Weekly Garden Thread - November 11-17, 2023 [Roasted Vegetable Recipes Edition]

November 11, 2023 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Augie]

They’re dormant by now, so that should work. The only thing I’ve ever known to kill Rhubarb is if it gets Crown Rot from being too wet. And it has to be really, REALLY wet - standing water wet - for that to happen.

Crown rot. THAT'S what has been plaguing my rhubarb.

I've been adding ~6" of compost to my entire garden pretty much every year since I built it, and have noticed that my rhubarb plants get weaker rather than improving with age. Now I know why - they were planted close to the original grade - the original topsoil under my garden is nasty, tight, Misery clay - and I've just been making it worse burying them deeper every year.

Three of the four plants had roots in terrible shape - the youngest one of the four had roots a mile long. I was becoming suspicious that they weren't liking the spot where I had them growing, so when I planted this latest one I dug a hole bigger than a five gallon bucket and mixed compost/topsoil when I back-filled around the plant. That sucker took off like nobody's business. The top growth was so lush that the central leaves weren't killed when we had two nights in the upper 20°s a couple weeks ago. The outer growth folded up and turned into a miniature greenhouse.

Hopefully I didn't hurt that one too bad by digging it up before it was dormant, but there was no choice with all of the dirt getting moved. If it croaks I'll just buy a new one. I don't have much hope for the other three, but we will see come springtime.

Oh, and THANK YOU for your service.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Survival stuff. No tin roof on the high tunnel. Just a pop up tent in it because of something like its winter, an ice covered tree fell on your house and you need to sleep somewhere until you get the house fixed. Saves the cost of a hotel room.

5 Uses for an Indoor Tent

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Augie; Your winter onion; The bublets look like topsetting egyption walking onions, but the base looks like society garlic or community chives.

https://dengarden.com/gardening/Growing-and-Using-Egyptian-Onions#gid=ci026b6e1c70002568&pid=growing-and-using-egyptian-onions-MTc0MzU0MDQ2Nzg4ODM4NzYw

https://www.eattheweeds.com/society-garlic/

[Augie]

I expect it will remain forever a mystery.

There’s no one left alive who knows how they got to be where they were when my folks dug that first shovelful.

[Pollard]

Done for the day, finally.

Here's a little better view of the truck crane. I have to climb up and reach over the yellow straps to crank the come-a-long to raise/lower the tunnel frame.

And the straps and chain bracing inside the bed of the truck.

The ladder is footed against a pallet and the pallet is chained down because the tendency would be for it to lift up.

Finally got a chance to use the old David White builder's transit. One of these days maybe I'll get a proper wooden legged tripod for it.

Such a beauty and still to this day, considered one of the best, non-electronic transits.

Looking through it, I can see this mark just as it is in this pic

Naturally,, there's a mark on the other frame leg and I can swing the transit to the left to see it. Get both marks in the cross hairs, and it's level.
Way more accurate than a string level which is the only other option to level something 22' wide. I'll be using it to make sure all the frames are level with the first one as well.

One done, set in concrete with OSB braces screwed to the bottom to keep the wind from waggling it.

I'll get in as many truss frames in as I can whenever I can at this point.

Getting them all welded up and one in the ground was a heckuva hurdle to get over for as long as I've been talking about it.

Then I went and got water and installed the new risers, which I'm actually using as droppers for the micro-sprinklers. They're 18" long, 1/4" rigid drip line and I was using flexible drip line. The rigid ones make the micro-sprinkler sit hang more level and won't blow around in a light breeze. Just gave the lettuce/greens and newly sowed Asian greens a good watering which they needed,

[Pollard]

Picked up this baby tractor several years ago and I don't know how I'd do without it at this point. Ok, I know but don't want to think about it.

Made some forks for it and now, everything heavy lives on a pallet or can be dragged with the right angle of the pulling chain attached where the top link goes.

Best $900 I ever spent. Got a mower for it and a dirt scoop that's a little big for it but does some things.

[Qiviut]

It’s about 3:15 and I got 3 batches of Blackberry Merlot Jelly done today! I prepped 2 batches this morning before the kitchen got busy, so I was ready to go once I had the kitchen to myself. The two batches went so well (and no one else was around to get in my way) that I got my third & last bag of frozen blackberries out of the freezer & got the 3rd batch done. With the canning pot & the oven (for jars) already hot, that made things a lot easier.

Tomorrow I am going to work on the Rosemary Wine Fig Jam recipe - would like to do 2 batches (I have enough figs/wine for 4 batches, but jars are starting to become an issue). The fresh rosemary & wine are brought to a boil, then steep for 30 minutes, strain & start making the jam - I have 2 ceramic coated pots & can do the boiling/steeping at the same time, so I’ll be ready to roll, one batch after another.

Unless I decide to do more batches of the Rosemary Wine Fig Jam or I get more really good apples (NOT the grocery/cold storage & tasteless variety), this will be the end of my canning for 2023. This is the most canning of jellies, jams, chutney, relish & marmalade I have ever done. Whew.

This morning, between prepping my jelly batches & actually starting to cook/can, I went to Aldi’s. I needed a cabbage - when I was there over the weekend, this guy was “raiding” the cabbage boxes so I kept my distance! I’ve never seen anything like it - he ended up with what must have been 20, minimum. After I checked out & finished bagging my stuff, he was also bagging up his cart full of cabbage. I walked over & said “pardon me for being nosy, but I am curious as to what you will be doing with all that cabbage!” He lit up like a Christmas tree and said “Sauerkraut - making sauerkraut!”, then proceeded to tell me about this special barrel he’s got for doing it, how he does it, how good sauerkraut is for you (drink the juice, too!) and it was quite the conversation. Another lady stopped by to listen as well. The guy had an accent like he was Hungarian or some other Slavic country - I didn’t ask. Most of the time, I am not particularly social/friendly - do what I have to do and get out of the store(s), but occasionally, there’s an opportunity for some really interesting chats/exchange of information. A previous fun conversation at Aldi’s was concerning coconut water.

Anyway, I have my cabbage - making a Keto Scalloped Cabbage with Three Cheeses casserole; however, I am adding some of the fresh (as opposed to cured) ham that I baked on Friday. I am thinking dinner is going to be very tasty :-)

[Qiviut]

Something I had not thought of before until I saw/read it somewhere - the folks in Alaska (and other extremely cold climates, I’m sure) would be in life-threatening danger if their house caught on fire & burned down or quickly became uninhabitable for some reason. They usually have a cache nearby either in another structure to use for shelter or containing a tent, cold weather survival gear, some survival food, etc. Actually, I think I saw something about this on “Life Below Zero”.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

I think that is the history channel? I do not have cable, but I did learn how to hunt and and dress musk ox from Life Below Zero!

Tornadoes and ice storms and occasional blizzards. You have them too! Pollard is off in the country so he needs to prepare. Here in a KC suburb I would contact my insurance agent and arrange for a long term stay at a Marriot until the house got fixed!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That all sounds wonderful! My wine jelly never did set up, so I’ve been using as a Vanilla ice cream and/or Waffle ‘drizzle’ which also works.

Mom has already said Thanksgiving is just going to be turkey sandwiches and appetizers, so I cannot WAIT to pull out all the stops at Christmas when we’re hosting. I’m going to bake one of the hams from the 1/2 hog we just bought from the neighbor and that new twist on Pumpkin Pie you posted last week and a fancy potato dish. None of us really like that Green Bean Casserole, but I might do the Brussels Sprouts with bacon but any roasted veg would go well with all of that. People do love those Whiskey Glazed Carrots, so that’s a safe fall-back choice. ;)

Decisions, decisions! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

WOW! You had an amazingly productive day! It’s going to be great when finished. You’ll be producing an amazing amount of food in that high tunnel.

If I were younger and more energetic, I’d be jealous. ;)

[Pollard]

Pollard is off in the country so he needs to prepare.

Pete, I'm the one who has the prepper library.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

I know, which means you are already pretty much prepared!

The point is that in the event of an emergency you will be more on your own, at least short term.

[Pollard]

WOW! You had an amazingly productive day! It’s going to be great when finished.

Day?

That was my three days off, after two 12s at my job.

I ain't as fast as I once was. But I'm as fast once as I ever was. :)

The outside days are short due to being in the 30s in the mornings but the last three days were perfect fro welding and painting which is what I'd been waiting on.

Then 12 hours today and 12 tomorrow at work and plan to work on the tunnel more Thurs/Fri and then have to work 12s Sat/Sun/Mon.

Once I get going, I get going. (and obviously have a plan because I always have a plan or three - hundred LOL)

I have one PTO day left for the year, get a paid day off for my Birthday in a couple of weeks and have a week vacation I can take as soon as mid Dec.

High Tunnel
High Tunnel
High Tunnel

You’ll be producing an amazing amount of food in that high tunnel.

In time. I'm not going to go all out to start with and get overwhelmed. Maters have been my main thing and I think its time to get into paste varieties and make some sauces. That'll take up a good portion of the tunnel. Keep working on the tunnel soil and soil around it. Need to grow rows of taters again, outside the tunnel. And of course grow a little of this and little of that.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

OK. THREE days, then!

“...and I think its time to get into paste varieties and make some sauces. That’ll take up a good portion of the tunnel.”

Let me know when you’re ready to pick varieties; I’ve pretty much grown them all.

Things I make with tomatoes: V-8 Juice & Bloody Mary Mix. Salsa. Tomato Jam. Canned tomatoes. Dehydrated tomatoes. And paste-types work well in all of those things, as well as for sauce. :)

[Qiviut]

Adventures in canning .... always SOMETHING going on!

First things first - I ‘think’ I am done for 2023 with canning. Maybe. I have a mystery to solve first.

Today I did the Rosemary Wine Fig Jam & I must say, it is really good - I love it! The issue I have with the recipe is that it calls for 1 pound of figs & should make 5 half pints. Well, I got 4-1/2 half pints and there was no way I could stretch it to 5. This was on the first batch.

Batch #2, I added another half pound of figs. I did get to 5 half pints and it looks like it’s jelling - it was a bit more soupy than the first batch, so I was worried. Maybe it’s just me, but I also think the flavors are more intense on Batch #1.

So I went back to the recipe ... for the figs, it states:

“1 pound (500 grams) finely chopped fresh figs”

What does that mean to you? I had taken the fresh figs & quartered them (making sure no ants, etc. were in them), froze them on a cookie tray and bagged. When I looked again at the recipe this morning, I thought “finely chopped” - I think I need to cut my figs smaller, so I cut the quarters in half, then chopped. I had “finely chopped” figs.

So when I reviewed the recipe, trying to figure out why I could not get 5 half pints, in the comments I see the recipe author said this to someone who was questioning skin on/off:

“Figs are simply de-stemmed and halved, skin will cook down and dissolve. Enjoy!”

Does this sound like “finely chopped” to you??? I suspect I only got 4.5 half pints because a half a fig takes up a lot more volume than the ‘finely chopped’ figs I used.

I have 2 lbs of figs left, plus a bottle of merlot (will make 2 batches). I am tempted to try another batch with halved figs & see what happens. The recipe is good enough that I want to add it to my “specialty jam” list, but I do need to get at least 5 half pints. This is going to ‘eat me up’ until I figure it out. Sheesh!

.

[MomwithHope]

Because of your theme a few days ago we cubed and roasted a butterkin squash. Loved it.

[MomwithHope]

We had some brussel sprouts years ago at an upscale restaurant. I make them the same since. Steam first until half done, then toss with some olive oil, roast and when done drizzle the balsamic reduction and sprinkle with bacon bits and flaked good parmesan.

[Pollard]

Well I’m looking at Johnny’s since they cater to market farmers with tunnels and have a filter for greenhouse/tunnel performers. Tiren and Pozzano, both San Marzano types is what I found today while looking during lunch.

Roma is the standard and San Marzano, another and I like the sound of Amish Paste Tomatoes but that’s definitely an outdoor tomato.

Sauces is my need. Pasta sauce, ingredient for bbq sauce, ketchup. All would start from a base tomato sauce from the USDA Canning Guide or Ball Canning book.

I’ll need to get a food strainer.

Paste tomatoes might be best outside the tunnel anyway, especially being determinate. It’s not a huge tunnel and I’ll probably still be working on it well into next year’s tunnel growing season so I don’t want to cram it full.

So I’m fully open to suggestions and it’s not too far off from seed purchasing time so gimme what you got. I still have some seeds from my crazy cherry tomatoes and can try a few of each them as lean and lower in the tunnel and see how they do.

[Pollard]

It would be a good time for one of those cooking threads, almost Thanksgiving..