Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are planting.

[Pilotforhire587]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

I have an abundance of banana peppers that have been harvest now. Just about the only thing that is ready to pick now. Any advice a good sweet pepper recipe.

 

[jasonb47]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

I did banana peppers last year, had a bumper crop. Ended up pickling them as "rings" like you buy in the store to put on sandwiches. Don't have the recipe with me, but it is the standard fare you can google. Pickled with vinegar, they turn sweet over time.

Recommendation: Do not can them, they will get soft and mushy, just hot pickle them, the acidity of the brew is enough to preserve them, and the heat forms the seal, just like doing pickles.

 

[Pilotforhire587]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

I did banana peppers last year, had a bumper crop. Ended up pickling them as "rings" like you buy in the store to put on sandwiches. Don't have the recipe with me, but it is the standard fare you can google. Pickled with vinegar, they turn sweet over time.

Recommendation: Do not can them, they will get soft and mushy, just hot pickle them, the acidity of the brew is enough to preserve them, and the heat forms the seal, just like doing pickles.

Thats what I ended up doing, First jar down, 2.5 cups of Vinegar, heated to desolve 2/3rd a cup of sugar, .5tsb of celery seed and mustard seed and a little bit of cyene pepper for some heat.

 

[beasly]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

Harvest time!

The first several went into salads and pasta sauce...

Today's (along with a bit of mint) went into this, which was the goal:

Wow.

 

[Pilotforhire587]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

My wife just picked a bunch of stuff today, I will post pictures when I get back home

 

[beasly]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

I am trying to propagate mushrooms.

I got some 'bargain bin' mushrooms at the produce store today and I buried a few in some potting soil I am keeping on the kitchen sink window ledge.

I got two kinds--the baby bella and the typical button mushrooms.

I have tried this before and never had success.

Can you grow them indoor in the winter?

Anybody?

 

[wheelsup]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

Here are some from mine this year. I got lazy and decided I didn't like manually watering so I made an underground sprinkler system. It connects to a standard lawn hose, which you can then have set to an auto timer. The omelet I made with our tomatoes and peppers, neato! This is our second year with our garden, the cedar raised bed is new this year. Another redesign is in the cards for next year but at least we get stuff to grow.

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[beasly]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

I'm debating taking out my tomatoes....they're not going to produce anymore (they won't produce above 95 degrees) until probably October and I could use the land to get some more squash or even a pumpkin in....

if you had a plant that you knew wasn't going to produce for 3-4 months...would you transplant it and bring it indoors then re-transplant when weather is right or would you just chuck it and buy new transplants in the fall? I'm thinking about transplanting it and bringing it indoors but it still won't be a productive plant with shade and 70 degree weather.

I hate to kill live plants; that's just me.

 

[beasly]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

You guys all need one of these to do you planting. I use it for green beans, peas, sunflowers and corn.

What is that?

 

[wheelsup]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

op

What is that?

Looks like a seeder of some sort, it rolls along the ground and drops seeds at predefined intervals. Looks like the wheel then pushes the dirt over top of it to seal it in. Not to mention a kick ass old "lawn tractor", I'm jealous. I want some real land so I can get a small real tractor, that would be sweet.

 

[Matt13C]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

Here are some from mine this year. I got lazy and decided I didn't like manually watering so I made an underground sprinkler system. It connects to a standard lawn hose, which you can then have set to an auto timer. The omelet I made with our tomatoes and peppers, neato! This is our second year with our garden, the cedar raised bed is new this year. Another redesign is in the cards for next year but at least we get stuff to grow.

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Nice work!!!!

What is the benefit of cedar chips below the soil? Does it help with water retention and keep bugs away?

I just got the last stump out of the area where I originally planned to have my garden this year, a bit late to get anything growing. I also saw some neighborhood hoofed thieves last night working over my neighbors garden and the apples that fell off his tree. I am going to need a decent fence to keep them and the rabbit out.

I have been experimenting with making my own salsa and was wondering if anyone had any tips. My latest batch is 3/4 red onion, 4 medium tomatoes, 1 bell pepper, 1 jalapeno pepper no seeds, good amount of fresh cilantro, half a lime juice with some pulp and one clove of garlic with a bit of salt. I simmered it for about 10 mins to try and bring out some more of the flavor but all I managed to do was to pull more liquid out of the tomatoes and onions making it very soupy. I didnt cook the first batch and it had much better raw flavor but was a tad heavy on the onion. Could have been since I used a yellow instead of red onion though. Any suggestions?

 

[wheelsup]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

Nice work!!!!

What is the benefit of cedar chips below the soil? Does it help with water retention and keep bugs away?

I just got the last stump out of the area where I originally planned to have my garden this year, a bit late to get anything growing. I also saw some neighborhood hoofed thieves last night working over my neighbors garden and the apples that fell off his tree. I am going to need a decent fence to keep them and the rabbit out.

I have been experimenting with making my own salsa and was wondering if anyone had any tips. My latest batch is 3/4 red onion, 4 medium tomatoes, 1 bell pepper, 1 jalapeno pepper no seeds, good amount of fresh cilantro, half a lime juice with some pulp and one clove of garlic with a bit of salt. I simmered it for about 10 mins to try and bring out some more of the flavor but all I managed to do was to pull more liquid out of the tomatoes and onions making it very soupy. I didnt cook the first batch and it had much better raw flavor but was a tad heavy on the onion. Could have been since I used a yellow instead of red onion though. Any suggestions?

Those are just regular wood chips. The idea is to keep the water from soaking down into the soil and keep it somewhat in the raised bed, but still provide some drainage.

The cedar wood is the 1x6's, used to outline the raised bed. I chose cedar because it will keep termites away vs. the regular pine, and you don't want to use treated wood around your food.

We also have deer, that will be next years project as well. They tend to eat potato plants, last year we didn't have any issues with animals including rabbits, even though we have some in our backyard. Might just be what we plant.

For the salsa, I have no idea, but maybe try sauteing the onion and pepper first before dumping in the rest of the stuff?

 

[Pilotforhire587]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

Nice work!!!!

What is the benefit of cedar chips below the soil? Does it help with water retention and keep bugs away?

I just got the last stump out of the area where I originally planned to have my garden this year, a bit late to get anything growing. I also saw some neighborhood hoofed thieves last night working over my neighbors garden and the apples that fell off his tree. I am going to need a decent fence to keep them and the rabbit out.

I have been experimenting with making my own salsa and was wondering if anyone had any tips. My latest batch is 3/4 red onion, 4 medium tomatoes, 1 bell pepper, 1 jalapeno pepper no seeds, good amount of fresh cilantro, half a lime juice with some pulp and one clove of garlic with a bit of salt. I simmered it for about 10 mins to try and bring out some more of the flavor but all I managed to do was to pull more liquid out of the tomatoes and onions making it very soupy. I didnt cook the first batch and it had much better raw flavor but was a tad heavy on the onion. Could have been since I used a yellow instead of red onion though. Any suggestions?

My roma tomatoes are coming in so fast I have had to freeze 7 gallons of Tomatoes in the last month to keep them, Peppers are coming in so fast I can't use them. On the Salsa it depends on how hot you want it. I make a jalapeno salsa with 10 jalapenos and 2 roma tomatoes, boil the jalapenos for about 10 minutes until they lose their shine, add a little red onion, though I usually use white, and some garlic and salt. Put it all in a blender and its good to go. Tastes great. I have a few ingredients I always use in salsa though, Jalapenos and banana peppers, garlic, onions, salt and pepper, tomatoes, a little cumin seed, and for me the cilantro and lime juice are optional. I always cook my salsa, except the jalapeno, so I can make it thicker. I put the stove on high and stir the salsa until it gets boiling, then I cover it and come back to stir about every 5 minutes for 10 to 15 minutes. It helps all of the flavors to meld together, Really easy to make it taste like it is in a restaurant. I wish I could give you amounts but I just throw it together most of the time

 

[Matt13C]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

I dont have any vegetables to share, but I did finally finish getting all the stumps out of the area I originally planned to use as my garden. I think I am going to build a box next spring and use that in a better location.

Before


After


When all was done I removed about 25-30 bushes stumps and all. The entire patio was surrounded by 15 of those large green bushes in the first picture, there were about 5 rhododendrons in that mess plus some weird vine thing wrapped all through it. Also had a bunch of random stuff along the back of the house. It is all filled in with new dirt, been dug up and roots removed and graded and then seeded. Now it is onto the front. A complete lawn overhaul is next seasons chore, should be fun.

 

[Pilotforhire587]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

I dont have any vegetables to share, but I did finally finish getting all the stumps out of the area I originally planned to use as my garden. I think I am going to build a box next spring and use that in a better location.

Before
View attachment 18071

After
View attachment 18072

When all was done I removed about 25-30 bushes stumps and all. The entire patio was surrounded by 15 of those large green bushes in the first picture, there were about 5 rhododendrons in that mess plus some weird vine thing wrapped all through it. Also had a bunch of random stuff along the back of the house. It is all filled in with new dirt, been dug up and roots removed and graded and then seeded. Now it is onto the front. A complete lawn overhaul is next seasons chore, should be fun.

That looks awesome man! Great job!

 

[Matt13C]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

That looks awesome man! Great job!

Thanks! It is a huge sigh of relief having it done. It is actually enjoyable to sit back there now, I am thinking about building a fire pit that will double as a grill. Anything to extend the being outside season, winter is fast approaching.

Cant wait to have a garden next season though! We need to keep this thread stickied.

 

[Pilotforhire587]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

Yeah man, My tomatoes are all toast, About ready to pick all of my eggplant and then take the peppers down at the first frost. I am down for keeping it stickied

 

[beasly]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

I found Bill Mollison's Introduction To Permaculture via John Robb's Miiu resilient communities wiki and it introduces ideas that I think you all will find interesting.

If you go to the Amazon link, you will see an entire genre that has some fascinating stuff. For example, in the reviews for Rainwater Harvesting For Drylands (Christie and Doug, you might get a kick out of this) there is an example of how to build a 'filter' for collecting rainwater off of your roof for drinking,

He doesn't describe the first flush system but from the drawing it looks like it might be some kind of a commercial device. Ours was a home made affair. A two foot long piece of gutter was hinged so that it stuck up in the air, held there by a spring. When this gutter was up in the air, the water dumped into a bucket. When the bucket got full it pulled the gutter down against the spring and then it directed the water into the cistern. After the rain stopped you emptied the bucket and it sat there waiting for the next rain.

Anyway, that is the gist of the genre; studying, understanding and leveraging your existing eco-system so that it supports you.

 

[Kristie]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

one more month and i'll get to begin getting my garden ready for fall planting

it's been so hot...everything looks like it has died...i hope once the cooler weather comes back in, something will show some green again or start sprouting so i don't have to replace it all

 

[Pilotforhire587]

Re: Vegetable Gardens, sharing tips and what you are plantin

one more month and i'll get to begin getting my garden ready for fall planting

it's been so hot...everything looks like it has died...i hope once the cooler weather comes back in, something will show some green again or start sprouting so i don't have to replace it all

Sweet! I think I am going to forgoe the fall planting... My peppers and Tomatoes did great, Corn and Eggplant not so much... Looking forward to being able to work all the compost from the summer in this winter and getting it SUPA FERTILE for next year.