Saturday Gardening and Puttering Thread, September 11

Hi, everybody! Miss the Gardening Thread last week? Don't ever let anybody cut your internet cable as you are finishing a post for AoSHQ.

Hope that the weather has allowed you to be outdoors and to do some gardening and/or puttering.

We have some lovely photos of bromeliads to start off with today. And we also have some Edible Gardening photos and information which may have involved some labor. You know, Putting Things By.

And a lovely little video. And some sad storm-related news.

About the photo above and those below:

Gorgeous bromeliad exhibit last week at San Diego Botanic gardens. Yes, I have no idea why they say botanic and not botanical. It used to be called Quail Gardens which I think is so much lovelier.
keena

Awwwwww

A hummingbird just showed up in my yard & I got a couple of video fragments. I'm surprised he sat still that long on my vibrurnum before going back to the black & blue salvias for lunch.
I hope this works & you can use the video sometime. I'm not good enough & neither is my digital camera to get a still picture of a hummingbird. Shooting thru my porch screen doesn't help either.
badgerwx

The hummingbird video is lovely. Thanks to CBD for formatting it for us!

Edible Gardening

We are getting more photos than usual in the Edible Gardening category, and we love them! But some of them we are saving. This series is kind of a hint for those in The Horde who may not have gardens of there own, from kshoosh:

Love the details here. A lot of work, but it sounds like fun!

Longtime lurker, had a strange and fun experience last week that I thought the other gardening morons might enjoy reading about it, and you might appreciate the content?
Last week I went to an Amish produce auction in rural Kentucky. Hart County Produce Auction in Munfordville, KY. Quite an experience. Walked away with about 100lbs of tomatoes for $41!
I used to have a local nursery/produce reseller who used to go down to the Amish auctions and was willing to pick up bulk tomatoes for me while they were there, but the nursery shut down in 2019 and I couldn't find anyone else, so I decided to go down myself this year.
They had every kind of vegetable there, brought in by Amish and Mennonite farmers in the area. The auctions are held at noon on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday from April until... November maybe, or whenever they stopped having produce? It was attended by lots of resellers plus what looked like some random people like me. There were maybe 30 people there to bid, and then quite a few of the farmers watching to see how well they did.

The auctioneer used a headset with a sound system, so that must have been an exception to the Amish technology aversion; he had someone managing the lots that he'd then auction off (in full auctioneering cadence-style), and then someone taking notes of who won what and for how much. There were probably a few thousand pounds of tomatoes there for auction-- the first 3 rows you see in that picture is all tomatoes, all in 10lb or 20lb boxes, in various sized lots- some lots were 50 x 10lb boxes and you had to bid on at least 12+ boxes.
You could walk around ahead of time and check out the different lots, how the produce looked, what the minimum bid quantity was, and plan out your bidding strategy. I had my eye on a smaller lot of canners (20lb boxes, could take 3, 6, or 9 boxes.) And there was one lot of Romas, 2x20lb boxes, which was really what I had come all the way out there for.

They charged $5 (for a year!) to register for the auction and get a number, and they gave you the prices of what things sold for at the previous auction 2 days ago- so you could have a sense of going rates.
I bid against someone for the canners, and ended up with 3 of the 20lb boxes for $7 each. No one else bid on the Romas, so I got those 2 boxes for $10 each. The price sheet had them an average of $15/box, which I would have been fine with, too! It took probably 40 minutes to get through all the tomatoes, then they moved on to melons, potatoes, corn, peppers, cucumbers, just every kind of produce you can imagine. I checked out after the tomatoes were done, loaded up, and headed on home. With a 90 minute drive out there, we figure it was about $65 all in, with gas, auction registration, and then the actual bids.

Why was I bidding on 100 lbs of tomatoes in the first place? I make spaghetti sauce in bulk every fall to last the following year. Growing up, my family grew our own tomatoes and we made sauce every weekend for at least a month. Now, I get tomatoes in bulk and do it all on one fell swoop- I can process the tomatoes with a Squeezo machine in one day, and cook it down and can it the following day- it makes for a long weekend, but then it's done until next year.
Squeezo setup is best outdoors, where the machine and people can be hosed off.

The sauce cooks down for 6-10 hours. Tomatoes, basil, oregano, bay leaves, onion powder, salt. No sugar.

And if you're wondering - Amish tomatoes taste different (better!) than other tomatoes! Even within Amish tomatoes, I get a different vintage each year, it's delightful. This year, 100 lbs made 37 1/2 quarts of sauce.

* Important warning about water-bath-canning tomatoes, because it could kill someone: if you use typical tomatoes from the supermarket, you need to add a tbsp of lemon juice to up the acidity before using a water bath- or use pressure canning instead. The popular varieties of tomatoes have been bred to be sweeter than our grandparents' time, and lower acidity means increased risk of bad things growing in your jars while they're stored, and it's a big risk with water bath canning. My recipe uses Romas (which haven't been genetically messed with nearly as much so aren't as sweet) and adds tomato paste, which adds a hefty dose of acidity also. Years that I can't find romas, I add lemon juice to each jar.

You really can't tell the acidity level of tomatoes by tasting them, either.

Something different

A couple of weeks ago, we had a nice photo of kudzu flowers from f'd.

Did you know that kudzu is edible?

The leaves, vine tips, flowers, and roots are edible; the vines are not. The leaves can be used like spinach and eaten raw, chopped up and baked in quiches, cooked like collards, or deep fried. Young kudzu shoots are tender and taste similar to snow peas.
Kudzu also produces beautiful, purple-colored, grape-smelling blossoms that make delicious jelly, candy, and syrup. Some people have used these to make homemade wine. The large potato-like roots are full of protein, iron, fiber, and other nutrients. They are dried and then ground into a powder which is used to coat foods before frying or to thicken sauces.

There are a bunch of recipes linked.

Tips from chefs, and a photo of kudzu running wild.

Sad Storm News

Duke Lowell believes that it was a tornado that took out one of the big trees at his house. We may have a little video of the storm later. The big tree took out his Teacup Magnolia.

Here's a pic of the magnolia that got squashed today. It was my favorite tree.

A lovely tree. Gone, but not forgotten.

More Bromeliads

What an amazing variety of plants and flowers!

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 12:51 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Nice post, KT!

Posted by: 40 Miles North at September 11, 2021 11:55 AM (uWF4x)

2 Beautiful bromeliads!

Looked at all the pretty pictures: now to read the content..

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at September 11, 2021 11:58 AM (Z2hVt)

3 Are you totally sure that you got Amish tomatoes? I ask because that sauce looks like it's on an electric range, and yet the sauce isn't jumping out of the pot and running away.

Couldn't resist...

Posted by: CppThis at September 11, 2021 12:00 PM (UewuT)

4 Is there a downside to wide-mouth, straight-sided canning jars (besides being hard to find recently) compared to the regular style?

I like straight-sided because they make nice drinking glasses when needed, and I like wide-mouth because I can get my hand inside to wash them.

Posted by: Emmie at September 11, 2021 12:01 PM (6RgRK)

5 Sad day really, just watched quick video at Frontpage on 9/11

Posted by: Skip at September 11, 2021 12:02 PM (2JoB8)

6 "Did you know that kudzu is edible?"

I had heard that but I think I will wait until we have eaten everything else around here. It's good to know that we won't starve to death though. Between the Kudzu and pinecones we could hold out indefinitely.

Posted by: f'd at September 11, 2021 12:02 PM (Tnijr)

7 Garden is dwindling, peppers are just starting to ripen so might pick it and bring it in. Tomatoes are plentiful but seem to spoil very quickly if not used.

Posted by: Skip at September 11, 2021 12:03 PM (2JoB8)

8 I never realized that bidding on veggies was a thing. Interesting!

Posted by: Emmie at September 11, 2021 12:04 PM (6RgRK)

9 I went to the window to take a video of the storm as it was quite impressive. Raining buckets and the wind was whipping. Right as I hit the red button to start recording, the tree came down right in front of the window. Magnolia never had a chance.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 11, 2021 12:04 PM (kTF2Z)

10 No sweet peppers, but a few green. Wonder if I should pick those as well.

Posted by: Skip at September 11, 2021 12:04 PM (2JoB8)

11 The auctioneer used a headset with a sound system, so that must have been an exception to the Amish technology aversion;

When it comes to entrepreneurship and earning money, the Amish are very tech savvy.

Posted by: kallisto at September 11, 2021 12:05 PM (DJFLF)

12 Cool photos of bromeliads!

Posted by: Emmie at September 11, 2021 12:05 PM (6RgRK)

13 Nice tomatoes kshoosh! Pulled weeds this morning and picked a few beefsteaks. My sunflowers have drooped waaaay over - not sure what the issue is with them.

My wife's white iris have bloomed - they only open for a few days a year so she is just thrilled.

Posted by: Tonypete at September 11, 2021 12:05 PM (mD/uy)

14 >>> 8 I never realized that bidding on veggies was a thing. Interesting!
Posted by: Emmie at September 11, 2021 12:04 PM (6RgRK)

Yeah, I'm a little jealous.

I think the nearest Amish or Mennonite residents are about 1000 miles from me.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at September 11, 2021 12:06 PM (ACi07)

15 When I was a kid we lived in Sacramento and our neighbor was Italian, Gabe. He had an unbelievable tomato garden crammed into his small back yard and every year he would make sauce and give us some. I haven't thought about that in years but I do remember that tomato sauce was the best I've ever encountered. He was the real deal.

Posted by: f'd at September 11, 2021 12:07 PM (Tnijr)

16 KT, you got the video I sent?

Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 11, 2021 12:07 PM (kTF2Z)

17 10 No sweet peppers, but a few green. Wonder if I should pick those as well.

Posted by: Skip at September 11, 2021 12:04 PM (2JoB

My neighbor gave me a pepper plant a few months ago. I planted it in a small pot and so far only three little peppers have appeared. One is finally turning red. But it looks like some new ones are popping...how? so late in the season.

Anyway neighbor is Asian so I think the peppers are the kind they use in their cuisine: Long and skinny

Posted by: kallisto at September 11, 2021 12:07 PM (DJFLF)

18 Yeah, I'm a little jealous. I think the nearest Amish or Mennonite residents are about 1000 miles from me.
Posted by: Helena Handbasket at September 11, 2021 12:06 PM (ACi07)

Our nearby Mennonites are high-altitude and have cows. I've never tried to buy beef from them since we don't have a freezer chest.

Posted by: Emmie at September 11, 2021 12:09 PM (6RgRK)

19 I'm going to try a bite of one of those Kudzu flowers and will report back later.

Posted by: f'd at September 11, 2021 12:10 PM (Tnijr)

20 Frost is usually what does in my Anaheim pepper plants, did just pick first one half ripe

Posted by: Skip at September 11, 2021 12:11 PM (2JoB8)

21 I noodled.

Posted by: Ruthless at September 11, 2021 12:13 PM (/uaBM)

22 Somebody cross-bred Mennonites with Inca?

Posted by: klaftern at September 11, 2021 12:13 PM (r4sI4)

23 The humming bird video is nice.
I've been watching ours in the trees.
You don't realize how much downforce turbulence comes from those little things, until they fly above some leaves

Posted by: Bruce at September 11, 2021 12:14 PM (vd8XM)

24 My wife's white iris have bloomed - they only open for a few days a year so she is just thrilled.
Posted by: Tonypete at September 11, 2021 12:05 PM (mD/uy)

I bought one (1) bulb at the Fall Fest in 2019. Thought it was a dud as I didn't realize it was fall-blooming. It bloomed last fall and I was enchanted. Intend to get some more this year. There is a man here in CenTex that sells only iris and he has a large and varied inventory.

Posted by: sal at September 11, 2021 12:17 PM (3c1fY)

25 And if you're wondering - Amish tomatoes taste different (better!) than other tomatoes!

My 85 year old uncle is once again making jars this year even though he swore last year would be the last time.
(he was fed up with doing all that work and then his kids/grandkids, and friends all raiding the jar pantry. He'd have about 25 jars left for himself out of about 150 he prepared)

Anyway I asked if he was going to Jersey for the tomatoes, he said No, the ones in Lancaster are better.

Posted by: kallisto at September 11, 2021 12:19 PM (DJFLF)

26 We grew Romas for years, but this year tried Yaquis.
Same shape, but larger, and if possible, more dense.
Superb canner, if anyone is looking to try something different.
We also grew some determinates this year (an Early Girl).
So they ripen over one month instead of three, near as we can tell.
We used cattle panels at perhaps a 50 degree angle for our "cascade" this year. Worked well. No fungus among us to speak of (the year maybe) but very easy to train and tie up.
Also trying some Best Red peppers. Suppose to be a paprika pepper. Can't wait for those. Have some ripe, but are using the dehydrator for cherry tomatoes right now.

Posted by: MkY at September 11, 2021 12:20 PM (Foq6I)

27 I pulled up all the non performing mater n pepper plants last week. learned bigly from my mistakes of the last coupla years. next year will be better.

have still one squash plant as the Mrs like the flowers. maybe we'll get one more zuchini before the end of season.

I have concrete work to do before the frost sets in.

Posted by: BluesFish at September 11, 2021 12:21 PM (kPJ/p)

28 Duke Lowell, that is a tough loss. I hate it when a favorite plant meets an untimely demise.

We had tornadoes here in PA and NJ, one went on a rampage for 13 miles before it ended. Very destructive.

Posted by: kallisto at September 11, 2021 12:21 PM (DJFLF)

29 I think the family that established the place was named Quail (spelling might have been different), they had a nursery business there. Many years ago, one of the nice odd things they had were minah birds, was fun as a kid to "talk with them".

Haven't gone in modern times because $$$, pretty expensive.

Posted by: rhomboid (OTzUX) at September 11, 2021 12:21 PM (OTzUX)

30 Gorgeous pics, love the pinks and blues on the bromeliads. Delicious looking tomato sauce.

Posted by: JuJuBee at September 11, 2021 12:22 PM (UsshY)

31 Does anyone like the tomatoes in grocery stores? How could it come to be that a product was engineered and developed to be exactly what the customer doesn't want? I have never tasted a tomato that wasn't grown in a home garden that was pleasant to eat.

Posted by: banana Dream at September 11, 2021 12:25 PM (Yh0oe)

32 Posted by: JuJuBee at September 11, 2021 12:22 PM (UsshY)

What she said!

There is a fun Italian restaurant in Hoboken that makes great sauce. I have asked for the recipe, and got a smile, but nothing else. It's weird that a simple thing can be so varied...

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 11, 2021 12:25 PM (Q9lwr)

33 Beautiful pictures of flowers. It's such a pleasure to look at them. Thanks, gardeners, photographers and KT!

We recently had some Easter lillies bloom. We plant leftovers from church after the Easter service, and of course they are forced to bloom by greenhouses for Easter, but there are always a few buds that haven't come out, so it is great to see and smell them at the time they're really supposed to bloom.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 11, 2021 12:25 PM (AJzTi)

34 22 Somebody cross-bred Mennonites with Inca?
Posted by: klaftern at September 11, 2021 12:13 PM (r4sI4)

Recommend caution if they invite you to be a "special guest" at a religious ceremony.

Posted by: CppThis at September 11, 2021 12:26 PM (UewuT)

35 I look every year for Kudzu blossoms, they are pretty rare. A sniff of one is amazing, though, my brain immediately says 'Grape Jelly!'.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc. etc. at September 11, 2021 12:26 PM (bk3Sg)

36 What's the best, least sweet, most meaty-tasting tomato variety you can grow?

Posted by: banana Dream at September 11, 2021 12:27 PM (Yh0oe)

37 Agriculture seems hard. Every year I plant from 6-9 tomatoes in 15-gallon pots. All grape or cherry varieties. Composted soil (kitchen compost, been going for years). No food or fertilizer. When possible - as this year - absolutely no sprays or anything else, not even copper, for fungus. This year, no bugs, no worms, no fungus - not even any rats or birds showing an interest.

But only the first 3 plants (I stagger planting to produce a long production season) really grew to capacity and produced, decently, not epic. Other 3 in pots barely survived, produced nothing. One in the ground, in the lettuce garden, survived but was a dwarf/disappointment.

Same soil, same conditions, same treatment. Wildly different outcomes. The 3 1/2 dud plants are a record. We'll get 'em next year, I guess. It's nice when all cylinders fire, have plenty of small tomatoes from July thru October.

Posted by: rhomboid (OTzUX) at September 11, 2021 12:27 PM (OTzUX)

38 Does anyone like the tomatoes in grocery stores?

I got some heirloom tomatoes at Whole foods that were very good. I'm now hooked. Love the variety of colors too

Posted by: kallisto at September 11, 2021 12:28 PM (DJFLF)

39 We used cattle panels at perhaps a 50 degree angle for our "cascade" this year. Worked well. No fungus among us to speak of (the year maybe) but very easy to train and tie up.

Posted by: MkY at September 11, 2021 12:20 PM (Foq6I

I like cattle panels for gardening. What is a "cascade"?

Posted by: Emmie at September 11, 2021 12:29 PM (6RgRK)

40 31 Does anyone like the tomatoes in grocery stores? How could it come to be that a product was engineered and developed to be exactly what the customer doesn't want? I have never tasted a tomato that wasn't grown in a home garden that was pleasant to eat.

Think about the process that gets that tomato to you.

It's mechanically picked and dumped in a truck by conveyor belt, trucked dozens or hundreds or thousands of miles, dumped onto another conveyor belt, sorted into boxes, boxes loaded into trucks, trucked to warehouses, to stores, etc.

What you're buying is a red thing that Goodyear engineers could be proud of. The fact that it even resembles a tomato is a miracle in itself.

Posted by: JEM at September 11, 2021 12:29 PM (8erNz)

41 Started killing the bermuda grass that the prior owners let take over the raised bed.
Probably 80% killed so far... the last 20% will take 80% of the time... sigh.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at September 11, 2021 12:29 PM (Z2hVt)

42 Loved seeing a hummer actually sitting still!

Working on a baby quilt for later this month. I'm doing the
Six Days of Creation in the style of an illuminated manuscript. Mom is getting a MS/PhD in Medieval Philosophy and Ethics, so I hope she will like it.
Days 1-4 were pretty easy, but fish, birds and beasts are hard.

I have not texted my kid any pics of fabric combos asking 'This one or this one?", to my credit.

Posted by: sal at September 11, 2021 12:34 PM (3c1fY)

43 A 92 year-old friend of mine canned 60 qts. of tomatoes this year, out of his garden. He's now giving away the continuing crop. An amazing guy, Korean war vet. It's pretty interesting to sit and talk with someone who can speak clearly of life in the late 30's. His first car was an Essex.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc. etc. at September 11, 2021 12:34 PM (pK7cg)

44 Emmie,
We have been working for three years on trying to get some way of keeping the tomatoes off the ground, but allowing them to sprawl like they seem to want to do. Too much work tying up every single week off stakes with heavy twine between.
We used little arches last year, and it worked pretty well, til the plants got too big.
So, since there is a Texas weave method of staking, the Florida Weave, we decided whatever we ended up with was gonna be the "KC Cascade".

Posted by: MkY at September 11, 2021 12:35 PM (Foq6I)

45 Started killing the bermuda grass that the prior owners let take over the raised bed.
Probably 80% killed so far... the last 20% will take 80% of the time... sigh.
Posted by: AZ
--------

Best of luck. You'll need it.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc. etc. at September 11, 2021 12:36 PM (pK7cg)

46 I'll send K.T. pics, but the idea is to allow the plants to do what they wanna do anyway, as much as possible, with minimal work.

Posted by: MkY at September 11, 2021 12:36 PM (Foq6I)

47 Started killing the bermuda grass that the prior owners let take over the raised bed.
Probably 80% killed so far... the last 20% will take 80% of the time... sigh.

When I lived in the Valley of the Sunstroke I had trouble keeping bermuda grass alive.

Posted by: Blanco Basura - moronhorde.com. Not insurgents, counterrevolutionaries. at September 11, 2021 12:38 PM (SchxB)

48 Probably 80% killed so far... the last 20% will take 80% of the time... sigh.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron

Fertilize it and water it the week before. No kidding. The better it's growing, the better the kill.

Posted by: MkY at September 11, 2021 12:38 PM (Foq6I)

49 Sal, the quilt sounds amazing! You're inspiring me; trying to get my Juki up and running again today.

Still getting blossoms and tomatoes on my six container plants, and sweet peppers on my five plants. They like the cooler nights we have been having, and the days in the 80's.

Posted by: skywch at September 11, 2021 12:39 PM (QVgqY)

50
Fertilize it and water it the week before. No kidding. The better it's growing, the better the kill.
Posted by: MkY

Completely agree.
You can't kill stuff that isn't growing.
I started just after the last rains we had, I might have waited too long.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at September 11, 2021 12:41 PM (Z2hVt)

51 Where are you getting tomato seed? It's the likely reason for the poor production.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at September 11, 2021 12:42 PM (YynYJ)

52 42 Loved seeing a hummer actually sitting still!

I was surprised the first time I saw a hummingbird perched on a twig. He sat there for a long time too. I guess they do need to regroup and refresh after all that hovering and wing - beating.

Posted by: kallisto at September 11, 2021 12:45 PM (DJFLF)

53 >>> Does anyone like the tomatoes in grocery stores?

I got some heirloom tomatoes at Whole foods that were very good. I'm now hooked. Love the variety of colors too

Posted by: kallisto at September 11, 2021 12:28 PM (DJFLF)

I got some from whole foods, bumpy with stripes and different colors, said they were heirloom. I didn't like them, they didn't taste meaty inside, were a bit sweet. As a kid growing up I used to eat whole tomatoes from my mom's garden like it was the days feast. A little salt in pepper maybe. Sometimes I'd make it a bowl and fill it with cottage cheese. Haven't had a tomato I was pleased with since those days.

Posted by: banana Dream at September 11, 2021 12:47 PM (Yh0oe)

54 So, since there is a Texas weave method of staking, the Florida Weave, we decided whatever we ended up with was gonna be the "KC Cascade".
Posted by: MkY at September 11, 2021 12:35 PM (Foq6I)

Ah, thank you. So you support the cattle panel in a slanted position and let the tomato vines climb along it. Upward, I would guess.

Posted by: Emmie at September 11, 2021 12:48 PM (6RgRK)

55 Our Kroger-affiliated grocery store used to stock tomatoes that were something between a grape tomato and a paste tomato. They made awesome salsa! But I can't find them anymore. I forget the variety name.

Posted by: Emmie at September 11, 2021 12:51 PM (6RgRK)

56 Bonny Best is a good old style tomato.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at September 11, 2021 12:51 PM (YynYJ)

57 Thanks to all for the content. I usually hate to single any one out, but kshoosh, big thanks for explaining all that about the tomatoes to sauce process.

Posted by: MikeM at September 11, 2021 12:53 PM (6WyvU)

58 Ah, thank you. So you support the cattle panel in a slanted position and let the tomato vines climb along it. Upward, I would guess.
Posted by: Emmie

Prezactly! Lay the vines through the holes in the cattle panel, and just kinda mind them, so there's a minimum of tying up. Every year, towards the end of the year, we'd get tired of tying up, so tomatoes would lay on the ground, and slugs, fungus, whatever cost us plenty.

Posted by: MkY at September 11, 2021 12:56 PM (Foq6I)

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

You DON'T want to see what my "garden" looks like. Weeds, dead grass, blackberries sprouting everwhere (damn weed where I don't want it). Maybe an example of what NOT to do in one's garden...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at September 11, 2021 12:58 PM (ynpvh)

60 I'm envious of the Squeezo. My wife makes me work the chinois when we make sauce. I get sauce elbow.

Posted by: MkY at September 11, 2021 12:58 PM (Foq6I)

61 I puttered a bit with the pole saw. Had to reseat the chain 4 times to drain the battery. Finally I think I have the tensioner set better. Frustrating, but in happy news my foot may have turned the corner for healing the broken metatarsal. It didn't whine at me all morning. Wants a bit of ice now but is not very sore. My zucchini are still going, not sure I'll get to pick these last few squash.

Grasshoppers or something had killed some of my taters 4 weeks ago. They had not made one tater. If I mess with taters at all next year it won't be the golden Yukons from grocery, red taters or russets have always produced somewhat for me even if I was not great about watering and stuff. I may have been too slow to 'hill' these but I'm going to assume that the Yukons are just fussier to grow. Too bad since they ones I cooked were extra tasty. Possibly I'll get a few from the other tanks I planted, but I'm not too hopeful.

Posted by: PaleRider is simply Irredeemable at September 11, 2021 12:59 PM (pxVvf)

62 Haven't had a tomato I was pleased with since those days.

Posted by: banana Dream at September 11, 2021 12:47 PM (Yh0oe)

well those happy memories and associations *do* contribute to the recollection of the flavor!

My parents planted a big ol' garden and we also had the fresh tomatoes and cukes that mom would serve up into a great summer salad with garlic and vinaigrette, and homemade bread...honestly nothing compares to that.

and it will never happen again because I sure won't plant such a garden nor will I bake that kind of bread because I fail at bread baking.

Posted by: kallisto at September 11, 2021 12:59 PM (DJFLF)

63 "And if you're wondering - Amish tomatoes taste different (better!)"

Probably the fertilizer they use.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at September 11, 2021 01:02 PM (ynpvh)

64 41 Started killing the bermuda grass that the prior owners let take over the raised bed.
Probably 80% killed so far... the last 20% will take 80% of the time... sigh.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at September 11, 2021 12:29 PM (Z2hVt)

Those underground runners are a bitch.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at September 11, 2021 01:04 PM (ynpvh)

65 Kudzu flowers taste a little sweet and grass like, with a bit of bitter aftertaste. That is all. Except for the colors. So many colors.

Posted by: f'd at September 11, 2021 01:06 PM (Tnijr)

66 Try watching some of Mocha's breadmaking videos. He's very good and the videos are calming. This is his sandwich bread:

https://youtu.be/ZXcJlX6Ffk0

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at September 11, 2021 01:06 PM (YynYJ)

67 I fail at bread baking.

Posted by: kallisto at September 11, 2021 12:59 PM (DJFLF)

Until one day it turns out perfectly and you are hooked forever!

If I can do it, anyone can.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 11, 2021 01:07 PM (Q9lwr)

68 I'm envious of the Squeezo. My wife makes me work the chinois when we make sauce. I get sauce elbow.

Posted by: MkY at September 11, 2021 12:58 PM (Foq6I)

Is the purpose to break down the tomato to very small fragments or is it to get rid of the skin?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 11, 2021 01:08 PM (Q9lwr)

69 @ rhomboid. Yearly memberships at SDBG are actually fairly reasonable. If you live in the area there are at least quarterly exhibits that are quite gorgeous so to me it's worth it to be a member. The gardens themselves are just beautiful as is too.

My SMZ tomatoes gave me enough to can 9 quarts this year. I cannot fathom what I would feel like if I had 100 pounds of tomatoes to can. I would be exhausted for days. Also these tomatoes are so sweet you definitely would not want to add sugar. In fact I welcome adding the citric acid to moderate the sweetness somewhat. As well as saving anyone from death by botulism.

Posted by: keena at September 11, 2021 01:09 PM (BqNQr)

70 @Emmie, do you mean Roma tomatoes? Or is that what you mean by paste tomato?

Posted by: Caesar North of the Rubicon at September 11, 2021 01:10 PM (BMmaB)

71 Does anyone like the tomatoes in grocery stores?

I use Cento SM tomatoes all the time

very large industrial can for $8

Posted by: REDACTED at September 11, 2021 01:11 PM (uCLWI)

72 Is the purpose to break down the tomato to very small fragments or is it to get rid of the skin?

Seeds I spect. Skins go away from the boil, then ice water treatment.

Posted by: MkY at September 11, 2021 01:15 PM (Foq6I)

73 One year I put up a 6' x 6' trellis of welded wire fence. I grew Supersweets on that. It was spectacular. They hung off of the vertical wall like bunches of grapes.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc. etc. at September 11, 2021 01:15 PM (GBHAb)

74 There is a fun Italian restaurant in Hoboken that makes great sauce. I have asked for the recipe, and got a smile, but nothing else. It's weird that a simple thing can be so varied...
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo

Tell them you're related to Sinatra !

Posted by: JT at September 11, 2021 01:15 PM (arJlL)

75 I fail at bread baking.

Posted by: kallisto

Ever tried with the frozen bread dough ?

Posted by: JT at September 11, 2021 01:18 PM (arJlL)

76 I have failed many, many times at making bread. But I can finally turn out a decent loaf. The Pro Home Cooks videos helped me a lot with sourdough.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at September 11, 2021 01:21 PM (YynYJ)

77 When it comes to entrepreneurship and earning money, the Amish are very tech savvy.

Posted by: kallisto at September 11, 2021 12:05 PM (DJFLF)

Was watching Treehouse Masters a couple of years ago. Guy was building a treehouse for someone in Amish country. He had a couple of Amish carpenters come by and work for him. They used power tools. They told him, they can't own the tools, but they are allowed to use them. So, no as primitive as people might think, no?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at September 11, 2021 01:23 PM (7bRMQ)

78 Ugh, Bermuda grass - or wiregrass as I've also heard it called. It's been invading my yard for years. I've tried all sorts of herbicides on it & roundup 365 is the only one that really gets it. But that kills *everything* so I can't use it in beds where the wiregrass is growing up around the other plants.

This spring I took one section about 15 ft long & dug up every plant I wanted to keep. Then I dug up every bit of wiregrass roots & all going down about 6 or so. I left the bed empty so I could spray any wiregrass sprouts that came up. And I've been spraying every few weeks ever since - that last time was earlier today. If there is ever a nuclear catastrophe the cockroaches left alive afterwards will have wiregrass to eat.

badgerwx

Posted by: badgerwx at September 11, 2021 01:26 PM (cL7E+)

79 I have this minature rose that was planted by the maple tree. I wanted to take it with me, so I tried to dig it up. No luck. About a month later, I noticed it looked really bad. Fpund out that the roots were loose and I could pull it up. I put it in a jar with water and fertilizer, to get it growing again. It's putting out leaves and trying to bloom. I'm going to transplant to a pot.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at September 11, 2021 01:26 PM (YynYJ)

80 being a southerner, I'm kinda partial to gravies

my wife makes putanescas and such but I make a tomato gravy

it's like very rich tomato soup

no skins, no seeds

but it's not really very good

lol

Posted by: REDACTED at September 11, 2021 01:29 PM (uCLWI)

81 Huh, my symbol for inches didn't show up - it was 6 inches. Guess that's not far enough down for wiregrass.

badgerwx

Posted by: badgerwx at September 11, 2021 01:29 PM (cL7E+)

82 Duke Lowell at September 11, 2021 12:07 PM

Yes, got the video. One format per week has been our pattern. Hope to add it next week.

Posted by: KT at September 11, 2021 01:30 PM (0ghg2)

83 Duke Lowell at September 11, 2021 12:07 PM

Yes, got the video. One format per week has been our pattern. Hope to add it next week.
Posted by: KT at September 11,

Is Duke singing Viva Las Vegas in a thong ?

Posted by: JT at September 11, 2021 01:34 PM (arJlL)

84 >>> my wife makes putanescas and such but I make a tomato gravy

it's like very rich tomato soup

Posted by: REDACTED at September 11, 2021 01:29 PM (uCLWI)

I knew Italian people who always called their pasta sauce gravy.

Posted by: banana Dream at September 11, 2021 01:36 PM (Yh0oe)

85 Notsothoreau,

Good luck with your rose. I've dug up roses & sometimes they lived. I always get some die-back & end up cutting them back. Sometimes by a lot. The days are getting shorter & the sun angle is lower, but you might need to give it a little shade from the late afternoon sun if you're in a hotter climate.

badgerwx

Posted by: badgerwx at September 11, 2021 01:37 PM (cL7E+)

86 For now, I'm going to leave it potted till I move. I don't usually have any luck with minature roses.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at September 11, 2021 01:40 PM (YynYJ)

87 Gravy requires rendered animal fats. Anything other than that is sauce.

Posted by: BluesFish at September 11, 2021 01:45 PM (kPJ/p)

88 Photos in this thread are consistently lovely.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at September 11, 2021 01:51 PM (OU+8W)

89 Help! I'm stuck in a Rose Bush and I'm completely lost!

Posted by: Joe Biden, wandering aimlessly through the Whitehouse Garden at September 11, 2021 01:52 PM (/4vtq)

90 87 Gravy requires rendered animal fats. Anything other than that is sauce.
Posted by: BluesFish at September 11, 2021 01:45 PM (kPJ/p)

a sauce made from the thickened and seasoned juices of cooked meat

that's from Merriams

give a rest, Mildred

Posted by: REDACTED at September 11, 2021 01:54 PM (uCLWI)

91 Hey longtime lurker, nice Hosier cabinet!

Posted by: Javems at September 11, 2021 01:54 PM (xgBZ9)

92 For now, I'm going to leave it potted till I move. I don't usually have any luck with minature roses.

Rabbits love them. Those "cute" little bunnies will chew a miniature rose bush right down to ground level. Then leave poop pellets in a little pentagram around it. OK, I made up the last bit.

Posted by: Blanco Basura - moronhorde.com. Not insurgents, counterrevolutionaries. at September 11, 2021 01:54 PM (SchxB)

93 I knew Italian people who always called their pasta sauce gravy.

Posted by: banana Dream at September 11, 2021 01:36 PM (Yh0oe

You ought to see want Cajuns call gravy.

Posted by: Javems at September 11, 2021 01:57 PM (xgBZ9)

94 give a rest, Mildred
Posted by: REDACTED at September 11, 2021 01:54 PM (uCLWI)
Blow me.

Posted by: BluesFish at September 11, 2021 01:59 PM (kPJ/p)

95 You ought to see want Cajuns call gravy.
Posted by: Javems

Is it alive ?

Posted by: JT at September 11, 2021 01:59 PM (arJlL)

96 Those "cute" little bunnies will chew a miniature rose bush right down to ground level.

Those fuckers !

Posted by: JT at September 11, 2021 02:00 PM (arJlL)

97 We once canned 100 qts of tomato juice from the tomatoes in our garden. A banner year. Nothing even close since then.

Posted by: Ronster at September 11, 2021 02:00 PM (mNuGq)

98 95 You ought to see want Cajuns call gravy.
Posted by: Javems

Is it alive ?

Posted by: JT at September 11, 2021 01:59 PM (arJlL)

Dead, mostly.

Posted by: Javems at September 11, 2021 02:01 PM (xgBZ9)

99 PET NOOD

Posted by: Skip guy who says NOOD at September 11, 2021 02:01 PM (2JoB8)

100 Blow me.
Posted by: BluesFish

Hey !

This isn't The Romance Thread !

Posted by: JT at September 11, 2021 02:01 PM (arJlL)

101 94 give a rest, Mildred
Posted by: REDACTED at September 11, 2021 01:54 PM (uCLWI)
Blow me.
Posted by: BluesFish at September 11, 2021 01:59 PM (kPJ/p)

man, I did not see that coming

lol

Posted by: REDACTED at September 11, 2021 02:02 PM (uCLWI)

102 keena, thanks for the tip on the garden membership. We've been doing a zoo membership and using the bejeesus out of that one, both downtown and out in San Pasqual. If I mention this one to the boss, she'll probably want to do it, so have to be careful ......

We live about 20 minute drive from those gardens.

People old enough will remember that north county used to be dominated by flower, strawberry, tomato fields that made many stretches of road or freeway incredibly scenic.

Posted by: rhomboid (OTzUX) at September 11, 2021 02:03 PM (OTzUX)

103 You ought to see want Cajuns call gravy.
Posted by: Javems'

Any thing the Coonass called gravy is going to taste far better (and you'll need a cold beer to go with it) than any gravy made elsewhere.

Posted by: Boswell at September 11, 2021 02:47 PM (5iUNf)

104 @rhomboid. Yes. Now they are being replaced with housing developments unfortunately. But those lovely gardens and farms were what made North County the gem of San Diego in my opinion.

Posted by: keena at September 11, 2021 02:57 PM (BqNQr)

105 From Boise area: YES!, we missed KT and the Garden Thread! I spent days, torn between worrying KT was ill/injured, and hoping KT was having a nice vacation somewhere.

So, catching up on 2 weeks... picked up my ribbons from the Fair and tacked them up next to the ones from 2019 on my cork board. We picked blackberries from the untended bush along the neighborhood path, but should have gone earlier as there weren't many left - heated them a bit, put them over vanilla ice cream.

Still picking cantaloupes and freezing chunks - picking red raspberries and freezing them - dried some parsley in the oven, ground it, put it in freezer (until needed in the spice shelf jar). Irrigation shutoff due 9/20, so final green beans being eaten fresh, then we'll cut down the plants.

My southside neighbor grew some vining plants along the irrigation canal, behind his yard's fence. He said he doesn't have time to tend them, said I was free to go back there and pick - I've been getting zucchini (just grated, blanched, and froze some today) and tiny yellow squash. He said they have enough pumpkins that when they harvest, they'll share some as well.
/part 1

Posted by: Pat* at September 11, 2021 05:43 PM (2pX/F)

106 The same neighbor also brought over a bag of San Marzanos, asked if we wanted them for sauce - just as we were canning up the sauce we'd made from our Romas. Note: we had hella success putting the Roma plant from Home Depot in a 4 foot tall wire cage we made from fence wire - it's produced a lot of fruit. The Roma next to it is only now ripening fruit - I was thinking the cage was the difference, but looking at the planting map (I always draw one at the start of the season!), the 2nd plant is from seeds we started. So from now on, we'll go "store-bought plus cage". Oh, and we'll need to get those San Marzanos processed soon...

Still harvesting final cantaloupes.

Linden leaves starting to fall, and now the crabapple is starting too. Temperatures slowly dropping; no frost on forecast yet. Some air quality issues.

I've been mixing compost, while we still have irrigation water to wet the pile.

Puttering = power washing the house, continuing. Probably 2 more sessions to go. Then we can go back around to do any detail work. We did the back sliding door area today - yuk, lots of spider webs - probably needs a lot of touch-up.
/part 2/end/

Posted by: Pat* at September 11, 2021 05:55 PM (2pX/F)

107 Oops, part 3, brief: Might post very late/Sunday next weekend - Project Appleseed event time!

Posted by: Pat* at September 11, 2021 05:56 PM (2pX/F)

108 I do not seem to be able to comment on this thread when it is active. Maybe someone will see this. I had a lucky accident with tomatoes and sauce. Last year I over planted tomatoes, Had a lot cut up, seeded and stemmed in the freezer. I needed to freezer space, so I thawed them, as they thawed a lot of water separated off. I poured it out and ran the rest thru the blender. It was about the thickness I desire for sauce. After cooking an hour it was ready to can, and tasted much more like fresh tomatoes than the stuff I cook for hours. And I don't have so much steam on the windows or dripping down the walls. Reducing sauce and canning on hot humid summer days is challenging. This year I am freezing all tomatoes for a couple of days before I can.

Posted by: Lurking Grandma at September 11, 2021 06:02 PM (sujqA)

109 Gorgeous bromeliad exhibit last week at San Diego Botanic gardens. Yes, I have no idea why they say botanic and not botanical. It used to be called Quail Gardens which I think is so much lovelier.
keena

Yeah, it used to be called the Quail Botanical Gardens back in the 1980s. No idea when they shortened it to Botanic, but it doesn't sound right and annoys me every time I see the sign.

Posted by: Bonnie Blue no longer gives a shit at September 11, 2021 06:13 PM (hlxe7)

110 Hey longtime lurker, nice Hosier cabinet!
Posted by: Javems at September 11, 2021 01:54 PM

Glad y'all liked the pics! Thoroughly enjoying the comments

good eye, Javems! Hoosier came from my grandpa, such a useful piece of kitchen equip.

Squeezo is a way of life, I got to introduce my husband to the process... "I really have to stand here for the next 8 hrs turning this crank??" But he loves me and loves the sauce, so he puts up with it once a year. Happy canning, everyone!!

Posted by: Kshoosh at September 12, 2021 05:04 AM (9qMdV)

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