What did you do in the garden today?

[Sally PB]

Welded wire fencing rolls have an excellent memory, and it would've been nearly impossible for me to try and unroll it from post to post, then attach it, by myself.

So true. It took DH and me to do it.

If they sold carrots with the tops, somebody trying to follow a recipe calling for
"2 cups of grated carrots" might include the tops in those two cups and end up with not such a good carrot cake. Which reinforces your premise that the USA is severely lacking in food and nutrition education!

Yeah, I can see that happening. Like the person who put a plastic measuring cup of water into the cavity of the Thanksgiving turkey, because the recipe said, "Place a half cup of water in the cavity," and the cup melted.

I'm 62, and I was forced to take "home economics" in middle school along with all the girls, and all the boys had to take woodworking. The class was pretty basic, I think the most complicated thing we cooked was grilled cheese-and-tomato sandwiches, and there were no "economics" involved, which might have been useful if they'd taught us "you can save money on greens if you cut off the carrot tops, cook them separately and serve them as a green vegetable."

We had the same thing in my school. All the kids took 12 weeks of Home Ec (cooking and sewing), 12 weeks of wood shop, and 12 weeks of art. I think it was a good idea for everyone to take all three classes. I learned respect for tools, made a couple of projects.

 

[igorsMistress]

Good morning gardeners. It’s beautiful outside and as I understand it our temps are going to cool further. I am definitely looking forward to that. Hubs has to work next weekend so the boys and I will be out to work on the yard. Bulk trash also, woo hoo. Then we can finish tearing down the old garden walls and put up the raised beds. I’m so ready to get outside, like when y’all are waiting for Spring. I have some hikes planned for weekends that hubs has to work also, he’s not able to hike due his knees so I’m going by myself. No dogs, no kids, just me and the trails and some peace and quiet. The dog found a quail on the shade sail out back this morning, it’s a little fatty but so cute. Couldn’t get a good pic, it went onto the roof before I could get my phone. I hope we’ll see more!

 

[littledog]

Starting to get more tomatoes, picked enough for a salad today.

Zucchini keeps producing, so today I made a roast using them cut up chunky, the last of last years' potatoes, a few fresh carrots, supermarket mushrooms and onions, a cauliflower from the dollar bin, and a pork package from our local farm, of "country ribs." No bones in it, just strips of rib meat with a bit of fat. Put it all in a turkey roaster in the oven at 450 for 1hr 15 min, turned out perfect!

Butternuts are close to ripening. Still huge, healthy, and so many, I'm sure to start picking this week, fingers crossed.

But what makes me deliriously happy, is the dahlias! OMG! Here's what I cut and put in a vase today so we can enjoy them day and night:

I've never had so many varieties. In the past I had the purple ones in the back, and pink ones that were similar in form. The orange ones with compact petals, I've admired them before but growing them is amazing. The little ones with yellow centers, I've never grown them either. The giant red ones are so beautiful.
I enjoy cutting a few to put in a vase for indoors, but watching them grow in the garden makes my heart surge. More and more are blooming - a giant, tall plant with huge red ones, a 3ft plant with the orange ones, tons of beautiful flowers keep blooming. The little cuties keep producing more and more flowers, and several other plants are starting to form blooms, I can't wait to see them!

This joy in my life is all due to Sueby!

 

[jerryse]

Sowed wildflower seeds Black-eyed Susans and Brown-eyed Susans also some Hollyhock. Made squash fries. DW likes them so we eat more squash. Low carb fries for 2 old diabetics.

 

[igorsMistress]

Sowed wildflower seeds Black-eyed Susans and Brown-eyed Susans also some Hollyhock. Made squash fries. DW likes them so we eat more squash. Low carb fries for 2 old diabetics.

Squash fries are delicious!

 

[Dadanga]

Haha, it's kinda funny. Things are starting to heat up down here. At least the rain seems to have stalled. All the chilli seedlings I have planted seem to be coming up. Happy about that since I always struggle. There's still lots of chores to be done. I have two raised garden beds that need attention and another raised bed that I use for pumpkins is coming apart and needs colorbond in the corners. Went to bunnings/nutrien to buy more seeds. Most excited about the golden nugget pumpkin as I heard instead of sprawling it grows kinda like squash/zuchini.

 

[RebelFord81]

Picked a surplus of jalapeños guess I'm making hot pepper jelly today lol I have more cowboy candy then I know what to do with already

 

[RebelFord81]

Yesterday I dried 2 jars worth

of tomatoes for sundried tomatoes

 

[fuzzi]

I'm 62, and I was forced to take "home economics" in middle school along with all the girls, and all the boys had to take woodworking. The class was pretty basic, I think the most complicated thing we cooked was grilled cheese-and-tomato sandwiches, and there were no "economics" involved, which might have been useful if they'd taught us "you can save money on greens if you cut off the carrot tops, cook them separately and serve them as a green vegetable."

The boys' woodworking class was just as basic, pretty much how to measure and cut. In our class was a group of boys who were seriously into drawing, designing and creating intricate model boats and ships, and they were way more advanced at woodworking than what the class taught. They wanted to learn sewing so they could make cool patterns on their sails and make them look realistic.

A group of us went to the Principal to petition for the option to choose between woodworking and home economics, or both, we were told unequivocally "NO" and it turned into a big drama, with parents involved.

I really believe the reason why they kept us separated us like this, was in between sewing and grilled cheese sandwiches, were the main lessons they wanted us to learn - about periods, tampons, hygiene, being "ladylike," "keep a magazine in your lap while holding hands with a boy" basically keep your physicality hidden and don't be yourself around the male gender.
The boys learned (the bits they told me, there was more about puberty issues they were embarrassed to talk about) basically, "Be a man! and don't cry if the saw cuts off your finger!

Your experience in school sounds like mine.

I wanted to take IA ("Industrial Arts"), asked, but wasn't allowed because I was a girl. I discovered that I knew more than the Home Ec teacher, in sewing, cooking, cleaning. She endeavored to make my class time as miserable as possible, probably because I didn't want to take her class. I learned nothing from that experience except that some teachers are bullies.

But look at what I can do!

 

[Smokerbill]

The first planting of brussels sprouts have, what are they called? sprouts? but they don't look like I expected. They are just loose rosettes or small clumps of leaves too disorganized to be called a rosette at all. Is this because of the variety? or what the first ones usually look like? or is the weather being too hot for them? Did I not pay close enough attention to them soon enough (but the ones higher on the stem don't look like that is the case)? Something else?

Yep, hot weather can cause Brussels sprouts to bolt, and it sounds like that's what's happening to yours. Everything I've read recommends that BS should be planted as a fall crop so they don't have to deal with heat.

I put a fall crop of BS starts in the ground about 6 weeks ago. I don't know if they'll produce sprouts, but at least I'm trying!



Another thing that caused BS to bolt is overwintering. They are a biennial plant, and grow the root system the first year, and go to seed the second year.

Or you could screw up like I did this year. I figured that getting the BS in the ground as early as possible was a good thing to do, so I set out plants in February. Did a lot of work to keep them covered and protected from the snow, and they lived.

Once it warmed up, they took off growing. And when they started making sprouts they were the same as yours. Open, flowery like things, and not tight sprouts.

I learned that if BS are set out too early, and experience enough cold weather (even when they're small plants), it tricks them into "thinking" that they've survived a winter, and it's time to produce seeds when they start growing. It's called vernalization, I think.

So they don't like too much cold weather early on, or hot weather, which is why it's recommended they're planted late summer. Probably depends on the local climate too.

My first attempt that bolted didn't go to waste, though. I picked all the nice leaves and fluffy "sprouts" and cooked them up as greens. They were full flavored, to say the least. But probably full of all kinds of vitamins and minerals too.