Saturday Gardening and Puttering Thread, November 13

Happy Fall Saturday! Today, we have sort of a travel theme going, maybe accidentally, but also some things to eat from the garden. Starting out with a dramatic capture of a bee homing in on a hollyhock. This photo was taken by Neal in Israel, in his garden.

Edible Gardening

From Nemo, last month:

Now that October's here, my beans are approaching harvest. These are in the raised bed in which I grow my spring greens; I planted them in July,
after the greens had bolted. These are a mix of heirloom beans that are
meant to make soup rather than eating as string beans - though I'm sure
they'd be quite tasty if picked tender, then frenched and sauteed with
olive oil and garlic. Also, they're supposed to be bush beans; but once
they were established, they started climbing like crazy. Perhaps the
intense sun of the site gave them other ideas!
I'm looking forward to simmering these beans with a hambone and some
fatback, to make a hearty soup for a winter supper.

Some beans made for soup are good as green beans (many have strings), others are not so great as green beans. The plants look good.

Also,

you asked what my bean pods look like before
the beans are shelled out. See attached. While the beans are developing, the pods are nondescript green; they take on their harlequin colors when the beans ripen and are ready to be shelled out.
I'm afraid I don't know what the variety is; but if they taste as good as they look, I'll be quite happy to plant them again next year - and since they're an heirloom variety, they should bear properly.

Beautiful. Some that resemble those can be used like green beans when young. Some are famous as fresh "shellies" when mature but not dried, and some are prized for dried beans. The heritage of some of those flame-decorated beans involves an area near the southern tip of South America.

There is a Dutch variety that turns yellow called Dragon's Tongue that is popular both as a snap bean and as a shelly bean. Stringless when young. The stripes go away when you cook them.

Serving anything from the garden for Thanksgiving?

Speaking of plants and eating, this Swiss restaurant seems to think it important to to provide its customers with some lovely plants to look at while dining, outdoors:

And indoors:

Just in case your garden has wound up for the season and you need to "borrow" another one to look at.

Recipes

Growing up, we never had anything resembling green salad on Thanksgiving, but there are lots of fall salad ideas involving garden produce. There are lots of days before and after Thanksgiving coming up. Maybe you could share a favorite recipe. This one is striking: Loaded Fall Salad

Looking through recipes, I saw a lot of chop salads for fall.

As a follow-up to our discussion last week about preparing and eating prickly pear fruits, Garden & Gun Magazine has tips and a recipe for a Purple Prickly Pear Margarita.

First 2022 Seed Catalog

Got my Twilley seed catalog in. Anybody beat me with a 2022 catalog? It's a commercial catalog. Phone orders preferred. Haven't really looked through it yet. They have a Chinese Cabbage on the cover instead of the traditional kid with a watermelon. AAS Gold Medal winning zinnia on the back cover.

Spring Travel a possibility?

How about taking in a Alpine Garden Society Show?

Several Hepaticas from various past AGS Shows.
Photo credits go to Jon Evans.
The double Hepatica japonica 'Murasaki Shikibu', pink H. japonica pubescens and dark blue H. japonica

Maybe you could go to see some Hepatica n. japonica growing in its original homeland if you don't want to go to the UK:

The Utsukushi-ga-hara Open-Air Museum exhibits 350 contemporary sculptures on its premise that stretches over a vast highland known as the Utsukushi-ga-hara Plateau.
The plateau, which enjoys a reputation as the most beautiful highland in Japan, has various alpine flora growing at your feet and a 360-degree panoramic view of the surrounding mountain ranges.

There are species of Hepatica growing in American woodlands, too:

Hepatica is a genus in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) native to the Northern Hemisphere. This spring-blooming herbaceous perennial also goes by the common names liverleaf or liverwort. The common name comes from the supposed resemblance of the leaves to the human liver, both of which have three lobes. Because of this superficial likeness it was once thought to have medicinal properties for liver ailments. Although the leaves were once used for natural remedies and in patent medicines, they do not appear to have any chemical components with documented medicinal value and can be irritating to the skin or may be poisonous if ingested.
Hepatica grows about 12" high and is hardy in zones 8-4a. There are two species found in Wisconsin and eastern North America, distinguished by the shape of their leaves: sharp-lobed hepatica, H. acutiloba (sometime treated as H. nobilis var. acuta) and round-lobed hepatica, H. americana (sometime treated as H. nobilis var. obtusa). H. acutiloba is found in rich creek bottoms and in sandier soils, while H. americana generally occurs on more acidic soils at the tops of slopes in mesic woodlands. Occasionally both species occur in the same woods and may even hybridize.
The dark green, glossy foliage is smooth and leathery with dense hairs on the undersides of the leaves. The leaves are held on long petioles arising from the crown. Each broad leaf is about 2" wide, with the three lobes either pointed or rounded, depending on the species. The leaves are actually evergreen, turning a russet to purple color in the fall. They are ready to begin photosynthesis early in the spring before other woodland wildflowers are even up. After the new flush of leaves emerges in spring (normally after flowering), the old leaves from the previous year die back.

Or you could buy some plants yourself. The fancy Japanese hybrids or the woodland types.

They kinda look like what Illiniwek had growing on the farm this spring, but I think they're something else. What do you think?

several woodland areas have these carpeting the interior floors, not sure what they are.

Puttering

Last week, we learned about a plant to make a fence from pallets. Would it be a good idea for us to discuss things like how to keep fences from falling over, say, in a windstorm?

Critters

San Franpsycho sent in the following recently:

Snowy Egret at Chrissy Field this morning

Dramatic setting.

In town here (part of the Pacific Flyway), there are some Snowy Egrets that hang out at an apartment complex. I haven't figured out what the attraction is. Maybe bugs in the grass. At the middle school, they may go for gophers.

Not everything on Twitter is horrible

Have a good Veteran's Day Weekend.

One tip on Twitter: you curate the people around you.

People, and animals. Don't try this with a pack of wolves.

Hard times come again no more

A scene from years past, North Ogden, Utah fruit packing shed, with a special flag flying over the canyon for Veteran's Day.

If you would like to send information and/or photos for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden
at that g mail dot com place

Include the nic by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ,
unless you want to remain a lurker.

Posted by: K.T. at 01:11 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 St

Posted by: A dude in MI at November 13, 2021 01:16 PM (/6GbT)

2 Lovely thread. The last pic, of Utah, especially.

Posted by: skywch at November 13, 2021 01:20 PM (sKjat)

3 Good afternoon Greenthumbs
Taking today off but tomorrow starts leaf collection

Posted by: Skip's Phone at November 13, 2021 01:24 PM (KXpRB)

4 Those beans look like something I bought at a small Farmer's Market in central Vermont about four years ago. They were incredibly good. The Platonic Ideal of beans.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at November 13, 2021 01:25 PM (Q9lwr)

5 The falling leaves from my two front yard sycamores are mocking me.

Again

Some more.

Posted by: weirdflunky at November 13, 2021 01:27 PM (cknjq)

6 Thank you for the thread. Bee and flower symbiosis, it is unbelievable.

Posted by: MikeM at November 13, 2021 01:28 PM (5SG4R)

7 Thank you for the thread K.T.

Just clean up this week - dug out the elephant ear and dahlia tubers to over-winter inside. I lost my jade plant though - left it out one night too long and we had a hard freeze - burnt the heck out of it.

Those beans look great. One of my fondest memories of my maternal grandma is her sitting on the steps to the shop with a monster pile of beans beside her, snapping them into a porcelain coated wash tub. She'd pack about 50-60 quarts a year even after we ate the heck out of them all late summer.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 13, 2021 01:29 PM (mD/uy)

8 hiya

Posted by: JT at November 13, 2021 01:33 PM (arJlL)

9 Howdy KT - lovely photos!

Posted by: Doof at November 13, 2021 01:34 PM (mZUr4)

10 There's a variety of Carolina peanut that has that purple striping.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at November 13, 2021 01:34 PM (vuisn)

11 "Anybody beat me with a 2022 catalog?"

Apparently this thread ventures into some interesting territory!

Posted by: Doof at November 13, 2021 01:36 PM (mZUr4)

12 I think having a garden will become a necessity soon. I had terrible luck in the past (crittters ate everything I planted but the hot peppers.) Wondering, what would be good first steps now, to be garden ready next spring?

Posted by: EveR at November 13, 2021 01:38 PM (MUpk6)

13 I think having a garden will become a necessity soon. I had terrible luck in the past (crittters ate everything I planted but the hot peppers.) Wondering, what would be good first steps now, to be garden ready next spring?
Posted by: EveR

Put your garden in a fenced in enclosure ? With a fence ceiling ?

Posted by: JT at November 13, 2021 01:39 PM (arJlL)

14 Doof at November 13, 2021 01:36 PM

Some of us have "creative" minds. It was the mention of zinnias, wasn't it.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 01:41 PM (0ghg2)

15 EveR at November 13, 2021 01:38 PM

Do you have grass or weeds? What is your climate? Any possibility of killing the weeds/grass off now?

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 01:43 PM (0ghg2)

16 JT, I live in a different location now (no raccoons, thank heavens), and the prior home owner had created a raised bed, so thinking this is destined to be. But, fencing is probably a good idea, anyway, bc there are squirrels. Mainly seagulls and pelicans here, though, luckily.

Posted by: EveR at November 13, 2021 01:44 PM (MUpk6)

17 I looked it up, my memory was right, Ranunculaceae comes from "little frog"

Posted by: Kindltot at November 13, 2021 01:44 PM (P9T5R)

18 Tonypete at November 13, 2021 01:29 PM

Nice memory.

My mother-in-law put up a lot of snap beans. She liked 'Contender' for our hot climate. Served them heated up with onion and ham, bacon or sausage.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 01:45 PM (0ghg2)

19 Yesterday I had my latest (and hopefully last) kidney surgery and it went perfectly. By spring I should be in shape to do some gardening, not just a few herbs and cherry tomatoes in containers. Some questions come to mind as I recover.

Anyone have experience with Southern Exposure Seed company? They are based here in Virginia so I have some hope they would do well in our yard.

Has anyone tried growing salad greens hydroponically? We are considering setting up an area with grow lights for that and seed starting. We haven't grown anything from seedlings for a couple of years and I miss it.

Posted by: JTB at November 13, 2021 01:46 PM (7EjX1)

20 Kindltot at November 13, 2021 01:44 PM

Wow. I didn't know. Wonder which species caused that name to be given to the family?

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 01:46 PM (0ghg2)

21 KT, I'm in FL panhandle w a former owner's attempt at raising cabbages in a raised bed that could be recycled, I think. Lots of folks here have tomatoes in containers on their decks, too. I see that as a very easy option.

Posted by: EveR at November 13, 2021 01:48 PM (MUpk6)

22 EveR at November 13, 2021 01:44 PM

Is the bottom of the raised bed lined in hardware cloth? If you have rodents, especially gophers, might be a good ide a to put some in.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 01:49 PM (0ghg2)

23 I canned 7 pints of peppers last week, in brine and vinegar. They. Were. Hot.

The rest I think I will pick, green, and I will dry them to grind them.
I have lots and lots of them and still and little hope that they will turn red

I am pretty much done canning, I have some pumpkins left to figure out what to do with, but I think it is time to hunker down for the winter and make firewod

I am looking into using biochar as an amendment to my garden, I have been watching videos on Terra Preta, which is the Amazonian dark earths made by the pre-Colombian farmers in the Amazon. The possible gains may be worth the hassle of trenching, burning and composting.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 13, 2021 01:49 PM (P9T5R)

24 4 ... "The Platonic Ideal of beans."

CBD, Hope you don't mind but I'm stealing that Platonic Ideal description. Too good not to use.

Posted by: JTB at November 13, 2021 01:49 PM (7EjX1)

25 Some of us have "creative" minds. It was the mention of zinnias, wasn't it.
Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 01:41 PM (0ghg2)

Works every time!

Posted by: Doof at November 13, 2021 01:49 PM (mZUr4)

26 EveR at November 13, 2021 01:48 PM

Some determinate tomatoes do well in large containers with the right potting mixture. Timing for planting of tomatoes in Florida is not the same as for other regions. You have to know when to plant.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 01:50 PM (0ghg2)

27 Good afternoon, gardening morons (and 'ettes)!

LOVE the photos, especially the NfI's garden beans. That video is a rare Bluegrass Red-necked fox.

My garden is a mess. Between the high winds and the rain, I never got a chance to mulch the leaves. The mower won't start because it's too cold now. I apologized to my new neighbors.

My hope is that another big wind comes and carries all the leaves to the next town.

The frost took down the "volunteer" squash so that I see it was a pumpkin. One green pumpkin sitting in the yard. I will roll it to the side of its mother plant, which seems like a good spot for a compost pile.

I tried to move some stell d'oro pots to a different corner, but they are firmly rooted to the ground. If they survive the winter, I will break the (cheap) pots and build a little raised garden with the pile of unused garden bricks.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at November 13, 2021 01:51 PM (/+bwe)

28 This might belong in food thread...but I have huge red oaks in my yard and right now a carpet of big fat acorns. Full of fat and protein. I looked at them longingly and read about shelling them and leaching them, so...

Tried it with a few dozen, cold leaching and changing the water daily. After six days they were still bitter as heck, so I gave up. Guess those won't help me in the burning times. Anyone else ever done anything with acorns?

Posted by: skywch at November 13, 2021 01:52 PM (sKjat)

29 maybe Mr. Fox thought the banjo had special magic to conjure up some yummy field mice

Posted by: kallisto at November 13, 2021 01:52 PM (DJFLF)

30 22 Thanks, KT. Think I'll investigate that and, if not, might get some now and not wait.

Posted by: EveR at November 13, 2021 01:52 PM (MUpk6)

31 JTB at November 13, 2021 01:46 PM

Glad to hear that your surgeries are over! I have never done hydroponics, though I have started sweet potatoes in water.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 01:52 PM (0ghg2)

32 Wiki says it might be because the buttercups like being near boggy water. No clue, though.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 13, 2021 01:53 PM (P9T5R)

33 I think having a garden will become a necessity soon.

especially since UC Riverside just got a $500k grant to manipulate spike protein into lettuce and spinach.

they're determined to get that sh!t in our bodies one way or another.

Why?

Posted by: kallisto at November 13, 2021 01:54 PM (DJFLF)

34 That Japanese sculpture museum is sort of different from my pre-existing ideas about alpine garden meadows.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 01:55 PM (0ghg2)

35 Tried it with a few dozen, cold leaching and changing the water daily. After six days they were still bitter as heck, so I gave up. Guess those won't help me in the burning times. Anyone else ever done anything with acorns?
Posted by: skywch at November 13, 2021 01:52 PM (sKjat)

The native Indians (Calapooia) crushed and steeped them in boiling water. One of the indications of that is in the processing areas there are large areas where the tannin from the water makes black areas in the soil.

another method is to grind it and mix it with clay, which sucks off the tannin. I was under the impression that some of the clay was eaten with the ground nuts. I am not sure that there was a mix of use, where clay was added to the steep tubs and washed away

Posted by: Kindltot at November 13, 2021 01:56 PM (P9T5R)

36 Thanks, so much, KT, just discovered the UF site has a Gardening Schedule for the state. And, it looks like it has additional sources to access. I might actually be a success at this!

Posted by: EveR at November 13, 2021 01:57 PM (MUpk6)

37 re: my post @33

https://tinyurl.com/2d6tpedh

Posted by: kallisto at November 13, 2021 01:57 PM (DJFLF)

38 sorry, sites that were food prep camps have areas where the tannin stains areas dark where the steep water was dumped.
Also there are areas where natural rocks were formed into mortars for grinding the nuts.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 13, 2021 01:58 PM (P9T5R)

39 Tonypete at November 13, 2021 01:29 PM

Sorry about the loss of your jade plant. They are a mess if they get frozen.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 01:59 PM (0ghg2)

40 Thanks kindltot, interesting info. Some sites online did recommend grinding and boiling, which I might try next. I just didn't want to "cook" them. Think I'll skip the clay method

Posted by: skywch at November 13, 2021 02:03 PM (sKjat)

41 kallisto at November 13, 2021 01:57 PM

It's not like the spike protein is problem-free. Will they control how much lettuce people eat?

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 02:04 PM (0ghg2)

42 Just got back from a 7 mile hike to Chrissy
Field. The egrets are gone though...

Posted by: San Franpsycho at November 13, 2021 02:04 PM (EZebt)

43 Tried it with a few dozen, cold leaching and changing the water daily. After six days they were still bitter as heck, so I gave up. Guess those won't help me in the burning times. Anyone else ever done anything with acorns?
Posted by: skywch at November 13, 2021 01:52 PM

I usually rake them up and put them in a bucket to mete out to the squirrels over the winter. This year, I had a bumper crop, but they are all gone. Chipmunks.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at November 13, 2021 02:06 PM (/+bwe)

44 Mrs. JTB and have been talking about the shortages even in seasonal produce (even getting seeds can be a problem0 and the many recalls we hear about. Bagged salad greens of various types seem to be a frequent problem but there are others. That is part of what's behind our interest in doing more veggie gardening. I'm sure others are thinking along the same lines.

Posted by: JTB at November 13, 2021 02:09 PM (7EjX1)

45 San Franpsycho at November 13, 2021 02:04 PM

Hope your hike went well. Some of the egrets may be headed our way. Once in a while a crane will show up with them, but the cranes generally prefer a certain irrigation canal near a pistachio orchard outside of town, where the water is roiled some by equipment in the canal.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 02:10 PM (0ghg2)

46 I have literally thousands of acorns, heh; a bucketful would not even make a dent. However, I am planning to store some in the garage in case we get ice this winter and the squirrels can't get through the crust to get the ones on the ground. That happened last year; I couldn't even get a shovel through the ice to help them. Put out a bunch of cat kibble and seeds.

Posted by: skywch at November 13, 2021 02:10 PM (sKjat)

47 One idea for eating acorns is to feed them to hogs, then eat the hogs.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 02:12 PM (0ghg2)

48 Bagged salad greens of various types seem to be a frequent problem but there are others. That is part of what's behind our interest in doing more veggie gardening. I'm sure others are thinking along the same lines.
Posted by: JTB at November 13, 2021 02:09 PM

The container gardening certainly is taking off. This past summer there were a LOT of apartment balconies filled with non-ornamental plants.

I'm thinking of container gardens. The backyard maple has expanded and overshadows my south-facing yard. The only sunny areas will be along the neighbor's chain-link fence and down my (very short) driveway.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at November 13, 2021 02:15 PM (/+bwe)

49 JTB -

Glad you're doing ok.

Posted by: JT at November 13, 2021 02:15 PM (arJlL)

50 Neal ... Great capture of the bee in the hollyhock. Ya did good, son ...

Posted by: Dr_No at November 13, 2021 02:18 PM (mu5GU)

51 I think I have heard of making flour with acorns. The large nuts were the subject.

Posted by: klaftern at November 13, 2021 02:18 PM (taPSh)

52 I couldn't even get a shovel through the ice to help them. Put out a bunch of cat kibble and seeds.
Posted by: skywch at November 13, 2021 02:10 PM

I know some people don't like squirrels, but they're my winter amusement. They eat the birdseed from my feeder (and occasionally the suet) but really go bonkers when they discover acorns on the snow. It's the squirrel equivalent to finding $100 lying on the sidewalk.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at November 13, 2021 02:20 PM (/+bwe)

53 EveR at November 13, 2021 01:44 PM

Is the bottom of the raised bed lined in hardware cloth? If you have rodents, especially gophers, might be a good ide a to put some in.
Posted by: KT

And electrify it.

Posted by: JT at November 13, 2021 02:20 PM (arJlL)

54 Hiya Kallisto !

Posted by: JT at November 13, 2021 02:21 PM (arJlL)

55 Anybody know what Illiniweks' little woodland flowers are?

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 02:25 PM (0ghg2)

56 OT: If anyone doubts the efficacy of Horde prayers, don't. I swear they have made a difference for me. Thanks for the good wishes.

Posted by: JTB at November 13, 2021 02:25 PM (7EjX1)

57 Not much gardening going on just now. We got 12 inches of snow this week, and now it's all of 14 degrees out there. 0 in Willow. Not exactly plowing weather. Even my indoor jalapeno plants are giving up.

Posted by: tcn in AK, Hail to the Thief at November 13, 2021 02:25 PM (r9FP4)

58 Anybody know what Illiniweks' little woodland flowers are?

(trudges back to the pictures......)

Posted by: JT at November 13, 2021 02:26 PM (arJlL)

59 Anybody know what Illiniweks' little woodland flowers are?

No

Posted by: JT at November 13, 2021 02:28 PM (arJlL)

60 I am looking into poly-tunnels for my winter greens. I put one together using clear plastic sheeting and filbert whips last winter, I was planning on getting electrical conduit this year and making a hoop house, but I think I will stay with the poly tunnels again.

Unless I find really long and big filbert whips . . .

Posted by: Kindltot at November 13, 2021 02:28 PM (P9T5R)

61 I love that dark blue Hepatica. Reminds me of some anemones, which are in the same plant family.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 02:28 PM (0ghg2)

62 The mystery flowers are Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica). They exist in great numbers near rivers and streams in this neck of the woods (NNJ). And as an added bonus, their little tubers are edible and quite tasty (though you'll need to harvest a whole heap of plants to get enough tubers for a decent meal.

Posted by: Tim Honks at November 13, 2021 02:30 PM (Xaump)

63 60 ... Kindltot,

Thanks for mentioning that. It reminded Mrs. JTB that we have some of that gear buried in the garage. (Don't ask. You don't want to know what the garage looks like.) She picked it up a just before I had to stop helping with the garden. If we can find it, it will become part of our planning.

Posted by: JTB at November 13, 2021 02:38 PM (7EjX1)

64 KT, I think it is a Purslane, probably a spring beauty (claytonia)

I can't tell which leaves are which, but I don't think it is a buttercup because the stamens are wrong. But the two types of leaves there confuse me

Posted by: Kindltot at November 13, 2021 02:40 PM (P9T5R)

65 I just returned from the back garden. There is flaxseed growing out of my compost pile. I also hadn't realized how much Creeping Charlie was growing under all the bigger plants. I feel a kill-it-all-with-fire feeling right now.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at November 13, 2021 02:41 PM (/+bwe)

66 JTB -

Your garage can't look any worse than mine !

Posted by: JT at November 13, 2021 02:42 PM (arJlL)

67 also five petals v six petals for the buttercups.

Good heavens, it has been so long since I have gone botanizing.

(I had a girlfriend who once told me on a walk "You can tell me about the plants for another five minutes, and then you are done.")

Posted by: Kindltot at November 13, 2021 02:43 PM (P9T5R)

68 Wow, some very pretty flower pictures!
I like the load of pollen on the 1st pic.

No garden activity; but the pizza oven has been refurbished and 'cured' (wood fires 5 hours at a time starting at 300F and raising 100F each day until yesterday's 900F).
Now to learn how to cook pizza in it!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at November 13, 2021 02:43 PM (huCvK)

69 No garden activity; but the pizza oven has been refurbished and 'cured' (wood fires 5 hours at a time starting at 300F and raising 100F each day until yesterday's 900F).
Now to learn how to cook pizza in it!
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron

If we never hear from you again, we'll know what happened.

Posted by: JT at November 13, 2021 02:45 PM (arJlL)

70 No garden activity; but the pizza oven has been refurbished and 'cured' (wood fires 5 hours at a time starting at 300F and raising 100F each day until yesterday's 900F).
Now to learn how to cook pizza in it!
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at November 13, 2021 02:43 PM (huCvK)

TELLL ME ABOUT YOUR PIZZA OVEN!!!!

Posted by: Kindltot at November 13, 2021 02:45 PM (P9T5R)

71 TELLL ME ABOUT YOUR PIZZA OVEN!!!!
Posted by: Kindltot

Are you yelling over the sounds of the fire engines ?

Posted by: JT at November 13, 2021 02:52 PM (arJlL)

72 We're inundated with black walnuts. Thousands of them. A major pain in the ass to shell however so they'll be on the ground for the squirrels and birds.

BTW... local folklore about a large walnut crop is that it'll be a cold, harsh winter. It did not get out of the 30's here in the Bluegrass today, so I believe it.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 13, 2021 02:55 PM (BFigT)

73 Maple Walnut ice cream

Posted by: San Franpsycho at November 13, 2021 02:57 PM (EZebt)

74 no, I want one. I haven't figured out which one I want to build.
I have been watching videos and reading articles for about 5 years so far.

Pompeiian? Secondary fire box? Argentine Fogon style? The one like they make in Colombia which is pretty much a wood burning iron range made out of brick? A rocket style that combines both cooking surface and heats the oven?

Posted by: Kindltot at November 13, 2021 02:59 PM (P9T5R)

75 Martini Farmer at November 13, 2021 02:55 PM

Wow! See's Candy has some kind of corner on some black walnut market, as I recall, and has some secret shelling apparatus.

A flavorful nut, for sure.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 03:08 PM (0ghg2)

76 But messy nuts, especially when the husks are still green.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 03:09 PM (0ghg2)

77 A flavorful nut, for sure.

I'm not touching that one.....

Posted by: JT at November 13, 2021 03:16 PM (arJlL)

78
TELLL ME ABOUT YOUR PIZZA OVEN!!!!
Posted by: Kindltot

It's an igloo with a catenary arch for an opening instead of the pizza oven opening I see all over the net.
Yes, it was here when we moved in, cracks and all.
Repaired with refractory cement it and a fresh whitewash and it looks great.
Yesterday I burned for 6 hours and at one point I put in just a bit too much wood. 1100F instead of 900F... No major cracks but there was some expansion so there are hairline cracks. I read that those cracks are to be expected due to expansion and contraction.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at November 13, 2021 03:20 PM (huCvK)

79 I like walnuts. Even tried to crack a couple but when they're black (ripe) they are horribly messy and the oil or whatever it is on the shells stain everything really bad. Then... if you get the nut out and attempt to crack it, most of the meat goes on the floor or it cracks in such a way that you'd spend 20 minutes picking at it to get a morsel to eat.

Not worth the time and effort.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 13, 2021 03:21 PM (BFigT)

80 Thanks for the lovely pet pics.

I love the one with the puppies on the patio watching time go by. My two cats used to do that, because we faced west, and they would let the sunset wash over them, like they were worshipping the Sun God.

Posted by: PJ1 at November 13, 2021 03:23 PM (G1dq6)

81 Oh, the inside base of the igloo is 37" across so it isn't small.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at November 13, 2021 03:23 PM (huCvK)

82 It's an igloo with a catenary arch for an opening instead of the pizza oven opening I see all over the net.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at November 13, 2021 03:20 PM (huCvK)

Thank you. There are so many designs it makes me think it may not be that important what design I choose. I think it has to do with the type of cooking and fuel available.

I know what I want to make, but as in all of my home projects, it is a race between my wallet, availability of materials and my skills

Posted by: Kindltot at November 13, 2021 03:30 PM (P9T5R)

83 I like the DIY videos of the igloo type; but, I would *never* use a catenary arch. I might have to weld a frame and door up to alter how this one works.
Also don't use red clay pipe for the chimney, it cracks and with a stucco wrap it is extremely hard to repair the clay pipe.
Consider making your 'entrance area' large enough to put plates/trays. I have about 3 inches between the oven floor and the 1st drop off an then about 3-4 inches. That is not enough room to work.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at November 13, 2021 03:37 PM (huCvK)

84 it is a race between my wallet, availability of materials and my skills
Posted by: Kindltot

As a DIY project it looks daunting; but there are so many videos of people taking their time and doing right (one guy built the base one year and came back the next to do the dome).
I don't think building one is inexpensive though...

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at November 13, 2021 03:39 PM (huCvK)

85 Has anyone had experience in growing chestnuts? I ask, because the web site of the Virginia Chestnut Company (which has a link on ace.mu.nu) sells hybrid chestnut trees that are blight-resistant, and I've been thinking of getting one. We're in SE Wisconsin, which is not part of the original range of the American chestnut, but I thought I might try anyway, assuming that the tree can survive our winters.

Posted by: Nemo at November 13, 2021 03:46 PM (S6ArX)

86 Cook your lettuce!

And everything else.

Posted by: Been Lurking, but clearly been posting too at November 13, 2021 03:48 PM (rDgjh)

87 See's candy uses vaniliin, and artificial vanilla.

WTF?

Posted by: Been Lurking, but clearly been posting too at November 13, 2021 03:50 PM (rDgjh)

88 Anybody have a link to the 9 year old girl bass player that was on a thread about a week or two ago? I never got to watch it.

Posted by: InCali at November 13, 2021 05:13 PM (ov5G+)

89 "several woodland areas have these carpeting the interior floors, not sure what they are."

They look like anemone nemorosa, aka "vitsippor" in Sweden. They also come in blue, but those were much rarer in the Gothenburg area. We had some on our wooded property.

Posted by: Miley, the Duchess - #SuperStraight at November 13, 2021 06:10 PM (Mzdiz)

90 Here are a few more pics, for comparison. Remove spaces, of course.

http://gothenburg-400.com/ springing-in-spring-anemone -nemorosa-vitsippor/

Posted by: Miley, the Duchess - #SuperStraight at November 13, 2021 06:16 PM (Mzdiz)

91 Those little anemones are charming. Must be wonderful in spring, Miley.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 06:52 PM (0ghg2)

92 Growing up, we had a neighbor with a black walnut tree or two. Husks were removed after the fell but while still green. They were spread out newspapers and stomping on them with rain boots. I guess they were then washed and dried.

They were cracked in a vice, then the meats were picked out with one of those little lances you see sold with those scissor type nutcrackers.

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 06:56 PM (0ghg2)

93 InCali at November 13, 2021 05:13 PM

Bass guitar or bass fiddle?

Posted by: KT at November 13, 2021 06:57 PM (0ghg2)

94 From Boise area: Last Sunday, 2 friends came by to help press cider and we had fun. 2 days later, husband and I set up a batch of hard cider in our small carboy.

Lows 35-45 F with one heavy frost, highs 50-60. Lots of leaves gone, lots still to go...

...and husband had eye surgery on Friday. I'm on my own for a bunch of stuff for 2-plus weeks. I'm trying to recruit local help to pick apples, process them into applesauce and cider, rake/bag/compost leaves, and clean up vegetable garden debris. We did say "for better or for worse" - this'll just be one of those rough patches...

On the bright side, the Johnny Jump-Ups out by the shed are still blooming.

Posted by: Pat* at November 13, 2021 07:00 PM (2pX/F)

95 12 EveR, are you wondering what to do now, to be ready next spring? My thoughts (if someone was just starting out):

Decide how much time and energy you're realistically going to be able to devote to the garden. No sense doing a whole bunch of start-up work, and not being able to keep it weeded/picked, and the veggies/fruits processed/eaten.

Consider sun and water availability at the proposed garden location.

Decide what you're actually going to eat. No sense planting things you don't like.

Assuming planting in the ground, I'd loosen the soil to one spade depth (two, if you have the energy) before the ground freezes. Have fun browsing local garden stores, see what brands of seeds are available, do some online research into varieties adapted to your area.

I always draw out a plan for my beds in winter - then when I plant, I draw another that reflects what I *actually* did.

Husband and I built 2 garden beds the first year (we stapled hardware cloth to the bottoms to prevent burrowing critters) and added more beds as we went. If you go this route, you could build them now, research garden stores' compost/soil quality/availabilty, and set the beds up in the spring.

Posted by: Pat* at November 13, 2021 07:19 PM (2pX/F)

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