My 2017 garden

[Gary350]

Another watermelon. I have lost track of how many watermelons we have harvested. I am guessing we are getting close to 20. I have learned, when the melon is yellow on bottom wait 5 more days then harvest it, it will be sweet as sugar. I am getting good at slicing melons I have had a lot of practice this summer. Wife and I ate about 10 pieces each as I cut the melon hoping it would all fit into 1 large bowl. We never even got close to making it fit into 1 bowl but we had fun trying. LOL.

[applestar]

Looks so yummy! My little watermelons and melons are going to be sad comparison, but I enjoy yours vicariously.

What are you doing with all the scraps? Are you putting them out in the garden paths then tilling them in like you mentioned before? With all the sugars and organic matter, those will add tons of fertility to the soil. Potassium too for sure. I wonder what else?

Are you using the watermelon rind at all? Pickled or sautéed, soups/stews ... or I've even read about juicing them for antioxidant called citruline.

...I've been putting my small(er) contributions to the vermicomposter (worms love melons and squash) and the enclosed compost bin...

[Gary350]

Looks so yummy! My little watermelons and melons are going to be sad comparison, but I enjoy yours vicariously.

What are you doing with all the scraps? Are you putting them out in the garden paths then tilling them in like you mentioned before? With all the sugars and organic matter, those will add tons of fertility to the soil. Potassium too for sure. I wonder what else?

Are you using the watermelon rind at all? Pickled or sautéed, soups/stews ... or I've even read about juicing them for antioxidant called citruline.

...I've been putting my small(er) contributions to the vermicomposter (worms love melons and squash) and the enclosed compost bin...

I put all the scraps in the garden for the butterflies and birds. Yesterday I sat under the shade tree and watched the butterflies for a while. There are lots of large orange butterflies, lots of large black butterflies with blue color around the edge of their wings. I see a lot of big yellow butterflies and 2 types of small butterflies yellow color and white color. Butterflies are a bit funny I try to get close enough to take a good picture they all turn and look at me, if I get too close they all fly away. I try to sneak up on them, soon as they all turn to look at me I stop. I tried to walk around in a circle keeping my distance all the butterflies turn and keep there eyes on me as I walk around trying to get behind them. LOL. If I take 1 step closer they all fly away then return soon as I walk away. LOL. Butterflies are pretty smart. Butterflies love all fruit I try to put it in the garden with the fruit side up for them to eat.

I am not making pickles with the rind, we are not a big fan of pickles. What few pickles we eat we buy at the grocery store. I bought 3 large jars of Bread & Butter pickles 2 weeks ago chopped them all into relish with the food processor then put it back into the pickle jars. Sweet relish is good for, coleslaw, potato salad, bean salad, hot dogs, chicken salad, and other things. A few months ago I was remembering as a kid how good the house smelled when grandmother make a large 8 gallon crock of bread & butter pickles, that makes me want to make pickles just to make the house smell good. I remember how much work it was grandmother collected all the small bite size cucumbers every morning and put them in the crock for a month until it was full then it had to set for a very long time before they were ready to put in jars. Us grand kids use to sneak around and eat pickles right out of the 8 gallon stone crock, grandmother use to tell us to get away there won't be any pickles left to put in jars. 15 years later grandmother told me, I never cared if you kids ate the pickles if I yelled at you to get away that made you kids all want to return to eat more pickles when I was not watching. LOL

Soon as the butterflies and birds are finished with the scraps I till them into the soil.

[xtron]

everything you wanted to know about using watermelon rind...and some things you didn't want to know..

https://www.watermelonrind.com/

[Gary350]

Are you freezing any to eat later? When my kids were little, I bought a melon baller tool and dipped the melon balls in simple syrup then froze them individually on cookie sheet, then freezer bagged them. My kids loved to eat them as snack. I also made "adult" versions soaked in something... I can't remember what.

The frozen melons are also good for making smoothies.

We have frozen several zip lock bags of water melon. After freezing it I removed 1 bag a few days later to see how it did. It took 5 hours for frozen melon to thaw enough to be eaten. We were both worried melon would be a blob of mush after it thawed. Freezing fruit is an old wine makers trick to make juice run out on its own when it thaws. applestar, you asked what is the name of the cantaloupe I planted, I found the tag in the garden today, APHRODITE melons.

[applestar]

Thanks! Quick search showed Aphrodite is a hybrid cantaloupe that looks like pretty much available from the major seed catalogs. Sweet fruit as you have reviewed already. Shorter vines save space and fusarium and powdery mildew resistant according to descriptions. Sounds good! I might try growing some next year.

[Gary350]

I found this spider web at the edge of the garden. Click the photo it gets larger. A yellow butterfly came very close to getting caught in this trap. I don't see Mr. Spider anywhere?

[Gary350]

This is an Old recipe that my Grandmother and Mother both use to make on low heat in a pot on the stove. I cooked mine in a crock pot. This is very good. There are many variations of this recipe. My mother use to call this, Meat with mash potato gravy. Mash potato gravy is what makes this so different and GOOD.

4 cube steaks in the crock pot. You can also use smoked ham hocks, or chicken.
1 quart of ripe garden tomatoes pureed to turn skins & seeds to liquid.
1 large onion diced.
10 cloves of garlic.
1 bay leaf
Cook about 3 hours or until meat is tenderized by the acid in the tomatoes. When meat is tender crumble into smaller pieces.

In the mean time while this cooks make mashed potatoes from 2 medium potatoes then set aside.

When meat is tender stir in 2 tablespoons of flour and 1 69¢ pack of Onion Soup Mix for flavor.

Stir in 1 can of Lima beans 16 ounce can.

Stir in all the mash potatoes to thicken the juices and make a nice gravy. If gravy is too thick add chicken broth.

Add black pepper and salt to taste.

Put a thick slice of home made bread or a slice of corn bread on the dinner plate then spoon the, mash potato gravy, vegetables, meat, over the bread. Enjoy.

Optional, you can add different kinds of beans or several kinds of beans or carrots or what ever you like, turnips are very popular up north in Michigan. You can also throw in a whole chili pepper to give it a bit of a spicy taste. If I were cooking only for me I would throw in several chili peppers. My Mother loved onions she would always put 2 large onions in this plus enough hot peppers it will burn your mouth. This is one of those dinners where the cook gets to make it to suit their own taste. LOL.

WE had this for dinner I forgot to take a picture. I will get a photo tomorrow if we have it for dinner. Wife does not like to eat things 2 days in a row so it might be a couple of days before I can get photos. I might have this for bedtime snack this is my kind of food.

[Gary350]

This is my garden layout for next year 2018 garden. My garden is 35'x60' long. Rows 1 to 6 are 18' long rows there is tree over there with lots of tree roots. Rows 1 to 5 will be in full at 1 pm until dark this is very good for onions and tomatoes.

Row 1 to 3 are 6 tomatoes per row plus 1 bell pepper at the end of each row.

Row 4 & 5 is a wide 3' bed or onions 18' long. It will be in full shade 1pm with no HOT evening sun to make them bolt.

Rows 6 & 7 is a wide row of garlic & scallions they will be in shade about 1:30pm.

Row 7 the last 1/2 of this row is squash.

Row 8,9,10 is a wide row of 3 cantaloupe plants 18" long.

Row 8 last 1/2 if this row is Kale.

Row 9,10 last 1/2 of these row is sweet potatoes, should bet about 75 lbs of potatoes from 3 plants.

Row 11,12,13 is a wide row of 3 watermelons plants 18" long.

Row 11,12,13 last 18' of these rows are okra for seeds only I hope to get 30 lbs of okra seeds to eat in soup like beans.

Row 14,15 is a wide row of white potatoes. I hope to get 200 lbs of potatoes or more.

Row 16 to 21 is 216 corn seeds spaced 12" with 6 bean seeds between all the corn plants to provide nitrogen & a small bean crop. This will actually probably be more green beans than we need + seeds to plant later + dried beans for soup.

[Taiji]

Looks like a great well thought out layout. I suppose I would do well to pay more attention to layout. My method is mostly, let's see, put that here last year, this year I'll put it over there...

Those are some prime melons. About how many would you say you get from one plant?

[Gary350]

Looks like a great well thought out layout. I suppose I would do well to pay more attention to layout. My method is mostly, let's see, put that here last year, this year I'll put it over there...

Those are some prime melons. About how many would you say you get from one plant?

A few years ago I got 28 watermelons from 3 plants. This year I did not keep very good count about 20 watermelons up to now and 9 more in the garden from 4 plants. Cantaloupe did very well too, I started with 4 plants 1 plant died they produced a lot of melons about 18 melons. At 1 time we were getting 1 ripe melon every day that is too many melons too soon. I had to give a lot of melons away. I think it would be best to plant 1 melon plant about every 3 weeks for a total of 3 to 4 plants so you don't get so many ripe melons so close together. At first 1 ripe melon every other day was nice but after eating 8 melons 1 melon a week was all we wanted.

[Gary350]

Melons have all died from 5 days of rain from Hurricane Harvey and colder weather. We have 1 more very good sweet 15 lb melon to eat.

[SQWIB]

Sorry about your melon plants

[applestar]

Wow that's a a bummer! Well, you did have a good run though....

It seems like melons are difficult to grow where it is humid and wet, even for disease resistant hybrids.

[Gary350]

My plants are loving all this rain and cool weather from the 2 hurricanes. I went to the garden in the rain to check things out and take pictures.

Bell Pepper plants are all loaded with peppers. We could have stir fry tonight if we want but we will wait another week for these to get larger then it will keep us busy finding new ways to eat peppers every day for the next 2 months unless hot weather returns again. It is too early to be having 62 degree weather and rain every day it is usually in the 80s.









There are several volunteer potatoes in the garden, they are doing better than the 5 plants that I planted a month ago. Next year I am will save all the small spring garden potatoes smaller than 1" just so I have potatoes to plant in FALL. Frost is only 2 months away I may need to cover the plants in November with storm windows I have stacked out back.







These are the puny potatoes I planted a month ago, 3 of them died. 95 degrees is too hot to be plants potatoes.



The blue kale is looking very good, I need to make a kale salad for dinner tonight. These plants were planted in April they survived the hot summer 98 degree weather now they are doing better.





Both small onion crops were looking very sickly during hot weather tops dried up and died now they are doing much better. We used up the last of the harvested onions yesterday these onions can stay where they are we can harvest them as we need them.





Volunteer Bok Choy are doing better than the row I planted very soon these 2 plants will be ready to harvest



Here we have Napa cabbage on the left and Bok Choy on the right. Napa was planted too soon it was too hot for it maybe it will make cabbage heads now that it has gotten cooler. Bok Choy was planted in hot weather too it has not been doing very well until now.



I planted sunflower seeds in this row. It will never make flowers but soon it will make a nice dinner salad. Soon as plants get a little taller I will cut them all off and we will have them for dinner. This is a little bit easier to grow than sprouts in mason jars mother nature does all the work. This works very well with other seeds I have a lot of, watermelon seeds, cantaloupe seeds, shelled beans, and more sunflower seeds.



This is my new row of 7 tomato plants started from seed about August 15. I will cover these plants with storm windows in November to protect them from frost we hope to have tomatoes for Christmas dinner. Sometimes we have killer freeze before Christmas and sometimes not until January.



Rhubard it is doing much better growing in larger well drained pots. My biggest problem is finding a permanent location for these. They are in the way in the garden. They might do good planted like bushes along the side of the house or around the mail box next to the road.

[Gary350]

Garden food on the table every day, that is what the garden is all about. I had to have 1 more serving of corn & beans.





Cabernet Sauvignon with a Chocolate Chocolate chip cup cake. Yummy.

[applestar]

Nice! Since you willingly eat your vegetables, I guess you won't need to do this, but I make chocolate muffins and sneak in shredded zucchini, green beans, etc..... Baked goods are also good with a bit of lavender flowers in them, though they are obvious. My DD's will comment that I put lavender in there "again" but *still* enjoy them. I think of them like treasured bites. But too much can be too intense so be careful if you try.

[Gary350]

Nice! Since you willingly eat your vegetables, I guess you won't need to do this, but I make chocolate muffins and sneak in shredded zucchini, green beans, etc..... Baked goods are also good with a bit of lavender flowers in them, though they are obvious. My DD's will comment that I put lavender in there "again" but *still* enjoy them. I think of them like treasured bites. But too much can be too intense so be careful if you try.

applestar that is funny, I use to do that when the kids were little they were fussy about some foods like carrots. We always had garden vegetables on the table the kids were use to having vegetables and liked them but certain vegetables they did not like very much. The kids did not like meat loaf so we made it into hamburger shapes they would eat them on a Bun like a hamburger and never complain just because it was a different shape. LOL. The kids never complained about hamburgers so we chopped up carrots and other things to mix into the hamburger and they ate them. The kids loved Chili so after chili was finished put some of the juice in the blender with a few vegetables puree the vegetables then pour it back into the Chili the kids ate it right up. LOL. Zucchini is good in cake, cookies, muffins, pancakes, corn bread, and other things. Green beans turn pancakes & waffles green but it can't be seen if you add Chocolate. We learned to make sweet potato casserole and carrot casserole with brown sugar the kids ate it up they loved it. You can add a lot of vegetables to sweet potato casserole as long as you don't change the color very much kid eat it. The kids always liked vegetable soup too.

I still do that sometimes it makes certain foods better. Zucchini makes, cake, muffins, cookies, short breads, soft & it stays moist. Leave out the oil add zucchini it is much healthier. I like to cook in winter and experiment with food. Last winter I found a lentil soup recipe after it was cooked the recipe says, put the whole container of soup into the kitchen bender or food processor and puree the whole thing into liquid. Well I tasted the soup before I did that and decided the soup is not very good so what will it hurt to turn it all into liquid. Wow I was completely amazed the soup was 20 times better after turning it to liquid, I would have never guessed that would make it better.

I don't make as much bread as I use to but I like putting things in bread. Oatmeal and Malted Barley are both very good in bread. I bought a 1 lb bag of L60 Malted Barley at the local beer making store chopped it a little bit in the food process added it to my French bread recipe plus 1/4 cup oatmeal and wow that was good. I went back to the beer store and bought L120 Malted Barley and put that is bread it was even better. Sometimes I put ground up granola cereal, seeds, nuts, in bread it is good.

[Gary350]

3 Bean Chili. I used up the last of the garden onions, 1 quart of tomatoes and 8 cloves of garlic. It is plenty good I had 3 bowls for dinner.

[Gary350]

94 ears of Dry Corn, we can eat this same as dry beans. I am trying new things this year. I notice when I pick sweet corn early kernels are small and sweet but let corn grow and dry out seeds are much larger so there is a larger food quantity. We should be able to soak dry corn in water all night just like soaking dry beans then cook it the next day to eat. Most of this corn will go into, stews and vegetable soup they need to cook several hours anyway so this should re hydrate the corn. I am not sure what type corn grocery store corn meal is made from so I will make my own dry sweet corn meal and see how it compares. I need to buy an old hand crank corn sheller. Advantage to dry corn, easier than Canning in Mason jars, easier than freezing, larger food quality. I think we will have about 35 lbs of shelled dry corn, just have to wait and see. Wife likes yellow corn maybe next year we will try bi color corn sweet corn or white sweet corn.

[xtron]

store bought corn meal is usually plain old field corn, same as is fed to livestock.
I grow reid's yellow dent and grind it with a wonder mill jr. it's a bit of work, but well worth it as fresh ground corn makes the best tasting corn bread.
if you want to make corn tortillas, you can nixtillate the corn....make it into hominy. there are instructions on the net...it's a bit involved and some time consuming, but a skill worth having. the hominy is then dried and ground into masa herania , which can then be used to make tortillas. nixtillated corn is more digestable than plain ground corn.

[Gary350]

I forgot how easy it is to shell a few ears of corn by hand the way my Grandfather showed me 55 years ago. We have 36 lbs of shelled corn.

[Gary350]

LOOK what I found on ebay for $15 this is the same grain grinder that Northern Tool sells for $50 plus sales tax.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Grinder-Cor ... 2511910543

[Gary350]

We picked a few peppers today.



Sliced them and put them in the freezer.



I tilled the garden today trying to get it ready for a few fall crops and spring crops. Bell peppers are doing much better in this cool weather, 7 new tomato plants are doing better than the remaining old plants, Napa cabbage was planted too early it is going to seed, Russian Kale and Pac Choy are slowly getting larger, volunteer potatoes are looking good.

[KitchenGardener]

One of the things I really admire is your work ethic and how you immediately can, freeze, dry and grind, your produce. I always intend to do that, but end up either giving it away instead, or letting it limp along in my fridge! So love your posts, pics and industrious spirit - as well as the fact that I can live vicariously through you!

[Gary350]

$15 Ebay grain grinder makes corn meal from yellow corn but it does not look yellow color like grocery store yellow corn meal. Grocery store yellow corn meal must contain yellow dye. This homemade yellow corn meal looks gray/yellow color.

I have a few lbs of Silver Queen white corn that I grew in the garden I have turned 1 cup into white corn meal, it looks white color. We are making corn bread for dinner tonight from Silver Queen corn meal. We will see how it turns out.





Yellow corn meal above. White corn meal below.





This $15 grain grinder from Ebay is basically worthless junk as it comes in the box. It took me about 5 hours of work in the work shop to make this grinder work. You get exactly what you pay for. I had to use the 4" wide belt sander to make both grinding discs flat. I used the bench grinder to remove all the flash metal on the castings. I used the 1" belt sander to smooth up all the ruff edged. Bolt holes had to be re-drilled screws will not fit and the ones that fit are off center. 3 side triangle shape hole for crank handle did not match 3 side triangle shape shaft so they had to be fixed to match. Assembly bolts do not work they needed spacers for the adjustment to adjust. Nothing fits very well casting is ruff as a corn cob. Hopper did not fit metal needed to be removed for it to fit and sanded smooth. Grinder screw was egg shape with bad metal places that all needed to be ground off and made round & smooth. The grinding plate is in the wrong place and there is no adjustment, the factory spacer was trashed and replaced with 2 flat washers and a pin. After testing the grinder 3 times, taking it apart and making changes I finally got the grinder to work very well. I ground up 1 cup of white corn meal in about 3 minutes. Grind once for course grind corn meal or grind 2 times for fin grind corm meal. Corn bread is in the oven.

[applestar]

Looks good -- let us know how it turns out. I have dried red corn that I'm going to (have been meaning to) grind up but haven't got to it yet.

[Gary350]

I am surprised the white corn meal is so golden brown, wow it looks good. The corn bread is soft as cake. I love the crispy crust around the outer edge it is crunchy like bread crust. It tastes a lot like cake with not much sugar. I think if we add some vanilla and a little more sugar we won't be able to tell its not cake. Factory corn meal always has gritty corn meal feel in the surface crust and edge crust but this has no corn meal gritty feel to it, its just soft like cake. I think this white corn meal could be substituted for white yeast bread flour in home made bread. Next time we make corn bread I will use 3 or 4 tablespoons of Dark Brown sugar instead of 2 tablespoons of white sugar. I bet 1/4 cup of Hershey's Cocoa, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla this cornbread will pass for real chocolate cake. LOL.







I forgot to mention this grain grinder is NOT Cast Iron, it is cast steal. It must be made from a whole assortment of different types of steal it is too hard to file, hack saw blade just rubs on the metal. It must be about 55 Rockwell C hardness. You need abrasive sanding discs, abrasive grinding discs, carbide tools to work on this metal. A $10 dremel tool from Harbor Freight will be very helpful.

[lakngulf]

Impressive. Enjoy reading about your endeavors with all crops.

[Gary350]

I forgot to list the corn bread recipe. I found this recipe online, not sure this is a good recipe for this test. For the 2 of use we need a smaller recipe. If we cut these recipe in half there won't be much left over after dinner.

1 cup corn meal
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vinegar
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter

I have an idea. WHY does a person need corn meal? How about a can of cream corn or cut corn off the cob from your garden. Put corn and all the other stuff in kitchen blender or food processor until corn is liquid then pour into the baking pan.

[SQWIB]

Wow, that is something I would like to try.
I just always assumed real Corn Bread wasn't supposed to be real sweet?

[Gary350]

We are still eating from the garden. Dinner tonight was so GOOD. German tomato salad, spaghetti, garlic bread. We are still getting tomatoes & kale for the kitchen table. Wife made homemade spaghetti sauce from garden tomatoes in the pantry with herbs & garlic this is always very good. Kale & tomatoes are both doing better in this cooler weather.



Recipe for German tomato salad per bowl. 1 tomato, 1 green onion, 1 kale leaf, 2 tablespoons orange juice, 2 tablespoons zesty Italian dressing, black pepper.

Kale is growing faster than we can eat it. Time to find new ways to eat kale. Tomorrow for breakfast I will try a Smoothy with, orange juice, yogurt, kale, banana. I bet it will look like a Green Milkshake.



Bell peppers are doing very well I picked some more, sliced and diced them for the freezer. Wife likes them for stews and soups.

I planted 100 garlic yesterday. Going to plant 100 more garlic in another 30 days. Going to plant, carrots, cabbage, chard, cilantro, Napa, Pac Choy, spinach, beets.

Russian red kale is getting taller. Parsley is doing good too.

[Gary350]

We made 15 bean soup with corn bread for dinner WOW this is good. I had 2 bowls of beans with 3 pieces of corn bread for dinner last night, 1 bowl for breakfast, 1 bowl for lunch, almost 2 bowls for dinner today. Beans for breakfast tomorrow, probably beans 1 last time for lunch tomorrow. Very easy to make from a 65 cent pack of dry beans from the grocery store. Directions on the package. We started it in a large crock pot 1 evening. 3 ham hocks went into the large crop pot with 8 cups of water to cook all night. Beans soaked all night in another pan rinse, soak, drain, rinse, drain. Next morning beans go into the large crock pot with 3 ham hocks plus, 1 pint of garden tomatoes, 1 large onion, 4 garlic, 1 lb of German sausage, add cajun spice pack that comes with the beans, cook all day it is ready to eat about 5 pm. Remove bone and the remains of the ham hocks then it is ready to eat. Salt and pepper to taste. Never add salt to cooking beans they get tough as rubber balls. We made corn bread yesterday and today too.

[Gary350]

This evening I made cinnamon rolls.



































































LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

[ElizabethB]

My fall garden was planted very late. Mid September instead of early August.

All of my tomatoes are in full bloom. 3 of the 8 plants have young fruit - from marble size to golf ball size. Cauliflower an broccoli are growing like crazy. I picked 2 cucumbers today with more on the way. Tomorrow I will harvest mustard green leaves. Kale in 2 or 3 days. Spinach in a week.

I did not have a good germination rate on lettuce - time to plant more.

I had low production expectations so I am happy with anything I harvest.

[Gary350]

My fall garden was planted very late. Mid September instead of early August.

All of my tomatoes are in full bloom. 3 of the 8 plants have young fruit - from marble size to golf ball size. Cauliflower an broccoli are growing like crazy. I picked 2 cucumbers today with more on the way. Tomorrow I will harvest mustard green leaves. Kale in 2 or 3 days. Spinach in a week.

I did not have a good germination rate on lettuce - time to plant more.

I had low production expectations so I am happy with anything I harvest.

When I lived in Arizona I planted my garden in November, best garden I every had. I was able to grow things I have never grown before and things I have grown did much better. Kale, chard, broccoli, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro, basil, thyme, grew from Nov to May 115 degree heat killed it. Melons, okra, sweet potatoes thrived in the hot summer weather. No clouds in the ski full sun all day really was full sun all day 5:15 am to 8:20 pm.

WHO is the moron that put 30 pictures of cinnamon rolls on here. LOL LOL LOL

[pepperhead212]

So, have you eaten all of those already?

[Gary350]

So, have you eaten all of those already?

Cinnamon rolls? They are gone.

I usually make a small recipe, sometimes I make a large recipe. It has been a while since I made a large recipe, I double the recipe several times to use up a 5 lb bag of flour dough rolls out about 20" wide 7 feet long. Once the dough it rolled up it can be stretched longer to get more cinnamon rolls. 7' long can be stretched to about 10' or 12'. Cover with melted butter, dark brown sugar & cinnamon then roll it up. Cut pieces can be any thickness you like 1", 1.5", 2". I often cut them what ever thickness works best to get an even count in the baking pans about 1.25" thick is good after they raise they are about 2.5" thick 5" diameter = about 65 to 120 cinnamon rolls. Stretching the roll makes the cinnamon roll diameter smaller. Need a big group of people to eat a large number of cinnamon rolls. I might make another small batch of cinnamon rolls today I am trying to get back in practice I use to be better at this, not sure if it is me or is flour today different than 40 years ago. I bought another bag of flour yesterday. I used a yeast starter last time it sure does speed things up.

[ElizabethB]

Gary - isn't it wonderful having such a long growing season?

New tomatoes on 2 more plants. 6 out of 8 with fruit.

I have been talking to the tomato plants - words of encouragement.

I have never considered, nor did I intend to plant cucumbers in the fall. Silly me.

George came home from Lowe's with cucumber plants. Between the store and home he lost the tag. I have no idea what variety they are. George said they were Chinese or Japanese long cucumbers. IDK. They grow like crazy. I picked the first 2 and have been watching the young ones. I kid you not - they grow 1/2" to 3/4" a day! Crazy.

George was in Houston at the beginning of the week for business then went to his fishing camp on Toledo Bend. He can't wait for dinner tonight. His mouth is watering for garden fresh cucumbers and mustard greens.

Since the greens are young and tender I make Simple Southern Wilted Greens.

1 lb. mustard greens
1 Strip Applewood smoked bacon cut into 1" pieces
1 large hard boiled egg - chopped
1 TBSP. butter
Sea salt and Fresh ground pepper to taste

Boil, peel and chop the egg
Rinse the greens in cold water and drain in a colander
Cook bacon pieces until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp.
Remove the bacon and set aside.
Add greens to the bacon drippings
Toss until greens begin to wilt
Remove greens to a bowl and add butter
Toss to coat
Add bacon pieces and egg
Toss
Salt and pepper to taste.

Options:
Add 1 clove minced garlic or 1 Tsp. roasted garlic to the bacon drippings before adding the greens.
Cook until just fragrant then add greens

Add 1/4 cup sliced green onions - whites and greens - to the pot when you add the mustard greens.

With 1 lb. of greens we each get a serving.

[Gary350]

Gary - isn't it wonderful having such a long growing season?
New tomatoes on 2 more plants. 6 out of 8 with fruit.
I have been talking to the tomato plants - words of encouragement.
I have never considered, nor did I intend to plant cucumbers in the fall. Silly me.
George came home from Lowe's with cucumber plants. Between the store and home he lost the tag. I have no idea what variety they are. George said they were Chinese or Japanese long cucumbers. IDK. They grow like crazy. I picked the first 2 and have been watching the young ones. I kid you not - they grow 1/2" to 3/4" a day! Crazy.
George was in Houston at the beginning of the week for business then went to his fishing camp on Toledo Bend. He can't wait for dinner tonight. His mouth is watering for garden fresh cucumbers and mustard greens.
Since the greens are young and tender I make Simple Southern Wilted Greens.
1 lb. mustard greens
1 Strip Applewood smoked bacon cut into 1" pieces
1 large hard boiled egg - chopped
1 TBSP. butter
Sea salt and Fresh ground pepper to taste
Boil, peel and chop the egg
Rinse the greens in cold water and drain in a colander
Cook bacon pieces until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp.
Remove the bacon and set aside.
Add greens to the bacon drippings
Toss until greens begin to wilt
Remove greens to a bowl and add butter
Toss to coat
Add bacon pieces and egg
Toss
Salt and pepper to taste.
Options:
Add 1 clove minced garlic or 1 Tsp. roasted garlic to the bacon drippings before adding the greens.
Cook until just fragrant then add greens
Add 1/4 cup sliced green onions - whites and greens - to the pot when you add the mustard greens.
With 1 lb. of greens we each get a serving.

I love Mustard Greens I have totally forgotten to plant them this year. I best get some Mustard Green Seeds ordered on Ebay in the next few minutes.

I planted 100 garlic a week ago 60 on the right side are coming up.