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Post by imec on Jul 31, 2011 15:13:58 GMT
You grew those perfect specimens the first time out?! They're so fresh & tasty looking. Are they planted in separate rows of different greens, or was that from a packet of mixed seeds? Yes! First time! I planted two containers - one with just Arugula seeds and another with seeds for assorted "microgreens". You keep the salad greens - I want some of that chicken?? My it looks good Yes, it's chicken - but I didn't grow that.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2011 17:10:16 GMT
The salad looks wonderful. Maybe the mosquito cadavers make great fertilizer.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 1, 2011 6:33:04 GMT
Yes, it's chicken - but I didn't grow that. Something to aspire to! Picture your linkedin profile: Imec -- businessman; talented chef; chicken wrangler.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 26, 2011 12:38:41 GMT
Harvest from last weekend -
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 26, 2011 14:55:49 GMT
Oh, Mick -- beautiful! That picture would make anyone want to garden.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 26, 2011 15:22:15 GMT
I second that Mick! I have just started planting this last week. Spring officially on 1st September so I will take a few before and after photos.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 26, 2011 16:03:06 GMT
Let's hope your sciatic nerve sorts itself out then tod2.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2011 15:55:21 GMT
When I used to go to the ancestral village in the east of France, I would be given a wonderful bounty of vegetables by various people, just like in Mick's photo. Now dammit, they don't give me anything because there are too many grandchildren and probably it is supposed (with reason) that I can afford to feed myself. But, oh that local stuff tastes so much better, particularly the salad and the tomatoes!
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Post by mich64 on Aug 27, 2011 16:10:15 GMT
I heartily agree Kerouac, this is my favorite month of the year. Field tomatoes, peaches, watermelon, zuchinni, all my favorites and come with such an earthy flavorful taste. We do not have weekly markets here like in Europe, but the month of August and September we have one each Saturday morning and I really look forward to my purchases and the experience. We also have friends that share their harvests with us too. Cheers, Mich
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 28, 2011 18:33:47 GMT
Are August & September the peak harvest months in your area, Mich?
I spent most of my life in warmer areas, but remember being in Boulder, Colorado one September. I was astounded at the rampant abundance of plant life -- geraniums pushing themselves under and through fences, monster gourds, tomato and pepper plants heavy with fruit. It all looked like a calendar photo and I realized that plants in cold climates work harder to produce before it's too late.
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Post by mich64 on Aug 28, 2011 18:47:16 GMT
Yes Bixa, absolutely. August and September we are blessed with fresh delicious fruits and vegetables that you wish we could have all year. The rest of the year we rely on produce from the USA, Mexico and South America which tend to have a dull taste and are never as firm or juicy due to spending its quality time in transit to get to us.
Most people spend their fall time canning jams and fruits, jarring tomato sauces, pickles, relishes, salsas, peaches, pears and plums etc. Also freezing strawberries, blueberries, raspberries for baking in the winter months.
As the season comes to an end those that have cold rooms in their basements will store bushels of apples, squashes, potatoes and onions to get them usually half way through the winter before they have to buy at the grocery store. The younger people do not practice this, but seem to take it up as they get older and appreciate the freshness of local produce more. And of course, it is less expensive now. Some of our vegetables can have two growing cycles like carrots, lettuce and onions, but for everything else we have just one cycle. Corn is a favorite as well!
Cheers, Mich
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Post by myrt on Aug 29, 2011 19:14:51 GMT
Mm, this is my favourite time of the whole year - as summer turns into autumn and I spend time gathering the vegetables - in amongst a wonderful crop of weeds this year but never mind... I've just picked a basin full of tomatoes all shapes and sizes which would gladden anyone's heart, am just starting to dig up and store the potatoes which seem to be really huge this year despite the drought. The sweetcorn is nearly ready to pick and I am overrrun with purple, yellow and green climbing beans. I have got to the stage where I am making cakes with the bright yellow courgettes since we are all slightly sick of them - got a fun chocolate courgette cake recipe to try - sounds good! We have already make a big batch of green tomato chutney and started freezing stuff and I still have beetroot, carrots and leeks that aren't ready to crop for a few weeks plus a big patch of all sorts of squashes under the massive leaves - and this was a very bad year for me with very little time or energy to concentrate on the garden. I can never understand people who bemoan the loss of summer since it marks the start of the harvest when all those glorious vegetables and fruits are there for our enjoyment - it's absolutely brilliant! And it's when you can gloss over all the horrendous mistakes and failures and start planning all the good stuff you are going to do next year
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2011 19:37:22 GMT
The most excessive vegetable that my family ever grew -- either in France or the U.S. -- was green beans. Just too many of them all get ready to be picked at the same time, and within a week everybody is sick of them. At least my grandmother was able to can a lot of them for the winter.
My parents got sick of asparagus when they were in charge of the French garden, so they ended up pulling up all of the plants to grow something else, much to my dismay. I have to confess, however, that I never came to the village more than about 4 or 5 days in any given month, so I never got a chance to get sick of asparagus as much as they did. (Nobody in the family seemed to know how to can them -- you either ate them fresh or tossed them onto the compost heap.)
I approve of the fact that one of the only bits of heritage that my brother seems to have retained is canning a few things and making jam from the items in his nice garden in Buellton, California. But he was unable to pass this down to his children, and his wife ("My mother was an awful cook and did not teach us anything.") certainly doesn't give a shit.
I think people should be forced to pass a cooking license just like a drivers license.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 29, 2011 20:15:17 GMT
Ay, Mich and Myrt ~~ you all make me miss really defined seasons with your prose poems to autumn's abundance!
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Post by mich64 on Aug 29, 2011 20:28:47 GMT
I too enjoyed Myrt's ode to the harvest of the Summer that begins the season of Fall. I do not think I could permanently live somewhere without all four seasons Bixa, they all have their positives and negatives, but I enjoy the changes. Cheers! Mich
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2011 20:44:17 GMT
Having spent a bit of time in certain tropical areas, I have always wondered what it is like when you can plant something at any time of year, and it will grow and then you just plant it again (or of course rotate the crop when it is required). In Vietnam, they were always talking about the areas with 2 rice crops a year compared to the ones with 3 rice crops.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 30, 2011 12:15:43 GMT
Mm, this is my favourite time of the whole year - as summer turns into autumn and I spend time gathering the vegetables - in amongst a wonderful crop of weeds this year but never mind... I've just picked a basin full of tomatoes all shapes and sizes which would gladden anyone's heart, am just starting to dig up and store the potatoes which seem to be really huge this year despite the drought. The sweetcorn is nearly ready to pick and I am overrrun with purple, yellow and green climbing beans. I have got to the stage where I am making cakes with the bright yellow courgettes since we are all slightly sick of them - got a fun chocolate courgette cake recipe to try - sounds good! We have already make a big batch of green tomato chutney and started freezing stuff and I still have beetroot, carrots and leeks that aren't ready to crop for a few weeks plus a big patch of all sorts of squashes under the massive leaves - and this was a very bad year for me with very little time or energy to concentrate on the garden. I can never understand people who bemoan the loss of summer since it marks the start of the harvest when all those glorious vegetables and fruits are there for our enjoyment - it's absolutely brilliant! And it's when you can gloss over all the horrendous mistakes and failures and start planning all the good stuff you are going to do next year Good to hear that you're still growing veg. Something told me that you had stopped......
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 30, 2011 15:41:24 GMT
Mich, the seasons do change, but much more subtly than what you and I are familiar with as seasonal changes.
There are problems with growing here, of course -- poor, rocky soil in many areas and lack of year-round rainfall. But ....... there are 365 frost-free days a year.
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Post by myrt on Aug 30, 2011 19:45:40 GMT
Hello Mickus the cactus! My life, my health, my garden and most of the world may have gone down the swanny this past few months but I will grow vegetables until the day I stop breathing... ;D As I said - in amongst the weeds.....it's amazing how much still flourishes. And I have access to a pooter temporarily too - can't be bad! Hope you're all fine and dandy X Oh, and your veggies look MUCH better than mine...
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Post by tod2 on Aug 31, 2011 6:33:50 GMT
Congratulations (be they somewhat belated) on that lovely arrangement of your veggies! The dahlias add that 'Show' touch Mick! I am planting madly and in an hour will be off to the garden centre for another dozen or so trays of young plants. Your photo gives us loads of enthusiasm ;D
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 31, 2011 12:14:57 GMT
Thanks tod2.
I could really do with some warm weather to ripen the outdoor tomatoes but time is running out....
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Post by tod2 on Aug 31, 2011 13:49:04 GMT
Speaking of tomatoes - I put special tomato seed into trays today. Part of the Heirloom collection sent to me from Baker Creek, Mansfield, USA. They were: Green Zebra and Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge! Sound intriguing hey??! Besides the tomatoes I sprinkled a few Chinese Spinach (Bayam Daun Panjang) and some Paris Island Cos lettuce into other trays. Rastaman, my gardener, is turning over the beds where the Bok Choy was planted earlier this year. Man, did I get millions of seeds from the few plants I left to flower! Think there may be a photo opportunity in there somewhere...
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 31, 2011 14:06:51 GMT
I'm waiting for Banana Legs to ripen....
(that's a tomato btw)
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Post by tod2 on Aug 31, 2011 14:39:01 GMT
Banana Legs.... that sounds very different! Can't be an English tomato can it? Whats different about it Mick? And where did you get the seeds? Have you heard of pouring liquid cow-dung onto tomato plants? When we were on The Isle of Wight Granfer` used to keep a 44gal oil drum topped up with water and a few cow pats floating on top. Used to pour this liquid on his hothouse tomatoes.
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Post by fumobici on Aug 31, 2011 15:56:12 GMT
I'm beginning to despair I won't get any ripe tomatoes at all this year. Won't be the first time though if I don't. They really aren't very fond of the season here.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 31, 2011 16:11:01 GMT
Banana Legs.... that sounds very different! Can't be an English tomato can it? Whats different about it Mick? And where did you get the seeds? Have you heard of pouring liquid cow-dung onto tomato plants? When we were on The Isle of Wight Granfer` used to keep a 44gal oil drum topped up with water and a few cow pats floating on top. Used to pour this liquid on his hothouse tomatoes. It's yellow and shaped like a short banana (but all green at present). I don't know it's history and I'll have to check where I got it from when I get home. Yes, heard of the cow dung treatment but not for me!
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 31, 2011 16:14:30 GMT
Bred in the USA and first offered 1984 apparently.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 31, 2011 16:22:02 GMT
I am planting madly and in an hour will be off to the garden centre for another dozen or so trays of young plants. Tod, some time back you showed photos of gorgeous greens (kale?) in your garden. Are you able to grow cold-season vegetables in your winters?
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 31, 2011 16:30:05 GMT
I'm beginning to despair I won't get any ripe tomatoes at all this year. Won't be the first time though if I don't. They really aren't very fond of the season here. Where are you?
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Post by tod2 on Aug 31, 2011 16:30:06 GMT
Yes, some people grow cabbages, sprouts and the like but I don't bother because one large cabbage is sufficient for a weeks meals and having a patch of them takes up too much space. I can get better sprouts (not my alltime favourite veg) at Woolworths if the desire arises. I like growing summer veg and let my beds wind down from May - August. That veg I grew was Bok Choy Chinese spinach. It did extremely well and I will plant more this summer but a lot less. Going for more variety this year! I will be planting my Long Beans again and hopefully time them (and all the other stuff) for the arrival of our visitors from Manchester in October.
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