Gardening: (2016– )

[FauxPas]

1 hour ago, lemniscate said:

The yearly harvest where I willingly drive myself crazy.   First batch of the lowest hanging fruit done.

 

Do you use that big press for juicing them? 

[lemniscate]

So yes, those are pomegranates. 

I have a 20+ year old bush that is 20+ feet tall.   

The purple bucket contains the empty-ish husks of the fruit.   I use the "beat on the drum" method to deseed.   This method gets +90% of the seeds out of the rind and that's good enough for me.   I am dehydrating the seeds from about 30-40 poms in my Excalibur as I write this.    That's a new preservation technique for me with pomegranates.  I put the husks out for the birds to get the remaining pips to make sure the most is made of the fruit.

 

I do have a massive lever juicer for the poms, I'll probably juice a good portion of the remaining fruit.

 

I still have a jar of pomegranate molasses from a previous harvest so I am probably not doing more molasses.

 

I probably could make another bottle of pomegranate/prickly pear grenadine now that I am thinking about it.   

 

If I get desperate I will make pomegranate jelly to use up the juice if I run out of room in the freezer.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by lemniscate (log)

[lemniscate]

22 hours ago, rotuts said:

are those those

 

pomegranates ?

 

do you have a tree ?

 

a pic ?

 

 

Pics of the the unruly Pom bush.  After harvest and the birds are done (see the pic with the split open fruit the birds have stripped clean) with their portions, it will go dormant.  Then it will get a severe pruning.  It is intertwined with an equally unruly lemon tree, a monster honeysuckle vine and a seedless grape vine.   Some of the Poms are huge this year.   

 

[haresfur]

The garlic crop. I didn't expect really big cloves, given the starter bulbs but It should taste ok.

[heidih]

On 11/7/2022 at 8:28 AM, lemniscate said:

 

Pics of the the unruly Pom bush.  After harvest and the birds are done (see the pic with the split open fruit the birds have stripped clean) with their portions, it will go dormant.  Then it will get a severe pruning.  It is intertwined with an equally unruly lemon tree, a monster honeysuckle vine and a seedless grape vine.   Some of the Poms are huge this year.   

 

Yoy are so lucky not to have the night critters take all of them- my usual...

[Rahul Sharma]

what's that mediterian spice Okanagancook? 

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, weinoo said:

How cool is this?

Sooo cool!  Seriously though it is a most interesting article. Thanks for posting that link.

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

Sooo cool!  Seriously though it is a most interesting article. Thanks for posting that link.

 

What really amazed me is the root systems look way different than I could have imagined; having never tried to grow any of these plants during my gardening heyday, they came as a surprise.

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

What really amazed me is the root systems look way different than I could have imagined; having never tried to grow any of these plants during my gardening heyday, they came as a surprise.

Me too!  The root system of Belgian endive is especially impressive. 

[&roid]

10 hours ago, weinoo said:

How cool is this?

Brilliant link! Love it. I think I might have to go seed shopping…

[heidih]

For those feasting on seed catalogs and sites now this discussion with plenty of links might add to your treasure hunt. 

https://awaytogarden.com/seed-shopping-italian-specialties-and-new-catalogs-to-try-with-lane-selman/

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

First order of seeds arrived today:

 

 

Really looking forward to my first full season here.

 

[haresfur]

Summer has hit with a vengeance in southeastern Australia, after our insanely wet winter and spring. At least I don't feel as guilty pouring the water on when the reservoirs are full. The predictions are still for higher than average rainfall this summer but I'm not so sure. Here is a view of part of the garden bed along our west fence. This area is mostly watered by a spray hose that is upside down under some mulch. I hope that keeps the tomatoes from turning brown with whatever gets them just when they are looking good. One of the little raised beds is a wicking bed and the other is not. The butternut pumpkin is doing much better in the non-wicking one, maybe because there is more soil for the roots. 

 

 

I got my zucchini and another pumpkin covered with shade cloth in the back bed and harvested my first small zuke so not all the effort is going to waste. My pole beans are looking ok - at least the ones that survived the earwigs when they were small. I'm not a great gardener and I find the clay soil and weather here really difficult to manage.

Edited January 14, 2023 by haresfur
more soil in non wicking bed (log)

[heidih]

On 1/13/2023 at 6:36 PM, haresfur said:

Summer has hit with a vengeance in southeastern Australia, after our insanely wet winter and spring. At least I don't feel as guilty pouring the water on when the reservoirs are full. The predictions are still for higher than average rainfall this summer but I'm not so sure. Here is a view of part of the garden bed along our west fence. This area is mostly watered by a spray hose that is upside down under some mulch. I hope that keeps the tomatoes from turning brown with whatever gets them just when they are looking good. One of the little raised beds is a wicking bed and the other is not. The butternut pumpkin is doing much better in the non-wicking one, maybe because there is more soil for the roots. 

 

 

I got my zucchini and another pumpkin covered with shade cloth in the back bed and harvested my first small zuke so not all the effort is going to waste. My pole beans are looking ok - at least the ones that survived the earwigs when they were small. I'm not a great gardener and I find the clay soil and weather here really difficult to manage.

I am in such a different climate and gardening zone. My usual advice is to talk to fellow gardeners in your area or maybe there is a governmet  agency for farmers that accomdates individuals or offers resources. Most gardeners are eager to share expriences.

[heidih]

Well it has rained and rained in Southern California. All I've got from a food perspective is happy nasturtiums. Young leaves for peppery pesto, later when flowers come in salds, and then the young seed podlets for "poor man capers" which I've not been able to pick since drought start.   https://forums.egullet.org/topic/139044-pickling-nasturtium-seed-pods/?tab=comments

 

 

[haresfur]

19 minutes ago, heidih said:

I am in such a different climate and gardening zone. My usual advice is to talk to fellow gardeners in your area or maybe there is a governmet  agency for farmers that accomdates individuals or offers resources. Most gardeners are eager to share expriences.

 

I divided the irrigation zone into two parts so I could manage the water better. But overall it is mainly a matter of going out in early afternoon and seeing what is wilting. Those plants are looking better. They are next to a double gate that wasn't closing properly today. Turns out a butternut was holding up one side

 

 

[Shelby]

I need to order seeds.

 

 

[heidih]

1 minute ago, Shelby said:

I need to order seeds.

 

 

Thinking of anything different or unusual this year? My closest independent garden center is owned by a Japanese family (forever) and they stock some different seeds. Even the closest Japanese market has a seed selection and sometimes starts. Japanese farmers have been prominent in my local area since well before WW2. They couldn't own land but farmed leased lamd amd returmed after internment. Farmers are tenacious. Did you see my post up topic on a nice po=dcast about seed sources in US. So so much cool stuff available.

[Shelby]

13 minutes ago, heidih said:

Thinking of anything different or unusual this year? My closest independent garden center is owned by a Japanese family (forever) and they stock some different seeds. Even the closest Japanese market has a seed selection and sometimes starts. Japanese farmers have been prominent in my local area since well before WW2. They couldn't own land but farmed leased lamd amd returmed after internment. Farmers are tenacious. Did you see my post up topic on a nice po=dcast about seed sources in US. So so much cool stuff available.

I'm not sure yet...need to peruse.

 

Last year was hard--leg, then leg again, then poison ivy...it just wasn't my year.  And apart from that the tomato year was terrible--which truly was a blessing because I was not up to my usual preserving.

 

I know we want tomatoes, green beans, corn...

 

Need to sit down and figure it out.  I'm super late this year.

[TicTac]

Still tons of time @Shelby!

 

This will be my second year of experimentation with the Root Pouch fabric pots.  Some tomatoes fared better than others last year (cherries) and some things were an absolute puzzle to me (my Iranian cucumber grew about 500 flowers and produced only 3-4 fruit which I had to hand pollinate!). 

 

I think this year I want to try some sweet peppers in some, not going to bother with a zucchini in it again, I will dig a mound in the ground and chuck those in there.

 

Have Richter's seed catalogue to go through and pick out some fun new items, but probably just tons of lettuces, herbs, tomatoes, some snap peas and zucchini...maybe ground cherries again.

 

Too much white shit still on the ground to really think about it though - one can dream, however!

 

 

[heidih]

26 minutes ago, TicTac said:

This will be my second year of experimentation with the Root Pouch fabric pots.  Some tomatoes fared better than others last year (cherries) and some things were an absolute puzzle to me (my Iranian cucumber grew about 500 flowers and produced only 3-4 fruit which I had to hand pollinate!). 

 

Oh my Have you seen the size of the plot our girl gardens in - "small farm"   Do you sow the lettuces in succession to keep a steady supply instead of a glut?

[blue_dolphin]

3 hours ago, TicTac said:

This will be my second year of experimentation with the Root Pouch fabric pots.

 

One of my friends packed the gifts for our holiday gift exchange in these (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) 5-gallon Gardzen Grow Bags which look similar to the Root Pouch pots.  I thought it was a great idea instead of gift bags and wrapping paper and plan to order a few more to play with.  

[TicTac]

5 hours ago, heidih said:

Oh my Have you seen the size of the plot our girl gardens in - "small farm"   Do you sow the lettuces in succession to keep a steady supply instead of a glut?

Yeeeah - @Shelby is an absolute workhorse!  Wish I had that much space to garden, but we do with what we have! 

 

I like to plant lettuce VERY densely, (i.e. I want a carpet of lettuce!) as we pick leaves from the plants as they grow and eventually pull it all when it starts to go bitter.

 

I typically will sow seeds 2-3x/summer season.

 

2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

One of my friends packed the gifts for our holiday gift exchange in these (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) 5-gallon Gardzen Grow Bags which look similar to the Root Pouch pots.  I thought it was a great idea instead of gift bags and wrapping paper and plan to order a few more to play with.  

Love that idea!!!  Grow bags are awesome.  I especially like the root pouch as they make them from BPA free recycled water bottles. 

[heidih]

2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

One of my friends packed the gifts for our holiday gift exchange in these (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) 5-gallon Gardzen Grow Bags which look similar to the Root Pouch pots.  I thought it was a great idea instead of gift bags and wrapping paper and plan to order a few more to play with.  

Oh those soft pots are great and I've used them. Just not for a larger scale garden. They are also easy to drag aroung if your realize the original location was a mis-step. First got the reccomendation from Laurel at Laurels Heirloom Tomatoes. She was selling them on site. She has a great tomato selection. https://www.heirloomtomatoplants.com/

[TicTac]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

Oh those soft pots are great and I've used them. Just not for a larger scale garden. They are also easy to drag aroung if your realize the original location was a mis-step. First got the reccomendation from Laurel at Laurels Heirloom Tomatoes. She was selling them on site. She has a great tomato selection. https://www.heirloomtomatoplants.com/

Unless you have the foresight (or much smaller ones) to put these on wheels (I have seen this done!), you ain't moving around a full 75 gallon pot 😛

 

Perhaps if you have a skid steer lying around....