What's Growing in the Garden

Nature Man said:
Why would you eat Hen of the Woods, if you react that way? Chuck
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Because I like pain and suffering :lol2: . Seriously, I ate it when I was younger without any ill effects. When I got older, I found some and tried a little bit (as a rule.. always try small portion first) and I had my reaction. Threw it out. Next year found some more and tried it again, thinking I hadn't cooked it well enough the first time. Same thing happened.

Looked it up on a mushroom forum and it's reported some people react that way.
 
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I realize you might be getting tired of seeing my green beans lol. I picked two gallons yesterday off my trellis and there are still more that needs a little more time to fill out.
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I've never been interested in growing beans and only had one tripod in the past. Never had this many in a year. I bought an off-brand pressure canner at the local farm store and I'm currently studying up on how to use it for beans.

Some of you mentioned the USDA canning guide and I could benifit from buying one. Looked on Amazon as a start and they have half a dozen books with the same name. Legacy version, 2015, 2020 versions, bulletin 539, etc. Those of you that have one, can you tell me the difference?
 
Sprung said:
Dan, I have this one: https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Number=AIG-539 Don't know if it's on Amazon. But, all the information within it can be found on the National Center for Home Food Preservation website as well, so if you're wanting to get the beans canned before your book gets there, that is a great source of information. I like having the book on hand as an easier reference than getting on the website.
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FYI, I did use that link you gave me earlier first before posting. I imagine all of you get tired of reposting the same information over and over again.

I didn't see anything specifically about beans, but then I didn't get through the whole website. My computer is so slooow and I got outdoor stuff to do today. I'm more of a book person anyway. It would be nice to have a copy on hand.
 
When is cantaloupe season? Bought one two days ago at Safeway and it was surprisingly very good. Not over ripe but with plenty of taste and sweetness. I was worried it was too late, like watermellon.
 
DLJeffs said:
When is cantaloupe season? Bought one two days ago at Safeway and it was surprisingly very good. Not over ripe but with plenty of taste and sweetness. I was worried it was too late, like watermellon.
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Cantaloupe season is similar to Watermelon, usually late Summerish. Chuck
 
Anybody ever see a pumpkin/gourd/squash like this?

It is not from seed I ordered, but obviously from seed I was sent. Supposed to be one of several specialty pumpkins.

About 5' long, 8-9" in diameter and weighs between 50-60#.

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It's probably not as I would assume it is hard-skinned - but them Brits and Alaskans like to grow big veggies. The Brits call them marrows (zucchini by any other person). I had a girlfriend once whose parents were farmers and of German heritage, and they like to grow big zucchini. After our dates, my gf liked to cut them into chunks and fry them in a deep fat fryer for a midnight (or after midnight snack) - I loved her!
 
It's thin skinned (but hard), and you can kind of see the yellow/orange flesh in the second picture where it split.

After some image searches I think it is a

Zucca Lunga di Napoli, a winter squash.​


What ever it is I've got around 500# of it laying in the middle of one of my pumpkin patches. Don't think I need that much squash in the freezer.

Speaking of excess, I have more Winesap apples than I could ever use, and can't even give them away. Probably 7-8 bushels still on the tree and I've called everyone I know.
 
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Tim, it seems that there were a lot of seed mix-ups this year. Especially among pepper seeds. I had an errant tomato variety that grew that I had never purchased seeds for, let alone ever heard of - Bronze Torch is what we identified them as. They did turn out to be an amazing tasting tomato and I'll be purchasing some seeds of it and planting it again.

That is an impressive squash! 1 or 2 of those would give us enough squash for the year at the rate we eat it. Might have to go the zucchini route - you know, where you just leave it inside the unlocked car or front doors of people you know when they aren't looking.

And apples - I found a tree on public land, where a house used to be, that produces some very tasty apples. (While another tree 40 feet away produces some not so great tasting ones.) I thought about going back and picking a bunch, after initially bringing a few home to try, but I've got far too much on my plate to think about adding anything else to my list to process...
 
trc65 said:
It's thin skinned (but hard), and you can kind of see the yellow/orange flesh in the second picture where it split.

After some image searches I think it is a

Zucca Lunga di Napoli, a winter squash.​


What ever it is I've got around 500# of it laying in the middle of one of my pumpkin patches. Don't think I need that much squash in the freezer.

Speaking of excess, I have more Winesap apples than I could ever use, and can't even give them away. Probably 7-8 bushels still on the tree and I've called everyone I know.
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If you have friends with chickens, ours absolutely love squash and pumpkin. Will eat it to the rind then start eating the rind.
Ours eat apples too. Also most livestock do great with squash.
 
Sprung said:
That is an impressive squash! 1 or 2 of those would give us enough squash for the year at the rate we eat it. Might have to go the zucchini route - you know, where you just leave it inside the unlocked car or front doors of people you know when they aren't looking.
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The only problem is they are too darn heavy to carry around!

I will be cutting a few of them open though to cook up, along with the Hubbard and several other types of squash.
 
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Well shoot! I was reading up on pressure canning and watching the only review I could find on the cooker I purchased. Basically the guy could only obtain 9 psig with his. Maybe faulty gauge? From what I understand, in the St Louis area (<1000' alt) I should be at 11 psig for proper temperature. Then I looked on the box and noticed it said 'pressure cooker' and not canner. I could jury rig the weights by adding weight to them, but I think I'll just return it. Back to freezing my beans.
 
trc65 said:
It's thin skinned (but hard), and you can kind of see the yellow/orange flesh in the second picture where it split.

After some image searches I think it is a

Zucca Lunga di Napoli, a winter squash.​


What ever it is I've got around 500# of it laying in the middle of one of my pumpkin patches. Don't think I need that much squash in the freezer.

Speaking of excess, I have more Winesap apples than I could ever use, and can't even give them away. Probably 7-8 bushels still on the tree and I've called everyone I know.
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That is interesting. Most Zuccas I've been around are gourds with white flesh. In another life - many moons ago, I used to carve a lot of gourds every year - I think the most in one year was about 1,200. Came across zucca gourds up in Ohio a couple of times.
 
trc65 said:
Anybody ever see a pumpkin/gourd/squash like this?

It is not from seed I ordered, but obviously from seed I was sent. Supposed to be one of several specialty pumpkins.

About 5' long, 8-9" in diameter and weighs between 50-60#.

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Except for the gigantism, it kind of resembles these. Just shootin in the dark though. https://shop.seedsavers.org/dostal-cucumber-organic-squash

I'm assuming, precariously, that's a winter squash?

Could get a hundred loaves of Pumpkin Bread outa that thing... I'm in line with 2Feathers, find somebody with livestock and work a trade. Pigs would probably love them too. Trade some gigantic squash for some good pork. Hell, just saving the seeds will probably get you a 1/2 gallons worth.
 
If these are the Zucca Lunga, may not be a huge amount of seeds. They are supposed to have seeds only on one end in the slightly bulbous section to the right of my foot in the one picture.

Regardless, I'll take some more pictures when I cut one open and cook some for a taste test.
 
Ooohhhhh, it's that time of year again.

The year starts with my fabulously flamboyant frilly can-can fun girls (daylilies).
Then comes the luscious lacy filigree teddies (white phlox).
After that appears the bawdy and teasingly ribald, provocatively pantalooned and petticoated danseuse (hardy hibiscus).
Mid-summer heat brings out the salacious, sultry, smoky sirens of samba and scent (oriental lilies)
but the climax is yet to come. The wait is maddening. The femme fatales of Lil Mikey's yard - the long-awaited wanton seductress. The lascivious Jezebels of the garden bed. The lorelies of flora. They could serve as his fille de joie, or dare it say it - his paramour!!!

The Japanese mums are within sight - the long wait is about over! The long nights of dreaming - the days of disbudding - the tying up - are about to culminate. Oh rapturous joy!!!!

Could all that be over the top? Naww... Lil Mikey needs a little color and excitement in his life!!! Life ain't all brown wood (Did I really say that!!)

Its almost too much to bear - the infernal waiting....waiting....waiting....then they tease....and they have you!. The spontaneous, insatiable burning desires prey upon Lil Mikey's patience - he longs to gaze upon their fully unfurled pulchritude! It's one thing that will cause him to come out from underneath his rock into the light of day!

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Growing season is over, all and all a good year. My greenhouse worked out well, wish I had planted one or 2 late season tomato plants. I planted some spinach and lettuce a while ago, we started using it yesterday.
 
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