What did you do in the garden today?

[Sally PB]

I dug 2/3 of the potatoes. My back is saying that's enough for the day, and I'm going to listen.

I dug the Kennebec and the Caribou. Kennebec certainly performed better. I don't think I'll plant Caribou again. The 1/3 I haven't dug yet are Elba, and last year they did the best of the three.

 

[WthrLady]

I picked enough green beans to can another 5 pints! Every little bit helps. And thanks to everyone that gave me ideas on my roma's end rot. Looks like I'll start saving egg shells. Do I just grind them up and mix in the soil?

I dry mine in the oven and them crush into a powder and mix with baby aspirin, and epsom salts and bone meal.
3 dozen crushed egg shells. 2 cups bone meal. 1/2 cup Epsom salts and 10 smashed baby aspirin

 

[tripletfeb]

I dry mine in the oven and them crush into a powder and mix with baby aspirin, and epsom salts and bone meal.
3 dozen crushed egg shells. 2 cups bone meal. 1/2 cup Epsom salts and 10 smashed baby aspirin

Thanks, I'll try it!

 

[pennyJo1960]

I actually put whole eggs in the shell on my tires I planted this year ..
Morning Gardeners. I am thrilled have 6 pullets to put in my banty coop

 

[WthrLady]

I use a Tablespoon per planting hole at transplant, and then another tablespoon per week or every two weeks, depending on rainfall amounts. More rain, do it more often.

 

[NewBoots]

The good news is these bugs don't have a taste for chard so there's that.

I very rarely have trouble with much damage to the chard, even the slugs and snails only do a tiny amount of damage.

@Sueby were you the one that was looking for ideas for a Christmas jam or jelly? I came across a recipe ( I have not made it yet). It is for " Caramel Apple Coffee Jam".
We don't drink coffee so I have to make a special effort to get some so I can make this. I think it sounds like something that a lot of people will like. If you are interested, let me know and I will write out the directions.

I made a copy of the Ball/Kerr recipe myself, I have 2 big bags of apples attracting fruit flies and I think I'll start on them tomorrow, today is another tomato processing day.

Anywho, for the past 3 days, I've been harvesting beech nuts, and they are on a rack in the kitchen to cure. I thought they'd get darker as they cured, but I was wrong.

I've heard if beech nuts but know nothing at all about them. What are they like? What do you use them for?

Question for you gardener peeps. Every year that I plant roma tomatoes, they get end rot. I heard that is from not enough calcium in the soil. Can I just grind up my chicken's egg shells and put those in the soil through the winter? Or is adding lime better?

I use bone meal and once when I was desperate I used some powdered milk in the hope it would be quickly usable by the plants. Not sure how much difference it made since I rarely have many fruit with ber.

All the mash I milled out is in the dehydrator, 3 trays. That ought last him a year or so.

What do you do with the dried millings? And now I'm wondering if I should try drying out the millings from the tomatoes?

Got another inch of rain last night on top of the 2 inches we had the day before. Getting a lot of split tomatoes now, especially the cherries. I can't complain, we really needed the rain.

 

[sourland]

Still picking tomatoes. The heirlooms tend to rot on the plant this time of year so I have been picking them semi ripe.

 

[Sueby]

That's because nobody (or nothing) really likes chard.

I made a copy of the Ball/Kerr recipe myself, I have 2 big bags of apples attracting fruit flies and I think I'll start on them tomorrow, today is another tomato processing day.

Let me know how it is. I think it sounds really good.

What do you do with the dried millings? And now I'm wondering if I should try drying out the millings from the tomatoes?

Use it as is & its like red pepper flakes & then process some into a powder - sort of like cayenne powder. I use tons of both of those things. I wonder what your could use the tomato stuff for - maybe just as a flavoring? Or where you'd use paste? Wait - here you go! https://wellpreserved.ca/dehydrated-tomato-skin-and-seeds-leftovers-from-sauce-day/

eta: I think tomato powder sounds great in a dry rub! (per the site above)

 

[pennyJo1960]

I use young chard and young swiss chard young in salads

 

[Isadora]

That's because nobody (or nothing) really likes chard.

I love it cooked in a skillet with butter, than some acv thrown over it before serving