Gardening: (2016– )

[HungryChris]

After 3 weeks of being showered by neglect, the garden needed a little work. I cleaned up half of it and tilled it up, planted 2 rows of seed tape  Black Seeded Simpson lettuce and a row of Rapini (Broccoli Rabe), which claims to be a fall crop that can be harvested in winter. As usual the cooler nights have inspired the pepper plants, which all needed to be supported by longer poles, which I did. Because I wanted  to make my own Bomba Calabrese, I planted a bunch of red cherry peppers, along with the usual shishitos and Cubanelles. 

While in Italy we had some killer pasta with a creamy pear sauce and I have been reading about several types. I like the idea of a pear and gorgonzola sauce and intend to try making a few types, so I was pleased to see that the deer had started eating the lower leaves on the pear tree, but had not yet gotten to the pears.

I had some firewood delivered while we were gone and intended to process it when we got back. I left a flag on a pole next to the garage where I wanted it dumped. For some reason whoever delivered it chose to ignore my instructions and dropped it on the driveway completely blocking the cars inside! Welcome home Cheeesch!!! That became my absolute first priority.

HC

[dcarch]

A few years back I thought it would be nice to grow some shiitake mushrooms. I did this plug in logs thing. I followed instructions, maintained the logs regularly. A few years went by, nothing. Wasted all this time watering the logs. I basically gave up and pilled fire wood on top.

This morning I took a few pieces of wood for my fire pit. I was shocked to find these on my inoculated logs.

A few small ones and a couple of overgrown ones.

What are these? they look like shiitakes and smell like shiitakes, and they are on the logs I inoculated with shiitake plugs.

 

I came across this Cornell U article:

https://blogs.cornell.edu/mushrooms/id/

Basically the picture they show is identical to the ones I found. Good news is that, according to that article,

"---Shiitake will ONLY be found growing from hardwood logs that have been inoculated. There have been no occurrences of other species with a similar form emerging from an inoculated log, ---"

And the one poisonous look alike does not look much like shiitake to me.

 

I did a spore print, the print shows white, which is what a shiitake should show.

Should I find a recipe to enjoy my surprise find?

 

dcarch

[TicTac]

No need to find a recipe - just sear the little beaut (thickly sliced) in a mix of EVOO and Butter till brown on both sides, S&P - a little thyme, perhaps - crust bread if you desire.

 

Enjoy.

[chromedome]

Some late picking:

 

 

Clockwise from front and centre we have a few of my yellow onions (the rest are still in the ground), a couple pounds of rainbow carrots, the usual "mess o' greens" for cooking (dandelion, chard, kale, turnip tops, three kinds of beet tops), the last couple of cukes, a handful of mixed baby lettuces from the third planting, perhaps the last spaghetti squash (we'll see...), the small handful of potatoes I planted this year, a few peas from the late planting, and some sweet little baby turnips.

Most of this lot is destined for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner.

Next time out I'll probably start harvesting some of the beets, and will be planting the garlic for next year.

[lindag]

19 minutes ago, chromedome said:

Some late picking:

 

 

Clockwise from front and centre we have a few of my yellow onions (the rest are still in the ground), a couple pounds of rainbow carrots, the usual "mess o' greens" for cooking (dandelion, chard, kale, turnip tops, three kinds of beet tops), the last couple of cukes, a handful of mixed baby lettuces from the third planting, perhaps the last spaghetti squash (we'll see...), the small handful of potatoes I planted this year, a few peas from the late planting, and some sweet little baby turnips.

Most of this lot is destined for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner.

Next time out I'll probably start harvesting some of the beets, and will be planting the garlic for next year.

Nice haul!

[joiei]

In the garden this morning I pulled up all the tomatoes except the Jonagolds, they are still producing.  If Miriam doesn't come harvest her Thai basil that is going away also.  Noticed that the one pinto bean planted in June, I found a bean in my garden bag and said why not, is not only blooming but has beans.  Hoping the frost stays away long enough to get a little harvest.  And the late season volunteer dill is going crazy along with the jalapeno.  I think the sage is to the point where I can make some smudge sticks to get the house ready for winter.  There are beets hiding underneath the dillghost peppers anyone.  It has gotten very prolific.See my baby pinto beans,  the last couple of days the bees have been working this plant like a bee  freeway.  

sage to make smudge sticks with and a bit for Thanksgiving

I am told this is a variety of arugula, very thin leaves and has a very mild spiciness.  I love the flowers.  It is a late summer/early fall bloomer.  

 

Edited October 8, 2018 by joiei (log)

[chromedome]

3 hours ago, joiei said:

 There are beets hiding underneath the dill

 

 

 

 

Not a bad serving suggestion, as far as that goes.

[heidih]

22 minutes ago, chromedome said:

 

Not a bad serving suggestion, as far as that goes.

 

I'd thought the same - a horseradish inflected sour cream with dill and garlic is something I enjoy with beets.

[Shelby]

On 10/7/2018 at 5:06 PM, chromedome said:

Some late picking:

 

 

Clockwise from front and centre we have a few of my yellow onions (the rest are still in the ground), a couple pounds of rainbow carrots, the usual "mess o' greens" for cooking (dandelion, chard, kale, turnip tops, three kinds of beet tops), the last couple of cukes, a handful of mixed baby lettuces from the third planting, perhaps the last spaghetti squash (we'll see...), the small handful of potatoes I planted this year, a few peas from the late planting, and some sweet little baby turnips.

Most of this lot is destined for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner.

Next time out I'll probably start harvesting some of the beets, and will be planting the garlic for next year.

Beautiful!

[joiei]

We had a cold front come through so I guess I will be digging sweet potatoes tomorrow.  

 

[Okanagancook]

Up thread I noted that I had planted some Sea Island Peas that I got from Anson Mills.  From about 72 plants here is harvest 😔  I guess they don't like growing here.  That's a 4 oz container!....they are pretty

[ChocoMom]

I was on the hunt for some veggies to go with Sunday dinner- and happened upon the heirloom carrots in the garden. Found another almost-ripe pumpkin, and a couple frostbitten spaghetti squash. The larger of the two squash made its way into the oven before I thought to take a pic. Due to our June flood, the squashes, carrots, and many other seeds "replanted" themselves haphazardly around the garden, so we ended up with a baby rutabaga and turnips mixed in the carrots. 

[joiei]

WIth the cold coming and wondering what happened to fall here in Green Country I decided to take out the tomatoes, harvested some basil to make more pesto for the freezer.  And with internet help, I am learning how to tie smudge sticks with some of the sage I have been growing all summer.  Now for a month in a dark closet to dry before I burn one.  A little cleansing before winter.  I left enough sage to hopefully last till Thanksgiving.  I am going to try to talk one of my potter friends into creating a smudge pot for me.  The only things left at this point is the jalapenos and I will be making pepper jelly later this week.  There is some beets that just need to grow.  Some garlic for next year and one green been plant.  I discovered the bean in my gardening bag in late june and just stuck it in the ground.  There is enough fruit on the plant now for a mess.  I am using a tomato cage for it to grow on and that is working out great.  That's it for now.  

[Toliver]

39 minutes ago, joiei said:

WIth the cold coming and wondering what happened to fall here in Green Country I decided to take out the tomatoes, harvested some basil to make more pesto for the freezer.  And with internet help, I am learning how to tie smudge sticks with some of the sage I have been growing all summer.  Now for a month in a dark closet to dry before I burn one.  A little cleansing before winter.  I left enough sage to hopefully last till Thanksgiving.  I am going to try to talk one of my potter friends into creating a smudge pot for me.  The only things left at this point is the jalapenos and I will be making pepper jelly later this week.  There is some beets that just need to grow.  Some garlic for next year and one green been plant.  I discovered the bean in my gardening bag in late june and just stuck it in the ground.  There is enough fruit on the plant now for a mess.  I am using a tomato cage for it to grow on and that is working out great.  That's it for now.  

Regarding the sage, I could of sworn someone on eGullet riffed off of an ancient eGullet recipe "Pancetta Embossed Chicken" (click) by adding a sage leaf on the skin side of the chicken. It sounded amazing at the time.

I tried doing a site search of eGullet through Google and came up with tons of recipes using sage (ravioli recipes and another recipe with fried sage leaves in browned butter and olive oil mixed with the pasta of your choice...and so on).

But I am thinking it would hardly put a dent in your sage supply.

Good luck with your beans!

[Okanagancook]

Planted my garlic for next year today!  DH even helped  😮

they were very nice bulbs.  I now dry them under a roof in my doggie run so it gets the breeze but little direct sun and they dry beautifully.  But really, I’d rather have my dogs 😥 running around in the pen.

 

 

[chromedome]

I planted mine today, too. It's actually a bit later than I'd have liked, but I've got some straw over them as a hedge against the weather.

 

Today's pick included more of the carrots, most of the remaining baby turnips, a few red and gold beets, some peas, most of my yellow onions, and the usual mess o' greens. My brassicas are all making a late but determined surge, now that the cabbage worms have been killed by the cold. I actually got a few small heads of broccoli, my broccoli raab is going gangbusters, the kale is coming along nicely, and my cauliflower and cabbages are all frantically trying to head at the last minute. I've set out row covers over most of what's still productive, and the rest has a layer of straw banked around it. I hope to keep things going into November if I can, and the cabbages and kale might hang on into December.

I've brought my patio tomato indoors, where it's thriving in a sunny corner of my kitchen, and I have two box planters started with lettuces and kale in an unheated but enclosed porch. I think they should do okay, there, but I can make space inside my office if necessary so they can get established in warmer surroundings.

[HungryChris]

The green mile. I am afraid the garden is scheduled for execution by frost tonight. I harvested what I could. I still have lettuce, Swiss chard, arugula, kale and radishes, that I think will survive, but don't hold much hope for the pepper plants.

HC

[HungryChris]

Yesterday was dismantle the garden day. I took down the fence, raked up and discarded all the tomato debris, rototilled and brought out the first of three cold frames. The second one needs to be painted and the third one needs to be assembled from the materials I have secured and stored in the garage. Today is a gloomy, rainy day, but warm enough to heat the house with just the heat pump. The pepper plants  were given a reprieve from the frost and will foster on for a bit. The arugula, lettuce Swiss chard and kale seem fine so far.  I am off to buy winter rye seed.

HC

 

[robirdstx]

 

I had prepared this bed for planting last Spring, but the weather, travel and life interrupted my plans. So, today I finally planted the bed with the lettuce, spinach and radish seeds I had intended to plant last Spring.

 

[Okanagancook]

Kinda gardening....17 of us picked 8 tons of Merlot for our friends who have a small vineyard.  They sell to a local winery.  Took us 3.5 hours.  Then we were fed appetizers, chicken pot pie, Caesar salad, cookies and brownies.  Oh, and wine of course.  We each got a bottle of my friend’s house made wine from last year to take home.  It was a glorious sunny day.

[shain]

I've picked those bananas a week ago. They had some time to wrippen. I was hoping to take a picture of the bundle, but they were slipping out of their peels and off the branch. Those are lady fingers, by the way. 

I like my bananas a bit more mature and by today they were getting there. They are not overly sweet, with more acidity and less starch texture compared to market bananas. 

 

[heidih]

Thanks for sharing the different bananas. There is much discussion universally about diversifying  our banana culture and expectations. Diseases and  environmental issues factor in. 

Edited November 18, 2018 by heidih (log)

[shain]

5 hours ago, heidih said:

Thanks for sharing the different bananas. There is much discussion universally about diversifying  our banana culture and expectations. Diseases and  environmental issues factor in. 

 

 

I do long for the day where more banana cultivars will be available here (same for many other fruits), it's hard to know how much we are missing - imagine only having a single type of citrus, squash or pepper/chili. 

Sadly in terms of disease resilience, the Lady Finger banana is too closely related to the common Cavendish, so it's suspicable to the same diseases. 

[heidih]

6 hours ago, shain said:

 

I do long for the day where more banana cultivars will be available here (same for many other fruits), it's hard to know how much we are missing - imagine only having a single type of citrus, squash or pepper/chili. 

Sadly in terms of disease resilience, the Lady Finger banana is too closely related to the common Cavendish, so it's suspicable to the same diseases. 

 If you scroll down  https://forums.egullet.org/topic/143771-eg-foodblog-panaderia-canadiense-surf-sand-and-sierra/ the photos in PC's opening post she shows bananas she grew. She edits (or used to) a trade publication for bananas! Oh the fruit she posted - you can taste it with your eyes.  

 

Edited November 18, 2018 by heidih (log)

[IowaDee]

Oh I miss her posts so much!  I learned something new every time she posted.  I don't even care much for fish but I enjoyed every trip she took us on relating to them.