What did you do in the garden today?

[fuzzi]

I'm cooking collard greens tonight! First time. We'll see if I like them...

How did you cook them?

I made collards in the slow cooker this time instead of on the stove top. It took about six hours. I included a couple bones from our Christmas ham and they added a nice flavor.

 

[fuzzi]

Wow, where, or WHERE have collard greens been all my life?!?!

I freakin' LOVE these!

Growing some, for SURE this next season!

Have I used up my daily allotment of exclamation points yet!?

Before I picked some...

And after...

They don't need the covering, but I think they grew bigger with some cold protection.

 

[Birdsonghill]

View attachment 3717518
Before I picked some...

And after...
View attachment 3717520
They don't need the covering, but I think they grew bigger with some cold protection.

I agree with you about the covers, they will do ok without but thrive under the covers , while they fit!

 

[Sally PB]

I have grown grape. cherry and tommy toe tomatoes under T5 HO 55 watt bulb lights very successfully. Each 6000 K bulb has about 5000 lumens so a five or six bulb light fixture will yield 25,000 to 30.000 lumens and grow about anything. With Fluorescent lighting the lights need to be adjusted to just a few inches or less than 6 inches, above the growing plant tops for best growth. Also get a spare set of bulbs to change out to about 3300K bulbs for better blooming and fruiting performance after the plants are well started and beginning to bloom. Alternately get a LED light with ample lumens(24,000) and about 180 or so watts with a full spectrum for plants. Metal halide and HPS lights used in succession ( for starting and then fruiting) work very well if over 250 watts that yield enough lumens. The threshold is about 24,000 lumens for great results similar outside growth. Coverage and plant numbers are varied by the type of light and size you choose. Don't forget ventilation, moving air keeps them strong and healthy, pay attention to the recommended distance between the light and plants tops for the type of light you choose. If you spend more time with the plants breathing on them or have them in the house with you they are happy and respond to your co2 and constant care.

Thank you for the detailed information!

How did you cook them?

I cooked them in my Instant Pot.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/sallys-gf3-thread.1579174/page-95#post-27391268

I have another bunch in my fridge. I'll be cooking them soon, maybe Thursday or Friday. I really like how well they keep.

 

[fuzzi]

Looking for opinions on varieties of collards. Got a favorite kind?

Also, any info about growing them. I'll bet they like nitrogen, since they're a green. Just so happens... I have some chicken poop that will be ready for them.

They're tough, they don't give a fig. I've seen them covered in snow and ice. It doesn't kill them, they seem to laugh it off!

They do attract the usual cole crop pests in the Spring. I've had very little predation planting them as a Fall crop.

Planted 9/30/23 from seedlings purchased

Oh, I have had cutworms this year, so I started using collars with transplants.

 

[NanaK]

Mustard varieties are my favorite day in and day out cooked greens.

Love the mustards too! Just ate a bunch with supper tonight served with chopped green onion and a drizzle of vinegar. Yum!

How I wish I could simply identify as Zone 9 or 10 and it be true...

Me too. Only then my peonies might not bloom.

 

[fuzzi]

Yup, sinuses. Ive had issues for quite some time, along with the vertigo and ear pain, but it just gets worse every year.

I have had chronic sinus issues including recurring infections for most of my life. I have not had a sinus infection in several years.

What have I done different?

I avoid foods that promote inflammation, allergens, and I also started taking supplements: D, K, zinc and quercetin. These all boost your immune system. Vitamin C is important too.

Inflammatory foods can be nightshade vegetables, corn, corn syrup, citrus (not pineapple). I miss potatoes but I like not having sinusitis more.

 

[fuzzi]

High dose vitamin D is worth a go, im taking 5000iu, but started higher, and i havent had asthma since... 2008. I used be hospitalised.

I have been taking 50k of D for years, but the labs kept coming back at 13, 15, 18 ng/mL It should be at least 30. I read that taking K helps your body absorb D, so I tried it. Within 2 weeks my D level went up to 39! Two years later my blood tested at 63 ng/mL, a couple weeks ago.

Zinc and quercetin work together as well. One doctor described it as zinc being a bullet and quercetin is the gun that shoots the zinc into your cells.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I have been overwintering a couple pepper plants and tomato cuttings this year as a trial to see if it is worth the effort to keep plants alive from year to year or simply start fresh in the spring.

I expected the peppers to go dormant but man they are bushing out and starting to blossom. Only one of 3 pepper cuttings survived the rooting process. Tomatoes are living but getting leggy. I considered plugging in another light or two for the tomatoes but the peppers are doing so well I don’t think will change anything. As long as the tomatoes survive they should snap out of it when they go out to the garden. View attachment 3717442

I'm doing the same thing with 2 pepper plants. Mine had about 6 or 7 fruit on them when I brought them inside. The fruit developed but was smaller than normal. The plants dropped all their flowers over a month ago. Now the leaves look pale and sickly. I'm keeping them in my sunroom with all the other wintering plants. I do have grow lights about 18 inches above them but the temperature stays between 55 - 65 degrees in that room because of all the windows. I assumed they were not doing great because it's chilly for peppers. I'm debating on pruning them down a lot so they have less growth to support until spring. I did toss some rabbit poop in the bucket (mine are in 5 gallon buckets) since it hasn't been fed since it was planted in late spring last year...

 

[TJAnonymous]

We got a hard freeze last night. I pulled back some of the straw to check my little lettuce sprouts. Other than looking a little leggy, they are still alive. I covered them back up again. Maybe tomorrow I will get those cold frames put together and I can use those to protect them instead of the straw... I just hate working outside in the cold. Bleh...