Gardening: 2002-2009 Seasons

[jackal10]

    Couple of questions:  We do well with artichokes and other members of the thistle family,  I screw around every year and try growing something new (that's half the fun of gardening, isn't it) and last year I put in some cardoons.  They grow well, but what in the hell do I do with them?  I have tried  peeling the string parts off the stems, steaming them in chicken stock and then sauting them.  All I get is a bitter, soggy mess.  Cooking or growing suggestions to make them edible?  I haven't tried wrapping  to blanch the leaves but I have read this helps.

 

I grow cardoons, both to eat and as decorative background to roses.

You must blanch them late august/early September for 4-5 weeks, otherwise they will be unbearably bitter. Cut out anything old and woody, and wrap the stems in something lightproof - old newspaper or black polythene or geo textile.

Treat like celery. I like them braised with bacon. Sweat some onion and chopped up bacon until golden.

Add the cardoon stalks blanched and tied in bundles. Add some stock, season well. Put in a low oven for a few hours. Swiss chard stalks can be done similarly.

You can eat the heads like small artichokes, if you catch them early, otherwise they are a flower arrangers delight. Cut them long and hang them upside down to dry so the bright blue colour is preserved

Edited March 17, 2003 by jackal10 (log)

[vengroff]

Yesterday we spent some time getting the yard ready for spring. In one corner, we found a sage plant and a rosemary plant, both of which seem to have survived winter just fine. In fact, both are now large woody balls between two and three feet in diameter. If I trim them back, will they develop new tender branches and leaves more appropriate for kitchen use?

[jackal10]

If I trim them back, will they develop new tender branches and leaves more appropriate for kitchen use?

Yes, they are both Rosemary and Sage very tough plants and will re-sprout. They are pratically unkillable.

[snowangel]

It may be that the "no snow cover until February" caused a really deep frost. It may be that no snow = no moisture.

But, call it what you may, Peter and I were out exploring in the gardens this afternoon when he got home from school, and the verdict (per Peter, age 7) "ain't squat happening here." Not even a crack in the soil where the daffodils and croci should be busting through. No hint of that "faint green blush."

We've had a day of slow drizzle. Perhaps that will help, but then again, as I look out the window, the slow drizzle is becoming "flakes."

I feel like I'm 5 and it's Christmas. Will the presents never come? Spring always comes, right????????

[maggiethecat]

I feel like I'm 5 and it's Christmas.  Will the presents never come?  Spring always comes, right????????

Yes, Snowy, spring always comes.

Yes, only Useful Presents under the tree...if anything. I know what you mean!

In the Chicago burbs, my bulbs are peeping out. And the first sorrel leaves. Hang in.

[Nick]

But, call it what you may, Peter and I were out exploring in the gardens this afternoon when he got home from school, and the verdict (per Peter, age 7) "ain't squat happening here."

Sounds like you're raising him right.

[snowangel]

But, call it what you may, Peter and I were out exploring in the gardens this afternoon when he got home from school, and the verdict (per Peter, age 7) "ain't squat happening here."

Sounds like you're raising him right.

Peter's report today (after two days of slow drizzle, followed by a day of sun and warmth: "mom, stuff is coming. Wow, the creeping charlie is really, really, creeping.") Further exploration reveals that one of m azaleas may be "toast" (to quote Peter; mom, maybe we would pray or leave money so it gets better). We have spotted a few daisies coming, and there appears to be some oriental poppy acitivity. The potted mint plant from last summer seems to be perking up, as well. Time will tell if the little green things I've seen by one of my wisterias will be basil plants or weeds. Who cares. They are green and growing.

Life is good. Presents do come. Yes, one can again wear t-shirts, shorts and birkenstocks.

At 8:30 pm, I went looking for Peter, and he was asleep outside, under the pergola, on the wrought iron bench, covered in his dinosaur quilt. Ah, being 7 and little (he's rather small, and can sleep almost anywhere). When I carried him inside, he said "but mom, I just want to be outside and hear everything growing. And ride my bike." How many of us remember being possessed by bike riding?

Edited March 23, 2003 by snowangel (log)

[jess mebane]

How many of us remember being possessed by bike riding?

riight?! Suddenly the world stretched out before you (at least until dusk and the longshoreman's call of Mahhm).

[guajolote]

Has anyone ever grown lettuce in a clay pot? Would it be worth a try?

[maggiethecat]

Fellow zone 5ers: It's gorgeous today. Is it too soon to plant my sweetpeas? (A couple of Old Spice hybrids.)

Too often I leave it too late.

Sorrel is surging.

[nerissa]

Has anyone ever grown lettuce in a clay pot? Would it be worth a try?

G--

I have grown arugula in a clay pot...it does pretty well. I just bring in the pot when I want to munch. I am pretty sure you can grow other lettuces in pots.

Snowangel-- your son Peter sounds like he has inherited your gardening genes. Ah to be 7 again and asleep in the garden.

[jackal10]

I sow a seed tray of lettuce every two weeks or so.

Transplant 10 into a growbag, and eat the rest as young plants.

Don't see any reason why they should not be grown in pots, just not very efficient and hard to keep watered.

Sowed more tomatos "Fireworks II"

Here in the UK sweetpeas are sown in pots indoors. Nearly time to sow outdoor peas.

I'll be sowing heritage purple podded peas that can be eaten young as mangetout (tho they lose their purple colour when cooked) or grown on for traditional peas.

Edited March 23, 2003 by jackal10 (log)

[snowangel]

Fellow zone 5ers: It's gorgeous today.  Is it too soon to plant my sweetpeas? (A couple of Old Spice hybrids.)

Too often I leave it too late.

Sorrel is surging.

I'm a zone 4-er, and I would wait a week, but I think you should give it a go! Seeds are cheap, and sweetpeas can handle cold weather and cold soil.

Plus, do you really want to wait before getting dirt under your nails?

[sparrowgrass]

MY ASPARAGUS IS UP!!! Tiny little purply sprouts. Planted last year, and according to U of Ohio Extension Publication on asparagus, I can cut some this year, but I will probably get more from the wild asparagus up here on Sparrowgrass Hill.

Chickens and ducks are laying like mad, daffodils are everywhere.

AND, I finally figured out how to get the pictures out of the digital camera and into the computer, so if you want to look, try this

Pix of dogs, cats, the chicken house and new bathroom I built. No pix of the daffodils--just snow.

[Hopleaf]

Other than starting some tomato plants from seed a few weeks back (from some very old seeds I might add), which haven't sprouted at all, all I've done so far is prep my lawn. You know, raking, aerating and whatnot. I'm getting a tiller tonight, borrowing my mum's 2-cycle jobber. Is it too early to till up my beds? I'm starting from scratch, so I'll be tilling down to about 10 inches or so.

I suppose I've done more in the way of planning. I've got a garden pathway planned utilizing a bunch of flat stone at the new house. My beds are ready in the best sun-bathed area. Still don't know whether to whack back my hydrangeas or not, but they seem to be doing ok right now. I think I might just let them go. I know which of the three monstrous (due to lack of proper care) bushes I'll pull out from the front of the house. I've got a game plan. And it's just been great to get outside and start in on some of it.

[maggiethecat]

I've got a game plan.  And it's just been great to get outside and start in on some of it.

A game plan! You've spent your winter wisely. I can't see that it would hurt to start tilling now.What the heck?

And you would have the happy gardener feeling of checking one thing off your list

My game plan? To clean up all the stuff I should have done in the fall and didn't.

Are the doomed shrubs part of a foundation planting? Is so, double kudos yo you for tearing them up!

[stellabella]

hopleaf, in fact i've been wondering about you lately. spring seems to be full on us here in GA and we've already had to mow the lawn. my hub has planted leeks, garlic, chard and kale so far. hoping against a late frost i set out some early basil and cilantro plants, just as an incentive, but in about a month we're going to plant rows and rows of annual herbs [and tomatoes and etc].

this is a happy time of year. our birdbaths are heavily trafficked these days, and the yard is crawling with nest-building robins fat with eggs. sometimes i sit on the back porch and i wonder at the world. hopleaf, i hope your garden brings you lots of joy, and dirty nails, and brown arms, and a full table.

[jackal10]

Talking of planning, this year I plan as follows.

Its based partly on what gorws easily, and by what we tend to eat, and cannot buy easily.

For example it is not worth growing onions or garlic, as I can buy better in the market. There is an Asparagus farm down the road, so its pointless growing our own

Bed 1:

Potatoes: Arran Pilot, Pink Fir Apple, Salad Blue (only worth growing first earlies or rarities. Late varieties are prone to blight here)

Jerusalem Artichokes (self seeded)

Hamburg parsley (I keep trying, but not successful)

Carrots (various colours)

Bed 2:

Broad (Fava) beans: Purple flowered, Epicure(red seeded)

Peas: Purple Podded

Runner (Pole) Beans: White Lady, Painted Lady, Polestar

Bed 3:

Red brussel Sprouts (if we can keep the rabbits out)

Purple Broccoli

Savoy cabbage

Sweet corn

Chinese mustards

Rainbow chard

Bed 4:

Lettuce (slugs permitting)

Radish

Outdoor tomatos (Fireworks II, Sungold)

Vegetable Spaghetti squash, pumpkins

Flowers for cutting:

Sweet peas

Dahlias

Gladioli

In the greenhouse:

Malmaison Carnations

Tomatos

Peppers

More lettuce

Alpine strawberries

Basil

There is a seperate herb garden, in no particular order:

parsley,sage, rosemary,chives, garlic chives,oregano,marjoram, thymes, mints,

violets, old roses, lemon balm, feverfew, tansy, verbena,verbascum, lavender, sweet cicily, comfrey,borage

Comments, suggestions please!

The land is deep heavy alkaline clay.

[snowangel]

I've got a game plan.  And it's just been great to get outside and start in on some of it.

A game plan! You've spent your winter wisely. I can't see that it would hurt to start tilling now.What the heck?

And you would have the happy gardener feeling of checking one thing off your list

My game plan? To clean up all the stuff I should have done in the fall and didn't.

Are the doomed shrubs part of a foundation planting? Is so, double kudos yo you for tearing them up!

Till now. There are many things you won't want to plant until the soil is a lot warmer, but if you are planning on tilling in any organic matter, it will have a head start of decomposing.

Maggie, it is not lazy not to clean up all of the stuff you "should have done in the fall." In my book, it's called "winter interest." I wouldn't dream of wacking anything back until spring. It attracts birds, and sure beats looking at my neighbor's yard.

It's still slow here, but the soil is still really, really cold, and the big mongo piles of snow in parking lots are going, but not gone. sigh.

[maggiethecat]

Comments, suggestions please!

Jumpin' jeeminy Jackal! That is one serious garden!

Question: I see you planted comfrey. I did, and it is now the scourge of my existence. Everywhere!

How do you keep it under control?

Snowy: Yes. Winter Interest. The coneflowers I would not dream of deadheading. Birdie buddies, and all that.

Winter Interest. Winter Interest. I like your mind, Lady.

Edited March 25, 2003 by maggiethecat (log)

[jackal10]

Question:  I see you planted comfrey.  I did, and it is now the scourge of my existence.  Everywhere!

How do you keep it under control?

Seems to stay put:

a) Don't dig the bed. Comfrey spreads by pieces of root, so don't disturb the ground

b) Gets cut down and composted a couple of times each year

c) Glyphosate

Edited March 25, 2003 by jackal10 (log)

[Hopleaf]

Hey Jackal, that bed plan isn't copyrighted, is it? I might just have to pilfer some of, in the name of good gardening (of course, of course).

Till it is, then. now I know what I'll be doing this Sunday!

Stellabella, how many months of beautiful weather do you have down there anyway!? We aren't even close to needing a mowing yet. But it did get up to 70 yesterday! and, yes, dirty nails (can't wait!), brown arms (need all the help I can get in that area...wintery pasty white right now), joy (most assuredly) and yes, yes, yes a full table!

[jackal10]

Its basically adapted from a standard 4 bed rotation roots/peas and beans/brassicas/other, such as in the Royal Horticultural Society's "Vegetable Garden Displayed" by Joy Larcom.

I should have added leek seedlings in bed 4 to go into bed 1 after the early potatoes are out.

[torakris]

Forget making my own garden, I think I will just move next door to Jackal!

Can't possibly eat that much alone.

Since I have decided not to spend the summer in the States, I can actually think about what to plant now, though I am quite limited by both space and variety available in this country and the fact that the only way to water my garden is to hhok a hose up to my bath and then drag it through the rest of the house to get it outside!

[sparrowgrass]

I am a lazy, lazy gardener when it comes to flowers and other ornamental type plants. Your comments on comfrey lead me to ask for assistance.

The previous owners of this old house started a garden on a very steep little slope just outside the back door. Not much soil--kind of gravelly clay. South east facing, so it is kinda hot and dry. Roughly oval, about 15 by 30.

There are lots of daffs out there, some violets, that creeping phlox that blooms early, 3 butterfly bushes, some thyme and catnip, chives, a peony or two, but, what I basically have is some perennials with space between them, and the space between them comes up in wild sorrel, yellow hop clover, and then queen ann's lace and other big coarse weeds later.

I think what I am looking for is some kind of evil thug plant that will take over the empty spaces and look nice with no work involved for me--that's easy, isn't it?

The other alternative is that I keep growing and buying perennials and sticking them in at random. (I have flax, canterbury bells, delphiniums, and lavender started in the sunroom--about 50 of each, if I don't kill em dead.)