Gardening

Don Alaska said:
Only a few tomatoes will set fruit under 50 F./10 C., and you probably don't grow those. Those will be for @Steve North and me. We need one that set at low temperatures due to our short seasons. Most in the U.S and even a lot of Canada can successfully grow standard varieties of tomatoes without a greenhouse or tunnel.
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I was chatting to a close friend of ours on the phone , last night , she commented how her tomatoes are very small …. and they are like trying to chew leather …:(and yes she got the seedlings …..from the same garden shop as I did …..
 
We didn't do much gardening this year. I had too many other things to do. I planted some green beans from seeds that were, I don't even know how many years old, and only about a fourth of them sprouted. We did have a good year for tomatoes, whereas they don't usually do well for us. We grew some peppers, and the cabbage came out good, although I don't know why we grow cabbage since neither of us eats it, except in sauerkraut. The cabbage was great, and I'm sure it did well in my compost pile.
 
Ken Anderson said:
We didn't do much gardening this year. I had too many other things to do. I planted some green beans from seeds that were, I don't even know how many years old, and only about a fourth of them sprouted. We did have a good year for tomatoes, whereas they don't usually do well for us. We grew some peppers, and the cabbage came out good, although I don't know why we grow cabbage since neither of us eats it, except in sauerkraut. The cabbage was great, and I'm sure it did well in my compost pile.
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Do y'all make your own kraut, Ken? (We need a fermenting thread now, lol.)
 
Ken Anderson said:
We didn't do much gardening this year. I had too many other things to do. I planted some green beans from seeds that were, I don't even know how many years old, and only about a fourth of them sprouted. We did have a good year for tomatoes, whereas they don't usually do well for us. We grew some peppers, and the cabbage came out good, although I don't know why we grow cabbage since neither of us eats it, except in sauerkraut. The cabbage was great, and I'm sure it did well in my compost pile.
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Cabbage is one crop that I don't often recommend to people unless they have a use for it (like sauerkraut) or a lot of space. We have both and our storage varieties don't always mature, but when they do we have coleslaw well into winter as well. The only cole crop I recommend to people here with limited space and ambition is broccoli. Collards in the South if you like them. You can also make collard kraut. Kale is good and sometimes very pretty, but a little goes a long way for most people.
 
For now, those types of threads could go into the Do-It-Yourself forum, and we can always create a sub-forum for it if it gets large enough.
 
Don Alaska said:
Cabbage is one crop that I don't often recommend to people unless they have a use for it (like sauerkraut) or a lot of space. We have both and our storage varieties don't always mature, but when they do we have coleslaw well into winter as well. The only cole crop I recommend to people here with limited space and ambition is broccoli. Collards in the South if you like them. You can also make collard kraut. Kale is good and sometimes very pretty, but a little goes a long way for most people.
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My cabbage was beautiful until the woodchucks found it. Even chicken wire didn't help. They could dig under or climb over unless we change how we do things next year.
With the warm weather, I was surprised looking out this morning and saw a lot of green. My garlic was exploding. I wonder what will happen when the cold weather comes back in a couple of weeks.
 
Don Alaska said:
Cabbage is one crop that I don't often recommend to people unless they have a use for it (like sauerkraut) or a lot of space. We have both and our storage varieties don't always mature, but when they do we have coleslaw well into winter as well. The only cole crop I recommend to people here with limited space and ambition is broccoli. Collards in the South if you like them. You can also make collard kraut. Kale is good and sometimes very pretty, but a little goes a long way for most people.
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We just took some cole slaw out of the freezer we made last week, we freeze a couple glass Pyrex containers for later. Since we can't eat a head of cabbage ,carrot onions that fast.
 
Marie Mallory said:
We just took some cole slaw out of the freezer we made last week, we freeze a couple glass Pyrex containers for later. Since we can't eat a head of cabbage ,carrot onions that fast.
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That was kinda my point @Marie Mallory. Cabbage, especially storage cabbage, takes up a lot of garden space and many times people cannot eat an entire head at once. If you can divide it into smaller servings and you have space in your garden, that's great!
 
Kate Ellery said:
What is a woodchucks @Mary Stetler I’ve never heard of them …obviously something that likes cabbage better than me :D
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Woodchucks are a type of marmot if you know what that is @Kate Ellery. I don't know if you have them down under. They are reputed to be delicious to eat when they first break hibernation in the spring. A lot of farm kids in my childhood made extra money shooting them. I think it was 50 cents per animal. Not only did they eat crops, they also dug burrows that could cripple pastured animals.
 
Don Alaska said:
Woodchucks are a type of marmot if you know what that is @Kate Ellery. I don't know if you have them down under. They are reputed to be delicious to eat when they first break hibernation in the spring. A lot of farm kids in my childhood made extra money shooting them. I think it was 50 cents per animal. Not only did they eat crops, they also dug burrows that could cripple pastured animals.
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But they get gamey tasting later. ;)
 
I got my R.H. Shumway's catalog today. I've purchased flower and vegetable seed from them in the past.

While perusing through the catalog I realized I've never grown nor have we ever eaten parsnips. I or my wife have no clue what they taste like, or how they are use. The catalog did mention can be used in stews.
Are they spicy or like a carrot?

Maybe I should try growing them next year.
 
Tony Page said:
I got my R.H. Shumway's catalog today. I've purchased flower and vegetable seed from them in the past.

While perusing through the catalog I realized I've never grown nor have we ever eaten parsnips. I or my wife have no clue what they taste like, or how they are use. The catalog did mention can be used in stews.
Are they spicy or like a carrot?

Maybe I should try growing them next year.
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Parsnips are wonderful veggies if you like soups and stews @Tony Page. We grew them in buckets last year and they did great. The key is to leave them in the garden (or pot/bucket/ grow bag) until they have come through at least one frost. Get them harvested before the ground freezes if it does at your location as it make sit easier. We sometimes leave them in the ground all winter here, and sometimes they survive all winter and sometimes they don't. They are dug in the spring if you do that. The freezing makes them generate antifreeze in the form of sugar, and they become quite sweet. Parsnips can also be cooked and mixed with potatoes and carrots along with a roast. You might be able to find them in a grocery at this time of year for you to try before you buy the seeds. We grow them every year and save the seeds, as the seed life is only about one year, so if you buy the seeds, use them all up as they may not germinate well the second year.

I used to grow Shumway seeds, but I don't think they ship to Alaska, or didn't last time I checked.
 
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