What did you do in the garden today?

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. I have three compost piles and a tumbler. My compost piles are (1) for garden waste, weeds, leaves and pellet stove ashes. I don't use much of it, The other two are cold compost piles of pine shavings and chicken poo. I add to one for a year then switch to the other pile. The tumbler is not being fed this winter becauser in the past it will freeze up with fresh stuff. I want to be able to use this in the Spring so it's just languishing in the tumbler until then. The weather has cooperated and I was finally able to get the last pile of leaves cleaned up and tossed into the back garden. I got another seed catalog yesterday. It was from Jung. I didn't really look at the prices, just the pictures. Still need to work on the garden plan. I'm thinking of putting in 3 rows of corn in the back garden with some lima beans. On the end that doesn't get as much sunlight I may just plant flowers. I don't have as much garden space as you @ChocolateMouse but I try to plant the vegetables I like and can be preserved for long term storage. I feel like it's more about eating local and minimizing my carbon footprint than about the cost. It's also knowing where your food came from and how it was produced. As mentioned before, my plan is to see what I can raise indoor over the winter. It would be nice to grow my own lettuce and tomatoes so I can cut back on purchasing "fresh" produce that was grown a continent away. So fingers crossed hoping to get something to grow indoors.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I compost during the winter but it’s rarely anything other than the chicken manure and bedding. It’s usually nearly impossible to turn anyway so I almost never try

 

[karenerwin]

@karenerwin I made the fudge...must have done something wrong cuz it’s crumbly. Boo!

Did you liquidize the raw liver in a blender with the water? Or maybe you messed up the conversions from ounces to cups? Mine love the "dust" leftover in the bag when the treats are gone. I pour it on top of their food.

 

[karenerwin]

@karenerwin I really hope your bread turned out well, I to have been trying to get the nerve to start making bread. The most recent bread machine I got is a piece of expensive junk and I really want to make stuffed bread balls and cinnamon rolls. I just will have to suck it up and jump in I guess.

The bread was a big hit! I took 2 loafs to Christmas Eve dinner and my stepdaughter and her husband said I could make that always! I think they said I am on permanent bread making and bringing assignment. MY husband's ex-wife and her husband were there as well and they both loved it too!
I brought 1 loaf from my 2nd try to Christmas dinner and my daughter and her boyfriend said it tastes like "restaurant" bread.
@NewBoots I suggest you go for it! Just be forgiving to yourself if it doesn't turn out the first time. My friend found this recipe on try number 5!!

 

[Acre4Me]

Menards sells seed potatoes (potato tubers not actually seeds) in the Spring near me every year. I believe they are in 3 lb bags for $6-8. They grew well for me in 2019. The 2020 planting got flooded just a week after planting and the potatoes rotted before they got the chance to grow. The catalog prices on potatoes were something like $10/lb. I thought that was insane so I'll hold out for Menards again.

Yes, I've bought from TSC - 5lb bags, I think. They have the basic red, white, and yellow types. Price if fine. Then I've also bought from the local farm store - a few other varieties, but still limited choices. So, this year I purchased some harder to find varieties while they were still available. Pricey, but hopefully they produce well and taste good.

 

[Acre4Me]

Luffa - update!

So, planted luffa seeds direct into ground in June. A bit late - they need a long season and should be started indoors several weeks before planting. Of course, if you want to eat fresh by cooking them when young and green, you can do that. But I wanted to see if we could get "scrubby sponges". I only had a little bit of hope bc we started them so late.

Here they are picked in October just before first big freeze. Decent size, but all green. In areas where there is a longer season, usually they are left to dry on the vine.

We brought them into the house garage and put them up on a high wire shelf so they wouldn't freeze. They really didn't dry out at all - too moist in there, I guess.

One of them was brought into the house, by chance. It is apparently much drier inside!
Here it is. Dry and weighs essentially nothing.

Partially peeled. Fibers are pretty thin, but have heard that this stage is better for gentle cleaning - maybe even for facial scrub.

Looking down the inside from the top.

Cut in half at the middle. Seeds are not fully developed. I'll have to work on getting the seeds out. Not sure that any of the others will be any more fibrous than this. So, this year, I'll definitely start seeds indoors. I did buy an extra packet of a few gourd types last spring, so I will have those to use this spring. These were Burpee packets of seed purchased at Menards.

 

[WthrLady]

just got 7 inches of snow. UGH

 

[Acre4Me]

2021 Seeds Arrived!! I have other seeds I'll start and plant, but just ordered these.

The packets are quite attractive!

These are all things I wouldn't be easily able to find other than mail order. Note the "Ruby Crush grape tomatoes have only 10 seeds!! Yes, I'll count them.

When I couldn't decide which variety to pick....I fell back on the thought "Which varieties are offered in the most options?" Then picked that one when I wasn't sure. This will be a first time with "Currant" type tomatoes....apparently tiny, but worth a try.

 

[karenerwin]

For Christmas my hubby gave me a raised bed kit that includes a small green house on top! I'll have to have him put that together and get some dirt in it soon! After all, it's practically January! He also got me a battery operated chainsaw like my friend has. Hers works great! Now I just need to get my back right again so I can pick up more than 10 pounds.

 

[WthrLady]

Got two more seed catalogs in the mail today. There's a new variety of San Marzano. Hmmmmmmm soooo tempting.