Time To Talk About Next Year

[seedcorn]

Steve, if it is green, it is honeydew to me. Have no clue what Galia means. Maybe some internet reading tonight so I will understand difference.

Corrected first post.

Ridge, looks to be variety I grew this year. Agree whites are good fried but bring other problems. Anyone grow Georgia Jets?

 

[so lucky]

Ha!

I found a Cisco gardening show where he is suggesting and planting a tomato for the shade - Stupice. I clicked the video and Firefox froze! I had to restart the computer. (Cisco's show is only on the NW cable news channel, I believe. Some folks watch it because they find him entertaining. It isn't captioned.)

Here is Diane's Seeds: "Stupice is one of the first tomatoes to ripen. It's also one of the tastiest. The name is pronounced Stoo-PEECH-ka." A "little red tomato from Czechoslovakia," Diane says.

Steve

Czechoslovakia, eh? I hope I can remember Stoo-PEECH-ka. I bet the tomato will taste even better if pronounced correctly. Unfortunately,
I'm still stuck on clematis.

 

[digitS']

So Lucky, there are always 2 or more ways of looking at something - or should be. Notice that even tho' he said potato and she said potahto, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers "didn't call the whole thing off."

I guess I overstated things by saying that the Galia is a cross between 2 species.

They are both Cucumis melo, the muskmelon.

Here is something from the University of Florida about how growers there might make them a profitable crop (link). You can see how if Florida has trouble growing them, they might do well here . Grow them under plastic in Florida? It boggles the mind! Must have to protect them from rain . ". . .to mimic the arid desert climate the melon requires." HAHaha!!

Steve

 

[MontyJ]

Next year...ugh...I'm cutting the garden in half next year. I'm hoping to break ground on our new house in the spring and have to devote my time to that.

 

[so lucky]

I'm trying to take a careful look at what we eat most out of the garden, and two of our most often used foods are onions and peppers. Sometimes I use onions 3 meals a day. I have never grown enough. I like to keep bags of diced peppers, celery and onions (separated) in the freezer, and be able to throw a handful in to what ever I am cooking.
I know some of you don't like Dr Oz, but he had a program the other day talking about pesticides in veggies. He gave a list of the "Dirty Dozen" foods that are the most drenched in pesticides. Apples, celery and sweet peppers top the list, and also leaf veggies, like spinach. So any of those I can grow, I will. Otherwise, I will be heading to the farmers' markets when in season.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thats a continuing assessment around her, So Lucky. Onions, garlic, and tomatoes used to be used a lot around here. Now with my wifes digestive problems, onions and garlic are solid no-nos and tomatoes are not much. Of course I had one of my best years ever in all three of those. Ill still plant some of those next year, some for me but mostly to give away. Plus I never know when her list of what is good or bad will change. I think Im really safe with green beans and corn. I hope anyway.

I go through the freezer and my canning to see what was left over from the winter and adjust based on that. I planted almost no kale or chard this year for freezing, just fresh use. Had plenty left over though next year Ill plant enough to preserve some. Things like that.

 

[ninnymary]

I've given up planting onions. My gardening space is at a premium and I have to really be smart about what I plant. After members suggesting about freezing onions, I decided to try it. I can get a hugh bag from Costco at a great price. It should last me a long time. I chopped it and froze it. I now love being able to grab a handful and just throw it into the dish I making. I don't even need to thaw them out. Wish I had known about this years ago.

Mary

 

[the1honeycomb]

I planted white fleshed Japanese sweet potatoes this year the vines were very pestiferous and got quite a few good sized potatoes but they turned green when you cooked them and really didn't taste that great!!! will not plant again. Blue potatoes did well but noone liked them for the color

I got a few heritage tomato plants from a friend and they did GREAT right up to the frost! saved some seeds will definitely plant again the feed and seed had a huge load of plants free for the taking, planted all of them 3 were eggplant that my family didn't tell me they wouldn't eat until I had buckets full, chickens didn't like and the dog stole one and brought it back!! will not plant again. all the people at work have asked me for freebies next year will have to see.

Butternut squash is a big staple and was very disappointed in the harvest. they all came out very small. Will plant again but maybe a different variety.

have started sweet potato slips to grow in the house and will keep the vines trimmed.
Yukon golds planted in the cellar,

My walking onions grew big but didn't produce any littles so I left it in the garden, garlic is planted and Black berries trimmed ready for a month off have Rosemary starts in all the windows to give to my friends for Christmas greetings. Love this stuff!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Honeycomb, try making a sweet potato casserole with those white ones if you havent tried that yet. It should come out lighter and fluffier than one made with the red ones. The white ones are usually not as good as the red when baked in the skin especially, just too dry and not waxy enough. The red ones are usually much better baked.

Growing up Dad had a brown-skinned white-fleshed sweet potato that cooked up green when it was cooked. For a long time thats what I thought a sweet potato was supposed to look like. Mom never baked them. Her normal preparation was to cook them in butter and water with sugar added, then cook that liquid down to a syrup. Man, those were good.

A few years back I grew some white-fleshed sweet potatoes here. They cooked up white, not green. My wife and several people at church didnt believe sweet potatoes came in anything except red. For a church picnic I cooked a sweet potato casserole with the white ones but didnt tell anyone what it was. I just used a standard recipe off the internet. Some of those women thought it was made from winter squash, others couldnt even guess. Im not sure all of them really believed me when I finally told them, but they all liked it.

 

[so lucky]

Oh yeah, sweet potatoes are something we eat quite a bit of, since I started frying them and seasoning with garlic and hot pepper salt. Is around Christmas about the right time to start sweet potato slips? My few were way slow to start, and so I didn't get them out at the right time. Maybe I should start some vines now, too, honeycomb. I like the taste and texture of Beauregard. To me, a white sweet potato just "don't seem right!"

I wish I had a big enough spot to plant dent corn to make my own cornmeal.

Also, I want to plant a greasy bean. Marshall, are all the greasy beans pole, or are there some bush or half-runner varieties? I may be opening a Pandora's box here, but what kind do you recommend for both fresh and drying?

And digitS', do your soldier beans have another name? Are they for dried only?