weekly garden thread

Free Republic | Sept 5, 2014 | greeneyes

[greeneyes]

Since I am outside anyway usually, I just go with her if the dogs are out, and chase them away.

[tflabo]

Nice bowl of veggies— I’m soooo jealous (’ No really my little garden out back here in N. Tx my tomatoes all flopped with blight and then heat. Only just a scant few peppers and hoping the Fall 2nd season here will get them producing more same with cukes. The cinnamon basil and swiss chard in pots are getting along pretty good. The high heat takes a toll on plants and my enthusiasm too although I’m working on laying down ceramic tile in the master bath. Getting done but I work slow in the heat plus my 58 y/o body slows me some too. Good job on the colorful harvest there.

[NorthstarMom]

Thanks, I thought so but for some reason I am paranoid about poisoning my family with my canned produce.

[greeneyes]

The Ball Blue Book should help you feel better about that. All tried and true techniques explained well. The “Bible” for home canning and preserving.

Just remember acid is needed for all water bath canning. Pressure cooker is needed for meats and veggies like green beans.

It also has instructions for freezing and dehydrating stuff.

[tillacum]

Thank you. When it cools down, I’m thinking of preparing the small hill and filling it in with Rugosa Roses.

[gunnyg]

Yeh, my first batch of bamboo made me sorry I’d ever heard of Boo!
Bur there are ways of restricting its spread...most online Boo sites online now have—not just sales—lotsa info on boo culture, etc.

Two basic growing kinds of boo—running and clumping; but about 1500 kinds of boo both tropical and temperate....

but boo is strong growing stuff, any way ya cut it!

See link for pic of boo busting through concrete sewer pipe after many years...below...

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pljuly96.htm

Dick Gaines
*****

[left that other site]

Indeed. There are whole forests of the stuff in Asia.

Thanks for the link...I will check it out! :-)

[ErnBatavia]

Where we lived a few years ago, the clown across the street planted lots of that stuff around two corners of his house...a couple of years later, shoots started popping up all over his lawn - he'd just mow 'em right along with the grass.

Just before we moved, he had to totally bust out the foundation of the corner rooms of his house, since the bamboo started popping up in his living/dining rooms.

[gunnyg]

for years i have known of stories of boo jumping from one side of a driveway to the other, but have never witnessed this...lately i have noticed one online nursery owner who denies this can happen...claims the boo will always take the path of least resistance, unless no choice is available...guess that’s what occurred w/that pic of the sewer pipe i posted this thread...

Dick Gaines
*****

[trisham]

Thank you, tflabo! It sounds like you’re quite busy there in N. Texas. :)

[Marcella]

1. Cherry Punch tomatoes:
This is an excellent tomato plant. I brought one of these tomatoes back with me when we went to my house. It was loaded with cherry tomatoes. Then, I thought it was done for, dying, and now it has new growth and one blossom open and others to open. It is indeterminate and appears to defy this hot weather. This is the tomato with more vit. C than other tomatoes and is for containers and for growing inside in the winter.

2. rightly, there is a rain gauge here that is electronic. The rain goes through it, doesn't collect in it, and the amount is displayed on an inside the house gizmo. It wasn't being used by Bob, but as you know, you and I can't live without a rain gauge, so Bob got it out and set it up and we may have rain today or in the next several days. Anyway, when it does rain, I'll know how much.

3. Johnny, you said Conroe had too much humidity to use a dehydrator to save/store food, but now, I'm up here where you are, so I can store food using a dehydrator and I don't have one. I know some of you on this thread use that method, so I'm asking for names of dehydrators that you know work, are good, are bad, anything you know about these machines before I get one.

[Black Agnes]

I have an excalibur dehydrator. I love love love it. Mainly because it has an adjustable temperature setting so you can dry things at different temperatures.

I’ve dried bananas from the grocery store special sale bin, pineapples, tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, mushrooms, carrot shreds, and even arcane things like marshmallows (dry them till they’re no longer ‘tacky’ on the outside and then place them immediately in a ziploc baggie to cool so they don’t take moisture back up).

I’ve used the dried tomatoes, onions and garlic to make powders for use in seasoning/cooking. We love to add tomato powder to rice along with dehydrated veggie chunks (tomatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms etc). My kids especially love this.

[JRandomFreeper]

I use the Nesco American Harvest dehydrator because it has controllable temperature, that you can set to the type of food you are dehydrating.

I also have nesting screens on frames that I use for outdoor sun drying.

I'm not much on specific gear... if I don't have what I need, I'll make something from the junk pile. ;)

/johnny

[trisham]

We had great luck this year with three tomatoes:

1. Tomato "Big Rainbow"

2. Tomato "Cherokee Purple"

3. Tomato "Black Cherry Heirloom"

I'm going to order your "Cherry Punch" tomato seeds for next year.

[JRandomFreeper]

Tomato powder and mushroom powder are HIGHLY under-rated for cooking. Most people don't even think or know of them.

I love using the tomato and mushroom powders as adjuncts to my soups/stews.

/johnny

[Silentgypsy]

Thanks for the info.

We got an Excalibur 9-tray dehydrator upon the recommendation of JustaDumbBlonde and have been very satisfied with it for two years. A friend had a Nesco (I think that’s the brand name) and it gave out under heavy use. Alton Brown described a much less expensive method for dehydrating on one of his shows. I’ll look for that episode and PM the URL to you if I can locate it.

[greeneyes]

I just picked up my dehydrator from Walmart and it’s ok, but I don’t necessarioy recommend it. It’s cheap and has worked ok so far. I just wanted to try out some stuff, but It has no bells and whistles.

If I were able to go back in time, I would buy one that had the trays to use for fruit leathers.

If your oven has a low temp setting, it can even be used to dehydrate stuff too.

The only thing I have made in my oven so far is beef jerky and croutons.

[Black Agnes]

We never manage to have enough tomato powder. I hadn’t though of mushroom powder though. I will have to try that!

[JRandomFreeper]

I never use up a complete package of mushrooms before they start going bad, so I take the leftover mushrooms and stems and dry them powder dry. Then I grind them in the coffee grinder/spice grinder.

It's great in soups and sauces.

/johnny

[Black Agnes]

I’m thinking cream of mushroom soup with added pizazz now.

And rice+veg too. And sprinkled on top of crockpot roasts while they’re cooking.

There’s a reason I’m fat. I think about food. A lot.