Low Carb Gardening 2007

[Miss Phode]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

Megs, what about planting herbs in pots on a porch or even indoors by a sunny window? Maybe that would give you more options.

[sallyseachange]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

Sounds like there was some amazing stuff at that herb festival. Lovely and sooooo tempting. I know what you mean about wanting to buy up everything!

[not2late]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

The problem is all my sunny spots are filled with potted plants already, Phode. Well, next year, I'll find a space for some new plants.

[MotherOfGizmo]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

I see you got a Bay tree, is it still doing ok Megs? John bought me one a couple of years ago, it did well all summer but I managed to kill it over the winter. Bummer.

[Chicklady]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

A gardening thread!! Oooooooh! Another reason I should have started sooner! I hope you all restart this thread when the seed catalogues come out!!

[boonie stomper]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

Yay! It's nice to see this thread (or at least a reincarnation of the original) has come back to life. It's never too early or late to start low carb gardening.

Last week I was doing some yardwork to get ready for winter, and despite the horrible draught we've been in, I found a few nice surprises. Some of these have been growing in my yard for years, others I replant periodically, then bring in what I can before winter. A few goodies just happen all by themselves right now, as well as in the spring.

Sunchokes AKA Jerusalem artichokes: these flowers resemble a cross between black-eye Susans and sunflowers, and grow a harvest of low-carb tubers. You rip out the old plants when they die back in the Fall, take the larger tubers, and the rest grow back next year. You can't kill them, apparently- I scarcely watered mine this year and I still got a crop. The root can be used raw in salads or added to soups and stews, etc. They have a rather unusual flavor and resemble water chestnuts vaguely, and look sort of like ginger.

Ginkgo Biloba: The Maidenhair tree with its leaves famous for memory improvement and help with some circulation-related disorders has beautiful fan-shaped leaves which turn a brilliant yellow in the fall - just at the best time for harvest and drying (if used medicinally). The leaves (especially spring tender ones) can be used fresh or dried in similar ways that you would use dried parsely flakes in cooking or added greens, if used fresh (remove stems first). They don't add much flavor at all but are very high in fiber and phytonutrients. Plus, any time of year there is still some of the active alkaloids to be had. (Use in moderation - especially if harvested at peak potency!) These trees are a fairly slow growing ornamental if pruned regularly by harvesting new leaf shoots in the spring, and can be grown in bunches in containers. I've got about 100 of these I plan to sell more of on EBAY, doing just fine in recycling bins for 3+ years now. Very Hardy!!

Onions, Garlic, Leeks, Chives: These do not have to be killed to enjoy. The greens make a reappearance in the fall before going dormant, and are a nice salad or stirfry addition. If I buy bunching onions in the store, I chop off the tops and plant the bottoms, and soon can eat them again. Some of these I stick in with my houseplants and bring inside for the winter.

My tomato plants still have tomatoes... In a short while it will be fried green tomato time, when it freezes outside. But inside, I now have small cuttings from all of the plants. They root with no more effort than to remove flowers and lower leaves from 2-6" snips from the side shoots or vine tips and stick into wet dirt in a pot. If I'm lucky, some will survive the long dark months inside and be ready to fruit as soon as I put them out next spring.

What a ramble... I'm sorry, I've just been away from the board way, way, way too long.

One last note- get out there for a walk in the park, and take along some bags! You will find so many delicious wild foods now it isn't funny. All sorts of large thick greens such as chard, mustard, and other similar looking plants all safe to cook up, plus "spring" onions, dandelions & other tender tasties to add to salads..and don't forget some nuts and fruit if you can beat the critters to them (and you are at the proper rung or better). I made persimmon jam 2 weeks ago with the intention of giving it away for christmas, as I don't have a way to do it sugar-free (hint, hint!!) but I did taste & it was delish - cost nothing for the fruit.

I'm not able to travel much except on foot/bike lately, but last year I picked and put up so much of some things I'm set for a good while still with frozen peppers, tomatoes, oyster mushrooms, shelled maple seeds and a gazillion home-grown as well as wild picked herbs...the best thing about low-carb gardening (& foraging) is the money you can save as well as fresh superior flavor.





OK I'll shut up now....

[Chicklady]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

You don't have to shut up....I'll take garden anytime
Another veggie which is tough to kill and will freely reseed itself is russian kale....and it's not near as bitter as the curley kales. Nice flat leaf, with just the tiniest bite, has come back year after year and popped up in various spots were the seeds managed to fly.

My most successful tomatoes this year were ones I didn't grow. I had thrown the chickens some over-ripe tomatoes in the front yard in the spring......well, they were still going strong at first frost, and they've been ripening nicely inside!

[Sherri]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

Nice treasures you've found out there Susan! I live in the great North West where there's ooodles of wild mushrooms out right now. I too have an herb garden throughout the winter and enjoy the fresh hebs in my cooking all year round. I was checking this out the other day www.aerogarden.com , thought I might try growing some tomatoes inside or lettuce this winter. Winters are cold and long here. It would be great to prepare a fresh salad at home without having to run out the door to a store for it. Cool about the tomatoe plant chicklady! My DD grew a roma tomatoe plant from seed this year. I just finished the last of them in a stew last week.

[not2late]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

My garden did okay. I didn't get as high a yeild as I wanted. But I did manage to grow a good deal of herbs--basil, parsley, etc.

I found a neat herb storage recipe that I'm trying out. You chop the herbs, measure them, put them into ice cube trays and fill the trays with water. Freeze as you would ice cubes. Pop them into a plastic bag,label and store in the freezer. To use them, just drop a cube into the whatever you're cooking (sauce, soup, etc.)

According to the recipe, the herbs will taste "fresh".

[Chicklady]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

What a cool idea!!
I dragged my potted rosemary, thyme and oregano in, but my poor chives just got their first taste of snow this morning!

[Sherri]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

My garden did okay. I didn't get as high a yeild as I wanted. But I did manage to grow a good deal of herbs--basil, parsley, etc.

I found a neat herb storage recipe that I'm trying out. You chop the herbs, measure them, put them into ice cube trays and fill the trays with water. Freeze as you would ice cubes. Pop them into a plastic bag,label and store in the freezer. To use them, just drop a cube into the whatever you're cooking (sauce, soup, etc.)

According to the recipe, the herbs will taste "fresh".

I use this technique and it works great. The herbs taste fresh like you just picked them. I use the herb cubes in everything. QUESTION: Does anybody have experience with holiday cactuses? Mine hasn't bloomed in the last two years. Should I be feeding it now? Thank you for any response.

[Chicklady]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

Can't help you with your cactus.....I have a lemon tree that's given me one lemon in 5 years. If it keeps this up, I'm putting it out of my misery!

[Sherri]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

LOL, Thanks anyway Chicklady. I don't know anything about lemon trees. Maybe someone in sunny Cal. or Florida will see this and have some advice. TTYL

[Eno]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

QUESTION: Does anybody have experience with holiday cactuses?

Christmas cactus needs cooler temps (in the 50s) for 6 to 8 weeks to set flower buds, and total darkness at night.

More info here... http://www.humeseeds.com/xmasccts.htm

[FatBottomGirl]

Re: Low Carb Gardening 2007

I received a Aero Garden for X-Mas which I think is pretty cool... Right now I have herbs in it so I can use to enhance the flavor of my meals. Hubby handles the outside garden.. since we live in San Antonio and have been in drought mode not sure what will grow... However, as of today our jalepeno plants are still producing in large quantaties even though he hasn't tended it