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tryska

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Posts posted by tryska

    I wanna grow stuff!

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    So other than the ag extension, is there any web resource for figuring out what varietals are just right for your area? (i'm going to snoop around my department of agriculture site - but i'm wondering about commercial resources.)

    I'd really like to find a dwarf fig and give that a shot too. Sunny - you have to let me know how your fig winds up doing.

    And i'm definitely going to look into a small composter too. altho maybe that will be a winter project.

    I think before i got totally over board, i'm going to get a cooler, and try my hand at some early tomoatoes, and some foolproof herbs.

    then i can start planning for future seasons, provided it doesn't turn out that all i've got is a brown wrinkly thumb. ;-)

    I wanna grow stuff!

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    thanks for the link to garden guides, Sunny - I will check it out.

    jaymes - I saw in one of the old threads that you had (have?) a container fig tree - how did that work out for you? I would love a fig tree, but i was worreid it would be too big.

    lastly - do y'all have any thoughts on composting? is that soemthing i can do on my patio? perhaps under the stairs?

    I wanna grow stuff!

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    oh another question I had - (i'm wiating on the book "Bountiful Container" as we speak and it will probably answer this)

    what are the rules in combining plants in pots? like can i have a bush tomato, radish, and a head of lettuce (apropriate to my weather of course) growing in the same pot?

    Rosemary and Thyme? green onions and garlic?

    I wanna grow stuff!

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    Thanks Sunny! excellent info - I'm familiar with the proeprties of both Cilantro and Mint as my mother has grown both - That's kind of why i'm hesitant about the mint. iirc - cilantro has to be reseeded once it has flowered right? (i suppose i could ask my mom - since she's patio gardening that in Florida now)

    here is the patio tomato I was thinking of:

    http://www.burpee.com/shopping/product/det...iSubSubCat=2187

    I really like the tumbling toms too - but like i said i'm wary about hanging plants because there really is no way to protect it as it stands now. Unless i shelter it under the stairs on the side, but then it gets full shade.

    The trellis idea for vines is intriguing - I might be able to do that with my railings, or soem other sort of trellis, but i'm nto sure about my complex by-laws...

    do you know of anyone who has experience witht he Bush varieties of watermelon? i was thinking of a Bush Sugar Baby - apparently the vines grow only about 3 ft...that's something i could do with my ex's old Marine Corps foot locker - if i can get the drainage right. it's out on the porch housing spiders as it is.

    I wanna grow stuff!

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    I *LOVE* the styrofoam cooler idea.

    I was thinking about Meyer Lemons as well - because they are such pretty trees - do you think i can grow them here in Georgia? I think we're a zone off.

    I will also look for other threads on this - i'm such a goof - cuz i totally didn't search beforehand.

    here's one question that i've been trying to figure out, and i'm still waiting on the Library to send me the book i need.

    I know that drainage is important - and i live on the second floor with someone's patio below mine -

    When the plants drain how much water am i looking at dealing with?) is it soemthing that my neighbors would complain about (there is space between the planks of my patio). Or would i be better off with drainage trays under everything (like with your coolers?)

    I wanna grow stuff!

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    Ok - there is some sort of green need that I have to fulfill, so I am exploring the world of container gardening.

    I understand there are several fruits and vegetables I can grow in pots.

    I've got a decent porch as far as room goes, and a great mix of direct sun, partial shade, and full shade that I can work with. I'm in Zone 7 (Georgia).

    Right now, and I know i'm starting late, but this is an experiment my fantasy container garden will ahve the following:

    A gardenia plant. (non edible as far as I know, but it smells really nice)

    Tomatoes - I'm thinking about a tumbling tom, but we can get some throughly random high winds around here, so i'm not entirely sure about hanging anything. So it might be one of the patio tomatoes instead.

    Strawberries - in a strawberry jar.

    Radishes - preferably white finger radishes.

    Salad greens - not sure which.

    Garlic would be cool, and an onion of some sort - maybe green onions.

    Cilantro, thyme, and possibly mint - these are herbs i use often, but not in large enough quantities.

    I'm also thinking of zucchinis, and possible a chili, but i fear a chili would be too prolific.

    I would love to grow a patio watermelon if such a thing is possible, and eventually i would like a year round garden, with plant rotations and all of that.

    Does anyone have any experience with this? Thoughts, suggestions, etc?

    Pressure Cookers: brands, sizes, features

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    Well in my experience - you start with it at a high to bring what you have in there to a boil. When the cooker starts spitting, turn the heat down to med./med. low for the rest of the time.

    Using one of my Mom's shortcuts, i usually just set it to medium and ignore all the whistling and temp changing. I usually end up with a little extra liquid int here, but it's not biggie to boil it off with the lid off.

    I have a Prestige Cooker, and I'm truly amazed with the craftmanship on that thing. It's stellar.

    One thing I have learned. One must respect the Cooker. If the Cooker doesn't want to open, for the love of God, don't force it.

    I did that a few weeks back. there was a gunshot like pop, and my stove area, wall, floor, and clothes were covered with hot cooked onions. I still have a faint burn left to remind me.

    Dirty Ethnic Markets

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    I'd like to re-iterate my point here, because I think it's getting lost in cultural relativism. I don't think that there is a pre-disposition in any culture to be more accepting of dirty/dusty/weeping/misordered cans or other food containers. Whenever I travel, I make it a point to search out food stores; I get a kick out of strolling through foreign supermarkets.

    I've been in food stores or supermarkets all across Asia, and have shopped regularly in both Vietnam and Korea. The food stores here are full of clean, bright cans and bottles facing forward. Nothing is weeping anything. Nothing is dusty. People care a lot about the cleanliness and order of the products. They do not have lowered standards. They are not "used to" eating this way and are more accepting of it than us in their home countries.

    But

    When I visit special "western" ethnic markets; that is to say, small stores specializing in western food products that have been imported to Asia, such as cereal; bottled spaghetti sauce; Macaroni and Cheese; corn chips; various cheeses; lunch meats, etc.; these stores have been dusty, crowded, and jumbled full of cans and bottles in various states of disrepair. Are all the Vietnamese people who visit wondering, "Goodness, these foreigners who shop here must be used to such dirty stores! They must have special immunity for eating this stuff"?

    So I think it's not where the shoppers are from that matters. It's the fact that

    1) The products have come a long way and have suffered in transit and

    2) shoppers in these stores have little choice when it comes to purchasing these products, so they must accept them in whatever form they find them in.

    So to sum up: [Asian] people do not have lower standards for the condition of the products that they purchase BUT people who are buying products that remind them of home and can't find anywhere else do.

    I think you and I pretty much share the same perception.

    i would like to add:

    3) the products in these store probably don't have the same turnover as products at the "regular" stores.

    Gastronomic sins

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted · Edited by tryska (log)

    i only eat pastrami on pumpernickel.  I can't do the seeds in rye bread.  Am i a sinner?

    I wouldn't think so. Pumpernickel seems appropriate to the general area of Europe that pastrami originates from, I think. Then again, I'm no expert on Romanian food, and I'm pretty sure that's where pastrami comes from.

    thanks Pan AND I_call_the_duck - i think i'm alright too - at least i haven't gotten any pitiful looks when ordering.

    (unlike my friend who ordered a calzone filled with potatoes, onions cheese and sauce when we were at the pizzeria)

    re: New Yorkers and condiments - I grew up Upstate, but when I came to the City for school, I was surprised not by mayo (never saw it) but by the sheer amounts of ketchup used by New York kids. You could always tell the city kids by how much ketchup they required for fries, shrimp, chicken nuggets...even plantains (green, not sweet)

    As for hot dogs - my idea of a properly dressed hot dog is a strip of ketchup on one side, a strip of mustard on the other - and relish down the middle. :biggrin:

    Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Seasons 1-5

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    You know the manufactured controversy never ceases to amaze me. I found nothing in the Mexico episode worthy of getting truly offended over.

    I thought it was even-handed, truthful, and dare i say it - fair and balanced. I didn't sense any overt political agenda.

    So i can only chalk up the anger to people's pre-conceived notions, fears, and political agendas being directly confronts, by what many of us like to call....Reality.

    Good job Tony.

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