New England September 2014

NHGardener wrote:CC - What do you mean by potting up kale? Do you pull it from the garden, keeping roots and soil intact, and transplant it into a pot and bring it indoors?

Exactly.  Except they are going in a small window box and being brought in. That way when I get home from work in the dark I can pick some greens without having to go outside.

Last years winter garden

See the window box in the 2nd row?

CC

Nice - I didn't think about transplanting kale into the house. I don't have a sunny enough window so I'd have to put it under a fluorescent. I wonder if that's good enough.

CC, Didn't a furry creature complain about how crowded her sill got last winter?

I dig up my Serrano pepper plant and bring it in, but the kale I simply freeze enough for winter. Wish I had a greenhouse.

Lesson learned: After you dig your potatoes, don't let them get sunlight or even under a cloth where light can penetrate, because they are still susceptible to greening. I didn't realize that, and soon after I put my potatoes to dry (indoors), I realized the ones that were even getting the slightest indirect sunlight through the window were greening.

I'm thinking of organizing with a loose leaf binder, alphabetical by vegetable+, to keep notes. I think it would be easier if they were all in one place. Anyone here do that?

I've been making french fries with my potatoes. They're great. Also found the thick/dark skin ones (Gold Rush) don't seem susceptible to greening like the light thin-skinned (Katahdin, Kennebec).

Yup. My fresh dug potatoes go right into a paper sack and into the darkest corner of the kitchen.

Good plan, camprn. I've been thinking about what to put them in. A brown paper bag sounds ideal.

camprn wrote:Yup. My fresh dug potatoes go right into a paper sack and into the darkest corner of the kitchen.

does this also apply to potatoes saved as seed for next year?

CapeCoddess wrote:

camprn wrote:Yup. My fresh dug potatoes go right into a paper sack and into the darkest corner of the kitchen.

does this also apply to potatoes saved as seed for next year?

yes.

Salsa!

I am so jealous. Next year

Dang, I went looking for my saved 'seed' potatoes in the basement this morning so I could put them in a paper bag, and I can't find them!  What the heck!?  I'm sure they'll show up but I hope they'll be OK.

Cucumber update...
First plantings are fruiting with a vengeance, albeit there's some spotty pollination going on there.  But I'm getting more fruit off them right now than I did all the previous year. 
The 3 on the right got PM pretty badly even though the Burpless are supposedly resistant.  The 3 on the left, Marketmore, only got a few tiny spots here and there but are fading with age also. 

The later planted Markemore  cukes are just producing up a storm but you can't see the fruits for all the leaves so no photo yet.

The SFG is going crazy and I'm loving it!  There's even some harvestable spinach.
Today's harvest - breakfast smoothie of daikon leaves & collards in the bullet; a cuke (of course) for my lunch salad; swiss chard for dinner:

Had to hand pollinate a Lebonese squash this morning.  Hope it took. Afterward I left the boy on a leaf next to the girl in case the bees decide to help out.

I also have a great bunch of collard plants in one of the perennial gardens that are the biggest I have. Here they are just after one of many many harvests: 

The jumbo acorns are bombarding the house & the leaves are beginning to fall but this week looks fine for the garden weather-wise as long as I keep watering twice a week.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
72° F | 59° F	66° F | 59° F	64° F | 57° F	63° F | 55° F	63° F | 56° F

(don't let those rain days fool ya...that doesn't happen here )

CC

OMG when did you plant those cukes?? Congrats!!   I would love to have some this late.  
Mine were so done a long while ago.

llama momma wrote:OMG when did you plant those cukes?? Congrats!!   I would love to have some this late.  
Mine were so done a long while ago.

Thanks, LM!  I'm totally blown away!  It looks like I planted the first set of cuke seeds in mid May, then covered them with clam packs whenever the temps went too low.  I don't know why they are still going.  The 2nd set was planted in another box around beginning of July if memory serves, or whenever it was that the New Victory Garden book tells us to do it.  I'm not at home so I can't look it up.  But they are absolutely stunning right now.  Hold on, I'll see if I can find a photo:

This photo is from a week ago.  They are twice that size now!

These guys have already been eaten but there's lots more where they came from: 


So I guess the secret is succession planting, eh?

CC

Nice, CC! I really like that bullet smoothie. What do you add to the daikon leaves and collards? I have those bullets, but I've only used them for drinking glasses! LOL. I have to figure out how to set them up on the chopper.

You know, CC, with all those beautiful flowers, and your pollination issues, you MIGHT want to think about putting one small beehive in your yard...  

NHGardener wrote:Nice, CC! I really like that bullet smoothie. What do you add to the daikon leaves and collards? I have those bullets, but I've only used them for drinking glasses! LOL. I have to figure out how to set them up on the chopper.

You know, CC, with all those beautiful flowers, and your pollination issues, you MIGHT want to think about putting one small beehive in your yard...  

Per the HOA we're not allowed to have bees.   Maybe once I retire I'll take them on. 

My morning smoothies usually consist of greens, mixed berries, pineapple, chia seeds, stevia & hemp protein pwdr.  Sometimes there's a bit of banana or avocado thrown in if I'm in a creamy mood.

The afternoon ones are greens, peas, Dr Braggs aminos and whatever else is laying around, but not onions, garlic or ginger - only because I don't like the flavor they add. 

Those bullets are awesome, NHG!  You can make hummus/bean dips, ginger juice, nut butters & milks, sorbets, all kinds of neat stuff.  I use mine every day and there's one at work that I use ever day that I'm here.

Time to hit the highway...
CC

Wow, CC. Those smoothies sound amazing. My sister is the smoothie queen, in FL. I haven't crossed the line from fruit smoothies into green smoothies, but I can only imagine how healthy they are. Where did you find out how to make green smoothies?

The bullet's a great idea because you can make single servings.

Okay guys, after reading yet another article on how turmeric is a miracle spice: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29361351

I'm going to ask: Who's up for trying to grow turmeric? It's a root, like ginger. I would laugh off the idea except this site: http://www.therainforestgarden.com/2011/12/how-to-grow-turmeric.html claims we can do it.

Anyone want to try it? I'm completely tempted, mainly because my brain cells could use a little repairing.

NHGardener wrote:Okay guys, after reading yet another article on how turmeric is a miracle spice: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29361351

I'm going to ask: Who's up for trying to grow turmeric? It's a root, like ginger. I would laugh off the idea except this site: http://www.therainforestgarden.com/2011/12/how-to-grow-turmeric.html claims we can do it.

Anyone want to try it? I'm completely tempted, mainly because my brain cells could use a little repairing.

Good luck! I know my local co-op had some fresh turmeric root earlier this season.
http://www.gardeningblog.net/how-to-grow/turmeric/

CapeCoddess wrote:

llama momma wrote:OMG when did you plant those cukes?? Congrats!!   I would love to have some this late.  
Mine were so done a long while ago.

Thanks, LM!  I'm totally blown away! 

So I guess the secret is succession planting, eh?

CC

Oh Yes indeed!  I added this to my garden notes for next year:  Cukes Again in July for Sept harvest.  

I might finally have a salad with cukes, succession planted lettuce, and end of season tomatoes.
Cool!   

NHGardener wrote:...I'm going to ask: Who's up for trying to grow turmeric? ...

I hope you have better luck than I did.  I tried growing it indoors, and it took nearly a year to get a couple blossoms.    I started with a finger size piece to root, and harvested  4½ fingers worth after about 14 months.  I probably should have put it outdoors during the hottest part of summer.

Tumeric is in the largest round pot.

I probably should have put it outdoors during the hottest part of summer.

I'll bet that would have made the difference. It actually looks beautiful in that pot. I would love to see the flower.

I've been reading about its supposed anti-cancer properties for a few years now. If it does indeed have them, they may be even more potent fresh than in the tumeric powder you get in stores. Eat some, someday! And tell us how it tastes.

This is SO WEIRD!  I was just telling my mother yesterday that I think I'll try growing tumeric since I'm trying ginger.

Boffer, maybe the secret is to plant quite a few roots and harvest them as needed, replanting a piece right away.  Just like ginger, which I started last weekend:
http://www.tropicalpermaculture.com/growing-ginger.html
"Break up the rhizomes, select a few nice ones with good growing buds for replanting (you can replant them straight away), and keep the rest for the kitchen."

Btw, NHG, since there is Alzheimers & arthritis in my family, 1/3 t. tumeric is also a part of my daily morning smoothies.  Along with cinnamon.  You can't even taste it, which is fine because in my opinion the stuff it nasty.  I believe that mustard contains tumeric also. 

OH, and I got the idea for the green smoothies from "Reboot Your Life" online after watching the movie (free online) "Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead".  I did the 5 day cleanse, making smoothies instead of juices, and felt all sparkly.


CC

We actually have RAIN!


CC