2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

[SunnySmile501]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

I started my first ever jar of tarragon vinegar, today. This is my first year growing and using tarragon. I love it, so far. From what I've read, though, mine might not be true tarragon. It doesn't have any anise or licorice flavor at all.

The real deal is Artemisia dracunculus and my pack of seeds (Ferry-Morse) calls it Artemisia Redowski.

When one buys seed labeled "tarragon" from certain German nurseries it is likely to be Artemisia redowski, which is quite different in taste from true tarragon and is a more vigorous plant.

Anyway, I like what I have, but will try to find true tarragon plants.

Sunny!

[Purple Crayon]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

Have never tried it, but i understand the flowers from the squash family are really tasty too. Anyone eaten them?

No, I haven't eaten them, but for the last 2 years I've tried growing zucchini and something eats the blossoms before I ever get any fruit.

Anyone have any ideas on how to prevent this? I've sprayed the blossoms with cayenne pepper, put rabbit wire around and over them and something still eats the blossoms clean off.

[Purple Crayon]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

Well, I have discovered a brand new 'favorite' salad green. I planted salad mix mesclun and spicy mix mesclun and arugula rocket was in both mixes. I absolutely love it. It tastes just like 'creasy greens' or dryland cress, which is my favorite green, available only in the very early spring. I'm going to get a pack of arugula and plant a bunch of it.

Sunny!

What are 'creasy greens'?

[Purple Crayon]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

Well my garden is pretty simple compared to all y'all's.

I've got beefsteak tomatoes and spaghetti squash in a raised bed in the back yard. I've got green beans in pots on the screened porch. I've also got rosemary in a pot on the porch and oregano and sage in hanging baskets. Would like to try basil again. Something usually eats more of it than I do.

[sadie147]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

I took a chance and planted my garden this weekend, the temps are going dangerously low at night, but no frost luckily..so i thought i'd try anyway.

Like purplecrayon my garden's pretty simple. My chives and Rhubarb from last year have come back and are doing very well, along with that I planted Tomato, Jalepenos, red peppers. I have a raspberry bush from last year that didn't do much..i'm leaving it to see if it blooms this year.

We have a cottage up north, it's still too early to plant up there..theyr'e still getting frost..but in pots I've started watermelon and corn..we have alot of room up there so I thought i'd take my chance at a couple of corn stalks. It will be a first for me..alot of the farms up there grow corn so i do know it's possible. I've grown watermelon up there before but started them too late so they weren't big enough by the time the cold weather set in. I'm hoping starting the seeds now will give them more time, probably 3-4 weeks before i can plant up there.

I'm pretty useless at gardening so i try to stick with the easy stuff. I did well with my tomatos last year but the raccoons got enjoy them more than i did lol.

[SunnySmile501]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

be sure to get the taosted tahini (like Joyva brand) The untoastd is wicked bland. It actually blends with water, which for such an oily thing is weird! i mix it with almost even portions of kefir or water, then add whatever I'm going to.....several "splashes" of sesame oil (also the toasted kind!) that I would guess equalled about a teaspoonful, and the pepper flakes to taste--I'm a bit sadistic, or is that masochistic? when it comes to hot pepper
don't know if you've ever had a chinese dish called cold sesame spicy noodle....but the sauce made with water makes a great version using the tofu shiratake and bean sprouts.....occassionally I add leftover chicken bits.

Now you tell me! After I spent a fortune for that wicked bland stuff. That's why I only used it once! Wonder what I can use the bland stuff for? Wallpaper paste? I do have the toasted sesame oil.

[Chicklady]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

Put it out for the birds! Our wild birds loved it---we stuffed it into the woodpeckers peanutbutter log

[SunnySmile501]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

What are 'creasy greens'?

It's pretty obvious you're not from the South! It's called upland cress, too.

Barbarea verna BRASSICACEAE)
"Creasy greens" are an old favorite which are as easy to grow as spinach indoors or out, but is more cold tolerant than spinach. Produces rosettes of glossy, green leaves. These slow-bolting greens are popular in the South, and unprotected plants last all winter even in sub-freezing temperatures. Very easy to grow, even on clay soils. A highly nutritious green available 3 seasons of the year. Has 3 times the amount of vitamin C as oranges, and twice the amount of vitamin A as broccoli. Makes a nice topping for salads and can be used in quiche.

Growing Upland Cress
In parts of North Carolina where Upland Cress and a similar variety grows as weeds, they are sometimes called creasy salad, creasy greens, or highland creasy. Because of the confusion in the names of cresses, when ordering upland cress the grower should include the scientific name, which is Barbarea verna. Example: upland cress (Barbarea verna).

Creasy Greens



It’s creasy season in the hills.
Wild upland cress.
Growing alongside the branches and in damp places.
The first greens of spring.
Wouldn’t have to go far to find someone cooking a mess of creasies and a pot of beans this time of year.

There's even a book about them!

[SunnySmile501]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

I took a chance and planted my garden this weekend, the temps are going dangerously low at night, but no frost luckily..so i thought i'd try anyway.

Like purplecrayon my garden's pretty simple. My chives and Rhubarb from last year have come back and are doing very well, along with that I planted Tomato, Jalepenos, red peppers. I have a raspberry bush from last year that didn't do much..i'm leaving it to see if it blooms this year.

We have a cottage up north, it's still too early to plant up there..theyr'e still getting frost..but in pots I've started watermelon and corn..we have alot of room up there so I thought i'd take my chance at a couple of corn stalks. It will be a first for me..alot of the farms up there grow corn so i do know it's possible. I've grown watermelon up there before but started them too late so they weren't big enough by the time the cold weather set in. I'm hoping starting the seeds now will give them more time, probably 3-4 weeks before i can plant up there.

I'm pretty useless at gardening so i try to stick with the easy stuff. I did well with my tomatos last year but the raccoons got enjoy them more than i did lol.

You are braver than I am! I don't have anything outside yet that I can't cover or bring inside. I brought all the tomato and pepper plants in last night, and they stayed in all day today. I have friends in your area (Guelph, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls) and whatever weather you have, we have three days later.

How far up north is your cottage? I went tent camping the first week of June at Sauble Beach and it snowed enough to collapse my tent! The strawberries are gone here by the first week in June. We picked up there the first week of July.

[not2late]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

for the bland untoasted sesame paste, doctor up the flavor with toasted sesame oil. To make a really long story short, I worked with someone who worked with someone whose father in law was the personal chef to a certain Middle Eastern political figure. His hummus recipe used the untoasted sesame seed paste with an addition of toasted sesame oil. Believe me, when I tasted the recipe at a potluck, it was by far the BEST hummus I've ever eaten!

Another "secret" recipe hint I got from the newspaper of all places is to put a half pinch of ground cumin in your homemade salsa. That tiny amount enhances the salsa to something really special.

[sadie147]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

You are braver than I am! I don't have anything outside yet that I can't cover or bring inside. I brought all the tomato and pepper plants in last night, and they stayed in all day today. I have friends in your area (Guelph, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls) and whatever weather you have, we have three days later.

How far up north is your cottage? I went tent camping the first week of June at Sauble Beach and it snowed enough to collapse my tent! The strawberries are gone here by the first week in June. We picked up there the first week of July.

That's so interesting that you've been to Sauble beach, I've never but have friends that have. That's right on Georgian bay, our cottage is North east of there in Haliburton (3 hours north of Toronto), according to Mapquest it's 176 miles from Sauble, though i wouldn't have guessed that far... though you have to drive around the bay so i guess that's why. They get worse weather in the Georgian bay area than us(though I wouldn't expect snow in June, it wouldn't surprise me!), it's part of the snowbelt..but it's supposed to be beautiful. My work has an office is Kitchener-Waterloo which is near Guelph, I have a few coworkers that live in Guelph as well

Yes our growing season is quite short, I think in Toronto I'm safe from the frost (fingers crossed) and hopefully snow !!! , but when up north we'll have the woodstove going still for a few more weeks at night. The temps up there can drop from 80 during the day to 30 at night in an instant.

[Chicklady]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

Our last frost is supposed to be April 28th, though we've had one since, and nights are still in the upper 30s so the woodstove is going. I have a dozen water bottles in between my pepper and tomato plants. They gather heat during the sunny day, and give it off during the cold night. So far *crossing fingers* so good!

[SunnySmile501]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

Okay, I finally got all those tomato and pepper plants delivered to my brothers. Less for me to have to struggle with.

On the other hand, I have been busy visiting greenhouses and am now the proud posseser of lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon grass, chervil, Tuscan Blue rosemary and I bought 'real' tarragon. I'm not sad that I started the wrong kind of tarragon from seed, because I really like it and can imagine using a lot of it in salads. It is very different from French tarragon in taste.

I also found pablano pepper plants. I wasn't able to find arugula seed anywhere. The Amish greenhouse where I bought the herbs was selling one arugula plant in a 2" pot for $1.99.

Creek--are the younger Old Order Mennonites using cell phones? The Amish greenhouse employs people from the less strict orders so they can answer the phone and operate the computers. Just this year, several of the employees are dressed traditionally in the pastel dresses down to the ankles, prayer caps, no jewelry or makeup, and for the men, no belts, suspenders, the chin beard, the flat brim hat, but they have a Bluetooth phone in their ear! It looks very odd.

Sunny!

[Chicklady]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

LOL I can just picture a bluetooth with an amish outfit

[Creek]

Re: 2008 Low Carb GARDEN!!!!

Most of the Mennonite and Amish order's are getting more lenient about working outside of the family farms and businesses. Even the Amish owned businesses now allow a phone or cell phone if it is an absolute necessity. The elders of each "church" group determines that type of thing, and that is why you can see so many variations on customs that are permitted or shunned.

For example, we have an Amish friend that has a fence company, and he has a cell phone and he also owns a 'company' truck. He can't drive the truck, but he can own it. At the conclusion of his workday, he must turn off the phone and leave it outside of his home (he leaves it in the truck and has to use the auto charger to recharge the battery.) He had to get special permission from the elders to allow him to park his truck at his home, otherwise he would have had to "rent" a space in the driveway of an 'English' neighbor. He has to employ an "English" driver, who also is his crew once they are at the job site.

I love to see the young girls in their colorful dresses, and the toddler boys with their hats are just too cute.