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How Does Your Garden Grow?

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Started 3 years ago by chrisgillespie
Latest reply from Porky

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murfmurphy
Westgate
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TomOver said:
@ Derm: do you pressure can or just boil the water ? One possible downside to canning is all the natural gas it requires. But perhaps even if thousands more folk canned, the energy usage from it would not be as much from the energy used from trucking, shipping, and flying in food from afar for those same people.

But calculations for making these comparisons might be hard to make.

You can also process the cans in an oven. My wife did tomatoes that way this year and it worked pretty well. You still have to boil the lids and rings to sanitize them, but after that they finish in a 200 degree oven.

Posted 4 months ago #
derm
Grandview
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TomOver said:
@ Derm: do you pressure can or just boil the water ? One possible downside to canning is all the natural gas it requires. But perhaps even if thousands more folk canned, the energy usage from it would not be as much from the energy used from trucking, shipping, and flying in food from afar for those same people.

But calculations for making these comparisons might be hard to make.

I pressure can. You can reuse jars, saves on total cooking time as they are just reaheated prior to service, no shipping of vegetables or fruits if grown yourself. Dont need factory farmed monocrops when you grow your own, minimal pesticide use in my garden, reuse of compost from trimmings, use of local sourced readily available hydrocarbon(NG), no energy needed for storage of food, no preservatives added to food. Everyone should can their own food. Everyone used to.

Posted 4 months ago #
derm
Grandview
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murfmurphy said:
You can also process the cans in an oven. My wife did tomatoes that way this year and it worked pretty well. You still have to boil the lids and rings to sanitize them, but after that they finish in a 200 degree oven.

Water bath canning can be used for certain foods like jams and tomatoes. Pressure canning has to be used for meats, soups, broths, chili, all other vegetables like beans, potatoes, green beans, squash, sweets, etc. I need to start putting more up as lately I have been a net eater instead of net storage. Per the Stark's "Winter is coming"

Posted 4 months ago #
alexs
Limestone bluffs of the Scioto
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I water-bath pepper purees, none has gone bad but after a few years they start to turn brown and the flavor degrades.

Posted 4 months ago #
TomOver
herenowbeyond.org
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derm said:
I pressure can. You can reuse jars, saves on total cooking time as they are just reaheated prior to service, no shipping of vegetables or fruits if grown yourself. Dont need factory farmed monocrops when you grow your own, minimal pesticide use in my garden, reuse of compost from trimmings, use of local sourced readily available hydrocarbon(NG), no energy needed for storage of food, no preservatives added to food. Everyone should can their own food. Everyone used to.

Thanks for helping me with that vision thing when it comes to the entire process of going from seeds-->sowing--->growing---->watering---->naturally fertilizing---->harvesting---->preparing and preserving---->composting the kitchen,yard, and garden scraps... Again, a key principle is 'closed systems.'

How about other methods of preservation such as dehydrating foods ? It seems this is a matter of being imaginative and innovative.

Posted 4 months ago #
TomOver
herenowbeyond.org
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alexs said:
I water-bath pepper purees, none has gone bad but after a few years they start to turn brown and the flavor degrades.

after a few years...

Posted 4 months ago #
TomOver
herenowbeyond.org
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Know of any community efforts at pressure canning ? I venture some of the Commie gardening groups might be working on ways that people who can't afford a pressure canner can pool their resources.

'Community' is code for 'communist', that is, sponging off of other peoples resources, right ?

But, seriously, if that were true, then the too-big-to-fail banks and just about every other giant corporation would have the word 'community' in their name, as they use public money and public resources for private gain--all at the expense of our national interest and quality-of-life.

How's growing some of our own food as a way to fight against the corporate hijacking of our political system ?

Posted 4 months ago #
TomOver
herenowbeyond.org
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derm said:
I use these. I buy them in large rolls as they are cheaper this way.

http://growerssupply.com/farm/supplies/prod1;gs1_ground_cover_fabrics-gs1_row_frost_cover;pg110223.html

I get both the light and heavy weight sizes as they have different uses. I dont use plastic sheeting in my small space as it gets too hot on a hot day and I dont have a vent option. Should I make a tunnel with venting that is the way to go as they have UV resistant sheeting now that will last more than a season. I get about 2 seasons from light and three from heavy weight row cover if I am careful. I only have to cover about 40 square feet over winter. In fact I use the row cover now instead of a cold frame to avoid the overheating problem come spring with new starts. I prop my row cover up with old political sign frames.

Please tell us about some of the messages of those political signs, the frames of which you're using for extending your growing season. Thanks

Posted 4 months ago #
alexs
Limestone bluffs of the Scioto
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TomOver said:

How about other methods of preservation such as dehydrating foods ? It seems this is a matter of being imaginative and innovative.

I was never able to preserve dill well, until I half-dried it then ran it in the blender with kosher salt. The result still smells strongly of dill, and the mix is perfect for plain yogurt, as a dressing for a cuke salad or some such.

I've tried it with other herbs, with varying degrees of success, but anyway I can now call on flavors that I harvested last summer. This technique also worked well with habaneros, lending a pale orange salt with a strong kick.

Posted 4 months ago #
derm
Grandview
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TomOver said:
Thanks for helping me with that vision thing when it comes to the entire process of going from seeds-->sowing--->growing---->watering---->naturally fertilizing---->harvesting---->preparing and preserving---->composting the kitchen,yard, and garden scraps... Again, a key principle is 'closed systems.'

How about other methods of preservation such as dehydrating foods ? It seems this is a matter of being imaginative and innovative.

I do have a dehydrator and use that a good deal. There are many things that preserve better by canning and many that preserve better by dehydrating. Some do well with both. I do the majority of my herbs via the dehydrator, as well as the onion products. I took about thirty leeks last year and dehydrated, then ground them into powder. Tasty stuff. Same with paste tomatoes. You get pretty sick of canning in high season and tomato powder will take a ton of paste tomatoes into about a pint of powder and is powerful stuff. I smoke peppers for ancho and chipotle powder. My mad scientist dehydrating experiment is to make a vegetable base powder to see what uses for it. I saw at an Asian grocery in the strip in Pittsburgh where they had made a mushroom powder to use as a seasoning. I was out of cash by then or would have gotten some, that is on the list of things to try.

Posted 4 months ago #
TaraK
probably at the coffee shop
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Garden planning underway. My aim this year is maximum yield of stuff we eat a lot of that can grow in our small space.

I'm going to try starting lettuce from seed outside in April, then start chard a couple of weeks later. Once both of those pitter out, I'm thinking squash and zucchini.

Posted 2 months ago #
chrisgillespie
Short North/Victorian Village
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It shouldn't be too hard to maximize the yeild of zucchini ;)

Posted 2 months ago #
joev
Merion Village
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Your chard will last all year if you let it (and even come back the next.)

I've still got kale, arugula and mache going strong, that I planted last fall - no protection at all. It's been a crazy warm winter.

This week, I'm starting seeds, and I might plant out some favas and peas just to see what happens. I'm betting on a really early spring.

Posted 2 months ago #
derm
Grandview
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joev said:
Your chard will last all year if you let it (and even come back the next.)

I've still got kale, arugula and mache going strong, that I planted last fall - no protection at all. It's been a crazy warm winter.

This week, I'm starting seeds, and I might plant out some favas and peas just to see what happens. I'm betting on a really early spring.

Me too. I am going to put some lettuce and kale transplants in teh ground under row cover this afternoon. Will harvest a ton of stuff from fall tomorrow after the rain. Need to get a whole bunch of seeds started although the leeks are up in the basement right now. Will try to get a good sixty plants in the ground early april.

Posted 2 months ago #
murfmurphy
Westgate
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I haven't quite started planning everything out yet for the coming year. Maybe this weekend will be the time to start some seeds indoors before we move them out. We're going to do tomatoes and peppers in buckets behind our garage this year. I've been looking up a lot about it and I found something interesting. Apparently one thing you can do instead of buckets is plant the tomatoes and peppers in reusable grocery bags from the store. Has anyone heard, or possibly tried this. I'm really considering it, but it also sounds a little too good to be true.

Posted 2 months ago #
Porky
C-Bus' East Side
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I'm starting a month by month planning calander for the first time, I actually started on it late last year. I'm going to try and use it as a month by month reference type guide so I know what to plant and when and and tips that I gather, anecdotally or otherwise will be added. This will be the first time I've attempted this level of documentation, I'm eager to see how it improves my garden.
It's almost time to start some cold weather crops here in the next few weeks!

Posted 2 months ago #
Porky
C-Bus' East Side
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murfmurphy said:
Apparently one thing you can do instead of buckets is plant the tomatoes and peppers in reusable grocery bags from the store. Has anyone heard, or possibly tried this. I'm really considering it, but it also sounds a little too good to be true.

I don't see why not, we have always grown tomatoes in pots. I don't think the 'vessel' matters as much as location, and soil choice, regular watering etc.

Posted 2 months ago #
Porky
C-Bus' East Side
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Meanwhile on Lucas' farms :)

We have strawberries shooting up.

My "October" Raspberries, because we have them until October, maybe later this year.

And this will be the 4th year for the blueberries, they are starting to bud out already.

Also potted up some lettuce and it's coming on strong.

Posted 2 months ago #
-Nick-

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When I rented my place on 2nd, I built a few arbors and did a small rock raised bed. Much of it is gone or not taken care of the last I saw, but I planted mostly David Austin English Roses from online or from Oakland. A Wine and Roses Wegeila, clematis, larkspur, salvia, and an Endless Summer Hydrangea. I'm mostly just an antique and English rose fan, so that's primarily all I plant. Whether I live in an apartment or wherever, I will make up some potted English Roses when I get back to Columbus...roses are too hard to beat for me...bloom all year, cold resistant, disease resistant, and all it really requires from me is some pruning and feeding...piece of cake.

Posted 2 months ago #
TomOver
herenowbeyond.org
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Kale and collards survived winter, such as it was, and now have plenty of leaves to be harvested, then boiled or blended.

Posted 2 months ago #