Tennessee 2019 Garden

[Gary350]

3 more ripe tomatoes for lunch. Pashion fruit survived 25 degree weather, still no ripe fruit. I built a black forest chocolate cakes we can hardly wait to eat it later. Wife made the best every garden vegetable stew with, corn, onions, garlic, green beans, red peppers, green peppers, carrots, peas, potatoes. This is my kind of stew 90% vegetables & 10% meat.

[Gary350]

I am trying to use up as many peppers as I can before they go bad so I made Chili spaghetti for lunch. After making my favorite Mexican chili I sliced and diced a large green jalapeno pepper then cooked chili another 30 minutes. Chili is suppose to be poured over spaghetti but I mixed the cooked spaghetti into the chili. It turned out good.

[TomatoNut95]

Looks delicious!

[Gary350]

I don't feel guilty using the oven when it is 23 degrees outside so I made bread today.

For lunch I wanted 2 chili Burritos but did not want to drive to the store for only 2 tortillas so I pulled out my Mexican cook book and made some. They must be rolled out thin as cereal box cardboard to be right. They turned out good. I whipped these up in 15 min it would have taken 30 min to drive to the store.

We got another good size ripe tomato today.

Wife made stew today using Kielbasa & several vegetables, garlic, onion, it turned out good.

[Gary350]

Passion Fruit is a winter hardy plant it was 17 last night & 23 nite before that. Plants are not wilted or dead. Fruit is still hanging on tight. Fruit is not hard as it was now it feel soft. When can I expect fruit to be ripe and come off the vine?

[TomatoNut95]

I guess it won't ripen later if you go ahead and pick it? A couple years ago I had a Passion vine I bought from a nursery. The flowers were gorgeous, and it started to put on one fruit.....but it fell off. Vine died later on. Wish my thumb were greener than I'd like it to be.

[Gary350]

We cooked 8 Mexican Burritos for dinner using several items from the garden, 2 Green New Mexico peppers diced, 2 Red New Mexico peppers diced, several garlic diced, 1/2 onion diced, 1 medium tomato diced, 2 tablespoons of home made chili powder. 1 can of dark kidney beans for refried beans, 8 oz of cream cheese. 2 chicken breasts cooked.

[TomatoNut95]

Delicious! Makes my soup look worthless. Yesterday was so cold and yucky I began to crave soup. So I opened a can of Campbells tomato soup and seasoned it. A bit of homemade paprika, a dash of celery salt, some black pepper and chopped green onions and a couple of the itty bitty onions.

[Gary350]

TomatoNut95 We buy tomato basil soup in a can because it tastes so much better than anything we can make. I gave up basil I grow has no basil flavor an tomatoes taste like puree tomatoes not soup. If I could learn to make good soup I probably wood. We tried all the tomato basil soups at the store this one we like best.

Last week I had peppers on this strip of carpet drying. After water dried up I put them in a 5 gallon bucket an few days later about 30 peppers were red color. I removed red pepper & put green peppers back in bucket. Today there are about 30 red pepper with 2 rotten peppers that made a nasty mess on all the other peppers. I washed all the pepper here they are drying again. Tomorrow I will put peppers in a paper bag not the bucket to see how quick they turn red. Maybe they stay dry in paper bag an not rot.

[TomatoNut95]

Mmm, that soup looks good, I need to buy some of that! I'm fond of basil, but only certain varieties. I grew two kinds this year, Sweet Basil and another kind called Large Leaf. The LL was just nasty. Too cinnamony, and I can't stand cinnamon. The Sweet Basil was great, but many plants died at an early age due to a virus, and the last plant was devoured by grasshoppers. But I did get a few leaves which went on pizza and spaghetti. I plan to grow more next year.

[Gary350]

Mmm, that soup looks good, I need to buy some of that! I'm fond of basil, but only certain varieties. I grew two kinds this year, Sweet Basil and another kind called Large Leaf. The LL was just nasty. Too cinnamony, and I can't stand cinnamon. The Sweet Basil was great, but many plants died at an early age due to a virus, and the last plant was devoured by grasshoppers. But I did get a few leaves which went on pizza and spaghetti. I plan to grow more next year.

I planted sweet basil again this year but it did not do well. Last year sweet basil did better but I can not make good tomato basil soup. I watched about 20 YouTube tomato basil recipes nothing I made was good, it tasted nothing like good tomato basil soup in a can. Herbs do not grow as well in TN as AZ it could be the high humidity in TN. I have not decided yet if I will grow anymore basil. After being a prisoner inside the house for 6 months I am usually so excited about planting a spring garden I will usually plant almost anything. I'm not sure I will plant more onions & garlic, 300 small garden onions are equal in volume to 50 big grocery store onions, same with garlic. Spring weather here goes from 30 degrees to 95 degrees in 6 weeks too short for onions & garlic. My father in IL grew BIG nice onions I wish I could. I think a persons weather determines what they can an can not successfully grow.

[applestar]

You probably need to grow intermediate day varieties of onions. Dixondale is very informative. When I buy from them, I usually just buy the sampler (Long Day varieties in my case — I tried Intermediate Day varieties but my location is just a little too far north)


https://www.dixondalefarms.com/category ... day_onions

Intermediate Day Onion Plants
Available December 2, 2019—May 17, 2020

Intermediate day onion varieties are the most widely adaptable since they require 12-14 hours of sunlight before beginning the bulbing process. Unless you live in far south Florida or south Texas you should have enough daytime hours

[TomatoNut95]

The humidity is probably what caused the virus that killed most of my Sweet Basil. Oddly enough the Large Leaf basil wasn't affected by the disease, but since I couldn't stand the twangy taste of that variety, I gave those away. Somewhere along the line I had one Sweet Basil left. I got several leaves, but after planting it in my raised garden, it started getting attacked by green grasshoppers. I couldn't stand it anymore so I pulled the plant.

Lol, I know what you mean about feeling trapped in the house during the winter months. Thankfully I get to start off planting seeds in December by planting the peppers indoors in foam egg cartons. This year(or last December) I started them a bit TOO early, so this time I'll wait until right before, or right after Christmas, or even the first of January to start the peppers.

Temperature change is too drastic here to, which is why it's too difficult to grow a fall crop for me. It's either too hot and the plants wilt a lot, or it's too cold and they freeze to death like the cauliflower and cabbage did.
And I can't seem to grow onions either, no matter how much I try.

[Gary350]

You probably need to grow intermediate day varieties of onions. Dixondale is very informative. When I buy from them, I usually just buy the sampler (Long Day varieties in my case — I tried Intermediate Day varieties but my location is just a little too far north)
https://www.dixondalefarms.com/category ... day_onions

Intermediate Day Onion Plants
Available December 2, 2019—May 17, 2020

Intermediate day onion varieties are the most widely adaptable since they require 12-14 hours of sunlight before beginning the bulbing process. Unless you live in far south Florida or south Texas you should have enough daytime hours

I buy onions that are available local at Amish Garden Store & Farm supply Store no one else sells them. Farm supply has no clue what they sell. Owner of Amish store said, white onions are hot weather onions, Yellow onions are intermediate onions, Red onions are long day onions. I bought 50 Red, 200 yellow, 50 white this summer. I planted them all in the same 40 ft row, 3 rows side by side 4" between rows and 4" between bulbs. There were no red onions to harvest. We got lots of yellow onions and a few white. I did not know the 40 ft row should have had 30 lbs of 15-15-15 fertilizer and several lbs of Potassium too until too late. Onions grew good and fast until temperature was 95 and no ran. Then onions just sat there not growing until tops died. We had a lot of small onions but nothing large like the grocery store. Small onions get eaten fast. I'm not sure I should grow more onions.

[TomatoNut95]

I usually get my bags of onion sets from Tractor Supply... with the exception of Wal-Mart one time I think.... I used to get yellow and I switched to white a couple of years ago. But I just can't do onions and I'll probably give up on em to.

[Gary350]

I picked all the passion fruit today, plants look like leaves are dying. There are lots of videos online how to make passion fruit jelly & jam so I followed the instruction. The final product looks like slightly yellow milk with very little flavor only a very slight lemon flavor. I boiled the liquid down to concentrate the flavor still not much flavor. I don't think I want to waste 2 cups of good sugar in this liquid it still won't be good, it will taste mostly like water jelly. LOL

Who knows how to cross a watermelon with a potato? If I could grow potatoes like this guy I will only need 1 plant.

I still have winter potatoes to plant. I am so glad garden is finished I don't want to plant these 70 potatoes. I want to turn on the heat in my work shop and play with my toys until April.

[Gary350]

The humidity is probably what caused the virus that killed most of my Sweet Basil. Oddly enough the Large Leaf basil wasn't affected by the disease, but since I couldn't stand the twangy taste of that variety, I gave those away. Somewhere along the line I had one Sweet Basil left. I got several leaves, but after planting it in my raised garden, it started getting attacked by green grasshoppers. I couldn't stand it anymore so I pulled the plant.

Lol, I know what you mean about feeling trapped in the house during the winter months. Thankfully I get to start off planting seeds in December by planting the peppers indoors in foam egg cartons. This year(or last December) I started them a bit TOO early, so this time I'll wait until right before, or right after Christmas, or even the first of January to start the peppers.

Temperature change is too drastic here to, which is why it's too difficult to grow a fall crop for me. It's either too hot and the plants wilt a lot, or it's too cold and they freeze to death like the cauliflower and cabbage did.
And I can't seem to grow onions either, no matter how much I try.

When I lived in Arizona I had a sweet basil plant that lived through 2 winters. The next year freak 21 degree weather killed basil. Killed a lot of palm trees too.

White onions are hot weather onions they need lots of nitrogen and 2 times more potassium with lots of water. When I lived in Arizona I planted my garden in November. I grew really good large garlic & onions in AZ can't do that in TN. I think I could grow better onions & garlic in TN if I had a green house to plant in all winter. I will try onions 1 more time in TN.

[TomatoNut95]

Why not get you a greenhouse, @Gary? I wish I could afford(and had the space for) a nice, big permanent, glass building instead of those dinky plastic things. This last I got came off eBay, and wouldn't you know it doesn't have a back door! Those I got from Tractor Supply had two doors, but all the ones on eBay only had a front door. I'm gonna miss that because I used both doors!

[Gary350]

Why not get you a greenhouse, @Gary? I wish I could afford(and had the space for) a nice, big permanent, glass building instead of those dinky plastic things. This last I got came off eBay, and wouldn't you know it doesn't have a back door! Those I got from Tractor Supply had two doors, but all the ones on eBay only had a front door. I'm gonna miss that because I used both doors!

I have 35 old house windows I paid $5 each for these, online market place & Craigslist. My garden is in center of a donut circle of 40 ft tall trees. No place in the back yard for a green house unless I use up some of my garden space. Our front yard is larger than back yard, front yard is a great place for a green house but can't have it there. It is always fun to plant new things, more variety, experiment with how to grow them & fertilize them, if I only plant what we really need to put food on the table and in the pantry then I have room for a green house in the garden. No more watermelons, cantaloupes, cucumbers, and other things that really are not necessary. Did you see my photo of a tiny T P green house 3ft x 6ft..

Today I finally planted my potatoes. I put 6 potatoes with eyes under the fish aquarium and 39 potatoes with eyes next to the aquarium. I covered the potatoes with soil. Potatoes with no eyes I just tossed them out into the garden. I covered potatoes with 8" of soil they will protect them from cold weather unless we get 15 weather for a whole week. Last week we had 2 nights of 17 degree weather soil froze 1 inch deep. I have planted potatoes like this before they never grow tops but always have new potatoes. One year a 25 ft row made 28 lbs of new potatoes. That was the year the whole row was planted with potato peelings. Sometimes I think potato peels grow better than seed potatoes.

[TomatoNut95]

I am so sick of the stinking ads!

I understand. Even the only place in my backyard I have to put my greenhouse isn't a great place because the pine trees in the backyard block most of the morning sun off it, and the house blocks the evening sun. My front yard is also bigger and a better place for the greenhouse, but since the front yard is unfenced, I'd be too afraid of the four-legged, and even two-legged creatures that might mess with it.

Those are nice potatoes! They're another of my 'can't grow' crops thanks to my concrete clay. But many years ago, back when my grandmother's old, big garden spot was in use, I tried growing Russets. Even then, they didn't do, I don't remember what went wrong. They probably rotted. I had gotten a 5lb bag of Russet slips from the Tractor Supply. Another time I went to buy Russet slips from my local seed n' feed store. The dumb Mexican that tried to assist me, wasn't understanding me when I asked him if the potatoes in the buckets were Russets.

If Russets can be grown in pots, I may try potatoes again. Otherwise, I don't have the means to grow potatoes again; not in my shallow raised bed.

[Gary350]

I am so sick of the stinking ads!
Those are nice potatoes! They're another of my 'can't grow' crops thanks to my concrete clay. .

You should grow Red Pontiac potatoes they are hot weather potatoes and out grow white potatoes about 4 to 1. I don't like Red Potatoes as much as White Potatoes but I grow some anyway. I have grown potatoes several times in winter and in a stack of old car tires in summer. But I have trouble growing potatoes in the garden. Year after year I learn new things and I get better at it. I have learned keep seed potatoes in a warm dark place in the house for a whole month. When potatoes eyes have 2" long sprouts make 1" potato cuttings let them scab over a few days before planting them. Till the soil add organic material like peat moss to soften the soil then rake it smooth. Pour 25 lbs of 15-15-15 fertilizer right down the center of your 40 ft long potato row do not till it into the soil. Cover fertilizer with 2" of soil. Put potato cutting 6" apart on the soil right over top the fertilizer then cover cutting with 1" of soil so 1" of the sprout sticks up from the soil. Sprout will grow leaves in a week and be 2 ft tall in a month. Kennebec is called a short season crop 3 1/2 months instead of 4 months. LOL.

I planted 46 winter kennebec potatoes today. You should experiment with a few winter potatoes to see how it goes.

About April 1st instead of me planting a 40 ft long row of potatoes like I mentioned above I am planting a 10 ft row with 6 rows of potatoes side by side 6" between rows & 6" between cuttings. In the past I have always gotten only 1 new potato per potato eye so 120 potato cuttings will give me 120 new potatoes. If I put 6 eyes in each cutting spot that will be 720 cutting in a 3ft x 10ft spot and 720 new potatoes. If you like white potatoes plant Kennebec potatoes they do better in hot weather than Russet or Idaho. Idaho potatoes are really Russet named Idaho because Idaho Potato growers have the trade mark. No one else growing Russet potatoes can call them Idaho potatoes.

[Vanisle_BC]

We tried Kennebec potatoes last summer. They grew well enough but we weren't impressed with the eating quality; especially when deep fried. They didn't brown in the fat, even though the thin-cut ones would crisp down to almost nothing, like distorted potato chips; but still not browned.

[Gary350]

We tried Kennebec potatoes last summer. They grew well enough but we weren't impressed with the eating quality; especially when deep fried. They didn't brown in the fat, even though the thin-cut ones would crisp down to almost nothing, like distorted potato chips; but still not browned.

That is interesting that you had that problem with Kennebec potatoes. We never had that problem with our Kennebec potatoes. This summer is the first time I grew Kennebec potatoes. Last winter I did online research on potatoes and learned Kennebec potatoes are grown and sold exclusively to sell to manufactures of, french fries, potato chips, hash browns, tator tots. That is why you cannot find Kennebec potatoes sold in grocery stores factories have contracts with growers to buy all they grow. Everyone at Farmers market grows and sells Kennebec and most people that have a garden grow Kennebec potatoes around here. I have ignored Kennebec potatoes for 40 year and always tried to grow what I knew how to grow when I lived up north in Illinois. TN short 6 week spring and 98 degrees summer is too hot for Russet potatoes. Red Pontiac potatoes do very well here in this hot weather but I don't like the flavor as much as other potatoes. Everyone that grows Kennebec around here claims they are the best potatoes and grow very well. We love the Kennebec potato flavor. First thing we did this summer when we got our first home grown Kennebec potatoes was to make french fries. I sliced them and wife cooked them 400 degree F in the deep fryer they were very very good. We tried skillet fried potatoes, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, they were all good. We are sold on Kennebec I should have tried them sooner. Years ago work was demanding kids were in school I never had time to learn much about gardening except from my own experience and Jim Crockets garden book there was no internet yet, I barely had time to plant a garden, now I am retired and spend more time learning about the garden. I put too much organic material in my garden last summer soil was 8ph potatoes like 5.5 to 6 ph from what I read online. I put 50 lbs of sulfur on my garden a month ago I just have to wait and see if 50 lb was enough to low the soil ph. The whole garden will do better with 6 ph. Every place I have lived in TN soil is always higher than 6 ph. I hope to have a better crop of Kennebec potatoes this year. I see lots of YouTube videos people planting 25 potato cuttings in each 2 ft diameter potato hill I need to experiment with that to see how well that works in our garden.

[Gary350]

Box full of okra pods are taking up space an totally dry after being inside for 2 months. Best way to remove seeds is roll pods between your hands then split pod in 1/2, then split into 1/4s, then split into 1/8s, seed fall right out. I had already broke open about 1/2 the pods when I realized I have not taken a picture yet. I have a 1 lb 12 ounce can almost full of okra seeds probably enough seeds to plant a 1 acre field of okra. One year we cooked okra seeds in soups they get soft like beans inside, outside shells are crunchy like potato chips.

[Gary350]

Winter we have to think of fun things to do in the house. Several involve eating. Semi sweet baking chocolate melted then drizzle over a chocolate cake and make a few peanut clusters too. I get to lick the bowl.

[TomatoNut95]

Please! You are making me drool! I am a chocoholic!

[TomatoNut95]

@Gary, I was digging through my seed stock this morning and found my packet of Large Leaf basil. Since it has proven to be somewhat resistant to that virus, you can have these if you want them. I won't be growing them again. There's about 30 seeds in the packet.

[Gary350]

@Gary, I was digging through my seed stock this morning and found my packet of Large Leaf basil. Since it has proven to be somewhat resistant to that virus, you can have these if you want them. I won't be growing them again. There's about 30 seeds in the packet.

I have not had good luck cooking with garden basil it has no flavor & no smell like store bought food. The last thing I tried was $1 bottle dry basil from Dollar Tree it tastes better than what I grow. I tried basil plants sold at grocery store they are worse than basil plants from the garden store. I wonder if basil plants that I buy are what they claim to be. I was thinking about not growing anymore basil everything we put basil in tastes like there is no basil. Maybe I should watch YouTube videos, how to cook with basil. We tried our garden herbs in, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, it tastes like nothing. Dry Dollar Tree Italian Seasoning taste much better than our garden herbs. If your seeds will grow basil plants better than what I can buy I will plant them. I will send you a PM.

[TomatoNut95]

How strange that basil would do you like that. I usually use mine fresh, except for that on home-made pizza. This LL basil has a cinnamony twang to it, so I hope it'll do for you!

[Gary350]

How strange that basil would do you like that. I usually use mine fresh, except for that on home-made pizza. This LL basil has a cinnamony twang to it, so I hope it'll do for you!

When I lived in AZ 5 years ago all my herbs had the best flavor & smelled good too. 3 years before that I was still in TN all my herbs had good flavor & good smell. Now that I am back in TN basil 2 years in a row tastes & smells like nothing. Basil from grocery store is no name basil. Basil from garden center said, sweet basil. I have been watching videos for the past hour making notes. If I want to find a good basil I need to plant several varieties & taste them all then save my own seeds. I don't like to fill the garden with lots of experimental plants but that is exactly what I need to do.

Check out this video.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear ... ction=view

[SQWIB]

Most of my Maypops did not have any weight to them and only a few dropped. When you open them up the seeds should be covered in a gelatinous liquid that is very sweet.
I think my problem this year, was that I had a lot of vines start growing later in the season.





Out of all these, maybe only 10 or so dropped, the rest were pulled.

[TomatoNut95]

Well that just made me hungry. Lol! I know what you mean, I REALLY don't have room to grow experimental stuff either. I ended up just giving away those variegated yellow pear tomato seeds because I didn't have the space to grow out several of those plants to test them.

[Gary350]

After researching Herbs I learned it is no wonder my herbs grew so well when I lived in Arizona I gave them exactly what they like and did not know it. Rosemary, Oregano, Thyme, all do best in sandy well drained desert soil with irrigation 10 minutes a day planted so they get cool morning sun for 6 hours then shade until dark the hottest part of the day and a small amount of fertilizer once a week.

Marjoram is a hot weather plant that likes fertile soil it will not survive cold winter weather. It grows very well in big pots. Sprinkle 100 to 150 seeds on the surface of a 10" pot seeds germinate in 4 to 5 days. Stems sprout roots where they touch soil and can be cut from the plant to make new plants. Marjoram has a milder sweet flavor than oregano & will cross pollinate with oregano so keep the 2 plants apart. Marjoram is a tender perennial that will grow for years if you bring it inside during cold weather. Look for Greek & Italian Marjoram for good flavor, not hybrids.

Basil & Parsley like fertile well drained soil planted so they get 6 hours of early morning sun and shade the hottest part of the day. Water once a day and fertilizer once a week.

Fennel likes cool weather, full sun, fertile soil. It does not like hot weather so it grows best with full sun all morning then shade after lunch the hot part of the day. This plant is a Perennial it will grow back bigger and stronger every year. Harvest, seeds or the plant.

Cilantro likes cool weather 50 to 77 degrees, full sun and good soil, with water every day & fertilizer once a week.

Plants all need to be trimmed regular to make them bush out and grow better. Parsley produced a harvest for 2 years then dies. Parsley should be harvested around the outside because new growth comes from the center of the plant. When basil decides to make seeds get new plants started from seeds. You can delay basil & cilantro from bolting by shading it from the sun for a month.

Seeds germinate in 2 to 3 weeks in zip lock bags in a warm place. Rosemary & Thyme can be grown from cuttings. Thyme is easy too root stems grow roots any place soil touches them, 1 plant can be used strictly for cuttings to grow 100s of other plants in 30 days. Some videos only tell you have to plants seed, others tell you about growing plants in the garden and others tell about how to harvest. It is hard to find a video that tells the full story growing herbs start to finish.

MARJORAM https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear ... ction=view

ROSEMARY https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear ... ction=view

ROSEMARY https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear ... tion=click

OREGANO. https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear ... ction=view

THYME https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear ... ction=view

BASIL https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear ... ction=view

PARSLEY https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear ... ction=view

FENNEL https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear ... ction=view

CILANTRO https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear ... ction=view

[Gary350]

I used my home grown garden herbs to make another experimental sausage recipe it turned out very good. I am on the meat curing forum where people make their own cured meats. I put 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper into the spice grinder along with, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon fennel, 1/4 teaspoon of rosemary. After grinding the herbs I mixed it into a 1 lb package of Jimmy Dean original sausage then put it in the refrigerator for 1 day. This morning I had sausage biscuit with cheddar cheese & coffee. WOW this is my best recipe so far. Tennessee people eat sausage biscuit with grape jelly I use to think that was strange until I tried it, now I don't eat it any other way but today I left off the grape jelly so I can taste the full flavor of the garden herbs that I added. This turned out so good I will make this several more times before I try to make a better recipe.

[TomatoNut95]

Yum!

[applestar]

Sounds like a great way to use a lot of herbs. And your own Paprika, too. +1 Looks yummy!

I guess I’ll have to review how I’m growing my herbs. I need to learn how to grow fennel — that’s one that I alwsys have trouble with.

You said earlier that you didn’t like the way your marjoram turned out? I LOVE my sweet marjoram. I have to bring it inside because it won’t overwinter here, but I’m starting to use it more than my Greek oregano when cooking, which is easy to grow and spreads like weed in the kitchen garden. (Greek oregano is still my source for making oregano tincture though.)

[Gary350]

Sounds like a great way to use a lot of herbs. And your own Paprika, too. +1 Looks yummy!

I guess I’ll have to review how I’m growing my herbs. I need to learn how to grow fennel — that’s one that I alwsys have trouble with.

You said earlier that you didn’t like the way your marjoram turned out? I LOVE my sweet marjoram. I have to bring it inside because it won’t overwinter here, but I’m starting to use it more than my Greek oregano when cooking, which is easy to grow and spreads like weed in the kitchen garden. (Greek oregano is still my source for making oregano tincture though.)

I LOVE the flavor of Marjoram I have tried growing it from seeds and plants too many times but it always dies. It is a hot dry weather plant maybe it does not like TN high humidity weather. Now that I know more about this plant maybe I have better luck growing it. Seeds always germinate quick in about 4 days when plants are about 2" tall they appear to get stem rot and die. Stems sprout roots cutting make new plants. Greek & Italian varieties are best. About March I will get a 10" clay pot fill it with good soil then sprinkle 150 seeds on top put it in a plastic bag until seeds germinate. Then I transplant it to the garden a month later about April 25. If I plant the whole clay pot it will get moisture from the soil, I can bring pot inside every winter. I grew marjoram in AZ under a small 5 ft tall palm tree for shade hottest part of the day with irrigation it did very well and made excellent chili & Mexican food.

[HoneyBerry]

I've been getting into salads more and more. And sprouts too. I wonder how marjoram sprouts are. I think I will have to try that sometime.

[Gary350]

During summer most of the garden soil tested 8ph. A month ago I spread 50 lb of sulfur on the whole garden. Today I did a soil test with ph paper. Garden map is to scale row 3 and 4 are still 8ph. Row 2 is 7ph. Row 1 is 6.5 ph except for the north east corner that is 6ph.

When I spread organic material across the garden with a tractor it was very hard to see how thick it was. West side was very thick with organic material and still is there is so much organic material there is no mud after all this rain.

North east corner row 1 has almost no organic material soil is 6ph. I need 2 more 50 lb bags of sulfur to lower row 2, 3 & 4 to 6ph. There is so much organic material in row 3 & 4 it might be better for me to put 2 bags of Urea there to help decompose the organic material. Does organic material decompose in cold weather?

I wish I had a large cement mixer to mix all the soil then spread it out again. Wow that would be nice. I wonder what a soil expert would say is the best way to fix this problem?

Wife made a large crock pot of garden vegetable soup. We tasted it already it sure is good.

I made a tiny loaf of bread for the purpose of making a certain type German crust. Crust is suppose to be golden brown with bubbles at 425 degrees but no bubbles. I tried 450 & 475 crust is very dark but still no bubbles. Bread sure looks nice inside and taste good too. Crust is suppose to be crunchy like crackers or potato chips. Crust does not look like it should but crust is very good & crunchy. I can see this will take practice to get it right. This German bread will be good with garden vegetable soup. I will probably eat this whole loaf of bread before bed time.

We ate dinner vegetable soup is very good I had 2 bowls and 2 slices of bread. 3 hours later I ate 1 more bowl of soup and finished the bread.

[Gary350]

Peppers are slowly turning red much slower than being in a bucket. Too much humidity in bucket peppers kept rotting. Peppers on the carpet are dehydrating another 2 months at this speed they will be dehydrated for chili powder.