Your 2024 Garden

[NanaK]

I did not get to pick my mustard Monday as planned. We had a problem with our well pump. Took a couple days but we have a new pump, pipe and foot valve.

Then I thought my laptop had died. A few help files and a couple youtube videos later I fixed it. Yay! All is well again!

During this time the mustard got big.

Friday I picked ALOT of mustard. It's been very warm here. I don't want it to try to flower and set seed.

Saturday I washed ALOT of mustard! Whew! Glad that's done. I have 2 13gallon bags of CLEAN mustard ready to be cooked and frozen.

I also gave the chickens almost a bucket full. I didn't wash their's.

I normally like to pick enough at a time for 2-3 meals. Much easier that way. It grows so fast when the weather is right sometimes I can't keep up with the picking.

 

[Nomadicus]

I did not get to pick my mustard Monday as planned. We had a problem with our well pump. Took a couple days but we have a new pump, pipe and foot valve.

Then I thought my laptop had died. A few help files and a couple youtube videos later I fixed it. Yay! All is well again!

During this time the mustard got big.
View attachment 3979383

Friday I picked ALOT of mustard. It's been very warm here. I don't want it to try to flower and set seed.

Saturday I washed ALOT of mustard! Whew! Glad that's done. I have 2 13gallon bags of CLEAN mustard ready to be cooked and frozen.

I also gave the chickens almost a bucket full. I didn't wash their's.

I normally like to pick enough at a time for 2-3 meals. Much easier that way. It grows so fast when the weather is right sometimes I can't keep up with the picking.

Mustard greens are one of my favorite vegetables. Of the greens it is my favorite. I taint mine with a dab of peppery vinegar one my plate.

 

[NanaK]

Collards are looking good. This is more of a test run to see how they do in the winter here.

Collards are a biennial and very hardy. Once they go through a winter they will flower and set seed in early spring. I am growing a strain that has been passed along in my husband family for many years. I save seed about every 2-3 years. Collard seed propery stored can keep up to 10 years but fresher seed will germinate faster.

Once the weather starts to warm late winter/early spring they send up small stems with flowers and then set seed. The bees congregate heavily on the early flowers. The seed is ripe when the tiny pods start to brown.

It is very unusual for me to lose any plants here in eastern NC due to cold. I have lost a few to conditions being too wet.

Also like most brassicas they are even better tasting in cooler weather. To me collards are best tasting after a light frost.

I have some right now "just waiting on that first frost". I'll consider them ready for picking!

I'm trying to remember if I ever have eaten mustard greens. I do like turnip greens, but am not fond of kale.

I do not care for kale either. I grow 2 types of mustard (Old fashioned Hen Pecked and Giant Curled) that I mix as I cook them. I would say the taste is closer to turnip greens than kale.

Locally, mustard greens are called Sallet. I don't know the origin of the word or how common it is elsewhere. If you see a sign at a market or small sellers in this area, it will usually say Sallet for sale.

Some people mix mustard, turnip greens, kale and others and call it Sallet. I suppose it's whatever you grow up with??

 

[NanaK]

Mustard greens are one of my favorite vegetables. Of the greens it is my favorite. I taint mine with a dab of peppery vinegar one my plate.

YUM! Cayenne pepper vinegar? I grow a couple cayenne just for this.

We usually use the cayenne pepper vinegar on collards.

On mustard greens we use green onions chopped in some vinegar.

I have switched the two. It's all good!

 

[Nomadicus]

YUM! Cayenne pepper vinegar? I grow a couple cayenne just for this.

We usually use the cayenne pepper vinegar on collards.

On mustard greens we use green onions chopped in some vinegar.

I have switched the two. It's all good!

Do you also use the Cayenne pepper vinegar on black eyed peas when they are cooked from the early tender stage? There's just something about a pork chop sided with mustard greens and fresh black eyed peas drizzle in vinegar cure with cayenne that satisfies the soul.

 

[NanaK]

Do you also use the Cayenne pepper vinegar on black eyed peas when they are cooked from the early tender stage? There's just something about a pork chop sided with mustard greens and fresh black eyed peas drizzle in vinegar cure with cayenne that satisfies the soul.

Yes! Not just the black eyes but also sometimes the purple hull peas also!

My Grandfather would bite the raw cayenne as he ate his peas and biscuit. I could never do that!
I am a wimp with super hot stuff.
Mixed in...yes. A bite of cayenne alone? NO, not me!

 

[Nomadicus]

When I say Black Eyes I should say summer or field peas or cow peas in general. We grew zipper creams and purple hulls this year and I think I liked the purple hulls the best. The purple hulls produced more and were actually the easiest to shell.

 

[NanaK]

When I say Black Eyes I should say summer or field peas or cow peas in general. We grew zipper creams and purple hulls this year and I think I liked the purple hulls the best. The purple hulls produced more and were actually the easiest to shell.

Yes all are cow/field peas but each tastes a little different.

 

[Nomadicus]

We wrapped up the 2024 season up today with the exception of 11 collard plants that will carry over into 2025. 8 jalapeno plants gave us a peach basket full that must have weighed close to 30lbs. (Or I'm just getting weaker). We also got two gallons of cayenne with a few poblano peppers. There were enough eggplant to feed us a couple of weeks too. It's all over but the tilling the residue in to decompose.

 

[fuzzi]

Forecast last night was for frost, so I covered some of my plants, including the bed that still has lettuce growing in it.

We didn't quite get there, about 36°F, but I expect we'll have a true freeze in the next week or so.