What did you do in the garden today?

[Smokerbill]

Frost is in the forecast for Monday/Tuesday. I work weekends so today was the day for closing the garden. I picked everything that looked edible. The pumpkins were not quite ripe but I think they are close enough to finish off the vine. I gave the chickens their last garden fresh salad of the season. And prepared 6 pepper plants for overwintering.

I also planted around 80 strawberries earlier this week. They were just transplants from all the plants they are spilling out the borders of my strawberry patch. I have been mowing over them all summer and they keep coming back so I figured I would try giving them their own space to live. I planted them in 2 40 ft rows. I want to try long rows so I can harvest them without walking on top of plants.
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Nice harvest! Is that kohlrabi in the first picture? How is it eaten?

 

[Tstraub]

Nice harvest! Is that kohlrabi in the first picture? How is it eaten?

Yea that is kohlrabi specifically superschmeltz kohlrabi. If you let Vienna get that big it will have the texture and taste of tree bark. For fresh eating it’s hard be beat simply slicing it thin and eating it raw with a bit of salt. It taste sort of like a fresh cauliflower or a turnip.

Most of it will get cubed up into 1 inch ish pieces the blanched and frozen in quart size bags. When I’m ready to eat it I put it into the steamer for 30 minutes to thaw and start to cook then it goes into a casserole dish with butter, cheese, and bacon bits if I have them and cooked until it’s fork tender. It tastes a lot like broccoli when cook that way. My broccoli always goes to seed and kohlrabi always grows well here so every year I plant less broccoli and more kohlrabi

 

[Smokerbill]

Yea that is kohlrabi specifically superschmeltz kohlrabi. If you let Vienna get that big it will have the texture and taste of tree bark. For fresh eating it’s hard be beat simply slicing it thin and eating it raw with a bit of salt. It taste sort of like a fresh cauliflower or a turnip.

Most of it will get cubed up into 1 inch ish pieces the blanched and frozen in quart size bags. When I’m ready to eat it I put it into the steamer for 30 minutes to thaw and start to cook then it goes into a casserole dish with butter, cheese, and bacon bits if I have them and cooked until it’s fork tender. It tastes a lot like broccoli when cook that way. My broccoli always goes to seed and kohlrabi always grows well here so every year I plant less broccoli and more kohlrabi

I bet it could be shredded and fermented like sauerkraut too. Interesting. I might try growing some since I can't grow broccoli either. I did ok with cauliflower this year, though.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Did not have broccoli or cauliflower at all this year will let the starts get bigger this year.

 

[Tstraub]

I bet it could be shredded and fermented like sauerkraut too. Interesting. I might try growing some since I can't grow broccoli either. I did ok with cauliflower this year, though.

When I put it in the steamer the whole house smells like cabbage so I bet it would ferment into a sauerkraut. They all came from the same wild plant. I planted broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi this year and the kohlrabi is the only thing that was able to thrive. The broccoli bolted early, and the cabbage worms got the Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower. The kohlrabi took some leaf damage but the plant coped with it well enough.

 

[Tstraub]

Did not have broccoli or cauliflower at all this year will let the starts get bigger this year.

My chickens had tier fill of broccoli. Well seasoned with cabbage worms.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

I think one of my neighbors saw me digging dumped pots out of the woods the other day because when I went to retrieve one that had blown onto the lawn I found they had multiplied.

 

[TJAnonymous]

My new solution to keep my cocoa tree and vanilla bean orchid alive over the winter. Both require high humidity to stay alive and healthy. This isn't a problem in the summer but winter is another story because I have to bring them inside. They will be damaged by temps under 50 degrees and die in temps below 40.

So I bought this indoor grow tent. It's 99% light proof which is important because it is set up in my bedroom. Grow lights and humidifier are set up on a timer automatically. There is ventilation which I currently have mostly closed off so I will need to watch it closely and adjust as necessary. Trying to keep the humidity in...

My biggest concern is the lighting. I'm using grow lights which I usually use for seedlings. Both the cocoa and vanilla bean are rainforest plants which typically live in bright, indirect light. Concerned this might be too much for them... If so, maybe put some cheesecloth or something to use as a filter? Not sure...

 

[Jenbirdee]

picked 2 tomatoes and a yellow pepper

 

[Jenbirdee]

we're creeping up on week 8 of no rain.

no rain here in months either