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whgille

a garden update...

whgille
10 years ago

We are having a nice weather for a lot of crops and ornamentals in the garden.

It is time to start harvesting carrots, have to check in the bed

Harvested a few carrots to make a stir fry with picked greens from the garden, kale and swiss chard are looking good.

I like this cabbage, small enough for one serving

Cannot believe how prolific the radishes have been, first were the regular small radishes and now the winter varieties like the rose radish

My green beans are slowing down but peas are ready to pick

New fruits on the block, it looks like this season I am going to have caimito (star apple), sweet tamarind, and red guava supreme, I will keep you updated on the fruit, maybe the bananas will ripen on time?

Caimito

Sweet tamarind

Red guava

And you all know this one.:)

Plumeria is blooming

We redid a bed yesterday, made it taller, should be better for a lot of reasons.

Today it is time to work on the tomatoes, salsa, sauce and dried...having a great tomato harvest!

Silvia

Comments (57)

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hi Mark, I miss your postings!!! love your garden and always enjoyed the inspiration. And yes I know the cold is coming, cannot wait for March but in the meantime I will be eating greens.:)

    Linda, I always believe in being optimistic living every day to the fullest and making plans for the future especially in the garden where there is always room to improve, I will be looking forward to hear updates on your garden.

    Hi Bill, if you ever get a chance to meet Wallisadi and his garden, you will be happy. His beautiful place has so many plants, you can get lost there. A lot of shade plants too.
    About the beds, remember the joke that Willy said about being his name Manuel labor? he can only do one bed at a time,lol. I think deeper is better the reason being is more good soil, less bending, my dogs won't be so tempted, they love veggies! and I even give them in their meals. The four beds were opening on their sides, that is why we put those boards on the 4 sides where they were opening, the beds are also like 5 years.
    I started the carrots while it was still warm so in the beginning I keep well moist watering every day, now they take less water, they are not only pretty, they are so tasty! nothing like the ones in the store.
    I also have an update on the new tomatoes, I started new ones this season and the final review will be when all of them ripen, a lot are winners and just a few losers.

    My favorite beefsteaks this season, Gold Medal, Neves Azorean Red, Indian Stripe

    A bowl of cherries, all of them good, Sungold, Tomato Berry, Sweet Baby Girl, Black Pearl, Smarty

    And the losers, yellow Vernissage and pink Vernissage, they were productive, didn't get sick but I just did not like them

    The ones that are new and very promising are still ripening, new cherry, beefsteak and other saladette.

    Thank you Pat, carrots are very popular in my house I can use them in so many ways and they keep well. Love them pickled.

    Silvia

  • pnbrown
    10 years ago

    Yes, I'm going to start a crock of carrots pickling soon.

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Good for you Pat, they should be tasty!

    And what to do today with the harvest? Well, I got the perfect dish, broil the Orlando eggplants, roast the carrots with tomatoes, cook some beluga lentils, add some red vinegar, olive oil, cilantro, parsley and voila! the best lunch!

    While walking and harvesting in the garden, I sawed this blooms...

    Silvia

  • puglvr1
    10 years ago

    Wow Silvia!! Your garden is truly Amazing!! Everything looks so good...I'm SO jealous,lol...Enjoy!!

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you Nancy for all your nice words! And I am keeping busy today, made some Meyer lemon tarts, they taste much better than they look. Keep making lemonade, it is the best use for all those lemons.

    Dinner for a friend to be delivered...delica winter squash soup, green bean, tomato, garbanzo and feta salad, mini lemon tarts

    Silvia

  • vegasqueen
    10 years ago

    Silvia your garden looks as lovely as always. Your pictures give me hope that one day I will have a green thumb also. Your friend is so lucky to be receiving such a healthy/delicious meal. How is lucky I hope he is much better.

  • vegasqueen
    10 years ago

    Oops sorry can't do two things at once daughter distracted me. How is Lucy? Is she better?

  • morningloree
    10 years ago

    Not only a very talented gardener, but a good cook and photographer as well. Basil is my only crop growing now. I think my family is beginning to notice I've snuck basil into all most everything but breakfast cereal! You have such a lovely variety.

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    10 years ago

    Silvia - Everything looks so wonderful, including the cooked food. I buy black beluga lentils too. They look perfect with those added veggies.

    I see that the rose radish has a pale pink center. I was recently given a couple of radishes that were very dark pink inside. I sauteed them with some bok choy. To our surprise the radishes were sweet and tasty. Have you grown the very dark variety before? I need to order some of those seeds so we can have more of those to eat.

    I agree with you, if Bill hasn't been to Mark's place yet, they should meet. I'm sure Bill will not be disappointed.

    Christine

  • castorp
    10 years ago

    Thanks for the information, Silvia. I'm going to try your carrot technique with parsley and see if it works, since carrots and parsley are cousins. Seems like I'm always waiting on parsley. The tomatoes are gorgeous--and so many! Looking forward to seeing your garden with all the tall/deep beds. I think they'll look great with your nasturtiums and other trailers.

    Thanks to you and Christine too for the suggestion of meeting Wallisadi/ Mark. I'll try to write to him to today.

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you Maxine, the more you practice the better you get and that goes for the garden and cooking too.:)
    Lucy is a happy and sweet dog and she is well recovered now, tomorrow the 4 are getting groomed to be ready for the holidays.

    Thank you Dawn, the garden is the best to place to be, so interesting. Mark said when I was visiting his garden that he comes outside and always see something new...
    In my garden too, a new veggie, a new bloom is all good.

    Thank you Christine, I like to plant different varieties of veggies so I can sample different tastes. The radishes this season are extremely prolific and the winter ones are huge! sweet too even without marinating or cooking. The first to come and go were the small ones after that I planted a variety from Monticello that said rose, a Chinese Mantanghong and Chinese Green Luobo. Maybe the ones that you have are the watermelon, I planted some last season and I gave the rest to the community garden, they are good too.

    It is so windy today! something fell down on the ground, I will investigate later.:), this are the Green Luobo, neon green inside and soon I will be picking those.

    Silvia

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I picked the last of the sweet peppers, I am still getting some habaneros from Doug, they are hot! so I use them a little in the salsa.

    And made roasted tomato soup with semolina, probably the best that I have ever tasted.

    At the last garden party somebody gave me this plant, can anyone identify the name? we like it!

    Silvia

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    10 years ago

    Silvia- That attractive blue flower is "blue ginger". I don't know why it is called that because it is not in the ginger family. I have them blooming at two locations in my yard. It is one of my favorite fall flowers. It is cold sensitive but where you have it located (close to the house) it will not get much damage. They root easily from cuttings.

    Normally I don't like radishes. When I saw the picture of your dark pink variety last year I was tempted to grow it, but then I forgot about it. Now that I have tasted them, I have a more open mind about them. I would never dream of a radish that was actually mild and sweet. You are probably right about them being called watermelon because that's what my google search came up with.

    Are you growing spinach this year? I planted some in the garden last year but they got eaten up by something soon after they sprouted. This year I'm doing something different. Last spring Lowes had a modified copycat of an Earthbox for sale called Patio Pickers. It has a reservoir at the bottom of the container with a shelf with breathing holes like the Earthbox but the major difference is that the shape is much wider and shallower. Regretfully, I only bought two of them. Last Sunday I planted spinach seeds in both Patio Picker containers and the seeds are sprouting today. My seeds are old but the germination rate seems to be very good.

    My tomato harvest has been fairly good this fall, considering that fall isn't as ideal as the spring crop. I have been making baked tomatoes, cut in half sprinkled with parmesan cheese. That is our favorite way to eat them. I'm going to make more roasted tomato soup today. I have never added semolina to it. That sounds like a good idea too.

    I have some "Mr Big" English peas growing for the first time. They are blooming right now. Have you grown them before?

    Christine

  • sunqueen57
    10 years ago

    So very beautiful - all of it. If my gardens are 1/2 as nice as yours someday, I will consider myself a huge success! I hope you keep posting pictures and talk about the things you grow. I lived in Lake Worth (down in PBC) right off the ocean for my first 12 years in FL. The cottage was built in 1930 at had an in-ground pool. At some point, one of the owners filled it in with crushed cement and leveled off the property with it. No matter how hard we tried, we could not dig. I never gave raised beds or containers at thought. Besides, we had everything from huge Mexican produce markets where you could buy tomatoes for $.49 a pound, to upscale organic grocery markets. I could get anything I needed with a short drive. I even belonged to an organic buying club where you picked up your share (a small box of fruits and veggies for $45 - 2x a month). Well when we moved to the Heartland last year we were surrounded by farms but not a decent farm market in sight! The only place to buy organics is Publix and Walmart. The health food store sells organic vegetables on Thursdays and Fridays.

    Sorry this is so long, but what I'm trying to say is that ever since I saw pictures of your tomato plants in pots, you have been an inspiration to me. I cooked professionally in Wash DC for 18 years before I went to college and then grad school. I always feel a certain camaraderie with fellow foodies who lovingly prepare meals from scratch and aren't afraid of a canning pot! So please, keep on posting!

  • shavedmonkey (Harvey in South Fl.)Z10b
    10 years ago

    Silvia, you are absolutely amazing! Your success is the envy of most. Your gardens are beautiful. And your cooking is exceptional. Healthy, tasty and very fresh. Only one thing left, do you like football?

    I enjoy your commentary and pictures. Please keep them coming...

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Christine, thank you for the id on the blue ginger and the info, I am going to root some cuttings just in case because they are on the side of the fence where it gets colder.
    I think it has been too hot for spinach, I only planted a few around the arugula that has been the best used for us and to share with others. It makes sense that with good soil in the box that you are saying and lately it is getting colder you had a better germination of the seeds. I like the bordeaux spinach.

    {{gwi:10794}}

    Winter radishes are the best, sometimes I eat them sauteed in butter and for salads are the perfect decoration and so mild, everyone that comes to the house leaves with some radishes, this season they are just so prolific! Here is the Green Luobo

    I roasted the very ripe tomatoes with onions, garlic, salt and pepper, olive oil in a 450 oven for about 30 minutes, put through a food mill and stream the semolina and cook in low heat for about 10 minutes. I freeze the tomato soup in individual portions and put the semolina only on what I am serving the same day. For me I used 2 cups of soup with about 1 tablespoon of semolina, you can add more or less depending on what you like.

    I have not grown those peas before, let us know how well they do for you. I am growing the usual Super Sugar Snaps and some English peas that Rodger the seed saver gave me in Monticello, this is the first time that I am growing those. Last year I liked Peas in a pot in a container so did Tiny my dog,lol.

    We started the holiday baking with some Italian biscotti, pistachio-cranberry, chocolate, and my favorite cookies Jewish spiced cookies.

    Thank you Sun for all your nice words. The time spent in the garden is the best, little by little you will learn what works best for your area and this the best place for learning with experienced gardeners sharing their knowledge.
    Your life achievements and the places that you lived sound very interesting, I love to learn about other people experiences, hope to see you posting in the future.

    Silvia

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hi Shavedmonkey, you are so funny! thank you for all your nice ideas about me, I am just doing what I really like gardening and enjoying good food. I don't remember where I heard about the body being a temple and not a carnival.:)
    And yes! if you like football, I like it too,lol

    Silvia

  • scents_from_heaven
    10 years ago

    Sylvia, the bible teaches us the body is a temple

  • castorp
    10 years ago

    I took your advice and called Mark and Judy. They were nice enough to show me their garden yesterday. All I can say is WOW! Truly an amazing garden. The only trouble is they gave me so many ideas and plant possibilities that I don't know where to start. Thanks to you and Christine for the suggestion, & thanks to Mark and Judy for the fantastic tour!

    Bill

  • dlsm
    10 years ago

    Hi Sylvia,

    As everyone are saying, you are one of a kind. No one can compare to your expertise.

    I'm still doing mostly fall gardening and my winter crop is running behind schedule. Here is a picture of my fall Lima beans.

    Baby Lima Beans

    All your photo's are beautiful and the food photo's make me hungry as usual.

    Luther

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks Linda for the reminder.

    Bill, what a great news! I am so happy that you went to see Mark and Judy gorgeous garden and they are very generous with their knowledge, I learned so much from them and I am sure you did too. I compare their lessons with the guides that we had in Italy, their knowledge was incredible and we got it in such a short time the result of their experiences...

    Hi Luther! thank you, you are just so nice! love to hear about your gardening adventures. Wow! those limas look so prolific, good for you. Glad to hear that you are doing a winter garden, say hello to Dottie, I am sure that she keeps doing some good veggie meals for you.:)

    Raining all day, I took a picture of Cheryl's favorite spot, it has Mark chaya, it got so big!

    Good day for cannas

    Went to the garden store and saw this achira canna, the one I knew as achira and is used to wrap food was about 6 foot tall, this one says dwarf, maybe is a different kind?

    Silvia

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    10 years ago

    Bill - I'm glad that you went to see M&J. They are really nice people. Their yard is so tropical for their location and they take full advantage of that protected micro-climate spot. Good thing that you got the garden tour yesterday since the weather today wasn't that great.

    Luther - I've been thinking about you lately. I was hoping that you would post an update on how your fall lima crop is progressing! I have a 25' row of limas that I planted in August. They have been blooming a long time and have a number of developing pods. But unfortunately, they don't look as prolific as yours. Do you think that it is the variety or the fertilizer that you use? The picture showing your potential harvest looks so amazing.

    Silvia - I can see why that is Cheryl's favorite ornamental spot. It's quite attractive. I finally got my order in for the watermelon radish seeds. When I sent in my order I didn't see that Johnny's had any bourdeau spinach seeds. I'll have to find them from somewhere else. I want to try them if they produce well in central Fla. I don't know how you stay so thin with all of that yummy food that you make!

    Christine

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Christine, I was thinking the same thing about the weather, today looks much better than yesterday. I agree about the microclimate, when I was there in the summer M&J place was much cooler than the neighbors. Keeping that big garden is a labor of love.

    This season I think I am not going to plant spinach too much because I would rather use arugula, kale and swiss chard to substitute, they are more prolific and tastier in my opinion. I also have a lot of mini cabbages savoy, red and piricicaba Brazilian broccoli that is doing well, that one will produce in the heat. Last time I bought the bordeaux seeds, I got them on the close out bin in Lucas, they were a bargain.

    Thank you Christine for the compliment, but I wish I was thin,lol. We actually do a lot of the sampling of the holiday cookies but most of them we make little cellophane bags for friends. We bake them and put them in the freezer, we have lots of varieties and cuisines because we give to different people with different tastes. Next week we probably will be making Mexican wedding, maple and few others.

    Silvia

  • dlsm
    10 years ago

    Christine, I made a furrow row and filled with Horse Manure, then put my mix on top of the Manure. Used a time release fertilizer with all the trace elements. The Nemagreen Lima is suppose to have some resistance to the Nematodes, also the Horse Manure. Here are some we put in the freezer.

    Baby Lima Beans

    Sylvia, Tell That Willy I said he hit the "Jack Pot" when he got you.

    Luther

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you Luther! Willy likes your comment, he said I know,lol.

    Bill, I planted parsley and cilantro in a small bed that gets little sun and harvesting already

    I have the curly parsley growing in the summer and now, this one Derek gave me when I went to Tampa

    Your roses are so tall and healthy but the best view is from the other side on the trail.

    The cold season crops are coming along fine and the last of the green beans

    And this dwarf bush is really the no care plant, never needs anything, not even a trimming, and it flowers.

    Christine, Cheryl's favorite spot is the one she planted,lol. She loves the look of the chaya with the lemon grass. I only planted the cactus from seed, it comes from the half of the world...

    Silvia

  • dlsm
    10 years ago

    I'm getting an assortment of vegetables from my garden at this time. Trying the new pole Mezcla lima that is taking the place of the Sieva lima. Also have cabbage, Broccoli, several types of green beans, okra, cowpeas, Butter Beans etc...

    Cabbage, Okra, Mezcla Lima
    Romano Green Bean & Broccoli

    Luther

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    10 years ago

    This photo was taken Nov 24,2013. Sorry, I'm a little slow posting it. :) I guess that I should have harvested them a little sooner due to most of the beans having a purple tinge. Luther, I noticed that your harvest didn't have any dark limas in your photo. When I took down the lima bean vines I found that I had a much heavier harvest than I had thought. As for the very dark limas, I would imagine that they are good to cook, or just good for seeds now?

    Silvia, I got some Bordeaux spinach seeds today. Since they are your favorite, they must be good. Are they strictly a salad green or do you also cook them?

    Christine

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    10 years ago

    This picture was taken a few days ago. This is a short row of "Mr Big" peas. I love how the vines are only about 4 feet. The pods are so large and tender when young. Instead of growing this variety for the peas, I'm now wanting them for pea pods. They are great to snack on when I'm working out in the garden. :)

    Christine

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Wow Luther, you have a very bountiful harvest! you are eating well for sure.

    Your harvests also look great Christine! nothing compares to fresh home grown veggies. About the limas, any color are good for eating, the dark ones probably take a little bit longer to cook but I put them in the same pot anyway. The bordeaux spinach is good to eat raw as a baby spinach or anytime cooked.

    I am getting delayed with some of my picture taking around the garden because a few weeks ago we saved a little dog and now we are fostering till a kind soul will adopt him, he has special needs because he is blind. We took him to the eye specialist and there is nothing they can do, he is very smart and loves veggies, every day I feed my dogs the harvests, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, green beans, peas.

    Tomatoes this season are very good and have been using them daily. I gave away a lot of the radishes, one of my Asian friends is a very good cook and he said he cooked the radishes with spareribs and they were very tasty.

    Holiday tomatoes.:)

    Silvia

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    10 years ago

    Nice looking tomatoes Silvia. You are lucky to still be harvesting them. I took mine out several weeks ago. It's only weeks away before we need to plant tomato and pepper seeds for the spring garden again. Us gardeners must always think ahead. You know, with the tomatoes, there are just too many varieties to pick from. :-) That makes it really tough.

    Caring for a blind dog must be very tough. I'm sure the poor thing must be grateful to have you as a caretaker, even if just temporary.

    Christine

  • dlsm
    10 years ago

    Christine, I mostly planted green baby Lima beans in my fall garden. The Dark ones seem to take the heat better. Here is a picture of some in November. I'm still picking the green ones at present.

    Sylvia, you have some beautiful tomatoes as usual. I have problems with the white flys we get on the east coast from the Caribbean during the winter months. They bring that dreaded disease with them.

    My Butter beans

    Luther

  • dlsm
    10 years ago

    Christine, you have a beautiful picture of shelled beans. Guess you have filled your freezer with those.

    Here is a picture of some pole butterbeans. We shelled them for the freezer.

    My Butter Beans

    Luther

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    10 years ago

    Luther - Yes, most of the shelled butterbeans went into the freezer. There were quite a few beans. Oh, did they take a lot of time to shell. Doesn't that bother you with the huge lima crop that you plant?

    So, your previous harvest was a variety that doesn't gain color as it matures. I hadn't thought of that. All of the pictures that I had seen were of the dark varieties. How are you finding all of these different varieties to grow? What variety is performing the best so far?

    The speckled beans are attractive. Is there any flavor difference?

    I grew the pole beans that you sent me but I haven't grown the bush variety yet. The seeds are refrigerated so they will be good for a while.

    Christine

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Luther, without a doubt, you are the King of the lima beans! and everything southern style! Sorry to hear about the white flies.

    Christine, yes, soon we will be putting the tomatoes again, it seems that the more varieties that I plant, the more new ones that come that I want to try...:)
    Today we had a friend over for dinner, she is from Brazil and I told her that I am growing piracicaba broccoli and that I like it a lot, she looked like she didn't know and she said that a town in Brazil is that name and do they grow broccoli?
    We also had a prospective future parent for our little dog that we are fostering and next week other people are coming, we are looking for the best parent for him, he is so cute and smart! he likes to play a lot. He is only 11 pounds, smaller than our 2 little ones.

    Silvia

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Busy in the garden today, I cannot believe the amount of tomatoes that I am still getting, a lot of sauce is going to the freezer.

    And more garden pictures for today

    I divided the new bed half carrots, half beets

    Grilled radicchio salads coming up soon

    Silvia

  • loufloralcityz9
    10 years ago

    Sylvia,
    Your harvest is looking very good as usual. I have to agree the tomatoes this fall are coming in full force. I only wish my soil was free of nematodes like your soil. I hate having to grow my food in buckets, boxes, and tubs suspended in the air because my nematodes can jump up 3 feet. LOL

    Lou

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hi Lou! You are so funny! I kind of starve the nematodes here at my house. Have you tried neem cake or crab meal? they are good amendments for the soil. When planting crops that I know nematodes love, I also plant in buckets because I have small garden and cannot rotate the beans, zucchini, cucumbers so I put them in small pots in the raised bed.
    The tomatoes always go in pots and they do great that way and I think this season they are specially productive because we had a long warm season and no rain. I am looking forward to a warm winter, we will see.:)

    Silvia

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    10 years ago

    Lou - There are some things I grow in containers instead of the ground. I suspect that some plants do better in pots not just because of nematodes but because the pH is lower. I use a lot of mushroom compost in the ground which drives the pH up. So, you have jumping nematodes. How funny.

    Silvia - Will you tell us more about your use of neem cake and crab meal? Do you buy it online? Oh my, those cauliflower are beautiful.

    Christine

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Christine, you can get both products online, I don't know about any local source for them. A little goes a long way, I bought the 2 products about 5 years ago and I still have them, I use them as amendments same like azomite, rock powders, greensand, etc. The shipping costs gets the price up, there are cheaper sources for the neem cake.
    When I moved here the soil was terrible! grubs and everything, little by little it is getting clean and decent to grow most crops.

    Just made a bolognese style lasagna for dinner tonight with carrots and tomatoes from the garden.

    Silvia

    Here is a link that might be useful: crab meal

  • dlsm
    10 years ago

    Sylvia, your food photo's always make me hungry. All your pictures of your garden are well organized as usual.

    We shelled and froze 2 gallons of Nemagreen baby green lima beans today. The Nemagreen variety has some resistant to the nematodes. Also use a layer of fresh horse manure without any wood chips under the top soil to fight the nematodes.

    We just got back from the Moffitt cancer center in Tampa. Dottie had a week of Cyberknife Radiation treatments. She has completed her Chemo treatments for Pancreas cancer and that girl has lost all her natural curly hair. But she is a fighter and won't let it get her down. She keeps on going from day to day.

    All the meat we eat is full of Steriods. All the vegetables and fruit are full of insecticide residue. I have also tried to grow all my vegetables as organic as possible. We can put a man on the moon but we can't come up with a cure for cancer.

    Happy Gardening Everyone,
    Luther

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hi Luther, I am so sad about Dottie but I know that you will do the best for her and I am glad to know that she is a fighter, a positive attitude can reverse any illness, I send her all my love and best wishes for her speedy recovery!

    I also try to be very careful on the quality of food that we eat, that is the main reason that I love home grown veggies, at least I know what is in them and do everything as organically as possible and of course I try to pay attention on preparing the food. In the long run all the efforts pay well.

    Those Nemagreen limas sound like winners and having them in the freezer is for sure a good thing. Lima beans freeze well and don't loose the fresh quality like other beans after freezing.

    The garden today....Some blooms,

    Red limes

    Meyer lemons

    Savoy cabbage and peas

    Eggplants

    Nasturtiums

    Silvia

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    10 years ago

    Silvia - Thanks for the link for the crab meal. Which product to consider to be the best, crab meal or neem cake? Do you apply the products as a dusting or work them into the soil? If you still have some left from 50 lb bags, you must be using a small amount at a time. I have been using Azomite for my edibles for several years now which I consider an important amendment (but its not a bug killer).

    The lasagne and plants look very good. Your savoy cabbages are so perfect. No caterpillar holes! I have some nasturtiums too. Michael (ill-man) shared some of his extra seedlings with me. I have them in a pot so I can put them in the greenhouse during freezes.

    Luther, I mean "King of the Limas" - It's amazing that you have the patience to shuck/hull so many lima beans. That must have taken many hours. I hope that Dottie is feeling well.

    Christine

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Christine, both products are good as soil amendments, neem cake will take care of some bugs in the soil that is why I don't use it often because I don't want the good guys to disappear either. I work them into the soil just like fertilizers, they smell strong and I usually mix them with compost or black cow.

    I went to Memphis for a couple of days, I am sure happy to be back! There was nothing to take a picture, everything looked brown and cold but the people were nice and warm. I felt like singing the blues just like these guys.:)

    Silvia

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    10 years ago

    Silvia - I have checked out the neem cake and crab meal online. The shipping costs make them so expensive. I may have to buy only one for now. Can't decide which one.

    Memphis blues band...bet the music was good.

    Christine

  • abnorm
    10 years ago

    I wonder if local fresh "shrimp" shells are a viable substitue for the crab cake as a source of chitin in dealing with nematodes.......

    Is there any treatment to the dried/crushed product ?

    I may have to force myself to experiment with some peel-N-eat shrimp ........Somebody's got to do it !

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Christine, I agree with you that the shipping costs make them expensive, that is why is a good idea to share the bag with other people. In my opinion no single product is better than other, it all depends on the condition of the particular garden and I also think that not one single solution is 100% foolproof, only fresh soil is. If you combine a few things it also works. I did cover crops in Arizona and I planted right on top tomatoes and it worked for me, it was more to use a thick mulch for heat reduction, again different solutions for different gardens. Here with the nematodes it works the starvation diet, do not feed them! from time to time it is a good idea to treat the soil and let it rest.

    Doug, the crab meals are a good source of nitrogen, my neighbor in NY liked to fish and used to bury the fish heads deep in the soil to plant tomatoes. However when using anything like that, you have to be careful not to attract other unwanted creatures, nothing can smell. Here I will be even concern on the neighbors.:)

    Silvia

  • dlsm
    10 years ago

    Christine, I was born shelling lima/butterbeans. I was raised on a farm in south Georgia and we learned to shell beans at a early age. The dark butter beans mix with fresh corn. Cut off the kernels then scrape the cob at about a 3 parts beans to 1 part corn, season with your favorite seasoning and cook. Then make some southern corn bread. That is one way we make our beans down south.

    Mexican corn Bread

    They are many ways to cook these beans. Also down south we don't put sugar in our cornbread.

    I'm still getting butterbeans from my garden, but they have about reached the end. That is on my menu today along with some fried catfish.

    Luther

  • happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
    10 years ago

    Luther - oh wow. You have been eating lima/butterbeans all of your life. I didn't know what they were until I was an adult. I'll take your advice and use up my dark butterbeans cooked with corn, although it'll have to be frozen corn this time of the year. My husband is a butterbean lover so that'll make him happy. He prefers the big "gooky" varieties.

    The cornbread recipe sounds good, except I'll need to leave out the jalapenos since I don't have any tolerance to hot foods. I prefer my cornbread to not be sweet either. Thanks for the info and the recipe.

    Christine

  • whgille
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Luther, that cornbread looks good! I also don't like a sweet one, I prefer savory. I will make your recipe soon.
    And I am keeping it up with the harvest, still making sauces with the tomatoes, roasting carrots, salads every day, broccoli and cauliflower are doing great, still giving away the radishes, everyone that I give look surprised to see the size and the mild taste, eggplants that I will have to prepare tomorrow, love my cabbages red and savoy and today I made the best slaw I could ever make with the cabbage and kale and Asian flavors with caramelized walnuts, I forgot to take the picture.-(
    I am preparing for the New Year and hope that we all have a great and fruitful gardening year!

    Silvia

  • dlsm
    10 years ago

    Silvia, you will like the corn bread. It is not hot at all, you may even want to put more slices in it if you like it hot. Even Dottie eats it and she don't like hot food.

    My tomatoes aren't doing good. Those white flies we get ever winter have about wiped me out. Glad you are able to make sauces with all your spare tomatoes. We are getting plenty of green cabbage and broccoli. Didn't plant any eggplant nor cauliflower.(It only makes one head per plant and I have limited space). Have pulled up my bush lima plants. Getting ready for the spring planting. Getting some late pole beans and a few pole lima beans. Also the lettuce, peppers and that is about it. I'm putting horse manure under my top soil to try to keep the Nematodes under control.

    Sounds like you have a nice winter garden and in a couple months it will be time to start our spring garden.

    A happy New Year to you and your family,

    Luther

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