Seed selection and garden plans for 2023

[Callender Girl]

No apology needed! I got my thornless blackberries from a friend who invited me to dig up whatever I wanted because, he said, they spread quite readily. He was completely right! I don't know if all blackberries send out runners as easily as these, but mine have certainly taken up more space than I expected.

I'm not familiar with Contender peaches, but whatever any of us plant, could spring just Hurry Up, please!?!

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

No apology needed! I got my thornless blackberries from a friend who invited me to dig up whatever I wanted because, he said, they spread quite readily. He was completely right! I don't know if all blackberries send out runners as easily as these, but mine have certainly taken up more space than I expected.

I'm not familiar with Contender peaches, but whatever any of us plant, could spring just Hurry Up, please!?!

Haha for real! I really need spring to come a little faster.

And I actually know someone, now that I think of it, who showed me a bunch of blackberry bushes on their property. I might be able to ask if I can snag one! I do also remember them saying they spread, but that should be okay with me because I have a good spot for them.

But yes, praying for spring to come soon!!!

 

[CedarLane]

Sorry for not seeing your reply until now!

I did not know you could make ground cherry pie! That is great because I love to bake. I also like things that are a little tart. I often make apple pie, so it's great to know I can add some of those to make it a little special.

Is there a specific ground cherry recipe you follow or can you just use a general fruit pie recipe and sub the ground cherries?

This is what I usually use:
Ground Cherry Apple Pie (Note: This recipe is for 2 pies)
Filling:
1 c. cold water
1 cup perma flo, clear gel, or cornstarch (I prefer perma flo)
3 c. water
3 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 T. butter
6 c. ground cherries
4 big apples, chopped
Mix 1 c. water with perma flo; set aside. Mix 3 c. water, sugar & salt in a sauce pan; add perma flo mixture. Boil 1 minute or until thick. Add butter. Pour over ground cherries & apples. Mix. Pour into pie shells. Add top crust or a crumb topping. Bake @ 400 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake until done. (30-40 more minutes.
(You can cook the apples with the filling mixture. It will help the flavor go through better.)
It is helpful to place pie on a cookie sheet to bake as it may bake over.

Ground Cherry Pie
Filling:
1 qt. fresh or frozen ground cherries
1 c. water
1 c. sugar
3 T. perma flo or clear gel

Crumbs:
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar (or brown sugar)
1 c. flour

Mix 1st four ingredients. Boil about 3 minutes. Cool. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Top with crumbs. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Turn oven to 350 and bake until done (30-45 min.).
It is helpful to place pie on a cookie sheet to bake as it may bake over.

Optional crumb topping:
1/2 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. butter, softened

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

This is what I usually use:
Ground Cherry Apple Pie (Note: This recipe is for 2 pies)
Filling:
1 c. cold water
1 cup perma flo, clear gel, or cornstarch (I prefer perma flo)
3 c. water
3 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 T. butter
6 c. ground cherries
4 big apples, chopped
Mix 1 c. water with perma flo; set aside. Mix 3 c. water, sugar & salt in a sauce pan; add perma flo mixture. Boil 1 minute or until thick. Add butter. Pour over ground cherries & apples. Mix. Pour into pie shells. Add top crust or a crumb topping. Bake @ 400 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake until done. (30-40 more minutes.
(You can cook the apples with the filling mixture. It will help the flavor go through better.)
It is helpful to place pie on a cookie sheet to bake as it may bake over.

Ground Cherry Pie
Filling:
1 qt. fresh or frozen ground cherries
1 c. water
1 c. sugar
3 T. perma flo or clear gel

Crumbs:
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar (or brown sugar)
1 c. flour

Mix 1st four ingredients. Boil about 3 minutes. Cool. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Top with crumbs. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Turn oven to 350 and bake until done (30-45 min.).
It is helpful to place pie on a cookie sheet to bake as it may bake over.

Optional crumb topping:
1/2 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. butter, softened

Wow thanks so much! Can't wait to give this a try.

 

[Rurumo]

I have way too many seeds in the fridge cold stratifying right now (yarrow, lovage, hyssop, Calendula, bee balm, and a few others) I'm going to end up with way too many for my beds and will have to stick them all over my yard, which is okay. I still couldn't help placing an order with Strictly Medicinal seeds because they have Chickweed, which is surprisingly hard to find, and once I was there I had to pick up some weird herbs I've wanted to grow, like Ashitaba and Andrographis (here is a chicken study, although I bought it for myself, I might end up giving it to my chickens! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9731840/). Strictly Medicinal has killer Greek Oregano, so spicy, I'm hooked on it, and I also love their "temperate" Holy Basil, it's the only Holy Basil I can get to grow.

Off topic but I love how they are studying so many Ayurvedic herbs/spices for chickens in India, to replace antibiotics! The "digestive fire" stimulating herbs especially have some pretty impressive studies, like ginger, cinnamon, hot pepper, pretty much garam masala for chickens.

 

[Coldd]

I always put in a Baker Creek order each year. I'm blanking on all of the million things I ordered (the post above me is very relevant to my life lol), but off the top of my head, I'm really excited about the ground cherry seeds I ordered. I've never grown them or eaten them before but I plan to grow them alongside my tomatoes since I believe they are also a nightshade. I also ordered some huckleberry seeds, as I'm trying to grow more perennial berries. There aren't many fruits I can grow in my zone, so berries it is! I also have a blueberry bush. I planted a dwarf peach tree last fall as well, so we'll see how it develops this year.

Anyone else order anything unusual from Baker Creek this year?

We had some ground cherries thinking they would be like tomatillos, or were tomatillos. We got a million little fruits that would’ve been perfect for jams or anything you might dump sugar into. Else I just would pick them off the plants and pop them into my mouth.

This year we’re focusing on what will cut our grocery bills. Of course I want to try to grow some fun plants (or weirdo’s) but I’d just be happy with a successful garden this year.

Seeds will be starting soon!

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

We had some ground cherries thinking they would be like tomatillos, or were tomatillos. We got a million little fruits that would’ve been perfect for jams or anything you might dump sugar into. Else I just would pick them off the plants and pop them into my mouth.

This year we’re focusing on what will cut our grocery bills. Of course I want to try to grow some fun plants (or weirdo’s) but I’d just be happy with a successful garden this year.

Seeds will be starting soon!

Good to know they are abundant! I've been into canning lately, so I'm sure I could use the ground cherries in some of my jam recipes, or get creative and make something different with them.

And yeah, I'm with you on trying to cut the grocery bill. That's also one of my goals this year as well, but I do still have a few weirdo plants in the mix. I hope to do even more canning this year. I need to find more recipes for tomatoes besides sauce, because I don't think it's the most economical use of them. I did make a Ukrainian "sour and spicy" tomato thing in a jar last year, a recipe I got from the newspaper. I loved it but my fiance does not. I hope to find some good tomato canning recipes so absolutely nothing goes to waste. I'm also hoping to learn to can beans this year (as long as I'm able to keep the groundhogs away from my beans this year).

Anyway, best of luck with your garden! Which tomato varieties are you trying this year?

 

[Coldd]

Anyway, best of luck with your garden! Which tomato varieties are you trying this year?

Sorry I’m so late! We have a standard Roma type, cherries, and yellow pear looking ones. Last year we had a beefsteak variety, I think it was all from Baker Creek.

I think they were Amish Paste, Brandywine, cherries I couldn’t tell you, and the little yellow ones are Yellow Pear? We had a lot of cracking issues on the Brandywines but the taste was great. Amish paste were prolific as were the cherries and Pears. Short growing season so we pulled a lot of green tomatoes to ripen inside.

I’d like to try a yellow or white tomato if some sort. Great White from Baker Ck? There’s too many to choose from.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Sorry I’m so late! We have a standard Roma type, cherries, and yellow pear looking ones. Last year we had a beefsteak variety, I think it was all from Baker Creek.

I think they were Amish Paste, Brandywine, cherries I couldn’t tell you, and the little yellow ones are Yellow Pear? We had a lot of cracking issues on the Brandywines but the taste was great. Amish paste were prolific as were the cherries and Pears. Short growing season so we pulled a lot of green tomatoes to ripen inside.

I’d like to try a yellow or white tomato if some sort. Great White from Baker Ck? There’s too many to choose from.

Sounds great! Yeah I grow a lot of different colored and sized tomatoes from Baker Creek. I've also ordered a few varieties from the Ohio Heirloom Seed Company this year and last. So far I've had great luck with most everything I've ordered from both. There are just certain varieties that have more flavor than others. My favorite for years has been the pork chop tomato (medium to large yellow tomato) from Baker Creek. Very sweet and fruity and slices well.

 

[Rurumo]

Sounds great! Yeah I grow a lot of different colored and sized tomatoes from Baker Creek. I've also ordered a few varieties from the Ohio Heirloom Seed Company this year and last. So far I've had great luck with most everything I've ordered from both. There are just certain varieties that have more flavor than others. My favorite for years has been the pork chop tomato (medium to large yellow tomato) from Baker Creek. Very sweet and fruity and slices well.

I think I've loved every tomato of theirs that I've grown. I did Cherokee Purple and German Pink last year and I think they were my best tomatoes ever.