WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 44 NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Free Republic | November 1, 2013 | greeneyes

[Ellendra]

I just finished cleaning up the last of the garden. My potatoes did better than last year, but not as well as I'd hoped. I didn't get them mulched until late in the season, and as soon as I did the slugs ate them. I've got DE to take care of that next year!

Runner beans are supposed to have an edible taproot, sort of like a white carrot. Mine look more like little octopuses (octopi?), I pulled some and left the rest in the ground, and piled the straw from the potato patch there. If I can keep those roots from freezing, runner beans are perennial.

Earlier this week I cooked some of my tomatoes up as soup. One of my coworkers is always raving about the tomato-basil bisque served at this one restaurant. They charge $25 a quart for it! I wanted to see if I could make it, the recipes I found look a lot like spaghetti sauce with cream added, so I made a batch of my spaghetti sauce but didn't cook it down like I usually do, and added a cup of cream at the end. Must have been good, because when I took it to the office potluck it was gone in a flash. That one coworker never even got a chance to taste it! Oh, well, I've got lots more tomatoes ripening on the table.

Depending on the weather I hope to get out to the land tomorrow. Even if i can't I at least want to get to the garden store, I need to start collecting landscaping fabric.

[Marcella]

“I don’t know what practical use it is, but I mastered that skill. ;)”

Here is the practical use:
A non-inventive person likely wouldn’t try it. You did. That makes you more likely to survive than other people who can’t and don’t think out of the box - they won’t take the chance to fail.

[greeneyes]

$25.00 per quart? I think you may have just discovered and additional way to make some extra money!

Glad you are having some good success with your efforts.

[JRandomFreeper]

I used to sell my salsa for $35/gallon to some wealthy folks for their parties. Those days are long gone.

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

I think it's because deep down at heart, I'm still a 12 year old boy. ;)

/johnny

[greeneyes]

What happened?

[JRandomFreeper]

Economic crash of 2008. Wiped out a bunch of folks. Most of my network, in fact. And me.

/johnny

[Ellendra]

As I recall, Diana tells people to whack their fruit trees with a rolled-up newspaper :)

[Ellendra]

PS: That stress thing might be why my wild grapes fruited this year when they never have in the 6 years I’ve owned my property. Everything that survived the drought of 2012 would have been stressed by it.

[Ellendra]

I realized today that my gardens are actually quite a bit larger than my house, on a square ft basis.

Sounds right to me. Priorities!

[greeneyes]

That’s too bad. Bet you could sell some of that tobacco?

[JRandomFreeper]

Not lawfully. Nope. It's all for personal use only. That's one of those areas that government gets really serious about.

/johnny

[greeneyes]

Too bad.

[Nepeta]

That's one of those areas that government gets really serious about.

What about barter? There is a certain county in Indiana that was supposedly the poorest in the state in the pre-casino days, but you'd never have known it to look at the condition of the farms. They had a healthy barter economy.

[JRandomFreeper]

Nope, not gonna go there on tobacco. It's for personal use only.

/johnny

[Nepeta]

I remember seeing tobacco grown as an ornamental in front of a Kentucky gas station, perhaps in Cynthiana, in the 1950s. That is probably illegal now, as well...

[Ellendra]

I did think about that, actually. I'd need so much licensing to sell foods that it's ridiculous. But, I might occasionally let someone drop money on my desk while I'm gifting them a jar :)

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Ellendra:" That stress thing might be why my wild grapes fruited this year when they never have in the 6 years I’ve owned my property."

Hit it with a 2 X 4 to activate the stress / the urge " to propagate" and set seed/ flower in the plant for next year .
If you hit it with a roll of newspapers , it might just think you're fluffing a pillow so it will sleep well all winter .
You want to "shock it to me " ( Laugh In,TV , early 70's )with vigor ,without terminally damaging the plant , best done at 'leaf-out' , prior to flowering in springtime .

Question ? Was it on this forum that someone wanted to propagate lichens and moss ? I recall seeing a photo of a fence and wanting information... ?

[tillacum]

I guess, then, I’ll invest in a aquarium fish pump. I think
WalMart has one. I’ll check. I’d sure hate to waste all the effort and stuff to have it fail.

[tillacum]

Will Neem Oil work? If not, I need to get Bacillus Thuringienis for my keyhole gardens and a raised garden
that has quite a few of that family in it. I plan on eating and sharing each and every one of these plants.