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Post by Wheelgarden on Aug 2, 2020 20:04:12 GMT -5
Picked beans, tomatoes, okra, and the last few yellow squash. Pulled the spent squash vines up, so I can plant a fall crop and have some more. Cut the ripe seed pods off the tatsoi, so I can have some more of it, too, this fall. Tatsoi is this season's pleasant surprise. First time I've grown it, and it did not disappoint. Now I'm gonna go out and admire the almost-full Moon, with its planetary and stellar companions.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Aug 2, 2020 20:25:40 GMT -5
Discovered there are some new avian visitors to my yard. The rain was steady and sometimes heavy during the afternoon, but stopped by early evening. Looking out the back window, I noticed a lot of birds, about 10 - 12' from the house. Five were ones I had never seen, so I did some quick research. I believe they're Northern Flickers. They're quite interesting; they peck quickly, almost like chickens, and move almost constantly. There were 10(!) of them!
Eventually some sparrows came in and the flickers moved on. The sparrows were behaving unusually - it was puzzling. They flocked toward a honeysuckle vine climbing up the side of the garage, and huddled toward the top directly under the eavestrough. I've never seen that kind of behavior before.
Maybe there was something more than rain that fell? Or maybe the honeysuckle produced something akin to creating an alcoholic buzz?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 2, 2020 22:12:38 GMT -5
I got a lot done today - even though I really didn't want to be out in that heat and humidity, it was windy, so that made it bearable. I took my canner outside, to jar some tomatoes, without putting all that heat into my house, but first I cooked a bunch of tomatoes on the grill, for "fire roasted" tomatoes, to use in Mexican food. I got 4 quarts, though one didn't seal, so that's in the fridge. Roasting a bunch of tomatoes, for canning. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Tomatoes roasted on the grill, to make sauce. by pepperhead212, on Flickr The fire roasted tomatoes, for canning. by pepperhead212, on Flickr I also pulled those 4 Red Bor kale plants, that were still out there growing, without bolting. I trimmed the leaves off all of the stems, and had about 3 full 12 qt bowls of it, before washing and cutting! But it steamed down to about 9 qts. The 4 Red Bor kale plants, finally pulled up, 8-12 by pepperhead212, on Flickr The kale, after being cleaned, cut, and steamed, in a 12 qt bowl, ready to freeze. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Kale, Foodsavered and ready to freeze. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Since I was using my grill, I figured that I'd make some Thai grilled chicken, but I ran out of time, so that's marinating until tomorrow! Marinating the Thai chicken. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
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Post by Mumsey on Aug 3, 2020 4:56:24 GMT -5
Went out early yesterday and soaked 2 areas of bare garden space. Let it sit a bit to soften the ground. Picked beans, tomatoes, cukes, broccoli. Planted some China Rose radishes and cabbage seeds in one of the bare soaked areas. Put out cabbage seedlings in the other area, covered them with milk jugs. Planted more Oregon Giant peas, ripped out most of the first crop and saved the dry seed pods. Canned 6 quarts of green beans. Cut up eggplant, zucchini and cukes for roasting.
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Post by emmsmommy on Aug 3, 2020 18:06:43 GMT -5
I've been taking it easy for the last few days. Our electric went out Saturday evening and between the heat and my back, it was a very miserable night. So I made the decision to go to the chiropractor today as I was 99% sure I hadn't torn anything. I'm sore and alternating between ice and massager but can move my right arm without pain, so hopefully I'll be back to normal soon.
I've been doing my morning and evening tours of the garden and wondering why in the world I've never liked tomatoes that well when I'm constantly popping one in my mouth. Also I've discovered I love basil! Love it so much in fact that I'm wondering if I could freeze fresh basil for tea?
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Post by Wheelgarden on Aug 3, 2020 18:18:13 GMT -5
emmsmommy , tomatoes and basil are two great tastes that taste great together. You can freeze basil in ice cube trays, in pesto, and probably other methods.
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Post by emmsmommy on Aug 3, 2020 18:35:22 GMT -5
Wheelgarden, thanks. The pesto recipes I've read call for freezing the basil with olive oil. Was just reading about blanching it before freezing so it doesn't go mushy.
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Post by desertwoman on Aug 3, 2020 19:51:18 GMT -5
I've never blanched my basil emmsmommy ,. I chop it in the food processor and freeze in ice cube trays, like wheel garden mentions, then bag up the cubes. And I make pesto with all the ingredients except garlic. The garlic will go bitter when frozen and is easy to add when I defrost a container. For basil tea I would be drying whole leaves.
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Post by emmsmommy on Aug 3, 2020 19:58:24 GMT -5
desertwoman, I've read that dried basil lacks the flavor of frozen. That's why I was considering freezing it for tea.
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Post by desertwoman on Aug 3, 2020 21:25:30 GMT -5
emmsmommy, i was taught to pick herbs in the early morning just after the morning dew dries up but before the sun warms them up. The essential oils lose their quality and flavor when exposed to heat. Nothing wrong with dew, but it just takes longer to dry the herbs before storing. You might want to play with it and see what flavors are like dried and frozen. I have had amazing, flavorful dried basil but maybe that is because I live in a dry climate?
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Post by gardendmpls on Aug 3, 2020 23:01:06 GMT -5
Cleaned out a corner of the yard which had reinforcement wire once used for cages, an old wheelbarrow with a flat tire, a rotting wood and plastic wire cage for teenage chickens, various stakes, broken pots, old wire edging to trip over around beds, part of a bird cage, other miscellany and last but not least, the kitchen sink. Well actually a laundry sink, but close enough. Sink was to heavy to move, but 11 year old grandson helped schlep the other things. Everything was tangled together and enmeshed in various vines which had to be cut. Can now lengthen the bed there and shove what's left of my tomato and eggplant starts in the ground.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 3, 2020 23:15:49 GMT -5
emmsmommy Before I started growing basil all year, I used to harvest a bunch of it, wash it, spin it dry, then grind it up with just enough oil to circulate in the FP - I didn't use olive oil, because I might not always want that, though usually, things with basil have olive oil! Then I'd freeze it in popsicle containers - things I'd buy in a Dollar store, that had ten 2 oz cones, and the plastic sticks freeze in them. When I'd need it in something, I'd just pull one out, and swish it in the tomato sauce, or whatever, until it had enough basil flavor, and put it back in the cone, until next time. About 3 1/2 tb of this paste equaled 1 loosely packed cup of leaves - something I found out for my Thai curries.
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Post by emmsmommy on Aug 4, 2020 7:53:04 GMT -5
desertwoman, Thanks. I went out this morning and harvested some to dry. Now to experiment. pepperhead212, the basil popsicle idea sounds interesting. You also mentioned that you gre basil year round. Are you keeping it indoors through the winter and if so, are you growing under lights? I'm considering giving it a try. I've sacrificed 4' of my kitchen counter since early spring for seed starting and hoping to dig out the pieces and put together a PVC light stand I made years ago.
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Post by James on Aug 4, 2020 9:56:32 GMT -5
Walked out and watered my one tomato plant.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 4, 2020 11:53:00 GMT -5
emmsmommy Years ago, when I started cooking a lot of Thai foods, I started growing herbs hydroponically, so that I would have Thai basil year round. I also experimented with different varieties of regular basils, and Serrata basil is the best bush type basil for growing in the hydro, or any pots, for that matter. It definitely bushes out, with a lot of leaves. Gecofure is a genovese bush type that is fairly good, but eventually grows into the lights. Serrata basil 11-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr Here's gecofure: Basil, and some other stuff. by pepperhead212, on Flickr The lights I have them under are about 16,000 lumens - one T5, a couple of T8s, and the latest is an inexpensive LED from Harbor Freight, which cost less than replacing the T5 bulb that died, so I tried it, and the plants seem to like it. When plants grow into the lights, I just cut them back, even if I don't need them.
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