Gardening: (2016– )

KennethT · September 2, 2023

So it turns out that my kencur that I brought home from Indonesia (and now all 6 have sprouted and are growing nicely) have anti-cancer properties!!

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-discover-that-a-southeast-asian-ginger-has-anti-cancer-properties/

donk79 · September 4, 2023

On 8/29/2023 at 3:36 PM, ChocoMom said:

Okay....so how many of my fellow gardeners have ever heard of Electroculture? and, How many have tried Electroculture?

My husband happened to come upon a video about it, and took a deep dive into the history of it, etc. He showed it to me, and I was curious. In 2002 when we purchased the house and property, we found many clusters of copper wiring out back and never did anything with it. So, I figured- why not try it?! I'm not putting any money into it- just a few minutes locating some wooden posts to wrap the wires around. My garden is about 45 feet by 90 feet, so I made up a dozen or so of these contraptions, and when I ran out of sticks, I just stuck the wire right into the ground.

I did not fertilize the ground. I did water a few times bc the early summer was very dry here. I rototilled and pulled weeds same as I do every year. The results have been astounding:

The first cabbage I EVER GREW was this year, and weighed in at 7 pounds. There are three more in the garden - even larger.

The first brussels sprouts to ever grow beyond 3-4 inches are now boasting dozens of sprouts on each 4 foot tall plant.

The first cauliflower to ever grow at all in that garden were huge gorgeous heads.

The first broccoli to ever grow beyond a couple inches w leaves produced over 16 heads - and are still producing.

The carrots and beets are massive. I've pickled over a dozen pints of beets for hubby- and that;s less than half of the beets I planted. The carrots are insane.

The zucchini are growing faster than I've ever seen, and I've begun pickling those too!

I grew red onions and they are huge!

The acorn, buttercup and pumpkins seem to be growing faster than normal.

The green and yellow beans are producing more than I have ever seen. I've picked them four times- and there's so many I've had to freeze dry, freeze, give away, cook- I cannot believe it. I blanched and froze 12 pounds in one harvest, and today will be the fifth harvest.

Peas, I've picked three times- freezing or freeze drying 3-4 quarts. They are still producing.

Sweet potatoes are ridiculous. Not even done growing, and they are massive.

The tomatoe plants are so huge, I had to pound T-posts inside the tomatoe cones to hold them up.

The basil was so plentiful, I made 6 jars of pesto- and they are still producing!!!

The parsley has grown so well, I've been able to make salads using the parsley as greens. Like in Shopska salad.

The only thing that did not fare well were the potatoes. The potatoe beetles were the most horrendous I've even witnessed. I did a second planting, and hope to harvest in Sept/Oct. We will see.

But, I was just curious if anyone else has tried it and had similar results. Fun experiment, nonetheless.

I've never done much that gives input to this conversation, but the Washington Post gave a survey of the topic this past week: https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2023/08/30/gardening-electroculture-explained/

Paywall gifted link: https://wapo.st/3L4Kikw

Edited September 4, 2023 by donk79 (log)

dcarch · September 4, 2023

If you go to youtube and search "perpetual motion machines", you will find endless samples of "successful" inventions . You can also find all kinds of fantastic methods of gardening like how to make papaya plants produce bananas instead.

Electroculture, using copper wires to attract electromegnetic energy in air so you never have to use fertilizer again is another "perpetual motion machine" concept.

Today with cellphone towers everywhere blanketing the earth with electric field, I have not noticed plants growing better than in the old days.

Copper wires antennas? I wonder how many people realize that today a lot of "copper wire" are actually aluminum wire coated with a thin layer of copper. You know how people catch earthworms? They electrify the soil. guess what would happen to your garden soil if these tiny copper antennas can electrify your garden soil.

dcarch

Senior Sea Kayaker · September 5, 2023

Most of yesterday's haul: purple long beans, thinned green onions, chard, dried Italian parsley seed heads, radish and beet greens, a few rogue radishes that were hiding under the chard, some dill, tomatoes and cucumber.

Edited September 5, 2023 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

chromedome · September 7, 2023

Came home on Monday after spending several days in NS visiting my mom and other family, as well as my longtime best friend's mom ("Mom #2"). The garden, of course, had run wild in my absence.

My yellow bush beans are spent but the green beans and green filet beans are still going; and in fact the filet beans are just now hitting their stride. Harvested 3 lbs more when I got home, which by my count brings me up to 42 lbs blanched and frozen. Also harvested some broccoli and broccolini, a couple of pounds of tomatoes (the deluge is just beginning), another couple of cups of shell peas, several zucchini (totaling 3 lbs or thereabouts), my three surviving cabbages (which will become this year's kraut), and a basket of chard and other greens (radish tops, beet tops and lacinato kale). I'm probably forgetting something, but it's late and I'm tired. Will post a few pics tomorrow.

ETA: ...and here are the pics. Tomatoes in the bowl are from my first night back, those out of the bowl were from the second.

Most of my tomatoes so far are the cocktail and cherry varieties, but I've also gotten my first couple of Romas and Black Krims. The larger Krim checked in at 14 ounces.

Tomorrow I'll harvest salad greens again, and by then the beans and peas will need picking again as well.

I believe I mentioned upthread that the broccoli I planted this year pushes out lots of side shoots if you harvest the main head early, resulting in more broccoli overall. Here's what it looks like in practice:

My dill is about 7 feet tall right now! Gotta buy some pickling cukes, because my own plants aren't going to give me enough to be going on with (given the opportunity, the two younger grandkids will hoover an entire jar at one sitting).

Edited September 7, 2023 by chromedome (log)

Darienne · September 7, 2023

I'm just overwhelmed reading these posts about the wonderful gardens you all have. So envious. I've just this little dirt bag affair and some of it never took hold at all. My days of major productions are long over. We did have vegetable gardens going back and for a few years we actually grew hardshell gourds, pollinating them by hand. That was then...this is now. I could add that I grow green onions all year long with good success.

However, I do have a question arising from my tomato success. The beefsteak tomatoes were a great success and the taste of them was just perfect...the kind of tomato you eat right there in the garden without even washing it off and you can't believe that it tasted that good. And then you make a sandwich with them and think you've died and gone to tomato heaven.

So...we've now purchased farm grown and ripened on the vine from two different local farms and while the tomatoes were so much better than grocery stores red cardboard replicas, they did not live up the that incredible taste of my beefsteak tomatoes. Is this common? Do beefsteak tomatoes taste different from say...Black Krims (about which I know nothing)?

Any feedback appreciated.

chromedome · September 7, 2023

4 hours ago, Darienne said:

However, I do have a question arising from my tomato success. The beefsteak tomatoes were a great success and the taste of them was just perfect...the kind of tomato you eat right there in the garden without even washing it off and you can't believe that it tasted that good. And then you make a sandwich with them and think you've died and gone to tomato heaven.

So...we've now purchased farm grown and ripened on the vine from two different local farms and while the tomatoes were so much better than grocery stores red cardboard replicas, they did not live up the that incredible taste of my beefsteak tomatoes. Is this common? Do beefsteak tomatoes taste different from say...Black Krims (about which I know nothing)?

Any feedback appreciated.

Tomato flavor can be a bit of a "black box," because there are a lot of variables. One is that even farm-fresh tomatoes aren't likely to be completely ripened on the vine (when it's dead-ripe, eating it immediately after picking is about the only option). Also tomatoes grown in different soil will vary somewhat in flavor, and even one plant in the same bed may yield tastier fruit than the one next to it. Then there's the question of which specific cultivar you've grown (there are a lot of beefsteak-type tomatoes, some more flavorful than others).

In short, there are some imponderables involved.

Black Krim is an heirloom variety originating in the Crimea. It's a big beefsteak-style slicing tomato with a dark, dramatic color and a rich flavor (I like it a lot).

chromedome · September 8, 2023

I'd forgotten to mention it, but our inoculated bed of winecap mushrooms has fruited again and we've gotten just over 6 pounds from this second flush (slightly more than from the first one). Yesterday's harvest was mostly salad greens, and I didn't bother taking another pic because one mound of lettuces looks more or less like any other.

Darienne · September 8, 2023

38 minutes ago, chromedome said:

I'd forgotten to mention it, but our inoculated bed of winecap mushrooms has fruited again and we've gotten just over 6 pounds from this second flush (slightly more than from the first one). Yesterday's harvest was mostly salad greens, and I didn't bother taking another pic because one mound of lettuces looks more or less like any other.

I am so impressed with your gardening skills and that of others on this topic also.

Darienne · September 9, 2023

On 9/7/2023 at 2:21 PM, chromedome said:

Tomato flavor can be a bit of a "black box," because there are a lot of variables. One is that even farm-fresh tomatoes aren't likely to be completely ripened on the vine (when it's dead-ripe, eating it immediately after picking is about the only option). Also tomatoes grown in different soil will vary somewhat in flavor, and even one plant in the same bed may yield tastier fruit than the one next to it. Then there's the question of which specific cultivar you've grown (there are a lot of beefsteak-type tomatoes, some more flavorful than others).

In short, there are some imponderables involved.

Black Krim is an heirloom variety originating in the Crimea. It's a big beefsteak-style slicing tomato with a dark, dramatic color and a rich flavor (I like it a lot).

Right. The last two tomatoes from the same vines I am growing have not reached the heights of deliciousness as the first few. :sad:

Darienne · September 10, 2023

A question from the ignorant: Ed bought me a basil plant from a grocery store and yesterday I used ALL the leaves on the plant making tomato soup ...my first time and I was blown away with the deliciousness of the result...but now my plant is denuded and all I have left is the stalks and the small leaves which I know will grow and be usable in some time.

What do I do next about the plant? Or do I simply wait for the next leaves?

rotuts · September 10, 2023

wait.

don't give it too much sun

as it might shrivel up in the heat.

dcarch · September 10, 2023

22 minutes ago, Darienne said:

A question from the ignorant: Ed bought me a basil plant from a grocery store and yesterday I used ALL the leaves on the plant making tomato soup ...my first time and I was blown away with the deliciousness of the result...but now my plant is denuded and all I have left is the stalks and the small leaves which I know will grow and be usable in some time.

What do I do next about the plant? Or do I simply wait for the next leaves?

Get a bigger pot, with potting soil, spread out the basil plants. Soon you will be having basil tomato soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday.

dcarch

Darienne · September 10, 2023

On 9/10/2023 at 9:22 AM, dcarch said:

Get a bigger pot, with potting soil, spread out the basil plants. Soon you will be having basil tomato soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday.

dcarch

Thanks. Will do. I love basil. Pesto. Yummm. Oh, I do have the potting soil already from my outside dirt bag garden which gave me such wonderful tomatoes.

I need to do some rearranging in my den. It had a wonderful big window with a south east view. I've grown many bits and pieces in this window but currently it's a bit obscured by furniture. I have a Spider plant in it which I bought from the local library about 3 years ago and it's taking over my life. I've already given the library 2 huge sets of babies and the plant is currently producing another set. It just won't quit. Maybe I'll move it back some to discourage it a bit and have other things grow. I do grown green onions year round already and I've grown grape tomatoes from tiny slices. I would love to grow more stuff but I don't have the energy or physical flexibility any more. (Short crab.)

Edited September 12, 2023 by Darienne (log)

Darienne · September 10, 2023

28 minutes ago, rotuts said:

wait.

don't give it too much sun

as it might shrivel up in the heat.

Thanks, but I would say that heat as a problem is now over in the far frozen north.

Senior Sea Kayaker · September 10, 2023

1 hour ago, Darienne said:

A question from the ignorant: Ed bought me a basil plant from a grocery store and yesterday I used ALL the leaves on the plant making tomato soup ...my first time and I was blown away with the deliciousness of the result...but now my plant is denuded and all I have left is the stalks and the small leaves which I know will grow and be usable in some time.

What do I do next about the plant? Or do I simply wait for the next leaves?

You've got about ten basil plants there. Gently separate, repot separately, and they should be fine (notice the two leaves at the junction below the main stem: those are two new branching stems).

Senior Sea Kayaker · September 10, 2023

I'm setting up my indoor 'garden' for the winter. A little more ambitious this year with twelve containers. This area has good eastern and southern exposure and I had good results last year.

Fish, habanero and serrano peppers (round planters 2 each).

Basil, Thai basil and germinating cilantro.

Three other planters still on the deck outside: chives, dill and Italian parsley and one undecided (I may try purslane).

Fish peppers:

Habanero peppers flowering:

Basil in background:

Edited September 10, 2023 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

chromedome · September 10, 2023

Sadly one of my two suitable windows is shaded by the house's back deck; and the other is our cat's favorite nighttime perch (and you know how well that works out for any plants on the windowsill). We do have grow lights, but given the winter power bills at our ramshackle, sprawling house, I'm reluctant to make much use of them.

So our winter gardening will likely be restricted to our existing houseplants, which prefer indirect and partial light. Maybe next year I'll have a more permanent greenhouse in place, and can do some winter gardening outside of the house. It could even potentially happen this autumn, but the scope of my "honey-do" list makes it unlikely.

**TdeV** · September 10, 2023

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

wait.

don't give it too much sun

as it might shrivel up in the heat.

In SF Bay Area, California, I grew basil outdoors in more than half sun. Some internet search says 6-8 hours sun every day, with temp range 70-85°F (about 21-29°C) is ideal. Minimum is 50°F (10°C), and maximum is 90°F (32°C). See also https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/basil/

If you're growing the basil indoors, it needs to be positioned nearly up to the window. There should be no curtains blocking the windows. There are charts for how quickly the intensity of the sun diminishes as one moves inches away from window, but I can't find any at the moment.

Footcandles (FC) is the unit of measurement for determining the intensity of natural light. One footcandle is approximately the brightness of one candle, one foot away. Outdoor, direct sunlight has a peak intensity of about 10,000 FC.
Light intensity depends upon the distance of the light source from the plant and decreases rapidly with increasing distance.
Source: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/lighting-indoor-plants

rotuts · September 10, 2023

@TdeV

I agree w you completely.

I meant to be careful w the plant until it starts to revive itself.

thenId go w @dcarch 's suggestion

keeping the transplants moist until the recover in their new pots .

KennethT · September 10, 2023

58 minutes ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

I'm setting up my indoor 'garden' for the winter. A little more ambitious this year with twelve containers. This area has good eastern and southern exposure and I had good results last year.

Fish, habanero and serrano peppers (round planters 2 each).

Basil, Thai basil and germinating cilantro.

Three other planters still on the deck outside: chives, dill and Italian parsley and one undecided (I may try purslane).

Fish peppers:

Habanero peppers flowering:

Basil in background:

when you grow the chilli peppers indoors, do you need to hand pollinate the flowers or do they self pollinate?

Senior Sea Kayaker · September 10, 2023

55 minutes ago, KennethT said:

when you grow the chilli peppers indoors, do you need to hand pollinate the flowers or do they self pollinate?

Peppers are self pollinating but are assisted by movement caused by wind, or in the case indoors, agitating, usually by moving around or by a few taps near the flowers (which I suppose constitutes hand pollinating). They don't require cross pollination.

These plants will be moved and repositioned within the area in accord with the sun every day which should do the trick.

KennethT · September 10, 2023

2 hours ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

Peppers are self pollinating but are assisted by movement caused by wind, or in the case indoors, agitating, usually by moving around or by a few taps near the flowers (which I suppose constitutes hand pollinating). They don't require cross pollination.

These plants will be moved and repositioned within the area in accord with the sun every day which should do the trick.

When I grew tomatoes indoors, the needed to be hand pollinated. If I wanted a fruit to set, I vibrated the truss with an electric toothbrush, otherwise the flower would drop off. I had to do similar when growing strawberries - although for that, since there were so many flowers, I used an electric hairdryer only blowing cool air.

KennethT · September 10, 2023

All six of my kencur plants have now sprouted and moved into some larger homes.

Darienne · September 10, 2023

6 hours ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

Showed Ed your winter set-up and he has agreed to help me move my second desk which is currently parallel to my computer desk to under the window, just like that of Senior Sea Kayaker. I already have the wide window sill and now I'll have a second and slightly higher level to work with. And I'll scrounge for containers in the garage and up at the Drive Shed and if necessary at the local Restore (where they just adore Ed and fawn all over Miss Mandy.)

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