What did you do in the garden today?

[esturtz27]

What a beautiful autumn day! The high today was 61 and we went to the zoo. Then I remembered why I don't like zoos my quiet, gentle, sweet natured 21 month old got overwhelmed but only teared up once because apparently rhinos are terrifying. The chickens think the garden is the best place to lay and I found a dozen in their hiding spot when we got home. I harvested a good bunch of lacinto kale and some greens to put in the paprika sausage potato soup...I used my mom's tomato paste too it was lovely.
Today has been full of surprises! First a scary rhino and then at the mail box my autumn seeds!! With an apology note and a shipping refund. Apparently, the owner of ufseeds is in California right now to support family but she has had some when the cat is away problems and lost staff. I'm just happy to have the seeds even though they are a bit late for autumn planting.
Have a great weekend folks...I'm off to enjoy the evening with a good beer in my hammock. Fingers crossed we don't get the crud the zoo was crowded.

 

[NewBoots]

It’s autumn over the farm. The tomato green house was turned into a winter plant green house. We have cauliflower, broccoli, different kinds of radish, Roman artichoke, hilde beans, and Swiss chard.
Here are a few pictures.

Beautiful pictures!

Bees in the borage!!!! I bet there were 15-20 in that one plant!

Borage really brings in the bees! Here I find that borage brings honey bees, comfrey brings bumble bees, and yarrow and fennel bring in the various native pollinators.

Now I just have to convince DH that romaine is better than iceberg lettuce. That crap is just crunchy water.

The first time we asked a friend to bring the salad to a get together, he brought a head of iceberg lettuce and a hothouse tomato...We've never let he forget it. I'm so sorry you got the crud, I got my delta covid booster yesterday with the flu shot. No reaction to either shot other than the flu shot feeling like a donkey kicked me.

We have a new brooder!!

Wow! That is a thing of beauty and a joy for ever! I am so envious, I love those folding doors.

Second batch of sweet potatoes are curing. Day 3. Heater is on 75/eco setting, with a bowl of water onto. Its keeping it pretty warm in there - it generally is between 84-89F in the tent. What looks like the white circle is just the thermometer wire curled around.

Wow, I had no idea that sweet potatoes needed to be cured but your set up looks great. How do you store them after they're cured? DP's sweet potatoes are still hale and hearty so we haven't harvested them yet.

Cleared the card table of ripe tomatoes and processed 6 pints and 1 qt of sauce.

I filled the table again and right now the weather looks to hold so I should be able to get nearly all the tomatoes to ripen indoors. I've decided that next year I'll still plant a good deal of San Manzanos (really good sauce producers), any determinants I can get, and one sweet 100. Okay, maybe one beefsteak, they're such awesome slicers. The determinants are well behaved and need no pruning and don't get the crazy thick growth that encourages mildew and mold. My peppers produced surprisingly well given our cool climate, and having the pots on the south side of the greenhouse makes all the difference. The wax beans were a technical success and the only fail was my waiting too long to pick them. The cucumbers were a massive win, the only change there will be to use a bigger and taller trellis. The zucs will get scattered around the beds instead of clustering together in one bed, that should help with the mildew issues, and I'll pay attention to which ones are trellis candidates too.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Tomatillo salsa, and we make a spicy pumpkin stew that calls for tomatillos and hominy.

That sounds really good! I would love to get the recipe! I'm still trying to use up all of my pumpkins, lol.
I just did a week long pumpkin recipe collaboration on YouTube and it only used up 2 pumpkins. They go such a long way! Lol I both love that fact and don't know how I can possibly use them all.

 

[Acre4Me]

That sounds really good! I would love to get the recipe! I'm still trying to use up all of my pumpkins, lol.
I just did a week long pumpkin recipe collaboration on YouTube and it only used up 2 pumpkins. They go such a long way! Lol I both love that fact and don't know how I can possibly use them all.

I’ll look for the recipe and post later. From “Vegetarian Times” magazine years ago, but as meat eaters, we find that turkey or sausage pairs exceptionally well with it!

 

[Acre4Me]

Beautiful pictures!

Borage really brings in the bees! Here I find that borage brings honey bees, comfrey brings bumble bees, and yarrow and fennel bring in the various native pollinators.

The first time we asked a friend to bring the salad to a get together, he brought a head of iceberg lettuce and a hothouse tomato...We've never let he forget it. I'm so sorry you got the crud, I got my delta covid booster yesterday with the flu shot. No reaction to either shot other than the flu shot feeling like a donkey kicked me.

Wow! That is a thing of beauty and a joy for ever! I am so envious, I love those folding doors.

Wow, I had no idea that sweet potatoes needed to be cured but your set up looks great. How do you store them after they're cured? DP's sweet potatoes are still hale and hearty so we haven't harvested them yet.

Cleared the card table of ripe tomatoes and processed 6 pints and 1 qt of sauce.
View attachment 3285177
I filled the table again and right now the weather looks to hold so I should be able to get nearly all the tomatoes to ripen indoors. I've decided that next year I'll still plant a good deal of San Manzanos (really good sauce producers), any determinants I can get, and one sweet 100. Okay, maybe one beefsteak, they're such awesome slicers. The determinants are well behaved and need no pruning and don't get the crazy thick growth that encourages mildew and mold. My peppers produced surprisingly well given our cool climate, and having the pots on the south side of the greenhouse makes all the difference. The wax beans were a technical success and the only fail was my waiting too long to pick them. The cucumbers were a massive win, the only change there will be to use a bigger and taller trellis. The zucs will get scattered around the beds instead of clustering together in one bed, that should help with the mildew issues, and I'll pay attention to which ones are trellis candidates too.

Yes, news to me too! But, sweet potatoes are fragile with thin skin and have little taste straight from the ground. With curing, small nicks in the skin heal, and they develop their sweet taste. Generally, instructions are to cure at 85F at 90-95% humidity. If cured at lower temps (like 70F), it takes longer for the curing process. And all sources seemed to indicate to store no lower than 55F or they may not keep very long. Store gently, and I think, not touching, if possible. The first batch is in clean, chopped straw in the wood bins(with wire mesh bottoms) in our garage.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I’ll look for the recipe and post later. From “Vegetarian Times” magazine years ago, but as meat eaters, we find that turkey or sausage pairs exceptionally well with it!

We actually eat plant based so that sounds even more perfect for me! I'll see if I can find it on their website.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Yes, news to me too! But, sweet potatoes are fragile with thin skin and have little taste straight from the ground. With curing, small nicks in the skin heal, and they develop their sweet taste. Generally, instructions are to cure at 85F at 90-95% humidity. If cured at lower temps (like 70F), it takes longer for the curing process. And all sources seemed to indicate to store no lower than 55F or they may not keep very long. Store gently, and I think, not touching, if possible. The first batch is in clean, chopped straw in the wood bins(with wire mesh bottoms) in our garage.

Curing increases the shelf life but I honestly noticed very little difference in flavor when we ate them right out of the ground vs curing. You'll have to let me know if you notice a difference.

 

[Acre4Me]

We actually eat plant based so that sounds even more perfect for me! I'll see if I can find it on their website.

Years ago might be 20 years ago…

The recipe is “spicy pumpkin stew” as I recall, and indicates to bake inside a pie pumpkin, which we have done several times. But, now we cube the pumpkin in fairly large cubes and cook as a stew with rest of ingredients - works great.

 

[Acre4Me]

Curing increases the shelf life but I honestly noticed very little difference in flavor when we ate them right out of the ground vs curing. You'll have to let me know if you notice a difference.

We didn’t try any not cured. But the ones I ate after 10 days curing were quite tasty and sweet on their own. I gave some of those to my neighbor (born in Louisiana and lived there till age 40), and he though they needed a little more curing, but tasted very good. So, this batch I’ll cure for 2 weeks.

 

[WthrLady]

That's awesome! I need a pond here. I bet I would almost never have frost with our mild winters. lol

This is a 6,000 acre, deep water lake.