Gardening: 2015-2016

[Franci]

Host's note: this topic is continued from Gardening: 2013-2015

 

 

This year the weather has been quite mild. This is what I picked from the garden yesterday.

 

 

Edited June 19, 2016 by Smithy
Added host's note (log)

[KennethT]

Franci, what is in the top photo?

[Franci]

Hi Kenneth, it's a trombetta zucchini or courgette trompette, if you search in this topic we talked about it before. That it's the perfect size for me if grown too much becomes mealy. It's a crunchy, less watery zucchini.

[KennethT]

Right... I knew I had seen it somewhere.... thanks!

[huiray]

Franci, have you tried growing costata romanesco?

[Franci]

No, hurray, haven't tried. My children are not huge fans of zucchini (except in minestrone) but they love the trombetta if cooked al dente.

I tried that variety in the past, don't remember if from green markets or not.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Franci (log)

[heidih]

I thought you might enjoy a shot of my friend's calamansi tree. It is having a spectacular season. The sun was very bright and almost directly overhead - the shadowy part is the other half of the tree which is similarly jam packed with fruit. I picked some for general use and to flavor the baklava syrup which is on deck today.

[Paul Bacino]

I'm so please with this late harvest.. Kalette

 

 

[Paul Bacino]

I always wonder what the heck.. a Kalette was NOW I know!1

 

Its the hair of the Kale Stalk.. best I can describe

 

Damn stalks are Mid evil weapons ..btw

 

The Beef tenderlion of a Kalette

 

 

The weapon!!

 

 

Now the Kalette

 

YES..Yummm

 

[Okanagancook]

Nice steel-Sabatier knife!  Just the thing for that stalk.  Could you use it for soup?

[Paul Bacino]

12 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

Nice steel-Sabatier knife!  Just the thing for that stalk.  Could you use it for soup?

 

Thanks!!

I actually tried to cut that stalk with my  Knife.  But it was tough as wood. 

 

So I thought it might be to bitter..  So I pitched it.  I'm a big fan of trying to use every thing though

 

Cheers and Happy Holidays

 

Paul

[Kerry Beal]

Wonder if the kale stalk has a 'marrow' like the brussels sprout stalk discussed elsewhere.

[Paul Bacino]

On 12/18/2015 at 3:09 PM, Kerry Beal said:

Wonder if the kale stalk has a 'marrow' like the brussels sprout stalk discussed elsewhere.

 

It didn't seem like it..  Kerry

 

But I had a hard time cutting through it..  tomorrow  I have one left and I will see.. keep u posted!!

[sartoric]

I've just found this thread, love the pig discussion !

 

Just harvested a bunch of birdseye chillies. This lot will make about 250g of chilli paste. They get blanched and pulverised with salt and a tiny bit of rice vinegar.

 

[djyee100]

 

The winter garden on my front deck. I cleaned it up yesterday for the holidays, so I feel OK about taking a picture now. Mercifully, we have had rain here. No frost, though. For the second year in a row I ditched my basils because they were unproductive and scruffy, not because they had been killed by frost. Meanwhile the parsley does well in the cool weather, the marjoram and lemon savory are hanging on, and the rosemary is very unhappy. The culinary lavenders are dormant even though they don't look it. My roses are still growing, and I would prefer that they go dormant. The weather simply hasn't been cold enough. I will prune them down soon and tell them to go to sleep.

 

 

Despite the brutal drought this year, my kaffir lime tree did very well and bore abundant fruit. In the summer it was failing, so I made a hysterical call to my gardening guy. He said large container plants were drying out and dying all over the Bay Area. He gave me instructions on how to give it a slow soak, followed by a healthy dose of liquid fertilizer. It worked. The tree perked up right away. I picked almost all the fruit yesterday.

 

In the background, my curry leaf tree for Indian cooking (Murraya koenigii). I pruned it back severely last spring because it was getting out of control. My gardening guy and I have a dispute about the small plant at the base of the tree. He says it's a sucker. I think it might be a seedling because it's growing slow and strong. The tree should be repotted soon, we'll pick around the roots then and find out who's right.

 

Hummingbirdkiss, LOL, your pig story. Pls keep up the saga of Bacon into bacon.

 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to everyone!

 

 

 

[sartoric]

Papaya nearly ready to be picked, they'll ripen after harvest. If we leave them too long the fruit bats get them.

 

 

Curry leaf tree as described by djyee100. The small tree growing at the bottom of the pot is a sucker. We've been unable to strike seeds. Grrr.....

 

[rotuts]

djyee100

 

thank you for your pics.   I grew up in the bay area, on the peninsula about 2/3'd of the way down  My mother was a self taught fantastic gardner

 

the patio area was more terra-cotta pots than patio.  citrus, stone fruit etc

 

my mother was lucky.  It used to rain back then, and the water, from hech-hechy

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hetch_Hetchy

 

was $ 5.00 a month.   she would have been beside herself these days.

[haresfur]

I have been remiss in keeping up with this topic. I had some early self-seeded lettuce that didn't seem to grow up before it bolted. I did get a few thinings though. Snow peas were a failure this year as were broad beans. But I think I may actually get some tomatoes that I started from seed. I have about 6 healthy plants and a few more that are trying hard. The heat started early this year so we will see how other things go. The butternut look promising so far.

 

I'm quite pleased with my high-line tomato staking system this year:

[HungryChris]

My little experimental cold frame is in the distance, but it is interesting to note that on Christmas day, here in Connecticut, the lettuce in the foreground is still growing in the garden! I picked from that as well as from the cold frame for a fresh salad tonight.

 

 

[djyee100]

8 hours ago, HungryChris said:

...here in Connecticut, the lettuce in the foreground is still growing in the garden! I picked from that as well as from the cold frame for a fresh salad tonight.

 

I grew up in New England. Lettuce in December, that's incredible.

Edited December 26, 2015 by djyee100 (log)

[HungryChris]

It is supposed to get bitterly cold tonight, so I just cleaned out the last of the cold frame lettuce for a big salad tonight. Not bad for Jan 3 in CT.

[sartoric]

This is our current basil crop which needs harvesting. 

I've made so much pesto we're a bit over it.

 

Any suggestions for ways to use it ?

[heidih]

huiray often just uses it as a vegetable. I like to take masses of it, cover in olive oil and set in a low oven to extract flavor. Fabulous as a bread dip or to finish other vegetables. 

[huiray]

50 minutes ago, sartoric said:

This is our current basil crop which needs harvesting. 

I've made so much pesto we're a bit over it.

 

Any suggestions for ways to use it ?

 

Simply use it as a vegetable. Yes, really. Stir-fries. Soups, especially soups. Try wilting handfuls of it into a nice stock with, say, fish balls. Or a tangy soup with chicken and bunches of trimmed basil.  Use it as one would fistfuls of Thai basil in similar circumstances except with a slight twist to it.

 

(In fact, half of what you have in that tub would easily go into ONE pot of soup for just a couple meals, or, if I'm hungry, a single meal. :-) )

 

ETA2: 10-15 years ago, when I was much more enthusiastic about growing stuff, I would have about 20 feet-worth of beds growing just basil of various sorts - usually around 7 -8 types plus more in tubs on the deck. Standard Italian-type (like yours) and Genovese would be two of the more dominant varieties. I'd let them get to about 3 times the height of what you show, with appropriate feeding. Yes, I ate them all - except the more scented or unusual ones which were only partially consumed.

Edited January 4, 2016 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

Ah, I see heidih referred to my use of it as a vegetable. Thanks, heidi.