What's in the Garden?

[Bolas De Fraile]

Such beautiful pictures!


My parents have a huge John Deer tractor/ tiller thingie but I don't believe it would even fit into my squatty little piece of land that Im going to grow in this year! and I haven't started yet although the weather has been fabulous!

if it like GLC pic thats a belter. I had never gardened till 4 yrs ago.My wife and brother deal with the flowers and planting. I do all the heavy work.
We produce all our own compost so the soil after 3 seasons of compost and the tiller is like crumble topping.
The main pot patch is ready for planting this weekend.
PS my early cold frame potatoes are sprouting through and we should have a crop in 6 wks.

 

[Addie]

I belong to a forum only it is a bunch of just friends. One of them was mentioning using her John Deere to clear her driveway full of snow. One of the city gals asked what is a John Deere. The rest of us were so helpful. Oh its a lawn mower. Another piped in with its a snow plow. And one by one we answered her. Its a hay baler, its a combine, its a plow, its tiller, its a seed planter, its a corn picker, etc. She signed off and we didn't hear from her for a week. All she had to do was google John Deere. But it still was fun to play with her.

 

[CWS4322]

We have celery, lettuce, kale, and rhubarb up. The celery was a bit of a surprise. We've never had it overwinter before, but it was a mild winter here. We don't have a John Deere, but we do have a Massey and a Neufield, as well as a Honda lawn tractor. Going to an auction on Saturday--hoping to get a 3 pth rototiller.

 

[Addie]

We have celery, lettuce, kale, and rhubarb up. The celery was a bit of a surprise. We've never had it overwinter before, but it was a mild winter here. We don't have a John Deere, but we do have a Massey and a Neufield, as well as a Honda lawn tractor. Going to an auction on Saturday--hoping to get a 3 pth rototiller.

I looked longingly at a hand twowel the other day. Remembering when. If I tried to get down to the good earth, they would be planting me in it next. I would never be able to get back up.

 

[CWS4322]

I looked longingly at a hand twowel the other day. Remembering when. If I tried to get down to the good earth, they would be planting me in it next. I would never be able to get back up.

What about doing some things in pots--herbs, lettuce?

 

[Addie]

What about doing some things in pots--herbs, lettuce?

My apartments gets no sunshine at all. It is on the north side of the building. I am lucky to get any light. We have little plots that management has provided for us. They are about the size of cemetary plots. One time a visitor thought they were cemetary plots of residents who had died and had no family. She was deeply upset that they had no headstones and were not kept up. I stayed on the floor laughing for days after that. We used to have residents that planted in them. But they got too old also. If I could get maintenaince to turn over the plots for us, I would probably be out there planting veggies galore.

 

[taxlady]

Addy, have you heard of straw bale gardening? Sounds like just thing for you. It's raised and you don't need to do any tilling.

 

[GLC]

I saw a thing the other day where someone used one of those hanging cloth shoe pocket things.

And a pallet planter. It has weed control cloth stapled down the back and across the bottom. Fill and plant while it lays flat on the ground, stand it up, and plant the top.

 

[Addie]

I saw a thing the other day where someone used one of those hanging cloth shoe pocket things.

And a pallet planter. It has weed control cloth stapled down the back and across the bottom. Fill and plant while it lays flat on the ground, stand it up, and plant the top.

That is so neat. What a great imagination. When you live in an apartment building it doesn't leave you much choice. And when you are on a very low fixed income, you don't have much cash left to play so you can plant $50 tomatoes. Believe me if I coud, I would. We are very limited in what we are allowed to do here. The building has been designated an historical building and you can't plant certain plants on the premises. There is no where to do potted planting. And around here bucket planting is very popular. You know those five gallon buckets that pickles and other food items come in for restaurants. Well a lot of folks in this part of Boston plant in them. And the plants thrive in them. Can't have th buckets showing on the outside.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Weeds! And I don't think any of them are edible.

 

[GLC]

Weeds! And I don't think any of them are edible.

Might be surprised. I was, when I actually started looking. I have an ongoing battle with pigweed (amaranth), plenty of dandelion, milkweed, lantana, chili pequin, mustang grape, dollarweed, all uninvited and within 50 feet of the back door. Elaeagnus (silverberry) that I planted without knowing the berries were edible. And no doubt a bunch more. And the arugula has escaped the garden and comes up everywhere now.

 

[lyndaW]

I know its still early to plant, but I couldn't resist. Bought another 8 aspargues plants, different kinds of parsley, and all kinds of colorful lettuce
Even if we get a cold spell these plants will survive

 

[Addie]

Might be surprised. I was, when I actually started looking. I have an ongoing battle with pigweed (amaranth), plenty of dandelion, milkweed, lantana, chili pequin, mustang grape, dollarweed, all uninvited and within 50 feet of the back door. Elaeagnus (silverberry) that I planted without knowing the berries were edible. And no doubt a bunch more. And the arugula has escaped the garden and comes up everywhere now.

Hey, the Pilgrims used to hunt for their wild onions and other edible plants. You can play Pilgrim. I'll be the Indian.

 

[GLC]

Oh, and I forgot the best, the prickly pear tunas that ripen deep red and can be juiced to make great jelly and iced drinks. Best harvested with tongs, and somewhat painful to clean. And poke around to run the rattlesnakes out first.

The nopals (pads) can be chopped or sliced and boiled or grilled for salad or frittatas or cooked with onions and peppers. There's even an expensive machine, a DESESPINADORA DE NOPAL, that despines and planes the pads. Sliced nopal is always available in the produce section. Tunas in season. But I've got a big and growing patch in the back. When I pick tunas, I toss a few around to spread the seeds.

 

[FrankZ]

Oh, and I forgot the best, the prickly pear tunas that ripen deep red and can be juiced to make great jelly and iced drinks. Best harvested with tongs, and somewhat painful to clean. And poke around to run the rattlesnakes out first.

The nopals (pads) can be chopped or sliced and boiled or grilled for salad or frittatas or cooked with onions and peppers. There's even an expensive machine, a DESESPINADORA DE NOPAL, that despines and planes the pads. Sliced nopal is always available in the produce section. Tunas in season. But I've got a big and growing patch in the back. When I pick tunas, I toss a few around to spread the seeds.

Awesome...

I don't believe that is something we will be growing here though..

 

[Addie]

My Mexican neighbor in Texas showed me how to clean and cook the pads. They were grwing all over my front yard. She would come over and pick them. At first I thought she was some sort of a nut case. But when you slice and cook them, it is like slicing peppers. Any recipe you would use peppers in, you can use the pads from this cactus plant. She had a very thick cotton pad that she made and would roll the fruit around in it to break off the spines. She used them to make jelly. She tried to teach me to make corn tortillas. Lost cause. Mine always fell apart. It was easier to just buy them. And it being Texas, you knew they were always fresh.

 

[GLC]

Awesome...

I don't believe that is something we will be growing here though..

Probably not in the wild, but the family is quite cold tolerant, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are some around. They may look pretty bad in the spring, though. A close relative to these, with similar but differently shaped tunas, makes it in Massachusetts and Montana and in Canada. There are some found in Connecticut. They are all edible, and the seeds can be dried and ground for flour. The flesh can also be boiled down to a dark paste and then slightly fermented. Sliced, it can be good candied. They have to burn the spines off for modern sissy cattle to eat them, but old-time longhorns could deal with them themselves.

I also have some thornless, but they make poor tunas. If you run across one, gather a couple of pads, cut the base off, and let the wound dry and harden and stick it in the ground.

 

[taxlady]

Okay, I have to ask. What part of a cactus is a tuna? I thought tuna was a fish.

 

[Dawgluver]

I've never heard them called tuna either, TL. We can get pickled and fresh nopales at the store here, love them.

They're remarkably hardy. I recall visiting a friend's farm here in Iowa, where he had an arid patch of land, and the wild prickly pear cactus in bloom were breathtaking and prolific. I had no idea at the time that they grew here.

 

[niquejim]

I'm hoping that it cools down at least a bit(I doubt it will) so that my tomatoes will give me a few more before the end of the season. I've got several hundred limes just growing larger than my thumbnail now, the ruby red is flowering and a pineapple is blooming and prepping to be eaten