Garden Log

Fixing and making things, what tools to get and what skills to learn, ...
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jennypenny
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Re: Garden Log

Post by jennypenny »

Not really. I think they are too meaty for sauces, if that makes sense. They are best for slicing or frying even though they are small-ish. They are also attractive so they look great stuffed.

rosecity80
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Re: Garden Log

Post by rosecity80 »

Dat tomato/basil salad - I can taste it from here!

CECTPA
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Re: Garden Log

Post by CECTPA »

I'm sooooo jealous about all the tomatoes you guys!
I regret I didn't plant any. I thought I would not have time, but now I realise that I would, and DH does A LOT in the garden too. So next year.

My brussel sprouts got all eaten by caterpillars, oh well.
But I'm having a beautiful second harvest of peas! The plants did not die in the heat, it wasn't too hot of a summer.
Looks like I'll also have a decent harvest of corn, beans, sunflowers and edamame-soybeans.

Question. Does someone grow beans not to eat as green beans, but as dry beans? Do you guy eat them before they dried completely? I understand that for storage you need to have them 100% dry. But for example, if I want to pick and cook some in the soup same day, are they going to taste any good?

7Wannabe5
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Re: Garden Log

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Fresh beans taste much better in soup.

George the original one
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Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

I think I've had lima beans as "not dried". Actually, I'm certain of it since they come in the frozen veggie packs.

CECTPA
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Re: Garden Log

Post by CECTPA »

Thanks for the answers! I'll try to use these in soups:

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It was a cold night and according to the locals the farm about 30 km to the North had a frost last night :o

Here's the first harvest of corn. It is so small because it is a short season dwarf variety - Orchard Baby. The other factors that restricted the growth were: rather cold summer, lack of experience, poor soil (tilled lawn with sod removed). The other corn, that was planted into a no-till plot is doing much-much better, but not ready to be picked (different variety).

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It is delicious! Will plant this variety next year for sure. In Russia we don't really eat sweet corn, we wait until it is more mature and starchy and then boil it for 30-40 minutes. More calories and more filling food. If you like Mexican homini, then you know what I'm talking about.

Pedal2Petal
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Re: Garden Log

Post by Pedal2Petal »

jennypenny wrote:I'm jealous llorona!

Even in this dismal gardening season, the German Johnson tomatoes are again producing an incredible yield. That's three years running in different conditions. They are really tasty, and heirlooms, too. My only complaint is that they don't last long once picked, so you'd better have plans for them when you pick them.

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What weight of tomatoes per plant are you getting for German Johnson? I want to know what's a realistic expectation per tomato plant.
Last edited by Pedal2Petal on Wed Aug 31, 2016 6:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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jennypenny
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Re: Garden Log

Post by jennypenny »

@P2P--Hmm, we probably get a couple dozen good tomatoes per plant with some ugly bettys mixed in. They are less than a pound each with some only half a pound. So I'd guess 10-15 lbs/plant. I get the early, indeterminate variety. I plant them upright, not hanging or along the ground.

GJs supposedly like it hot with Brandywines being better up north, but that hasn't been my experience. Brandywines need a longer season so I would recommend GJs to you in Vancouver. You could also try Rutgers tomatoes. They are tasty but smaller (about the same size as GJs), so fewer problems, more tomatoes per plant, and the plant doesn't get as big as the Brandywine types. I've also had Rutgers plants continue to produce fruit past halloween as long as we haven't had a freeze (I can protect them from a frost).

If my visit to Vancouver was typical, you don't get a ton of sunshine up there. The plants might benefit from a reflective mulch or being near a wall where they could catch reflected light as well.

7Wannabe5
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Re: Garden Log

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

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Johnson-Brandywine heirloom cross grown without staking in full sun and rich compost 42.4 degrees North latitude. My sister turned it into salsa before I had a chance to weigh it.

George the original one
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Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

Knowing it would rain today, I planned on lifting the majority of the onions. Took a nap and awoke to the sound of drip-drip in the downspouts... fortunately the drops were light & scattered, so I hurried out and got the deed done before the rain thickened up. Also did a touch of weeding/cleanup, but haven't gotten to pulling out the peas.

Found a couple more little watermelons have set on. Hmm, can't be certain which variety they are unless I trace back the vines. Oh well, they probably won't mature anyways.

rosecity80
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Re: Garden Log

Post by rosecity80 »

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Recent hauls from the garden. We are being hit with a lot of rain and oddly cold weather, although it's supposed to go up to the high 70's next week. On the one hand, I'm thrilled to not water; on the other, the tomatoes are confused and starting to split.

rosecity80
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Re: Garden Log

Post by rosecity80 »

7Wannabe5 wrote:Image

Johnson-Brandywine heirloom cross grown without staking in full sun and rich compost 42.4 degrees North latitude. My sister turned it into salsa before I had a chance to weigh it.
Wowza!

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jennypenny
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Re: Garden Log

Post by jennypenny »

@rosecity80--nice pics!

I feel the same way about the rain. I'm always happy when it finally comes, but then I find myself out wiping off the bigger fruit to try and keep them from splitting.

rosecity80
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Re: Garden Log

Post by rosecity80 »

jennypenny wrote:@rosecity80--nice pics!

I feel the same way about the rain. I'm always happy when it finally comes, but then I find myself out wiping off the bigger fruit to try and keep them from splitting.
Oooh, does that work? I'll have to try it!

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jennypenny
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Re: Garden Log

Post by jennypenny »

rosecity80 wrote:Oooh, does that work? I'll have to try it!
Honestly, I have no idea lol. I just hate to lose fruit when it's almost ready, and get a little OCD about it.

George the original one
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Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

Plant's water uptake makes them split. In the greenhouse, I've found different varieties have different thresholds (not to mention different tolerances for lack of water... german queen & big beefy have a narrow range between too much & too little whereas early girl has a nice wide tolerance).

George the original one
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Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

Pulled up 15 row feet of red potatoes in order to plant green onions (couple weeks later than intended, but prepping old house for pending sale has consumed all our spare time) and install stepping stones leading to the greenhouse. Those 15 row feet produced about 25 lbs, but 2-3 lbs were infested with grubs of some sort, so we netted 22 lbs.

CECTPA
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Re: Garden Log

Post by CECTPA »

We had a first frost, but everything is doing okay so far, even the lemon grass in a container (the plan is to take the lemon grass inside for winter).
Still picking fair amount of peas, eating corn, greens. Waiting for sunflowers to ripen.

Not sure when to pick edamame beans... When they are sold frozen in pods they look green, I wonder when is the best time to pick...

My sunchoke tubers, that I bought on Amazon marketplace, did not germinate, and that is very strange for this hardy plant. Despite the 'no refunds' policy after a few days of emailing with the seller back and forth I've got my money back because Amazon likes buyers more than sellers. I found someone in the community who could share sunchoke roots with me in spring, so free food is coming up!

George the original one
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Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

Food Dryer/Dehydrator to the Rescue

The tomatoes are ripening in ever-increasing numbers and even with two of us eating a tomato sandwich every day, we are seriously falling behind the numbers coming out of the greenhouse. Since everyone you could give tomatoes to now have multiple sources of tomatoes due to all the gardeners suffering the same fate, giving away the excess is not currently an option.

So... I pulled the inherited (and formerly unused) food dryer/dehydrator out of the depths of storage. Then did some quick googling and read the directions. Sliced a bunch of tomatoes, arranged them on the racks, and let the thing run for many hours. I didn't bother with blanching because I'm not aiming for the longest storage. Presto-chango, we now have dried tomatoes and have reclaimed our kitchen countertop.

Food drying notes:
- monitoring every hour after 8 hours is necessary for highest quality/consistency.
- top racks dry more slowly than bottom racks, so rearrange after 6 hours to keep the batch finishing at close to the same time.
- an egg-slicer gadget is desirable for consistent slice thickness.
- excessively dried tomatoes (crunchy) are still tasty.

CECTPA
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Re: Garden Log

Post by CECTPA »

Zone 2 had a full blown frost and that's the end of story for corn and beans. I salvaged green beans and stewed them. Corn is quite edible, but younger than I prefer. The summer was quite cold and corn did not enjoy that.
Pea pods look like they were frozen and thawed. But the plants themselves look okay, even the flowers look fine. We'll see how it goes.

It was our first season doing gardening (started from lawn and nothing else), working full time and overtime. We learned a lot and will apply what we learned next year.

How on earth I'm going to shred all that yard waste? :) Corn plants are tall and woody. And no one to borrow the wood chipper from. Maybe we should buy one, seems like a great way to fast-track composting.

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