Posted on 11/11/2023 5:55:25 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.
If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.
This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.
It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our New & Improved Ping List.
NOTE: This is a once a week Ping List. We DO post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and yellow leaves removed
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Gather all ingredients.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
Place trimmed Brussels sprouts, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal tightly, and shake to coat.
Pour onto a baking sheet, and place on center oven rack.
Roast in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, shaking pan every 5 to 7 minutes for even browning. Reduce heat when necessary to prevent burning. Brussels sprouts should be darkest brown, almost black, when done. Adjust seasoning with kosher salt, if necessary. Serve immediately.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/67952/roasted-brussels-sprouts/
Diana’s Notes: Serve with a drizzle of that Balsamic Reduction Glaze I posted last week. Also, crumbled BACON on top will win over any Brussels Sprouts naysayers.
Balsamic Glaze Reduction recipe:
https://www.savoryexperiments.com/balsamic-reduction-sauce/#wprm-recipe-container-18372
(If you don’t already KNOW how to make bacon, there is no hope for you in the kitchen, LOL!)
This year, mom wanted red cherry tomatoes so I had a Sweet 100 plant. It was ok & produced all she could eat, but it was definitely not as large/vigorous as the Sungold. I STILL ended up with Sungolds! A volunteer came up - found it's way to a crack in my weed barrier & grew right next to my herb bed - blocked the walkway, too. I let it go since it came up late - it bloomed and I picked several soup bowls full for mom to add to her salads. I finally got tired of it being in the way & cut it off - we had a frost shortly thereafter so I didn't miss many tomatoes (the Sweet 100 plant had given up the ghost weeks before).
5,000 seeds ... that is the stuff of 'nightmares'!! Sungolds could take over the world!!😲
I gave up on ‘Sungolds.’ They taste amazing, but over-production and splitting were always an issue for me. I think another variety called ‘Sun Sugar’ is less prone to splitting?
My new favorite cherry is ‘Valentine.’ Nice and firm, red, pear-shaped but smaller than your standard pear tomato. Productive, no splitting, sweet enough but not sugary-sweet.
I grow ONE for us and that is plenty of cherries to eat and to share.
I think I am going to get that book! Amazon has it for $10 & it has lots of 5-star ratings. Here’s the summary:
For more than 30 years, best-selling author and popular herbalist Rosemary Gladstar has been touting the health benefits of fire cider — a spicy blend of apple cider vinegar, onion, ginger, horseradish, garlic, and other immune-boosting herbs. Her original recipe, inspired by traditional cider vinegar remedies, has given rise to dozens of fire cider formulations created by fans of the tonic who use it to address everyday ills, from colds and flu to leg cramps and hangovers. Fire Cider! is a lively collection of 101 recipes contributed by more than 70 herbal enthusiasts, with energizing versions ranging from Black Currant Fire Cider to Triple Goddess Vinegar, Fire Cider Dark Moonshine, and Bloody Mary Fire Cider. Colorful asides, including tribute songs and amusing anecdotes, capture Gladstar’s passionate desire to pass along the fire cider tradition.
*************
PS - MY Fire Cider is very “zesty” .... about sets me on fire when I take it! I do a tablespoon a day for a health tonic. I would like to try a more ‘fruity’ recipe & this book evidently has those type recipes, too. Making your own Fire Cider is the way to go - to buy a 16 oz bottle is between $38-45. I made 2 quarts for under $20, the most expensive component being the organic apple cider vinegar (with the ‘mother’). Aldi’s has a quart of organic/with ‘mother’ for $4.99 which is the cheapest I’ve found. When I was making my Fire Cider, they were out of stock, so I had to buy some that was more expensive. At this point, I check for it at Aldi’s and if they have it, I buy a quart or two - stocking up!
I’ve still got two tabs open from last week for Fire Cider recipes. The book looks like a cute novelty one to have.
Just drank my 5th cup of coffee waiting for the temperature to rise. Gonna go get a few bags of concrete here shortly. Ace opens at 9am. By the time I get back, it should be getting close to warm enough to paint.
I can kill time by digging holes for the tunnel frames. I had them all started but there’s been a change of plans. One of my arched pipes has rusted from the inside, probably before I got them, and I just now noticed it. That leaves me short so I’m going with 6 foot on center instead of 5 for truss frame spacing.
Kits come in either 4 or 6 foot spacing.
If I stuck with 5 foot, I’d end up with a 30’ tunnel instead of the original 35’. By increasing to 6’ spacing, I’ll get a 36’ tunnel but have to re-dig my holes. Luckily, I only dug them 6-8” deep so I could find and finish them later. I didn’t want a goat or myself to step in a 2 foot deep hole. Easy enough to fill them in with dirt scooped out of new holes.
I’ll only be digging one pair of holes today to get that first frame in the ground so it can set up overnight.
The long Veteran's Day weekend combined with nice weather has provided the opportunity to start the garden rebuild project in earnest. I got all of the cages down and the duff mostly picked up on Friday, and got started tearing out fence and moving dirt. Spent most of yesterday doing the same. With any luck I'll have the last of the fence down today and most of the remaining soil hauled to the stash pile.
I separated the soil where the winter onions grow from the rest of it when I hauled it out of the garden. The onions should do well where I put them. Chances are good I'll just leave them out there rather than devoting a raised bed to them. If anyone wants to try growing them just send a PM with your address. I will share freely with anyone who is interested. I haven't dug the horseradish yet, but I will also be segregating that soil from the rest. There's a mountain of that stuff so if you want some just ask.
I'm not 100% certain what to do with the rhubarb roots when I dig them out. I think I'll pot them and mulch around the pots, then figure out where to replant them come spring. If that's wrong thinking someone please let me know.
I'm going to have literally tons of very nice garden soil left over after filling the raised beds. Mrs. Augie's flower beds are in for a real treat.
Those Brussels sprouts are how I’ve always made them. I will add your balsamic reduction glaze next time I make them.
An alternate recipe I’m trying to work on is for flash fried Brussels sprouts with white honey sesame glaze. Had these at a restaurant in Florida when we were there in early September, and they were THE BEST Brussels sprouts we’ve ever eaten. If anyone has any idea how to concoct this white honey sesame glaze, please let me know. They were sweet but not too sweet. It looked like thick white milk was drizzled over the crispy outside but soft inside of the sprouts. Amazing.
I got their 2024 catalog a couple days ago. They are early this year!
And this is absolutely true and comes before most personal considerations!
**The Wisconsin entry (Located in Pestigo) has kits and spawn products which include Morel and Winecap mushrooms. (Might be out stock since its out of season to plant)
**This one is located in NW Illinois so not far from you Diana (or you Pollard! Less shipping time means you are more likely to get viable product.)
"the winter onions" I planted some overwintering multipier (potato) onions yesterday Is this the same thing?
(Ganoderma multipileum)
Imagine in a green shadowed mossy Japanese Garden!
I have always been slightly afraid of mushrooms - my grandmother used to pick them in the local fields (California) - and no one ever got sick and/or died.
There is this recent story out of Australia...
“Australian woman charged with feeding extremely deadly mushroom to 8 people, resulting in 3 dead.”
“Australian police have brought murder charges against a woman who served a lunch earlier this year that led to the deaths of three people from suspected death cap mushroom poisoning.”
She survived, that is why the she is under suspicion of poisoning - said she got the mushrooms from a Chinese market...
White(mostly) frames galore. The legs were too close to the ground to even try and paint but those are easily done later. The choice was gloss or flat white so I went with the flat. My preference would have been a low gloss. High gloss would reflect the UV rays right back up through the plastic film, giving it UV rays from both sides on/near the frame. From the electric sign business, I know that low gloss white diffuses light. I didn't want to buy a gallon of each to make a semi-gloss or low gloss and one gallon is plenty. Flat white also diffuses light but gets dirty easy.
If the day was longer... This frame would be dangling in my starter holes if I pulled the truck up a foot. As it is, they're in the holes with a bit of lean to keep them steady overnight
Yes, I made a crane out of my truck and an extension ladder plus lots of straps, chains and a come-a-long and yes, my crazy ass climbed up it like that. Good thing I'm a featherweight. The first sign company I worked for actually had something similar that was engineered to lift a certain weight, 4-500 hundred pounds iirc. Can't see it in the pic but there are two, 2 inch straps going from the hooks down low in the front of the truck bed, up to the top of the ladder
The soil is so dry, digging is slow. Not a bad thing being dry since I'm driving my truck on it. Less apt to compact the soil. I really need to get this first one nice and straight because it's the one that all the rest will be measured off of. It was close to sunset so that wasn't going to happen today.
Having to wait for 50+ degrees made for an extra short day. I'll get this one set tomorrow. Then I work two days and then have two days off to get another one or three in. Maybe all 6 of them?
Looking at the picture now, and thinking, the legs are 7 foot and I hadn't fully decided on how deep to set them in the ground; 2-3 feet I was thinking. I think I'll go with 30" aka 2-1/2 feet. That'll put the peak close to 15 foot up and with good sized gable vents, should let the heat flow right out in Summer.
The camera's facing just about East in the second pic and yes, I've got some trees to cut down in that direction. I'll be doing that this Winter and have already scoped them out and none will land on the frame. For the South direction, in the first pic, I'm going to hire my cattle farmer/dozer guy to knock them down in early 2024. I have enough stumps around here.
Til next time,
Crazy Man
I want one
I gotta’ tell you ... looking at your ladder ‘crane’ made my stomach hurt ... imagining you climbing up that thing almost made me dizzy. I do not do heights at all! More power to you to be able to handle it & thus get your project done!
We have 11’ ceilings in part of the house including the kitchen. Mom has this huge, decorative clock hanging way up on the wall. Twice a year, when the time changes, I have to bring in a large step ladder, climb up there & get that clock down so we can change the time/battery. The clock is over a bookcase so I have to go up beside the bookcase & lean off the ladder a bit to reach the clock rather than a straight on approach. Getting it back on the hanger, since I can’t actually see anything, is the worst - I found if I take blue painter’s tape & mark on the wall the bottom & left side closest to the ladder, I have better luck because at least I am in the ‘neighborhood’, not moving the large (& getting heavier by the second) clock all over the wall. In the meanwhile, I am close to hyperventilating because I am so high (for me) up on that ladder. I haven’t changed the time on that stinkin’ clock yet this month, keep finding reasons to procrastinate.
I definitely wouldn't do that these days and was very focused and cautious today. I'm a little slender guy so my weight was not an issue.
Fireworks misfire 5-6 years ago. Big boom at ground level is not right. I forgot to flinch I guess.
Ok, I'm just crazy.
But it's so much fun.
At some point I may buy some morel spawn and see if I can grow them on the roots of my neighbors elm tree. The roots reach over to my yard!
By the time you are done you could probably just about live in your high tunnel! (In an emergency you could set up a small tent inside the tunnel and live in it!)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.