Weekly Gardening Thread – 2011 (Vol. 49) December 16

Free Republic | 12-16-2011 | Red_Devil 232

[Red_Devil 232]

Good morning gardeners. I hope all of you are doing well and wish you a Merry Christmas. Today’s thread will be the last one I post as the host of the gardening thread. Thankfully the thread will continue to be posted by Freeper JustaDumbBlonde. Not only is she is a very experienced gardener, she and her husband run a large acreage family farm growing corn, cotton, wheat, soybeans and various other crops. Her large kitchen garden is so successful she has set up a roadside stand to sell her produce. I am confident the Gardening Thread will be in very competent hands. She gardens and farms in Northeast Louisiana and has been a member of the gardening thread since Freepers gardengirl and Gabz started the original thread in January 2008.

It has been my great pleasure to host and post this thread every week for the last couple of years. I actually learned to garden from this thread and have enjoyed my garden and reading the posts and meeting new Friends on this thread every week. I will continue to read and post on the thread if I think I can add to the conversation. I hope all of you have very successful gardens next year.

If you are a gardener or you are just starting out and are in need of advice or just encouragement please feel free to join in and enjoy the friendly discussion. Our Freeper community is full of gardeners, each with varying interests and skill levels from Master Gardener to novice.

[hoosiermama]

Got a new laptop and Internet connection through I phone Back in Business. Have missed the garden thread

[Red_Devil 232]

Glad to see one of our Master Gardeners back on line and posting again!

[hoosiermama]

Just finished a power point presentation for the next meeting..How to spend your Winter Vacation Last years trip to CA and HI.....Good garden this year but sure did miss having a computer at home and having to go to local library for email

[JustaDumbBlonde]

Wish y'all could smell my kitchen right now. I've spent all day slicing satsumas and lemons to prepare my traditional marmalade.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

Hooray! So nice to see you.

[tubebender]

Will you run that through a shredder before you put it up in jars? Lady Bender made a big pot of Clam Chowder yesterday for Fellowship following todays Service and it was GONE when I left JUST PRIOR to KP. I got a new iMac and it will not let me upload photos to Fotki or Flicr so y’all are going to have to suffer along with me...

[Red_Devil 232]

Oh Yummmmm!

[95B30]

Thankyou for your time and efforts. I always enjoyed the postings.

[dervish]

Please add me.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

No, I will not shred it any further. The mixture of citrus and sugar in the photo is covered tightly and left for 24 hours or so, then cooked until the citrus is translucent and the marmalade is thickened. Then I'll put it in jars and the water bath canner.

Clam chowder is one of my favorites, but I've never made any. Do you get the clams fresh from the beach?

[JustaDumbBlonde]

You’ve been added ... thanks!

[who knows what evil?]

Starting broccoli and cauliflower from seed next Sunday...figure that way I would be able to remember when I started my plants. :-)

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"... we still have cabbage, brocolli, mustard greens, and cauliflower producing in the hoophouse."

I am so jealous, both of your bounty and the hoophouse.

[tubebender]

Yes, we have some of the best Razor Clam digging on the west coast but I let the more adventurous dig and give to me. We also have the largest Oyster farm on the west coast in Humboldt Bay but getting back to the Clam Chowder we buy the large cans of Sea Watch Clams at Costco and she goes by the recipe on the can with a couple of of substitutions.

Please don’t tell anyone else on this forum that I eat Fruit Cake year round from a little Bakery a few blocks away. I buy several 1# clamshells and freeze them and baste them with Amoretto when I take them out.

[satan69]

South FL More and More! http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/6237/1000363g.jpg

[Nepeta]

Yes, we have some of the best Razor Clam digging on the west coast but I let the more adventurous dig and give to me. We also have the largest Oyster farm on the west coast in Humboldt Bay but getting back to the Clam Chowder we buy the large cans of Sea Watch Clams at Costco and she goes by the recipe on the can with a couple of of substitutions.

For the clamless and for anyone wishing to avoid the problem of sand, squid makes an excellent substitute for clam in flavor and texture.

[tubebender]

CONGRATULATIONS on your newly learned skill...

[satan69]

Thank you to the teacher!

[satan69]

SOUTH WEST FL:

Our 2nd season starts Jan 15th after the cold that always comes here leaves for good. I am not ready... Thinking about growing Big UGLY Winter squash and something else...

[tubebender]

Lack of rain in Bender County concerns Farmers