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luce-neidert
Community Member

Gardening time

Here is my future tomato crop - right now, my darlings are enjoying the comfort of my officeIMG_20180504_203400 (2).jpg

102 REPLIES 102


@Renata S wrote:

Oh Luce. Your basil looks lovely (and I'm dying for one of those tomatoes to go with it). I'm going to have to get mine from the market this year because I didn't get a chance to do the plants. Although my rosemary is doing very well after being overwintered (don't ask for instructions. I think ignoring it and forgetting to water it had a lot to do with its success). So I'm eyeing it up for future meals, along with the parsley the local squirrels don't seem to enjoy.

I think I recommend mohitos for mint consumption, if you're going to mix cocktails: 

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/mojito-242527

 

Naturally, Thai basil is also very good chopped and quicly sautéed into Thai recipes. One that I get as takeout is chicken and eggplant (aubergine). I haven't tried this recipe, but it seems like it's along the right lines (although serano peppers are a fusion element): https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012781-stir-fried-chicken-and-eggplant-with-asian-basil

Rosemary is amazing with chicken, and I like to put a lot of it into this soup recipe (not sure that Baris approves of this one because it's a bit of a North American mash-up of a Turkish dish):
https://garlicshoots.com/2010/12/13/turkish-lentil-and-spinach-soup/


Oh Renata, now is the perfect time to come visit me, I've got tons of tomatoes, even more than I had planned as some garden friend decided to give me some of his at the last minute. They are delicious, and so is the basil. You'll be amazed to learn that I managed to water them regularly enough, although my vegetable garden is about 5 minutes away from home. You were right to suggest growing basil. My basil is supposed to be Marseilles basil, with rather small leaves. 

 

Thanks for the links, it's always fun to try new recipes.

Luce, I'm less than a mile back from the beach.  However, Mississippi isn''t directly on the Gulf of Mexico but rather on the Mississippi Sound as there are barrier islands a few miles offshore.  No surf to speak of.  The "feels like" temps have been over 100 degrees F all summer.  We have at least another month but so far, so good concerning hurricanes this year.  Peak season is September so we'll see.  My area was destroyed by Katrina - 30 foot storm surge that went as far as 10 miles inland - so we get pretty jumpy this time of year.


@Mary W wrote:

Luce, I'm less than a mile back from the beach.  However, Mississippi isn''t directly on the Gulf of Mexico but rather on the Mississippi Sound as there are barrier islands a few miles offshore.  No surf to speak of.  The "feels like" temps have been over 100 degrees F all summer.  We have at least another month but so far, so good concerning hurricanes this year.  Peak season is September so we'll see.  My area was destroyed by Katrina - 30 foot storm surge that went as far as 10 miles inland - so we get pretty jumpy this time of year.


Good luck with the hurricanes, Mary! 

Hi Luce, I'm going to drop in another recipe. Gardeners' time in North America usually means being approached by someone you know who planted zucchini (courgets) and now has about a million of them. I had a copy of the book this is from for years before I found this recipe in it. Now that I look at it, I realize that I've been ignoring the part that says to separate the eggs for as long as I've been making it (maybe because I have a small kitchen and I tend to ignore any instruction that creates more dishes than I think are necessary).  This basically gives you something like a potato latke, but with zucchini.  I usually replace the mint with some dill. I don't know how I survived knowing people who grow zucchini before I found this.


http://www.veggieobsession.com/2010/03/zucchini-feta-pancakes.html

 

Hi Renata,

 

I know what gardener's time feels like as I do have zucchini growing in my garden. Sometimes they go wild and I give zucchini's to anyone that says they like zucchini. Took some to the hairdresser, to dance class... my neighbours who like zucchini...

 

Thank you very much for the recipes, and for the explanation of "gardener's time".

my fish like zucchini .... I buy the expensive organic ones for fishfood and zucchini spaghetti when I am doing low-carb  (currently I've fallen off the low carb wagon)

 

bolognese.jpg

 

 

How convenient that fish like zucchini. Had no idea. It's a shame you live relatively far from me, otherwise I would have a gift for your fish.


But is the delicious looking dish on the photo for your fish? 

I am drowning in tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers right now. I've spent the last 2 weeks canning at least part of every day. I had a good talking to my squash and okra and they've backed off a bit - thank goodness.

Aubergine sauce, spaghetti sauce, various levels of heat in salsa, pickled peppers, pickled veggies, bread and butter pickles, kosher dills, lo-sodium dill pickles, tomato jam, pepper jelly, and ranchero sauce oh yeah don't forget the sweet pickle relish, the dill pickle relish, and the hot pickle relish.

Thank goodness it's raining right now or I would be outside picking yet more stuff that needs to be processed.

We enjoy everything I make all the rest of the year, but the end of summer is a pain in the tush.


@Cheryl K wrote:

I am drowning in tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers right now. I've spent the last 2 weeks canning at least part of every day. I had a good talking to my squash and okra and they've backed off a bit - thank goodness.

Aubergine sauce, spaghetti sauce, various levels of heat in salsa, pickled peppers, pickled veggies, bread and butter pickles, kosher dills, lo-sodium dill pickles, tomato jam, pepper jelly, and ranchero sauce oh yeah don't forget the sweet pickle relish, the dill pickle relish, and the hot pickle relish.

Thank goodness it's raining right now or I would be outside picking yet more stuff that needs to be processed.

We enjoy everything I make all the rest of the year, but the end of summer is a pain in the tush.


The worst is when you suddenly get tons of clients and you have to chose between making money and not letting the garden go crazy!

 

I've had to tell some of the clients about the garden - that way they sort of understand that there are PRIORITIES in life.


@Petra R wrote:

my fish like zucchini .... I buy the expensive organic ones for fishfood and zucchini spaghetti when I am doing low-carb  (currently I've fallen off the low carb wagon)

 

bolognese.jpg

 

 


Is this what the fish are getting? That's like a five-star tank you're running. 🙂

Nice thread!

 

This is first year I did some gardening of my own and planted some grape tomatoes and a bunch of different herbs. I underestimated the tomatoes and now that corner of the yard looks like a jungle. I don't mind that too much cause we've been eating some version of caprese almost every day lately.

Here is a pic of today's harvest of tomatoes plus Basil (not basil)

479C52E6-7640-43BE-8221-D60EEB01FC08.jpg

~ Valeria
Upwork


@Valeria K wrote:

Nice thread!

 

This is first year I did some gardening of my own and planted some grape tomatoes and a bunch of different herbs. I underestimated the tomatoes and now that corner of the yard looks like a jungle. I don't mind that too much cause we've been eating some version of caprese almost every day lately.

Here is a pic of today's harvest of tomatoes plus Basil (not basil)

479C52E6-7640-43BE-8221-D60EEB01FC08.jpg


 Those are absolutely jealous-makingly beautiful. Basil looks as if he is wondering whether they are edible or not. 

That's a cool picture of Basil and the tomatoes! 

 

Well done! In order for the tomatoes not to look like a jungle, and to lower their chances of them getting mildew, I advise you to tie the branches to a stake. I'll take pictures of mine for you.

 

Now that the summer is nearly over, mildew is the ennemy. If you note leaves that don't look to good, hurry up, cut them away - and trow them far from your tomatoes.


@Nichola L wrote:


 Those are absolutely jealous-makingly beautiful. Basil looks as if he is wondering whether they are edible or not. 


 They're also really pretty (in addition to having a cute dog posing with them).  What varieties are they?


@Renata S wrote:

@Nichola L wrote:


 Those are absolutely jealous-makingly beautiful. Basil looks as if he is wondering whether they are edible or not. 


 They're also really pretty (in addition to having a cute dog posing with them).  What varieties are they?


 ______________________

In France (or in Brittany) If you buy them in the supermarkets, they call them tomates d'antan (literally: tomatoes of yesteryear), and they are wickedly expensive. 


@Valeria K wrote:

 

This is first year I did some gardening of my own and planted some grape tomatoes and a bunch of different herbs. I underestimated the tomatoes and now that corner of the yard looks like a jungle. I don't mind that too much cause we've been eating some version of caprese almost every day lately.

Here is a pic of today's harvest of tomatoes plus Basil (not basil)

 


Valeria, this is how I keep my tomatoes out of trouble. I used to have jungles too, but I find it better to keep them tidy, with branches tied to a pole. I also stop branches from growing near the ground by cutting them. This because when it rains, if the leaves touch the ground, I think they start bringing mildew to the tomatoe plants, and then every thing is ruined. I took this photo this evening for you:

 

IMG_20180906_201700.jpg

 

 

 

Thanks, Luce! That's definitely a much better way to stake tomatoes than the emergency contraption I ended up building around my plants when I realized how big they would grow. I'll be more prepared next year. 

~ Valeria
Upwork

That's what's fun about gardening, year after year you learn from your mistakes. 

The other day I was watering all the tomato plants in my garden and thought about this two-year-old thread. It deserves to be bumped up.

Luce, I think you'll be proud of me, my tomatoes are much better supported this year and I'm determined to keep them tidy. 

How are everybody's gardens doing this year? Taking care of my indoor and outdoor plants has really helped me stay somewhat sane and balanced during these past few crazy months.

~ Valeria
Upwork
renata101
Community Member

Luce,

It's that time again.

This is Genovese basil. 

Basil_sm_ol.jpg

 

Hi Renata,

 

Indeed it's that time. Guess who I was thinking about when I started my basil a few days ago? You of course. And this year, it's Genovese basil here too!

It's growing in my office, as the nights are still a bit cool here. It looks like you are using some sort of cover on your basil. Can you tell me about it?

 

IMG_0375[1].JPG

 

You can buy seed starter kits here that look like little greenhouses.
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mckenzie-with-jiffy-greenhouse-seed-starter-kit-36-peat-pellets-3...

They come with fabric-covered peat pellets. You add water and the peat expands. What you end up with are little peat balls that you can start your seeds in. When the plants get bigger, you just plant them in a larger pot. The cover you're seeing is the fabric that holds the peat ball together.

These are great if you don't have a lot of space to start your seeds, or if you're lazy and don't like cleaning up after yourself. I am a very lazy gardener. That's why I like container gardening.

The peat pellets are also sold separately, so you can also use any container you want to recycle as a tray. I sometimes reuse the plastic trays that mushrooms are sold in. They hold about six peat balls each.
Screen Shot 2023-04-26 at 8.48.59 PM.png

Very interesting! My gardening is much simpler - I bought some seeds, put then in dirt,  I water the whole thing regularly... works too !

This is the Genovese basil a few months later.

Big basil .jpg

Wonderful, Renata!

 

My basil is fine, but it doesn't look half as good as yours. I've been meaning to take a picture of it for ages, but right now it's raining here...

 

 

 

IMG_0413.JPG

 

Here's my basil, in the foreground. In the background, you can see the basil my husband grew as a ground cover around his sunflowers. Both taste delicious.

 

In my opinion, my basil lacks room. Renata, you seem to be have one basil plant only. Maybe that's the way your supposed to grow them, with plenty of room.

I've seen people put multiple plants in the same pot. Sometimes they don't space them out. I tend to put one per pot because some of my pots aren't that big. Or I'll put one or two in a garden box with some other plants--even flowering plants--mixed in.




nice, how do you keep off aphids and all those leaf eaters off?

Hi Luqman,

 

Here in France, aphids don't attack basil. They attack other plants. One good way to keep aphids away is to plant flowers they don't like near to them. I wonder what Renata's answer will be.

Oh i think i got the name wrong (ran a google search), spider mites!
I have since gotten my hands on seeds and trying to grow some basil, mint and corriander
Will add in flowers as you suggested, a little colour wont be bad now that i think of it

Good luck! Please let me know if it works.

If the bugs are too greedy, you might grow your plants inside, where they would be more protected.

Hi Luqman,

I have had problems with aphids on other plants but not the basil. One gardening hack that works quite well is spraying the plants with soapy water (the soap dissolves the outer coating on the aphids and they dry out). But if you have aphids, you have to do this fairly frequently.

mwiggenhorn
Community Member

My latest foray into gardening is bamboo.  I have a truly ugly patio at my townhouse which bakes in the hot sun all day. After much research, I bought a "clumping" bamboo which will grow in a pot to screen the view our of my glass doors.  It's doing great after a week and starting to grow.  I may  have finally found the solution.  If it continues to do well, I'll probably buy a couple more.  Everything else froze this winter, at least what I didn't bother to bring inside, and I haven't gotten around to replacing it.

Good luck with your bamboo, Mary!

It has a new shoot already!  I bought it from a grower on Etsy and I am well pleased so far.

It's growing 3-4 inches every day!  It loves me. Sigh.

 

Update: Two huge pots of bamboo.  The original one is intent on taking over the world. The newer one got some root rot when I planted it in a pot with no holes for drainage and it poured rain for days.  My neighbor was able to drill holes for me - finally - and the plant is coming back but not lots of new growth yet.  Meanwhile, we haven't had significant rain all summer so I'm dragging a watering can through the apartment daily to water. (No outside water spigots, sadly).  Meanwhile, I'm learning to bonsai weeping willows and jade plants.

 

So sorry about the root rot. Hope your plant will totally recover. Where I am, we  did not have much rain for a while, but now it's raining every day. Not just climate change, climate imbalance I'm afraid.

 

luceneidert_1-1691079378361.png

 

 

 

 

bf97c28c
Community Member

Hello Luce, it's so unusual topic on Upwork. So I like gardning too. And these are my mom's tomatoes, that will be planting soon. 

IMG_20230505_173528.jpg

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