Chronicles of a Noob Garden and Gardener

[AMKuska]

Chiffonade is French for "little ribbons," @AMKuska .

Chiffonade your leafy greens, especially if you find them a little tough.

Garbanzo the Dog has her favorite places in the yard to visit to eat the lawn grass.

Steve

I just looked up how to "Chiffonade." I can't wait to try it! I'm gonna grab some from the store today and if it tastes good that way I will grow some. This is so exciting!!

 

[flowerbug]

I just found your gardening thread and have been reading it avidly. I wish you lived closer as my son has the gardening bug too and it'd be so fun if he knew other kid-gardeners.

Eh...do you like kale? I find it so tough and grassy tasting, but it's so good for you I keep trying new varieties hoping I'll get a good one.

@baymule was it something besides not enough light/wind? I can see they are very long and stretched out. Last year when I was learning to indoor garden I discovered they stretch if the light isn't 4" above them or less, and that if you don't put a fan indirectly on them or touch them at least once a day, the stems will get thin and fall over.

I'm sure you already knew that as you've got 500x the experience I do. I'd love to know if there were any other symptoms?

i seem to recall it was also not very cool...

 

[baymule]

@Ankuska the heat made them all spindly. I was keeping them all toasty warm.

 

[AMKuska]

Oooh, I didn't know heat could cause fast growth too. That's really interesting.

 

[thistlebloom]

Oooh, I didn't know heat could cause fast growth too. That's really interesting.

Brassicas prefer cool temps, that's why extra heat was so hard on them.
Heat loving vegetables (like tomatoes and peppers ) appreciate the extra heat.

 

[AMKuska]

They were awesome cut that way!! I'll stop hijacking the thread now. Sorry @Ben E Lou

 

[ninnymary]

@bobm Figuring a true cost analysis is tough because of how you value your produce. I garden on the cheap. I view my labor as a huge bonus for the garden. Reasoning below.

Labor, average 5 hours per week. Better than gym membership @ $40/month.
Mind strengthening-keeps me mentally active-best medicine against Alzheimer’s-runs in family & seems to strike after retirement.
Equipment cost-$600 tiller and less than $100 in hand tools-amortize that over 45 years-nothing.
Seed/plants-less than $50/year. I said I’m cheap.... I don’t count flowers/plants for butterfly garden in memory of my mother.
Produce value? I give away over $400-$500 every year in tomatoes, peppers, squash, rhubarb, cucumbers, etc. plus what we eat and I can. How much to you credit, I decide on a whim to make something out of garden? Fresh made spaghetti is better than most restaurants. The restaurants that are better cost $80/couple. Again, how do you value that? Plus I know how my vegetables are grown-no recalls.
Largest profit? I get to come to this board and give people like you crap....

Gardening is a very profitable work of love. I tell myself that over and over when I’m out there cussing the insects who bite me or my plants...

Seed, couldn't agree with you more. I'm one of those that does keep track of her garden spending.

Mary

 

[ninnymary]

There is no way to evaluate the joy that plants a flowers give the gardener and those that enjoy looking at them. Last summer a women stopped while I was gardening up front of my house. She told me she goes out one her way to drive by my house to look at my gardens. Particularly if she has had a bad day. Can't buy that. When veggie gardening you also cannot put a price on picking and then eating your own fresh vegetables. Or pulling some out of the freezer or the can that you put up to enjoy in the dead of winter. Higher vitamin content is in food that is eaten fresh. The benefit of eating organic produce as opposed to those drenched in untold chemicals for me has resulted in strength and good health. It is good for my soul.

Very true Cat!

Mary

 

[ninnymary]

Kale is one of the easiest seeds to sprout. These should be ready to go out in late February or early March which should be a good time for kale in your area. You probably will need to cover it if you get a frost but it can handle some cold and that will give you an early harvest.

I like the Red Russian because it is flat. The curly is more popular, maybe taste or maybe because it is prettier, but I like the flat because it is easier to see caterpillars or cocoons when you look it. Later in the season cabbage moth and cabbage butterfly caterpillars can be a problem on kale.

I've planted both the curly and the flat. I now only grow the flat. It's easier to wash and remove aphids. This year I'm planted a new one for me, Scarlet kale.

Mary

 

[seedcorn]

Seed, couldn't agree with you more. I'm one of those that does keep track of her garden spending.

Mary

I do for the year-although I have no fixed budget as I’m so cheap, I buy nothing expensive except for my tiller. If I want it, I buy it.