 years ago. There happened to be a buyer there that exported them for laminate use in Oriental countries. They still like their dark wood tone interiors.

I have some TRUE white oaks here and those are very valuable. There are a couple of hot spots for white oak for making wine barrels and this is one. A forest in France is the other. We have stave companies here.

I really don't have enough trees to do anything but slowly harvest for our own use which is firewood and smoker wood. We've got hickory. I'm a tick magnet so on my knees in the woods? naa. Shiitake logs are doable on the edge of the woods with some protection from sun and critter. Pallets are definitely free and the right ones would give the right shade.

[LilFarmer]

I love your ideas! I keep thinking along the lines of ways to provide some sort of income for us. I had hoped goat milk soap would be a good one but they are mass produced now with such a low price, so for now they are just gifts for friends and family.

My tomatoes are being hit with blight, again, after I put black plastic down from fall until planting, and installed a drip system. I have been treating, but it only knocks it back as it rains almost every day here. Feed store guy suggested I sprinkle lime. We will see. I ran into the same problem with tomato cages (the hoop ones don’t cut it). I bought several of the Fiberglas stakes and using the hoop cages and the stakes, I then ran a horizontal stake from the plant to the fence and tied it. As the tomatoes are getting taller I just tie them to the horizontal stake and so far so good. Inexpensive fix for that (so far)

Cattle panels are a ridiculous price here - from $60+ for a cattle panel to $90+ for a goat panel (with 4x4 openings). Ugh. I need the goat panel to make a hay feeder, but I think I will settle for goat fence and use a wood frame. I needed a cattle panel to hoop trellis for spaghetti squash and cucumbers. So far it is working great. But as I am putting them in, I am counting how many veggies I could get from the farmers market for $60 😂

Anyway…

I have 2 “zucchini” plants that are putting out fruit that is zucchini in color but the taste and shape of summer squash 🤷‍♀️ Weird. Kind of like the year all my watermelons tasted like cucumber (same families cross polinating and such I suppose)

[MomwithHope]

We are swimming in shishito heaven! I've picked about 10 early. 8 plants all heavily laden. I'm talking 25 to 30 peppers on each one plus blooms. Time to start freezing so I picked the biggest off each plant, cleaned and coarsly chopped. Put some olive oil in a very hot skillet and blistered them for a minute or less. Then I freeze them in small snack bags, then stuff those in a quart freezer Ziploc. So easy to pull out whatever you need in the winter. Yummy!

[LilFarmer]

Beautiful! Whoever it was on this board that mentioned jaloro peppers - thank you so much! I cannot believe the yield and so much earlier than my jalapeños.

[metmom]

Just got back from a week and a half on vacation.

The peas have done very well. The Romaine is GORGEOUS!

The onions are bulbing and the garlic is n just showing signs of starting to die back.

We are in for almost 4 inches of rain in the next two days and NO opportunity to mow or weed, both of which are desperately needed.

Brussel Sprouts are growing like crazy, beets, turnips and potatoes are doing well. The beans have some flowers.

Although it got off to a dry start, the garden is doing well. The herbs are doing great. LOTS of dill.

[metmom]

I just harvested my garlic scapes, too.

What do I do with them?

Do they freeze well?

[metmom]

Sigh.

My garden looks like a bomb went off on it.

I see these pictures of perfect weed free gardens with straight rows and cannot figure out how they do it.

We have clay like soil and it makes weeding difficult.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Met Mom; Garlic scapes; You can chop them up and put them in your Raman soup, if you make that, or Potato soup or other soups or any thing that needs garlic. (Its not as strong though.)

I do not make potato soup at this time of year but I do sometimes make Raman noodles into which I can also put spring things like Turnip and Radish slices as well as green onions or sliced cabbage or turnip greens!

You could also use them in a baked potato with sour cream.

If you find a combination that works well let us know!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Link to Tomato Recipes!

Tomato Season Is the Best Season. These Recipes Prove It.

Picture from one of the recipes: "The Best Summer Tomato Salad!"

[cherry]

I'm in the inland northwest and yet I picked my first pepper tonite for supper...it came from one of two pepper plants that I overwintered in my bathtub..lol....will do that again next year perhaps with a few more....

I'm growing almost all paste tomatoes and lots of green ones coming on....I am proud to say that almost all my tomatoes I grew from seed....I do have one store bought cherry tomato and one yellow tomato plant and a tomato plant called "hillbilly" that a friend gave me....

greatly disappointed in my oriental beans...I also planted forex pole beans and they look good....

it is very hot and very dry where I lived and the soil in the beds, particularly the higher raised beds drys out so quickly, I've been hand watering as well as using the sprinkler system....

note to self....fewer zucchinis next year....

[MomwithHope]

Thanks Pete, I saved that link. It is going to be a great tomato year. Yesterday it hit me why we may have such a heavy production. We put up a Mason bee house last year, it filled up, had about a hundred bees released. We are seeing them all over the garden now. Hubby was weedwhacking yesterday and saw one on a late Rosa rugosa flower he shot a 12 second video. It looks like sped up motion but it is natural. I scoured the internet of an actual Mason bee collecting pollen and could not find one video so I posted ours on you tube. It is pretty amazing. He left the weedwhacker running LOL.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_iBR9nbS-oQ

[MomwithHope]

“Diana in Wisconsin (I don’t have, ‘Hobbies.’ I’m developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic cocktail skill set. )”

[Pollard]

My tiny garden looks like a tomato plant experiment because it basically is, as I learn.

Market gardeners put a ton of effort and money into it and the ones I follow, also get $5-6 per pound for stuff that's $2-3 per pound in the stores.

Compost used as a mulch and thick enough to suppress weeds. Strings to mark rows or this thing above to mark a grid.

[metmom]

The weeds are the problem because I have not got the soil in good enough condition to just pull them up. A few spots are easy, as I got the soil manageable, but when the s ground is dry, it’s very hard. I have to dig with a shovel to loosen the weeds then pull them up. Great exercise, but ugh....

Yeah, the string would be a good idea.

[metmom]

And I don’t have that much compost. However, we have no shortage of wood chips, and because of the rain, mushrooms.

No idea what kind though.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I usually chop them up (the top bulbs and the more tender stems) and use them anywhere I want some garlic/chive-like flavor.

https://www.allrecipes.com/article/what-are-garlic-scapes/

And, since I’m on a Pesto Kick, you can use them to make Pesto, too!

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/199868/garlic-scape-pesto/