What did you do in the garden today?

[igorsMistress]

We planted 2 persimmons this year. One died, and we recently got a replacement for that one. The other one looks good. Hopefully both survive the winter and grow well next year. Looking forward to trying them out eventually.

Here are the two we purchased:

The one that died and was replaced:
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The one that has grown well so far.
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They are very thin trunk-they come with a supporting stick. I think they are supposed to grow fairly quick. They are zone 6+, and we are 6A. Hoping they survive, but we placed them on a south facing slope hoping to give them some extra sun and warmth.

What do you do with the fruit? What does it taste like? Are those the things that leave a taste like nasty armpits after you eat them?

 

[Sally PB]

I cleaned up/out the green house today. I'll be using it to cure my sweet potatoes. I don't have any place that is warm and humid in the house. I'll probably have to spray some water around to get the humidity up.

That's still a couple? few? weeks away yet. We could have 80s the first week of October. A long, warm fall would be nice for the sweet potatoes!

 

[Smokerbill]

I noticed a few zinnia flowers had dropped their petals and turned brown, so I picked them so I can try and plant the seeds next year. I think I'll just throw the seeds around the edges of the yard and see if any of them grow. I'll do the same thing with marigold seeds.

The two or three zucchinis left on my last vine aren't growing at all, so when I run out of squash to eat I'll pick them, pull up the vine and throw it in the chicken run.

I'm not sure what I'll do with the three artichoke plants I have. One made a single bud that I tried eating, and for me it sucked. I never really cared for artichokes. I might move the plants somewhere else, and grow them as flowers. Guess they look pretty cool when they bloom.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good afternoon all. Fortunately Ophelia puttered out after 2
drizzly days then left yesterday afternoon only dropping about an inch of rain. Sunny and lots of blue sky today. Our overnight temperatures are now in the 40’s and daytime in the low 60’s or high 50’s. I’m still getting cucumbers. Slow but two cukes every few days. Not really enough for a batch of pickles. I took the AC units out of the windows yesterday. We went apple picking on Sunday. It was fun, but damp. It started pouring as we were leaving. After picking the cucumbers this morning I walked around to all the garden spots. I got a couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes, an eggplant, some mustard greens, and a good serving of green beans. I’m really enjoying the mustard greens and will be planting even more next season. As for those beautiful leeks you harvested @Acre4Me, I agree with @igorsMistress, they freeze really well. Just cut them into rings and soak them to remove all the dirt and grit, then put them in a freezer bag / food saver bag after they dry. No need to blanch. I love making soup with them. There are a lot of versions for leek soup. I’ve been doing my monthly shopping yesterday and today so tomorrow is laundry and just a wee bit of work on the new chicken coop. The ground is still soggy pretty much everywhere so just walking outside is not great. Have a great day all.

Today’s surprise harvest. I forgot to mention the little jalapeño. There were two growing but I found chipmunk teeth marks in one so I tossed that one and picked the remaining one. Lol!

 

[WthrLady]

Persimmons taste like a grape that had a baby with an apricot. You have to eat them ripe though or they're sour. OVER ripe and OH the stink.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I’m in North Central Massachusetts. We don’t usually get a lot of rain from ocean storms but we did get a lot of rain this summer, over 30 inches of rain since June 1st. We’ve been soggy for quite a while.

 

[akroberts1085]

I went out to my friend’s winery and picked up persimmons! I collected 3 grocery bags: 1 bag was for way to damaged fruit- to be fed to chickens as soon as I get home; bag #2 was for soft fruits- use today and bag #3 was for ripe but more firm fruit. At least that was the plan.
Each bag was about a third full but it was still too much weight for the very soft fruits. They were much more mushed when I got home. But I was still able to use over half of them. I put them through the food mill to get the seeds and skins off. I ended up with a generous cup of persimmon mush/purée. I used it to make a Persimmon Quick Bread. It just came out of the oven!! Smells great!
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I also want to try the Persimmon-Glazed Stuffed Chicken and the Persimmon Jam.
I still have a whole cookie sheet of the best looking persimmons. Plus there were more on the tree that weren’t quite ripe yet.
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I’m also working on making pumpkin pie from the small pumpkins I grew.
Do any of you know if it’s okay to use the pumpkin if it still has a little bit of green inside near the skin?
I watered the garden. I have a lot of self seeded carrots coming up!
Also had my son clean out the 2nd chicken coop ( dirt floor) and had him pile all the dirt and droppings ( 6 months to a year’s worth ) in the garden where nothing is currently growing.

Have you tried making persimmon cookies. My mom made them for Christmas and gave me some and my kids ate most of them.

 

[akroberts1085]

It's been too windy here so not much with the garden. I'm still getting fresh butt nuggets for now. I managed to get some homemade egg noodles made and put them in the freezer. A good hot bowl of chicken and homemade egg noodles is perfect when it's cold weather season.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Just be careful not to tell people too much, please. Weird people come from all over, they put together a name or part of a name and a location and can try to pin you down. They also then hook into all your posts and try to put more and more information together. People are desperate in our weird world. So if you want to amend your post, please do

No worries. North Central Massachusetts is pretty vague. And as for weirdos, I know how to dial 911.

 

[Smokerbill]

The moderators are on their toes today. Good job!