This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. 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 ... there is no telling where it will go and that makes it fun and interesting. Jump in and join us!
We’re back in the freezer here in Central Missouri. 12° when I left the house this morning. Nothing doing in the garden until it warms up a bit.
Hi everyone! I am telling you our weather is just crazy. Yesterday, it was close to 60 degrees. Today is cold and windy. Up and down, down and up. Hubby is saying if we get any more warm days, he’ll have to cut the lawn. LOL!
The weather is absolutely unreal and we are getting most of our spring cleanup done a little early. It still continues to be a bit cooler than normal and we have gone from 25% more than normal rainfall at the end of October to a deficit of 45% today and We now have 26 seed/plant catalogs but that’s my wife’s fault...
Does anybody recommend an heirloom seed company? I ordered from heirloomseeds.com last year and I was disappointed in some of the seed. Last year was my first experience with heirlooms, so if bad seed is common let me know. My beans, corn, toms, and peas did well. My melons, squash, cabbage, and broccoli did not. I'm a bit worried about my garlic. After planting it my husband has suggested that we start a major remodel of our house. If we start in a few months the garlic will be destroyed. Is it possible to transplant them this spring?
After two decades of not having a garden, my SIL kindly loaned me a section of her raised garden beds last year. I planted tomatoes, peppers, scallions, eggplants, Swiss chard, spinach and mesclun, plus some herbs & marigolds. Although the garden got out-of-hand (planted too close, weeded too little), there was still a plentiful harvest. .... lots of tomato sandwiches, fresh salads & even enough basil to make some pesto. This year, I want to do a “square foot” garden ten yards or so out the kitchen door ..... easier to keep an eye on and water when necessary. The tomatoes are grown vertically - considering they collapsed my cages last year, I am looking forward to trying this method. Last fall, when I made the last trip to the garden to harvest anything that was left as the first cold spell was on the way in, I was surprised at the very real sense of sadness that hit me when I realized there would be no more fresh goodies. I can’t wait until Spring!!
Some personal notes...when doing business with these companies; you will find that you are communicating DIRECTLY with the owners of these small businesses...since it is their personal reputation on the line; you will find that they go above and beyond to provide great customer service...I have found that to be the case with EVERY one of the companies listed above that I have dealt with. (I have NOT dealt with all, just most.) Several offer items other than tomatoes.
Double Helix is well worth visiting...beautiful photos, and the owner is a biologist; who is designing heirloom tomatoes that will be EXCLUSIVE to his company. He can put you on a list so you can be among the first to receive the offerings of his 'new' tomatoes. Check it out.
Select Plants does NOT offer seeds; plants only. A text-intensive website; but loaded with information, and an AMAZING selection of live plants...shipping is a bit rough, but he has gone to a great deal of trouble to get nice healthy plants right to your door.
Heritage Harvest Seed is another beautiful site, but they are in Canada, so you might want to inquire about seed being shipped to the states. They provide that service, but it seems to take a while. However; they have a wide selection of rare and unusual tomatoes. Fun to check out, even if not ordering.
Marianna's has another stunning selection, but still lists her '2011 Offerings', so I am not sure what is going on there...she might be working on updating for this year.
Tons of offerings to troll through, but you weren't doing anything this holiday (for some) weekend, anyway...right? Enjoy.
Sorry, guys!
We went from nearly 60 to about 10 degrees in 24 hours. I’m fine with that, I want at least a couple of weeks of subfreezing to kill bugs and heave the ground.
In low gear now. Living off of the harvest and just ordered seeds. Doing cleanup from last year and will be starting stuff in about a month.
I trimmed back the branches which had thorns, since the non-thorn branches are the ones that bloom and have fruit. Everything else I have tried is to no avail, so I just hope it survives till spring so I can get it outside again. It just never does very well indoors.
Everyone have a great weekend. God Bless.
The dollar is there for scale. I have not found a way to grow them, yet.
I've resolved not to make the same mistake for spring. So, Nov 15, three full months before I'll start the garden, I started my seeds. From the looks of it, it was a good decision for the eggplants.
Okra, on the other hand, maybe doesn't need quite so much lead time.
The okra picture is pretty poor. Hard to get the level of detail I wanted while at the same time showing the whole window height for scale. I'd try harder, but the picture I really wanted the other night when there was a pretty yellow flower on one of them I plain forgot to take, so now I don't feel like messing with it.
Oooh, got to read last week’s and get up to speed. And talk to a little lady in WI about a catalog...
I’ve got several pill bottles full of seeds saved from last year’s harvest. Watermelon, zucchini, pumpkin, string beans, tomato, amaranth, and cucumber. The zucchini seeds are still in the “original package”, as are some of the pumpkins, but there was just something satisfying about seeing my pile of bean seeds drying on the porch. I’ve saved seeds here and there before, but last year was the first time I really focused on it.
Most advice I’ve seen about saving bean seeds said to leave them on the plant until dry, but we had such a wet autumn that they just molded if I did that, so I started picking them as soon as the pods turned tan, and that worked out well. I let them dry on some newspaper until crisp and then broke open the pods, the beans were nice and fat and shiny inside.
Thanks for the seed saving links.
Winter has been just as weird as Summer was: 45 one day, 25 the next; 65 the day after...then start over.
Thanks to last weeks thread, I now have an Heirloom Acres catalog in hand.
Only thing to report garden-wise is that the pot of “cat grass” I started last weekend is up & growing nicely; it’ll be ready for the crew to mow in a few more days.
Also had a new litter of bunnies arrive since yesterday’s feeding. Haven’t counted them yet, but it is her second litter; her first was 8, all survived to freezer age. The other doe should be due again in 2 weeks. If this keeps up, I may just have a set of rabbit fur long-johns this time next winter.
Down side of the day was the rear tire breaking loose from the hub, tearing up the fender well & quarter panel. No injuries; no ancillary property damage. Luckily, it waited until we were on the gravel doing about 25, rather than earlier while coming down the pavement at 60-65. Got a ride home with a neighbor, then had it towed to the shop. We’ll see if our Comprehensive coverage takes care of the body damage. Had to transfer the cat, chicken, rabbit, and people feed into our pickup before it was towed.
According to the Agriculture Department, the average food item travels at least 1,500 miles before it hits supermarket shelves and studies have indicated transportation can account for up to half the price of a head of lettuce or a pound of tomatoes.
Hoping to minimize their carbon footprints and get the goods closer to customers in large metropolitan areas, some entrepreneurs are deploying innovative methods of production.
In the Big Apple, for example, two urban farmers are capitalizing on the wide open "plains" atop New York City skyscrapers and as producer Laurel Bower Burgmaier discovered last year, the unlikely agrarians are shouting their success from the rooftops.
Ben Flanner is head farmer and co-founder of Brooklyn Grange Farm, a 40,000 square foot, soil-based rooftop farm –that’s one acre --located above a former manufacturing plant in Long Island City. Developed in 2010, Brooklyn Grange is considered to be the largest rooftop farm in the world.
Ben Flanner, Brooklyn Grange Farm: “It just makes sense to do something practical on these rooftop spaces. We have all these empty roofs that have the sun bearing down on them all day long. It makes something with them that is productive.” [snip]
More text PLUS a video at link. This was a fascinating Market to Market repot I saw on Public TV this AM. They cover 2 methods of farming -- soil and hydroponic. Brooklyn Grange arm uses soil, while Bright Star Farms is hydroponic. Both operations supply resturants and individuals with fresh vegetables. This was an excellent report, and I thought you folks would enjoy it.
Meant to post this and forgot, remembered when I saw the Cooking thread today. Love this in the late fall/early winter on a real nasty day. Dig some leeks and grab the last of the kale and get some fall taters out of the root cellar. Leeks are the filet mignon of the onion family. It’s pure comfort food, not good for the arteries or your waist.
Leek and Potato Soup with Kale:
1 lb of bacon, chopped into 2 inch chunks
6 medium leeks (the storebought ones are usually large, 3 of those are enough)
1-2 tbsp dried celery leaves
2qt half-n-half
6 medium sized potatoes, diced
3 cups chopped kale
1/2 cup ground parmasean cheese
Pepper to taste
In a stock pot or similar size soup pot cook bacon chunks on low-medium till done but not completely crispy. While cooking bacon clean and prepare leeks by splitting them in half long ways then slicing 1/4 in. thick. Add to bacon when done and cook for a few minutes. Dice the potatoes 1/2 to 1 in., your choice. Chop the kale down to 1” or so pieces.
Add pepper to taste, then half-n-half, diced potatoes, kale, and parmasean. Add extra milk if needed to cover. Bring to a boil for about 5 minutes, turn off and let sit for 1/2 hour to soften the potatoes and kale, then serve.
I dry my own tomatoes and peppers, you can crush about a quarter cup of each and add when you put in the leeks. You can also include a 1/2 dozen leaves or so of fresh sage with that (I bring mine indoors for the winter). and/or a few stalks of chopped celery when you put in the potatoes instead of kale. You can sub 1-2 pounds of sausage for the bacon.