What's Growing in the Garden

@JerseyHighlander Your pepper plant looks like a chimera to me. Probably a spontaneous mutation in the parent plant while the seed was developing. May produce some peppers, but if it does won't be as productive as it has much less green tissue. Could keep it as a novelty, or just cull it as it's taking up space that you could utilize with other plants.

@2feathers Creative Making what USDA hardiness zone are you in? Question refers to you planting potatoes now for spring emergence. I could never do that here as our ground freezes too deep for too long. The potatoes would freeze as well and would be decomposed mush by spring. Assume you use whole tubers rather than cutting them?

As to your passive thermal with water, should work very well. I use old laundry detergent jugs with water in my cold frame every spring. Gives me between 5-10° increased temp on cold nights.
 
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trc65 said:
@2feathers Creative Making what USDA hardiness zone are you in? Question refers to you planting potatoes now for spring emergence. I could never do that here as our ground freezes too deep for too long. The potatoes would freeze as well and would be decomposed mush by spring. Assume you use whole tubers rather than cutting them?

As to your passive thermal with water, should work very well. I use old laundry detergent jugs with water in my cold frame every spring. Gives me between 5-10° increased temp on cold nights.
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6b to 7a . I used cuts. They were planted under the garden cover. I am doing this as a learning thing. Can't really be any worse than my summer taters. Had 1 row, harvested just about the same poundage as I planted...
 
JerseyHighlander said:
Any kind of construction that keeps the critters out appears to be a major step up to me. A very cheap electric fence has been a real blessing for me this summer, put up very impromptu when a groundhog started chompin my broccoli one day this spring.
Just a few weeks ago a momma bear with her three cubs had been coming and going through the yard, got attracted to the garden area over a batch of Kefir (liquid yogurt) that got dumped in the compost pile. I ran out to yell and scare them off, before I could say a word I hear what sounds like someone up there yell out loud and realized one of the bears backed up into the electric fence... Two of them went up a tree like a shot and the other two split in separate directions into the woods. It was like a scene from The Three Stooges.
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uhhhhh.......Lil Mikey cannot get his head around this! He's got critters, namely coons. Now that the Airbnb is not next door the 2-legged critters ain't bothering him as much. But bears!!!!! Just walk outside and have bears in the yard? Come to think about it, I think I'd rather have them than the idiots that are moving in here!
 
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2feathers Creative Making said:
6b to 7a . I used cuts. They were planted under the garden cover. I am doing this as a learning thing. Can't really be any worse than my summer taters. Had 1 row, harvested just about the same poundage as I planted...
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Mike Hill said:
uhhhhh.......Lil Mikey cannot get his hear around this! He's got critters, namely coons. Now that the Airbnb is not next door the 2-legged critters ain't bothering him as much. But bears!!!!! Just walk outside and have bears in the yard? Come to think about it, I think I'd rather have them than the idiots that are moving in here!
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I'll take the bears any day over the two-legged buffoons.
Last Sunday morning was interesting though. Woke up early, cold morning, I stoked the wood in the woodstove and I'm standing there soaking up some heat, stretching the knots out of my neck and I hear an odd noise from across the room behind me. I turn and look to the large picture window on the back wall, the one the bird feeder is hanging from the roof eaves in front of... and there's this huge, huge black face in the window, about eight feet above ground level outside. He's got one paw on the window sill and reaching up for the feeder someone who will remain nameless, was stupid enough to leave up this time of year.
I've been concerned that it's a matter of time before one of Yogi's cousins breaks that window and he's about to lean a huge paw against the middle of it, so of course, I go running straight at it, screaming like a banshee... hollering, hollering is more masculine than screaming...
There I am standing literally face to face with a near 600lb bear with two large pieces of 1/16" glass between us. He doesn't scoot and run like I was hoping for, just turns and looks straight at me, kinda confused looking. So I slam my fist into the trim around the window and holler some more. He just takes a step back and starts trying to figure out how he's still coming out of this with that bird seed. Between me and the dog he decided to leave, but he made sure it was apparent that it was his decision and moseyed off nice and slow.
Wife and Connor got some good pictures of the momma and cubs napping in the trees a couple weeks ago, I'll post em to the other thread when I get them to turn them over.
 
I'm sure most of you have at least heard of if not feasted on Surf & Turf or as they say, something from the land, something from the sea... Well, we had an alteration of that tonight, kind of.

Something from the garden, in something from the shop.

Otherwise known as Tatsoi in Black Cherry. Tatsoi finally came alive when it started getting cold. Mrs. Highlander makes a sauce/dressing that is poured over it hot, wilting it just a touch. Good stuff.

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Most of the summer and early fall, I thought the Tatsoi was a lost cause. Even in the pots and under the lights it just struggled but when the cold weather hit, it came to life. I should have known as this is something I came to know when we belonged to the CSA farm, as winter greens. We typically didn't start getting it till early December and had it through January. The seed supplier espoused it's "grow it all winter" properties but also said it was the best option for summer "spinach"... Not so much in my experience.
 
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Yeh about 4 or 5 years ago I bought some seed from Baker Creek. Planted it in late spring and it did not do much and I gave up on it. Still have not tasted it. Same year I bought some of their snake bean seeds and white bitter melon. Man, those were kinda wild looking.
 
It's billed as Asian Sinach and the taste is similar. The one we used to get from the farm always had a bitter note to it. Not terrible bitter, kindof like Dandelion greens, which I like but the kids usually aren't fond of yet.

Your summers probably being hotter than ours, I'm not surprised it didn't do well but you having milder winters too, it's probably not too late to start it now. For me, using a heat mat under the mini soil blocks, the seeds were fully germinated in less than 24 hours.
I'm getting ready to start the next succession of lettuce and mustard greens, think I'm going to throw a line of the Tatsoi seed in there too and see what I get... Almost all the leaves are off the trees now so I finally have sun!
 
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JerseyHighlander said:
I'm sure most of you have at least heard of if not feasted on Surf & Turf or as they say, something from the land, something from the sea... Well, we had an alteration of that tonight, kind of.

Something from the garden, in something from the shop.

Otherwise known as Tatsoi in Black Cherry. Tatsoi finally came alive when it started getting cold. Mrs. Highlander makes a sauce/dressing that is poured over it hot, wilting it just a touch. Good stuff.

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Is this hollow and does it LOVE water? Or am I thinking of another Asian veggie?
I only bought mine at the Nashville Chinese market so I only know it as com sing Tsai or something like that. Means empty heart and tends to grow in wet areas.
 
I'm getting ready to harvest some Chinese cabbage. It is not a spring veggie, you have to wait till mid July or so to seed it or transplant it. Less to do with temps, more to do with day length I believe. Tatsoi /bok choy may be similar.
 
2feathers Creative Making said:
Is this hollow and does it LOVE water? Or am I thinking of another Asian veggie?
I only bought mine at the Nashville Chinese market so I only know it as com sing Tsai or something like that. Means empty heart and tends to grow in wet areas.
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Not hollow enough that I've taken notice of it. great affinity for water... I don't think so. Roughly the same as other veggies.

I think what you're referring to has very stringy stems, like celary, no?
 
JerseyHighlander said:
Not hollow enough that I've taken notice of it. great affinity for water... I don't think so. Roughly the same as other veggies.

I think what you're referring to has very stringy stems, like celary, no?
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More like watercress so... just most states don't allow you to grow it anywhere near a watercourse because it will invade
 
Don't got nuthen to eat outta the garden right now - well except for horseradish. But do have some of my pretties to show off. All are from 6" to 9" diameter. I think there are a few more to open fully yet.

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Mike Hill said:
Don't got nuthen to eat outta the garden right now - well except for horseradish. But do have some of my pretties to show off. All are from 6" to 9" diameter. I think there are a few more to open fully yet.

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I imagine they must smell spectacular... I'm not up on my landscape flowers, what are they?
Horseradish! I love Horseradish. Used to make a droolworthy Horseradish sauce. Unfortunately, Pestilence Farms can kill even Horseradish root. Another thing I look forward to growing once I've escaped this place.
 
trc65 said:
@JerseyHighlander Your pepper plant looks like a chimera to me. Probably a spontaneous mutation in the parent plant while the seed was developing. May produce some peppers, but if it does won't be as productive as it has much less green tissue. Could keep it as a novelty, or just cull it as it's taking up space that you could utilize with other plants.

@2feathers Creative Making what USDA hardiness zone are you in? Question refers to you planting potatoes now for spring emergence. I could never do that here as our ground freezes too deep for too long. The potatoes would freeze as well and would be decomposed mush by spring. Assume you use whole tubers rather than cutting them?

As to your passive thermal with water, should work very well. I use old laundry detergent jugs with water in my cold frame every spring. Gives me between 5-10° increased temp on cold nights.
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Keep forgetting to reply to this, regarding the pepper. If it is a mutation, I'm guessing the entire packet of seeds is likely no good..? The plant was flowering outside and when I took it in and under the lights, it began growing again and flowering profusely, even started to get a pepper but it has since disappeared. Still many flowers on it but doesn't appear to be going anywhere so I'm likely going to terminate it. By contrast, the nearby Cayenne peppers are doing great and producing like mad under the lights.

Regarding the potatoes... I was considering just putting back all the little ones that never turned into anything but still had roots on them. Being in the forest, I've an abundance of leaves and figured a couple feet of them layered over that area, maybe with a tarp on top to keep them from getting wet, would be a good insulator. More just playing around to see what happens than anything.
 
2feathers Creative Making said:
More like watercress so... just most states don't allow you to grow it anywhere near a watercourse because it will invade
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Ah. I don't think Tatsoi is what you're thinking about. The Tatsoi grows from several inches to two feet tall in a fairly tight rosette. I checked the cut stems, they aren't hollow at all.
 
Eric Rorabaugh said:
@Mike Hill
What are those in the third pic?
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Danged! Gett'n forgetful in my old age. All are Japanese Chrysanthemums. Similar to the cushion mums in orange and yellow you see a lot this time of year out front at mailboxes and on the front steps. these are different and have to be grown decidedly differently. I think there are 13 classifications (flower shapes) of the Japanese Chrysanthemums and I think there are 5 or 6 in my pics. I cannot remember the names of any except the one you asked about @Eric Rorabaugh. It is an Unclassified Exotic named Lili Gallon. There is another one similar that has not fully bloomed yet. It is an irregular incurve that goes by...........not sure I can even say the name..........but I will try............got the soap ready to wash out my mouth afterwards...........Crimson Tide...........there I said it.........cough..cough...gargle....gargle.....!!!!!
 
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