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Author:	Bluebonnet [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:53 am ]
Post subject:	How does your garden grow 2012 edition
We had an overnight low of 30 degrees F this morning. We were about 4-6 weeks late planting tomato plants last fall since I am now the proud owner of about a bushel (maybe a bit more) of green tomatoes that will never ripen! East Texas picked all the green tomatoes yesterday. Sooooo I've chosen 3 recipes to deal with this "blessing." I'm going to can: Chow Chow - or some call it tomato relish Mock Strawberry Jam - or some call it Depression Jam. Yes, it is made with green tomatoes and flavored with strawberry jello. Ya can't tell the difference! Salsa Verde - never knew you could substitute green tomatoes for the tomatillos! The good news is that I don't have to peel the suckers and most of the work can be done in the food processor. The other good news is that I don't have to pressure can. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Author:	Bluebonnet [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 5:11 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: How does your garden grow 2012 edition
I have 6 half pint jars of Salsa Verde. They all sealed as I took them out of the water bath. I have the veggies for the Chow Chow chopped and in the fridge. I will cook them and jar them up tomorrow. I may do the jam later tonight.

Author:	fr33kSh0w2012 [ Sat Jan 14, 2012 1:04 am ]
Post subject:	Re: How does your garden grow 2012 edition
Bluebonnet wrote: I may do the jam later tonight. You Meen Conserve BlueBonnet Conserve. What flavor Conserve?

Author:	Bluebonnet [ Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:28 am ]
Post subject:	Re: How does your garden grow 2012 edition
Strawberry, Freak!

Author:	fr33kSh0w2012 [ Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:31 am ]
Post subject:	Re: How does your garden grow 2012 edition
Bluebonnet wrote: Strawberry, Freak! Excellent on scones and in pies!

Author:	Bluebonnet [ Fri Feb 24, 2012 5:03 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: How does your garden grow 2012 edition
Busy week around here! Ordered and spred 7 yards of garden soil into two vegetable plots. East Texas expanded the original plot to 9 X 25. We have another one that is 9 X 12. Picked up tomato plants, bell pepper plants and romaine lettuce plants today. Also purchased the following seeds: Cucumber Radish Carrot Pole green beans Bush green beans Lima beans English peas Sugar snap peas and seed potatoes. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Author:	Sky [ Sat Feb 25, 2012 3:35 am ]
Post subject:	Re: How does your garden grow 2012 edition
Good progress the Blue! DW has joined forces with a neighbour friend to start an organic veg outlet together with a small nursery to outlet food and plants to the public that stop here in our neck of the woods. So she is frantic and supplying weekly food boxes to subscribing customers also. I trust we will now get to eat a greater variety of veggies with all the new effort around here. Heading towards winter here now and we are harvesting and storing excess crop like potatoes, beets, carrots, pumpkins, brinjals and quite a few melon varieties. Canning will also hopefully get some attention. Planting broccoli and peas presently. Still having quite a bit of rain, so can't do any new tomatoes till it is more dry.

Author:	Bluebonnet [ Sat Feb 25, 2012 9:42 am ]
Post subject:	Re: How does your garden grow 2012 edition
Brinjal - had to look that one up! Asian eggplant. Who knew? Yep, Sky, I plan to can like crazy this year IF we can get a good Spring crop. In years past, we've had difficulty with the Spring crop. Drought, too much rain and too much heat, etc. I'm also thinking about canning meat, too. Never done this before but if I can get some chicken or ground beef cheap, I may just give that a shot. At least I will know what is in it, right? I'm trying to talk East Texas into buying a dehydrator. So far no sale but I will keep at it and see what happens!

Author:	Sky [ Sun Feb 26, 2012 7:39 am ]
Post subject:	Re: How does your garden grow 2012 edition
That dehydrator will really be a useful tool Blue. They consume power though, and there are quite few home kits one can build laid out all over the web. Maybe DH can be motivated to build a descent one - "he says with tongue in cheek" as I have been meaning to do one for a while now - just need the motivation...! We have the luxury of having good Sun local, so the Solar model is in my sights!!!

Author:	Bluebonnet [ Sat Apr 14, 2012 6:33 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: How does your garden grow 2012 edition
Just a quick update: We are harvesting: Romaine lettuce Radishes Leaf lettuce Blooming: Tomatoes - let's pray the heavy rainfall forecast for the next few days leaves the 'maters alone Cucumber Green beans - pole & bush - have to replant as only about half came up. Within a day or two of planting had a gully washer and looks like some of the seeds washed away. Also have a really nice crop of taties coming along. Carrots appear to be doing well, too. East Texas shoveled in some sand in the carrot bed so we have our fingers crossed that we will have a better harvest this year. The bell peppers are looking sad. I don't know why we continue to plant them. I guess hope springs eternal, right? I think they get too much sun where they are planted. We've also had some mustard greens and collard greens spring up. These were planted in the fall garden. Also have some tomato volunteers from the compost. East Texas is hoping they are the yellow pineapple tomatoes as he was unable to find any this year. The Texas Lilac is getting ready to burst into bloom. The roses are going gang busters. We planted wild flowers between the rose bushes and they are up and should bloom in the next couple of weeks. The oleanders are blooming. The crepe myrtles are leafed out but ours bloom much later - June/July. So far so good. Just praying we don't have hail tomorrow as they are forecasting. The heavy rain is forecast to stall over us and we could see a "major rain event" but, thankfully, no severe weather - just tons of rain. After the drought last year, the rain is much appreciated. How is your garden doing? Edited to add: The koi and goldfish have been splishing and splashing in the shallows of the pond. Hopefully we should have some babies soon. The mosquito fish have already spawned and the pond is full of baby fish - all you can see are eyes. The frogs have also been in an amorous mood lately on the pond edges. Ah Spring!

Author:	Bluebonnet [ Thu May 31, 2012 3:23 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: How does your garden grow 2012 edition
Quick update: We are harvesting: Tomatoes - red and yellow Cucumbers Pole and bush beans - plan to can tomorrow Carrots - should have picked them last week or two but they are still good New potatoes - some fairly good size but some still tiny Lilac tree is done blooming until fall. Day lillies are blooming. Tons of flowers blooming in the garden. It's a good thing!

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