What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

Why is squash sooooo hard?! Between VB, squash bugs & mildew I don't even know why we bother. Ugh! But speaking of, the squash seeds I threw out there a couple days ago are coming up. We're fools for squash I suppose.

So check out this cucumber - holy cow, it's 16 inches long & doesn't fit in my harvest basket. The others only fit because they curled, lol. I will definitely look for this type again next year. & then plant half as much. They don't get seedy no matter how big. I'm taking all these to work, someone will be happy to have then. & tomorrow I'll pick just as many & I'll make soup & bread with them.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

45min!!

I’ve cooked Cornish cross chickens in the pressure cooker - 10-12 min at pressure. Completely cooked. Last night I put two in at the same time (they fit without overfilling the pot), and 12 min at pressure worked just fine to cook both birds at once. So, 45 min sounds sooo long! We have had some tough birds that were prepared in ways that were very wrong for males as we have come to learn, so I guess 45 min under pressure could soften them up pretty well.

I probably need to verify, but I had some 1-2 year old roosters that we processed. I know they took much longer to tenderize than a store bought hen. May have been from frozen though. I just know those guys were in their muscular prime. They were suitable for chicken salad after a long cook. I still have some in the freezer. Sure was nice and quiet when my bachelor flock went bye bye.

 

[chickengr]

Reminds me of the story how to cook an old hen. You put the old hen in a big pot of boiling water along with some rocks and your veggies. You let everything cook in the boiling water for about an hour. Then you take out the chicken and eat the rocks.

More seriously, the French have some chicken meal that starts with a 2-3 year old chicken. Younger chickens I guess are too tender. I cannot remember what the dish is called, but here in the US the French restaurants have a hard time serving the dish because most commercial chicken growers do not have chickens that old. If someone knows what I am talking about and can name that chicken dish, please let me know.

Dear Wife asked me about cooking up our hens when they basically stop laying eggs. I told her that I do not know if they would be worth the effort. I saw a YouTube video of Joel Salatin and he was feeding his old chickens directly to his pigs. I thought that was probably a good idea from his farming point of view. I know many people here on the BYC forum might not approve, but his chickens are not his pets, so he found the best use for the old chickens as he made room for his new chicks.

I make soup (broth?) of old chickens. just boil them longer in a pressure cooker. that is my favourite.

 

[Acre4Me]

Why is squash sooooo hard?! Between VB, squash bugs & mildew I don't even know why we bother. Ugh! But speaking of, the squash seeds I threw out there a couple days ago are coming up. We're fools for squash I suppose.

So check out this cucumber - holy cow, it's 16 inches long & doesn't fit in my harvest basket. The others only fit because they curled, lol. I will definitely look for this type again next year. & then plant half as much. They don't get seedy no matter how big. I'm taking all these to work, someone will be happy to have then. & tomorrow I'll pick just as many & I'll make soup & bread with them.
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What type of cucumber?

We have been quite unsuccessful with cucumbers - a few, but hardly worth the space they take up as they die from wilt quickly. Although it seems the bitter ones survive longest....go figure. So, still trying seeds to find ones that work for us.

 

[Acre4Me]

Vine borers usually won’t mess w butternuts. I always plant one Waltham & one Honeynut in case the rest get decimated.

I'm growing these too. However, the butternuts are not nearly as happy/productive as last year. I gave them fertilizer yesterday, maybe they will perk up. The honey nut (semi bush, I think) are doing even less well. I have 8 planted (although somewhat close together since they are a compact plant), but only have 2 squash developing.

 

[Sueby]

What type of cucumber?

I believe they are Suyo Long. Seem very resistant to everything here. I haven't had any luck with cukes in years between the cuke beetles & wilt and these are perfect, not even a blemish on a single leaf. I think they'd be worth a shot for you as we seem to have the same issues.

 

[chickengr]

I probably need to verify, but I had some 1-2 year old roosters that we processed. I know they took much longer to tenderize than a store bought hen. May have been from frozen though. I just know those guys were in their muscular prime. They were suitable for chicken salad after a long cook. I still have some in the freezer. Sure was nice and quiet when my bachelor flock went bye bye.

I cook old chickens about 1 hour. I sometimes use meat in sandwiches.

 

[Iluveggers]

I'm growing these too. However, the butternuts are not nearly as happy/productive as last year. I gave them fertilizer yesterday, maybe they will perk up. The honey nut (semi bush, I think) are doing even less well. I have 8 planted (although somewhat close together since they are a compact plant), but only have 2 squash developing.

Aww darn. My bush honeynut is outgrowing everything! I have a honey delicata bush directly next to it with no female flowers yet, but my honeynut has 3 medium sized fruits. No fruit on any of my other winter squash yet, come to think of it. All planted at the same time...so strange!
Maybe it was a good spot of soil? I can’t ever figure these things out!

 

[BullChick]

I can’t remember when I planted the potatoes, but I wanted to harvest a bag to see what I had. I knew I had a few at least.
In addition to a lot of pea and lima bean sized potatoes, here’s what I found. I’m not disappointed at all.

Here are the mammoth pumpkins I see.

And, I couldn’t have pumpkins without bees!

 

[Ascholten]

squash, I have found that, he who cares less, gets the best. They are so temperamental, I am tired of trying to keep them happy, and am convinced that EVERY squash plant is a female, you will NEVER make it happy, no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try !

I just try to keep a lot of water on them, they love it but NOT standing in it, and let them do their thing and get used to the fact that probably one out of every 20 flowers will turn into a squash, and probably 1 out of every 5 of those will actually hang around to be eaten.

and god help you if your frickin chikkin sees it, it'll be gone then too !! Yes they are very good but such a pain to get / keep going, oh and lets not forget wanting to take over every other planter in the yard too...

Aaron