Gardening: (2016– )

[heidih]

33 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Been steadily picking from the garden.  Sweet corn is almost ready so I'll be blanching and freezing soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I'm in trouble already.

 

Your "pickin" basket is so appealing. I do not recall if it ha a story?

[Shelby]

19 minutes ago, heidih said:

 

Your "pickin" basket is so appealing. I do not recall if it ha a story?

It's so old I don't remember how I got it lol.  It was for decoration....then I decided it would be a good picking basket...then the handle fell off and Ronnie made one out of grapevine.  The end lol.

[TicTac]

Your haul is impressive @Shelby!!!

 

I know one thing that you are going to be making with those great looking zukes!

 

I made a batch of Shelby's pickled squash and they were really fantastic.  Gave me a bunch of ideas for further iterations.

 

Picked about a dozen very large zucchini blossoms today, added to the other couple dozen, we will be stuffing and frying tonight!

 

Couple snap peas eaten right at the bush by the little ones, and 2 husk cherries as well were quickly consumed.

 

Aurora peppers are having a bumper crop this year.

 

 

[heidih]

1 hour ago, Shelby said:

It's so old I don't remember how I got it lol.  It was for decoration....then I decided it would be a good picking basket...then the handle fell off and Ronnie made one out of grapevine.  The end lol.

 

Oh heck - your guy is a Martha story in the making. Do you rent him out for small projects  

[sartoric]

No photo, but our citrus is so prolific we even took some to the farmers market yesterday where a local guy added them to his stall. He took 15% commission and we got $25 for no effort. Better than seeing them rot on the ground.

[FauxPas]

11 minutes ago, sartoric said:

No photo, but our citrus is so prolific we even took some to the farmers market yesterday where a local guy added them to his stall. He took 15% commission and we got $25 for no effort. Better than seeing them rot on the ground.

 

What types of citrus do you have, @sartoric?

[kayb]

Guess I need to make tomato sauce again tomorrow.

[heidih]

As a horticulture person this kinda blew me away. We adapt  https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/06/22/881943143/barcelona-opera-reopens-with-an-audience-of-plants

[KennethT]

I'd hate to be the guy who had to schlep all those plants in and out...

[heidih]

47 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I'd hate to be the guy who had to schlep all those plants in and out...

 

Oh I have schlepped more plants than you can imagine and heaved them in and out of the trucks. The high school volunteers (getting credit by the way) were useless. I "accidentally" yanked the ear buds from several. and "oh by the way if you start itching the plant I brushed against you is a tad poisonous". 

[KennethT]

Indoor garden update.... Some plants are doing great, others not so much.

The rau ram6 is unstoppable. It's going to take over the apartment soon!

 

Both basils are doing really well and the mint that I cloned from the supermarket is rooted nicely - although the basils are getting shaded a bit by the rau ram! Every time I move them, the rau ram just encroaches that much more....

 

I'm having problems with the curry plant. It's definitely showing iron deficiency - which it is prone to. I think my nutrient pH was a little too high for a few weeks which limits iron uptake. I've since adjusted it and it's getting a bit better but I think I'll prune some of the stems that have lost leaves and see if that spurs some new growth. I also don't know if I'm watering it too much or not enough. It is prone to root rot and typically likes to dry out a bit between waterings, but in theory, coco coir holds such a large amount of air that root rot shouldn't be an issue. Indeed, I unpotted it a week ago and couldn't find any sign of rot - the roots looked great.

 

I'm not so happy with lemongrass either. A while ago I had excess nutrient build up in the coir because when watering, I didn't use enough to flush the excess. I've since corrected that problem and it's no longer dying but it's not growing either. I also don't know how moist I should keep the coir for this. Maybe it likes to be more moist and I need more frequent watering?

 

Kaffir lime is doing well. The new growth is greening up nicely. I'm going to make a Panang curry soon as it needs a pruning - hopefully that will stimulate a new flush and it will fill out more.

 

Sawtooth is doing really well. It's growing well and the leaves have great pungent and texture.

Edited July 15, 2020 by KennethT (log)

[heidih]

@KennethT Your happy basil, lime, and sawtooth made me smile. I know you are more the science geek guy versus me Goldie Hawn "Butterflies are Free" but one can overthink plants. I have only done lemongrass from grocery store rootings outside but it is a grass. Likes room, takes over, not very greedy on nutrients. Your indoor challenge efforts are laudable. 

[Okanagancook]

'Tis cherry season....from our neighbour's garden.  This is the second box of cherries we have been gifted.

 

[chromedome]

11 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

'Tis cherry season....from our neighbour's garden.  This is the second box of cherries we have been gifted.

 

Sucks to be you...

[heidih]

My mom got sick on overeating cherries when preggo with me. I only occasionally get good ones  here

Edited July 15, 2020 by heidih (log)

[suzilightning]

Nothing like y'all.  I have Thai and sweet basil going well.  The tarragon and thyme and flat leaf parsley are thriving.  John's cherry tomatoes have a bit of fruit on them and he has been carefully trimming leaves so he gets the most fruit with the best ratio of fruit to leaves.  Engineers!

[Shelby]

Unless the raccoons cart them off it looks to be a good year for watermelons and cantaloupes.  I'll probably be starting a cantaloupe topic soon.  Ronnie thought he was planting cucumber seeds and they were actually cantaloupes.  We have a lot of plants lol.

 

Picked anther batch of sweet corn.  This wasn't as high quality as the last, but it'll still eat.

[rotuts]

id always pick a ripe cantaloupe  over any cucumber.

 

Ronnie did good !

[heidih]

28 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Unless the raccoons cart them off it looks to be a good year for watermelons and cantaloupes.  I'll probably be starting a cantaloupe topic soon.  Ronnie thought he was planting cucumber seeds and they were actually cantaloupes.  We have a lot of plants lol.

Picked anther batch of sweet corn.  This wasn't as high quality as the last, but it'll still eat.

 

 

Beautiful!  I had one good cantaloupe year. I "trellissed" them so they would not get that goofy soft spot where they sit on the ground and used old stockings (back when we wore them) to create slings. The hunting lab at the time at the interesting ability to pluck the ripe ones and leave them for me at the back door. She was a very clever kid. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

On 6/22/2020 at 4:23 AM, Paul Bacino said:

More framable art.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

On a lighter note, there have been quite a few newspaper and magazine articles on regenerating vegetables to get second use out of them.   

So I submersed the root from a "living lettuce" in water.    After a week, there are a few leaves, but will it ever be a salad?

 

An inch of the root end of a scallion did grow new green leaves, so if you wanted free "chives", it is marginally worth your time.

 

Perhaps an interesting exe4cize for kids,

Edited July 19, 2020 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

[rotuts]

@Margaret Pilgrim 

 

nice

 

as ive mentioned before

 

GreenOnions , in a 1 qt container 

 

by a window last a lot longer then in the refrigerator

 

if its hot , but that widow 

 

give them a day in less light first 

 

and the outer shoots do not do well

 

so i use those immediately.

[heidih]

1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

On a lighter note, there have been quite a few newspaper and magazine articles on regenerating vegetables to get second use out of them.   

So I submersed the root from a "living lettuce" in water.    After a week, there are a few leaves, but will it ever be a salad?

An inch of the root end of a scallion did grow new green leaves, so if you wanted free "chives", it is marginally worth your time.

Perhaps an interesting exe4cize for kids,

 

 

Not holding your breath are ya!  There was a Disney series of kid books and one about science suggested carrot tops. Re-grow the cut top few inches  for greenery. Fun but not food worthy. The kids were way more impressed with the in ground plants. OMG Mrs. Keough this is celery? Got peanut butter?

[TicTac]

1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

More framable art.

Minus the mouse poop!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

😛

[Margaret Pilgrim]

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

Minus the mouse poop!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

😛

Naw, I know mouse poop when I see it.