Weekly Garden Thread - January 9-15, 2021

January 9, 2021 | 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 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!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

*TUESDAY GARDENING BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS*

*PLEASE ADD YOUR FAVORITES*

Choosing locally grown organic food is a sustainable living trend that’s taken hold throughout North America. Celebrated farming expert Eliot Coleman helped start this movement with The New Organic Grower published 20 years ago. He continues to lead the way, pushing the limits of the harvest season while working his world-renowned organic farm in Harborside, Maine.

Now, with his long-awaited new book, The Winter Harvest Handbook, anyone can have access to his hard-won experience. Gardeners and farmers can use the innovative, highly successful methods Coleman describes in this comprehensive handbook to raise crops throughout the coldest of winters.

Building on the techniques that hundreds of thousands of farmers and gardeners adopted from The New Organic Grower and Four-Season Harvest, this new book focuses on growing produce of unparalleled freshness and quality in customized unheated or, in some cases, minimally heated, movable plastic greenhouses.

Coleman offers clear, concise details on greenhouse construction and maintenance, planting schedules, crop management, harvesting practices, and even marketing methods in this complete, meticulous, and illustrated guide. Readers have access to all the techniques that have proven to produce higher-quality crops on Coleman’s own farm.

His painstaking research and experimentation with more than 30 different crops will be valuable to small farmers, homesteaders, and experienced home gardeners who seek to expand their production seasons.

A passionate advocate for the revival of small-scale sustainable farming, Coleman provides a practical model for supplying fresh, locally grown produce during the winter season, even in climates where conventional wisdom says it “just can’t be done.”

[hoe_cake]

Diana, I have a great recipe for Chow Chow. May I post it?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Please do! We post recipes all the time. We’re all Foodies here, too! :)

[hoe_cake]

Here’s my recipe for chow chow, which isn’t sweet, and is quite a hit.

2 hds cabbage, 12 tomatoes, 4 onions, 4 red peppers, 4 green peppers, 8 hot peppers, 3tbl salt, 6 cps vinegar, 2 tsp dry mustard, 1 tsp tumeric, 2tsp celery seed, 1 tsp mustard seed. Chop veggies, sprinkle with salt. Let stand 4 hours. Boil vinegar and dry ingredients. Add veggies. Simmer 10 minutes. Can in hot bath 10 minutes.

Next time I do this, I will try to freeze it in baggies rather than canning.

Enjoy.

[hoe_cake]

Im not a foodie. I’m not a cook. But this chow chow is amazing, and I don’t mind making it. Great on hotdogs, steak, chicken, rice, beans, peas, or just with some bread to soak up the juice. Being a Southern Girl, I’m sorry I’ve never tried it on Grits, but that’s probably good, too.

[Ellendra]

Book recommendation:
“Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web” by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis.

This book does an outstanding job of explaining the complex interplay between plants, soil, and the zillions of life forms in-between. It also describes ways to cultivate the “good” microbes, using equipment you probably already have.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

So, you’re telling me that there’s more than just Nematodes in my garden soil? ;)

Sounds interesting.

[Redleg Duke]

After watching some Homesteading videos on Youtube and also observing a project nearby, we have decided to build our new garden shed using pallets for the side walls. I picked up a dozen at the local feed store for $2 apiece (Yeah, I could have scrounged them for free, elsewhere.) and they are neatly stacked behind the platform. Weather-permitting, I plan to fabricate seven roof trusses next week, and then I can seriously look at framing the shed.

We are planning our garden for next spring. Barb has gotten through two catalogs, so far. It is a new life, without the seasonal RV!

[Liz]

Yummy....I love recipes w/ lots of veggies. Thx for posting

[Liz]

CINNAMON SYRUP
A good thing to have on hand. Add Cinnamon Syrup to coffee, serve on pancakes, french toast, waffles, oatmeal.
Great on a Fruit Crumble. Simmered with fresh pears or apples---an instant dessert.
My all-time fave---fresh-baked gingerbread, topped with whipped cream cheese, drizzled w/ Cinnamon Syrup.

METHOD: BTB on med combined 2 c sugar, cup corn syrup, 1/2 cup water
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon, stirring 2 min. Offheat stir in 12-oz can evaporated milk.

VARY: add brown sugar, honey, almond or vanilla extract. Or add chp nuts and serve over ice cream.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Good for you!

Tell The Mrs. that she needs to make decisions QUICK and order SOON. I’ve had some shortages at many of the normal seed outlets I buy from and prices have RISEN by $1 or more for the same size seed packet!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That sounds so good! I like the idea of it in coffee...but I like coffee with anything! ;)

I would note that it’s probably wise to use the very BEST Cinnamon you can find, versus the Grocery store variety.

I like the Cinnamon from Vietnam. You can get it at The Spice House; their ingenious ‘Flat Packs’ ship for free!

https://www.thespicehouse.com/products/saigon-ground-cassia-cinnamon

(FWIW: A lot of us are boycotting Penzey’s. The owner is rabidly insane. The Spice House is owned/run by his sister who doesn’t relentlessly shove her political views down your throat.)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

*WEDNESDAY VIDEO RECOMMENDATIONS*

White Cottage Company:

Planter Ideas ~ Cement Pots ~ Terracotta Pots ~ Aging Terracotta Pots ~ Herb Planters

I am in LOVE with this woman and her ideas; I've probably watched 50 of her videos, LOL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcpMaGl1uOw

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Hot Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcpMaGl1uOw

[Liz]

Glad to hear you’re not using Penzey’s.......they went off the deep end......hope they’re feeling consumer pain.

And thanks for The Spice House link......will look into it.

[Ellendra]

I recently bought some ceylon cinnamon, because one of Mom’s books said it had the highest level of medicinal compounds.

Turns out, it also has 2-3X as much flavor! I’ve had to cut back the amount I use in my pumpkin pies to 3/4tsp vs 1 tsp.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

It’s the best stuff, IMHO. I use nothing else when it comes to Cinnamony Goodness. :)

[Liz]

This is good in coffee or in just about any dessert.
Keep in the fridge. Serve cold as an aperitif.

Dulce de Leche Liqueur

ING 10.5 oz Hershey's Dulce de Leche 1 ¼ cup milk, cup cream, 1/3 cup Vodka

METHOD Cook/melt on low milk, cream, dulce de leche. Chill well. Lastly, add vodka, filter and bottle.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[Diana in Wisconsin]

*VEGETABLE LORE*

The wild ancestor of the tomato is native to western South America.[26] These wild versions were the size of peas.[26] Aztecs and other peoples in Mesoamerica were the first to have domesticated the fruit and used in their cooking. The Spanish first introduced tomatoes to Europe, where they became used in Spanish food. In France, Italy and northern Europe, the tomato was initially grown as an ornamental plant. It was regarded with suspicion as a food because botanists recognized it as a nightshade, a relative of the poisonous belladonna.[3] This was exacerbated by the interaction of the tomato's acidic juice with pewter plates.[27] The leaves and immature fruit contains tomatine, which in large quantities would be toxic. However, the ripe fruit contains no tomatine.[28]

The exact date of domestication is unknown; by 500 BC, it was already being cultivated in southern Mexico and probably other areas.[29]:13 The Pueblo people are thought to have believed that those who witnessed the ingestion of tomato seeds were blessed with powers of divination.[30] The large, lumpy variety of tomato, a mutation from a smoother, smaller fruit, originated in Mesoamerica, and may be the direct ancestor of some modern cultivated tomatoes.[29]:15

SNIP

The earliest reference to tomatoes being grown in British North America is from 1710, when herbalist William Salmon reported seeing them in what is today South Carolina.[29]:25 They may have been introduced from the Caribbean. By the mid-18th century, they were cultivated on some Carolina plantations, and probably in other parts of the Southeast as well. Possibly, some people continued to think tomatoes were poisonous at this time; and in general, they were grown more as ornamental plants than as food. Thomas Jefferson, who ate tomatoes in Paris, sent some seeds back to America.[29]:28

Early tomato breeders included Henry Tilden in Iowa and a Dr. Hand in Baltimore.[40]

Alexander W. Livingston receives much credit for developing numerous varieties of tomato for both home and commercial gardeners.[41] The U.S. Department of Agriculture's 1937 yearbook declared that "half of the major varieties were a result of the abilities of the Livingstons to evaluate and perpetuate superior material in the tomato." Livingston's first breed of tomato, the Paragon, was introduced in 1870. In 1875, he introduced the Acme, which was said to be involved in the parentage of most of the tomatoes introduced by him and his competitors for the next twenty-five years.[42][43]

When Livingston began his attempts to develop the tomato as a commercial crop, his aim had been to grow tomatoes smooth in contour, uniform in size, and sweet in flavor. In 1870, Livingston introduced the Paragon, and tomato culture soon became a great enterprise in the county. He eventually developed over seventeen different varieties of the tomato plant.[42] Today, the crop is grown in every state in the Union.[44]

Because of the long growing season needed for this heat-loving crop, several states in the US Sun Belt became major tomato-producers, particularly Florida and California. In California, tomatoes are grown under irrigation for both the fresh fruit market and for canning and processing. The University of California, Davis (UC Davis) became a major center for research on the tomato. The C.M. Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Center at UC Davis is a gene bank of wild relatives, monogenic mutants and miscellaneous genetic stocks of tomato.[45] The center is named for the late Dr. Charles M. Rick, a pioneer in tomato genetics research.[46] Research on processing tomatoes is also conducted by the California Tomato Research Institute in Escalon, California.[47]

In California, growers have used a method of cultivation called dry-farming, especially with Early Girl tomatoes. This technique encourages the plant to send roots deep to find existing moisture in soil that retains moisture, such as clayey soil.

More: