Weekly Garden Thread - September 2-8, 2023 [I Scream, You Scream We All Scream for...Salsa? Edition]

September 2, 2023 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

More "Sabor" from the Cantina. A Mexican ferment to complement your Salsa. (Its A bit like Giardiniera.) You can use it as a relish on things like burritos or onion cheese fold up Quesdillas. Like Salsa, you can make it from things you grow in your garden. (Having ferment lids is helpful.) I have tried it a couple of times. (Going to make some tomorrow!)

Jalapeno escabeche! Pickled jalapenos, cauliflower, carrots, & onions in escabeche.

Jalapeno escabeche; this recipe is naturally fermented, so there is NO acidic ingredient. Rather, the mildly sour flavor comes from the good bacteria that develop as the natural sugars in the vegetables ferment and are converted into various strains of probiotics. Each time you enjoy the tangy quailty of these pickled treats, your gut gets a boost of beneficial microflora! My family eats this condiment by itself and alongside many dishes. Tonight, we are eating it with burgers.

(If you prefer Italian food here is giadiniera ferment! https://www.bonappetit.com/video/watch/brad-makes-giardiniera)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Note... I excepted from the article and should have used quotes starting at “Jalapeno escabeche;.....”

[Liz]

Wow.....mega yummy recipe.

[Liz]

The Egg Bite recipe is eminently tweakable.

In the interests of brevity I did not list all the variations.

[GaltAdonis]

"....Seed some purple Kale in your winter experiments..."

.

Well, I might - if it were not for the fact that I truly despise
the flavor of kale. Way too bitter.

Kale is super healthy - so years ago I experimented with
all sorts of recipes to try to choke the stuff down.

Anybody care for some 'Kaleslaw'? No?

What is the LEAST bitter variety of kale? Is there one?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

‘Giardiniera’ We used to make that stuff by the gallon. A day-long project with all of that chopping!

But, good stuff. Thanks for the reminder. :)

[finnsheep]

Pinetree Garden Seeds has a septoria resistant variety that I tried this year and am very happy with it. The flavor is very good and with all the rain this year, unusual for us, they got huge - some over one pound.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Even the Veg Heads like this stuff, LOL! Also recommended for tacos - which are Nature’s Most Perfect Food, IMHO. ;) I’m going to try some. Thanks! :)

https://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/jalapeno-escabeche/

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I grow ‘Prism’ (green, very curly leaf), ‘Scarlet’ (purple, plant grows very tall) and this season I discovered ‘Kandy Crush’ which is green with red veining. It is edible, but is also lovely as an ornamental.

We must have different taste buds, because I don’t find Kale bitter at all. I like it raw in salads or wilted in EVOO with lots of garlic. I make a Lemony Kale Pesto which is awesomely good.

Bitterness in Kale comes from the heat, so if you’re just eating the baby greens, you’ll find them very mild in flavor. Kale tastes best in spring and fall.

[Hot Tabasco]

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Are you talking tomatoes? What was the variety, Please? :)

I’m having the best crops this season with ‘Celebrity Plus’ and ‘Bush Blue Ribbon.’ Both from ‘Seeds ‘N Such.’

Also, the ‘Chef’s Orange’ (Jung’s) just keeps on cranking out nice orange slicers. I always grow that. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOL! :)

[Pollard]

Picked up two cattle panels yesterday. Went to a closer feed store that recently expanded their wares, after they had fill brought in to build out the edge of a hill/drop to expand their yard. Price was a dollar less than the MFA feed store further away.

---

PLC came in and as soon as I pulled it out and looked at it, I realized I need a 24 vdc power supply. I had looked at many versions and more than half will run on 12 or 24 vdc but this one's only 24 vdc. I have plenty of sources for 12 vdc power but the more powerful PLCs require the higher 24 vdc only.

Looked around for something I could use. I keep old AC adapters but none were quite enough. My old Thinkpad AC adapters put out 20.3 but the PLC needs 20.4 - 28.8 vdc. As luck would have it, my Porter Cable cordless drill battery charger charger puts out 20.7 volts +- 0.1. Hard to tell if it's plus/minus or both. My old multimeter has two dead lines on the right side of the LCD display.

I know this is 20.7 volts. (my old Panasonic Toughbook rugged tablet is the only thing I have with a serial port to connect to the PLC)

I don't know if this is 20.6 or 20.8 or or if it varies between 20.6, 20.7 & 20.8. Either way, I can tell it's not 20.1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 so it's above the minimum 20.4 requirement and powers up the PLC. (note to self: get a new multimeter)

Never did get to upload the new start up screen; Little Bitty Acres. Having communication issues. Rewatched a Unitronics video this morning and I think I know the problem. Waiting for the boy to wake up before I turn on bright lights in here though.

I think it's a com port setting but it may just be that it needs something closer to 24 vdc for comms to work. If I had two loose car batteries not installed in vehicles, wiring them together for 24 vdc would be easy. I'm not pulling batteries out of vehicles though. I'll just buy a proper power supply from ebay and wait for it. I'm waiting on a soil moisture sensor anyway.

---

Major chore for today is swap to the new IBC water tank(s). Not sure if I want to replace the 220 gallon tank with a new IBC 275 gallon tank on my trailer that I pull with my little tractor. The little tractor weighs 1,268 lbs. The 220 gal tank plus trailer and gennie to run the pump already weighs about 2,200 lbs and the bigger tank would add 460 lbs to that. 2,300 lbs of water plus trailer/gennie would be about 2,800 lbs behind my 1,300 lb tractor. I have a big hill on the gravel road to come up with the freshly filled tank. There's already some rear tire slippage on a freshly graded road with lots of loose rocks.

It was tricky getting the 220 gal tank positioned right to make enough tongue weight on the tractor hitch for traction. That first trip up the hill with a full tank was a real butt puckering experience. Wish I had a bigger tractor or an extra pickup truck to use as a water truck.

This will eventually become the water truck. It does/did run and I did use it to get water with the 220 gal tank once. Needs a carburetor though and it is work to drive it but I could put two 275 gal IBC tanks on it and it would handle the load easily.

It's got some springs on it LOL - 13 leafs plus another 8 for the overload springs.

It's got a two speed rearend too so it's geared down enough to pull a house. Four full 275 IBC tanks would be almost 10k lbs lbs and I think it would handle it. Having to make a water run only 2-4 times a year would be nice.

8am and the boy's finally up. Long post is his fault. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[GaltAdonis]

I'll try Prism and Scarlet kale.
To satisfy my curiosity.

And yesterday I told you that I would keep you informed as to
my indoor garden developments.

Well, early this morning I walked out into the Den - and yowza!
The Simpson lettuce trays (which I planted 3 and 4 days ago)
have sprouted like gangbusters already! Popped overnight.
A few dozen itty bitty sprouts there.

I'm surprised that they sprouted so fast.
And I'm pleased by it as well.

I'll submit my order(s) when and if I find Prism
and Scarlet seeds.

And I need more seed trays and I'm going to get at least
50 small pots - for veggies other than kale. (Hey, they're cheap.).

I may also get a shelving unit so I can get these things
growing on multiple levels and make better use of floor space.

I can see and hear the visitors now -

"That guy is turning his house into a Greenhouse! What a Loon!"

.

Here we go - Prizm - from Park Seeds - pack of 50 seeds.

Okay - we've got the Scarlet also -

I'll go look for shelves now...

[Pollard]

Cracked top tomatoes. Is this the same as my cherries splitting on the sides after a rain or something else?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Yep. It’s a combo of inconsistent watering and the heat. Don’t take it personally; it happens to us all. And even IF you water consistently, some varieties are more likely to get it than others.

It’s not a disease and they are perfectly fine to eat. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Yay! :)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Labor day Tomato variety update

Still going and outstanding flavor: Thorburn's Terra Cotta ( I love this Gold/Green tomato! Originally recieved as a free variety from Bakers Creek. ), Annanas Noire.

Stopped producing in the KS heat, but also outstanding flavor: Black Krim, Old German. (I have pulled them up at this point.) Soldaki is limping along.

Heat tolerant, good flavor, productive and still going: Amish Paste, Jaune Flamme, Homestead 24, Sweet 100 (Almost more than I want!). Note... the Amish Paste is a favorite target of cucumber beetles who bore into it and ruin it.

I have 5 Burpee's Long Store that I started late that are coming into production right now. http://texasurbanhomestead.blogspot.com/2009/05/pill-bugs-gone-hail-update.html

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Pollard, they look good and edible!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

September start. I cleaned out my dead and dying pole bean along the fence and replaced with Cascade Sugar Snap Peas. (60 days approx) Decided to companion plant in the bed in front of it. (This Location will get full sun in September/October.)

So About 5 inches front of them I put a row of smaller 30 day Tokyo market type Turnips. Four inches in front of them I put a row of Golden Ball Turnips (55 days) and at one end with the most sun Navone Yellow Rutabagas (80-90 days) About 8-9 inches in front of them I put a row of (55 day) Boro Beets (And some 18 day Radishes here and there in the row....Beets do not germinate that quickly. The Radishes do! ) After watering I put boards over the rows of Turnips and Beets to keep the ground damp and protect from drying out. I will pull them off every day to check for germination. (**This is a good idea for anyone with Carrot beds. Aids and speeds gemination from the normal 10-14 days!)

I'll take a look later today at my different Broccoli and Califlower seeds today and see if I have time to start any of them.

Problems with Heat right now, but at some point once they germinate will be sow bugs/pill bugs which destroy the new seedlings.

I asked the internet and came up with these dicussions:

Discussions about Pill Bug Control

Pill bug Sow bug Trap

For now I will try to remove any dead material around the rows of germinating seed and put down old chucks of potato spiked with spinosad. Maybe try the double water in cups trick fron Texas Urban Homesteader.