Weekly Garden Thread - August 10-16, 2019

August 10, 2019 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes

[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 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. 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!

[Black Agnes]

We love the long beans.

We start with some bacon in the skillet, remove it & crumble and set aside. Cook some garlic mince in the bacon grease for a few minutes, then add some sweet onions. Cook till those are golden then add some diced chicken. Cook till that’s done then add the long beans, in about 2” lengths, and cook just til they’re tender. Add soy, sesame, spices/etc to taste.

Serve over rice if you like.

[MomwithHope]

That sounds absolutely delicious. I have always made them as a side dish. Plus I have everything on hand to make your recipe. All we use is sweet onions. And over rice sounds perfect. Thanks for the recipe!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I have a friend who grows the red ones and they are always SO pretty!

[MomwithHope]

red long beans??

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Yep! Chinese Red Noodle Bean. :)

https://www.rareseeds.com/chinese-red-noodle-bean/

[MomwithHope]

Very interesting thanks, looks like the same leaf type, yes they are pretty and the flowers too.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Oooo! That does sound good. I have everything on hand, too.

I know it’s barely breakfast, but supper is in the bag, LOL!

[Black Agnes]

We love them cooked this way.

You can add whatever else is in season too. Cut zucchini coins, carrot coins, broccoli, cauliflower, whatever you have. Ditto shredded cabbage, kielbasa half coins, steak that’s been diced,...use your imagination

I’m thinking of using that ‘riced’ cauliflower as the rice the next time we make this. We’re trying to cut down on starchy stuff.

Fresh ginger, garlic and soy sauce ‘make’ this. But hubby also adds ‘five spice’ and other stuff. Cayenne is good in it too in moderation.

Don’t forget the salt!

If you make a huge skillet of this you’ll want to either cook 1/2lb of bacon initially (or more, it makes good leftovers!) or you can add some coconut oil too.

[Black Agnes]

Also scrambled eggs are good, in moderation, when added.

[MomwithHope]

Making some today, just picked a big bunch more, and found I have 4 going to seed that I missed.

[Black Agnes]

This is a dish that, given a good once over of the garden for things like squash, zuke, sweet peppers, beans (long and string), etc I can feed 6 or 8 adult meals for the cost of the meat. A giant batch of this I’ll use 1/2lb of bacon and a package of kielbasa (can get for 2.50/pack here on special so I get several and freeze them) so about $4.50 or $5.00 for the meat. So the cost of that plus the cost of the rice + any bought spices. Easily less than $1/serving.

Also a good way to use up 4 or 5 eggs if the chickens have particularly been cooperative that week.

It’s also good with precooked chicken. I got an instant pot for Christmas (thanks santa!) and cook whole chickens. I pull the meat off the bones, divvy it up in portions and freeze the stuff we aren’t going to eat right away. Save your chicken stock and use that in the rice when you make it.

[Black Agnes]

One more reply and I’ll stop hogging the thread.

This is also good with citrus. When my meyer lemon tree is pumping out lemons in late fall/early winter I’ll juice one and add the juice + some zest. Brightens up the flavor immensely. Also good with calamondin juice or even orange juice/zest.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“I pull the (chicken) meat off the bones, divvy it up in portions and freeze the stuff we aren’t going to eat right away. Save your chicken stock and use that in the rice when you make it.”

You are a woman after my own heart! There is NOTHING more useful, dead or alive, than a chicken, IMHO. ;)

I’m surprised someone hasn’t come up with a theory that it was the Chicken that was forefront in founding Civilization!

Maybe I’ll work on that theory in my spare time...

And if any of you have never watched this, borrow the DVD of ‘The History of the Chicken.’ It was a PBS show and is by far the most interesting chicken-related thing you can watch, this side of the clay-mation movie, ‘Chicken Run’ or any old Foghorn Leghorn cartoons, LOL! ;)

[MomwithHope]

Is this it?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7mtZjlmPjU

[Black Agnes]

I completely agree about the chicken.

I can stretch one whole chicken for umpteen meals. You can use everything but the cluck.

BTW, we’ve also eaten this ‘concoction’ (veg stir fry) in wraps with a splash of sweet & sour sauce or hoisin sauce or (insert your favorite American Chinese condiment)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Yes. That’s the documentary on chickens I like so much. :)

[Califreak]

Thanks for the info on the chicken documentary.

Hubs and I really enjoyed it-it’s on Amazon Prime too.

That one lady with the rooster in the swimming pool is giving crazy cat ladies a real run for their money, isn’t she?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I couldn’t believe that hen feathers could put up with the abuse of blow drying, but - whatever!

I have a friend who used to have a pot-bellied pig and she would paint her toenails hot pink; it was really quite adorable.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Diana's Summer Salsa

4 cups tomatoes, seeded and chopped small

1 small green and 1 small red pepper chopped small

1 small sweet onion finely chopped (about 1 cup)

1 small Jalapeno pepper, seeded and membrane removed, finely chopped

1 tsp. ground Cumin

1/2 tsp. ground Chipotle

2 Tbsp. Lime Juice

1 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Drizzle with Olive Oil

Mix together and enjoy with chips or on anything you like! Add some drops of Franks Red Hot Sauce or if you want it spicier. Store remainder, covered, in the fridge. Eat within a few days for best flavor/consistency. If it gets 'wet' just drain it.

Add chopped, fresh Cilantro if desired - I didn't have any on hand.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m sure I’m Preachin’ to the Choir here, but I always find Wendell Berry an interesting read. Still gardening at 85 years old; something to strive for. :)

https://www.ecoliteracy.org/article/wendell-berry-pleasures-eating#

1. Participate in food production to the extent that you can. If you have a yard or even just a porch box or a pot in a sunny window, grow something to eat in it. Make a little compost of your kitchen scraps and use it for fertilizer. Only by growing some food for yourself can you become acquainted with the beautiful energy cycle that revolves from soil to seed to flower to fruit to food to offal to decay, and around again. You will be fully responsible for any food that you grow for yourself, and you will know all about it. You will appreciate it fully, having known it all its life.

2. Prepare your own food. This means reviving in your own mind and life the arts of kitchen and household. This should enable you to eat more cheaply, and it will give you a measure of “quality control”: you will have some reliable knowledge of what has been added to the food you eat.

3. Learn the origins of the food you buy, and buy the food that is produced closest to your home. The idea that every locality should be, as much as possible, the source of its own food makes several kinds of sense. The locally produced food supply is the most secure, freshest, and the easiest for local consumers to know about and to influence.

4. Whenever possible, deal directly with a local farmer, gardener, or orchardist. All the reasons listed for the previous suggestion apply here. In addition, by such dealing you eliminate the whole pack of merchants, transporters, processors, packagers, and advertisers who thrive at the expense of both producers and consumers.

5. Learn, in self-defense, as much as you can of the economy and technology of industrial food production. What is added to the food that is not food, and what do you pay for those additions?

6. Learn what is involved in the best farming and gardening.

7. Learn as much as you can, by direct observation and experience if possible, of the life histories of the food species.