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T O P I C    R E V I E W
YellowRose Posted - Dec 31 2018 : 04:32:42 AM
Whether you garden in containers on your deck; in raised beds; or long rows they're our gardens and we like to talk about them. For us in warmer states cold crops can go in the ground mid Feb so it's time for seed catalogs and making plans.

Know your last frost date. Know what zone you are in. It's time to find out. I live in northeast Texas in Zone 7 and my last frost date is March 18. Most cold crops go in four weeks before last frost date so I am planning to plant around Feb 18.

On Wed I will order live vegetable plants to be delivered by Feb 18 or as close as I can get to it. They will go in two 1' X 8' X 1' raised beds. The beds are made of cedar on two high cinder blocks so I don't have to bend over to garden. I have herbs in two other raised beds on cinder blocks.

6 Red Russian Kale
6 Tri-colored Swiss Chard
2 Leeks - test to see if I can grow them in raised bed
2 Walking - Egyptian Onions - another test
2 Green Cabbage - for sauerkraut

Herbs I either will have to replace or are annuals I will buy locally for planting in April. April is also when I start thinking about flowers.

That's my garden story for now. What's yours'?

Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015.

Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.

25   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
saram Posted - Jan 07 2020 : 07:14:20 AM
I have lovely lettuces in my kitchen garden to add some fresh greens to our dinner table now and then. If any of you like to try new varieties in your garden, my new favorite is called Italienisher and comes from Territorial Gardens. It produces long, light green leaves on a big open head, about 10 inches across. Tasty!
saram Posted - Dec 16 2019 : 10:50:33 PM
Thanks Sara. I’ll try that some night soon.

Grace, sounds like a bizarrely interesting treat! My Mom taught me to eat strange things—like cottage cheese on toast and peanut butter and jack cheese sandwiches—so I wouldn’t be surprised if your turnips on buttered sourdough isn’t just sublime! I’ll try it!
katmom Posted - Dec 13 2019 : 12:20:21 PM
My favorite way to eat Turnips,,, thinly sliced, on a piece of buttered sour dough bread... yum yum...

>^..^<
Happiness is being a katmom and Glamping Diva!

www.katmom4.blogspot.com & http://graciesvictorianrose.blogspot.com

YellowRose Posted - Dec 12 2019 : 01:34:56 AM
Sara, the turnip soup sounds good. I use leftover roasted turnips in soup. Will have to check out the cookbook - sounds like my kind of cookbook.

Turnips harvested young are good eaten raw in salads or slaws. Large turnips tend to be woody on outer layers. The woody parts should be pared off.

This is how I cook rutabagas but it should work with turnips.

Boil rutabagas & potatoes separately. Some people cook them together but I prefer to cook separate. Helps to keep individual flavors.

When done smash/mash them and mix together with S&P, seasoning of choice, and butter. Good eating.



Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015. & Feb 2019

Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.

saram Posted - Dec 11 2019 : 11:38:08 PM
I recently made a “ mess” of turnip greens ( I think that’s the right term) and they were very good! I followed a recipe from a new cookbook called Turnip Greens and Tortillas. It’s kind of a soup, with chicken broth, onion, tomato and garlic. I’m really happy to have discovered this easy-to-grow winter green which can be quite yummy as well as nutritious. But I have to admit, I’m still a bit baffled about what to do with the turnips!
YellowRose Posted - Nov 24 2019 : 11:55:01 PM
Sara, your turnips sound delish. Will have to give it a try.

Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015. & Feb 2019

Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.

saram Posted - Nov 24 2019 : 10:47:00 PM
This is how I cooked my little turnips:
In some bacon drippings I sautéed red onion, then added the diced turnips and some small diced apples. Poured on some syrup from a jar of canned apples, covered it and cooked to caramelized. Everyone gave good reviews!
saram Posted - Nov 22 2019 : 5:38:35 PM
Thanks gals! I’m venturing off into new territories!
StitchinWitch Posted - Nov 22 2019 : 10:27:37 AM
Sara -- That sounds like the same way I cook my collards. Some chopped up bacon, a little chopped onion, simmer for a couple of hours, add vinegar and eat. Yummy! If you're eating out the best turnip greens are found at Cracker Barrel; I've been know to have them for breakfast with my biscuits and gravy.

Judith

7932
Happiness is Homemade
YellowRose Posted - Nov 22 2019 : 10:18:48 AM
Sara there are two thoughts on cooking turnips and greens. Cook them together or separate. I prefer the second way because I like my turnips roasted with a little EVOO and herbs.

The greens may be cooked with EVOO or pork - bacon, smoked ham hock, or ham. I like my greens tender and well done so I cook them for 2-3 hours on low heat or all day in crockpot. Others like their greens with more "bite". After they have cooked for an hour taste them and keep testing until they are done enough for you. I like to sprinkle apple cider vinegar with herbs or hot peppers on the greens.

A couple of your turnips look small enough to slice raw for salads.

Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015. & Feb 2019

Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.

saram Posted - Nov 22 2019 : 09:51:24 AM
Today I found young turnips needing to be thinned . Can anyone help a west coast girl learn how to cook turnips and their greens please?
YellowRose Posted - Nov 22 2019 : 07:59:52 AM
Sara, we can get in the single digits. Low teens is common in Jan & Feb. My part of Texas gets more ice than snow. Ice storms are dreaded as much as tornados. Several years ago I was without power for 4 days in 19 degree weather because of an ice storm.

I harvested fresh herbs this morning for a chuck roast. Going out to the raised beds for herbs is one of my favorite things.

Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015. & Feb 2019

Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.

saram Posted - Nov 22 2019 : 07:20:56 AM
Please excuse the re post.

Wow Sara! Do you usually get such low temps? I think you and I are in the same climate zone, and 22 would be a once in a decade sort of thing. Especially in November.
saram Posted - Nov 22 2019 : 07:18:25 AM
We are still having weather in the low 70’s here, and no frost since the last week of October. Good news for the winter garden where lettuces are filling out, sugar snap peas are forming pods, carrots and beets need to be thinned and garlic is pushing out of the soil.

But we haven’t seen rain since June.
YellowRose Posted - Nov 21 2019 : 08:13:07 AM
Sara hope you get rain soon. I know what it is like to be a drought. We're back in mid-sixties to low seventies after freezing 22 a couple of weeks ago. MY MJF garlic is almost 4" high but the elephant garlic isn't showing.

All my herbs and container roses survived the 22 temps except for the Texas tarragon but it will come back in the spring.

Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015. & Feb 2019

Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.

saram Posted - Nov 21 2019 : 07:58:08 AM
We are still having weather in the low 70’s here, and no frost since the last week of October. Good news for the winter garden where lettuces are filling out, sugar snap peas are forming pods, carrots and beets need to be thinned and garlic is pushing out of the soil.

But we haven’t seen rain since June.
YellowRose Posted - Nov 18 2019 : 06:00:31 AM
Sara you had quite a garden. When I used to start plants from seeds I ordered tomato seeds from Territorial Seeds. I'm glad you were able to gather every last tomato, pepper and misc veggies. Happy winter storing and canning. After all your work it will be good to put the garden to bed until next year.

Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015. & Feb 2019

Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.

saram Posted - Nov 17 2019 : 10:30:18 PM
My summer garden has been technically dead since the end of October when we got our first frost. I went away for a week, and since coming back I have gone back through the garden multiple times to keep bringing in more produce. I found a few Lima beans, four cantaloupe, a couple of oversized zucchini which will keep for a month or more to be used in soups, and some odd, small but good bell peppers. I’ve collected around 40 pounds of tomatoes from under the dead vines , some red, some yellow, some at green break which is when the fruit changes from green to white-green, indicating they have matured enough to continue ripening off the vine. I will have at least two more days of saucing is the next couple of weeks from these boxes of fruit.
I also did a final sweep of my shelling beans which will render about two gallons of plump dry beans for the winter. I grow a variety called “Bingo” which I got from Territorial Seed, but I now save my seed each year. They are delicious, tender beans, grown on a trellis. My green beans also are pole varieties, Kentucky Blue Lake and Rattlesnake. From them I have been collecting the dry pods that I finally let go, after picking upwards of 200 pounds fresh green beans through the summer. I have not yet tasted their bean seeds to know if I like them, but if they are good I will have a couple of quarts of those beans from my dead garden as well. I still have some tomatillos to collect, as well as winter squash and leeks.
We are expecting yet another week of temperatures in the low 70’s, with lows in the 40’s. My goal is to remove the last of all the edibles so I can chop and till and be done for the year! I just can’t walk away when there’s still produce in the field!!
StitchinWitch Posted - Nov 13 2019 : 2:07:28 PM
Dawn -- I use pomegranate molasses and grind the walnuts until they are almost walnut butter but not quite and cook these with the chicken until the chicken is very dark (from the walnuts and molasses, not the heat). It's incredibly delicious, especially with saffron rice. We grow our own saffron.

Judith

7932
Happiness is Homemade
ddmashayekhi Posted - Nov 13 2019 : 07:03:37 AM
Judith, can you give me a few more details about the Persian chicken dish you like, I can get you the recipe I use if it is the one I'm thinking of.
Great job on getting so much done on your farm Michele! I don't know how you manage all of it. Stay warm!
Best of luck to the southern farmgirls gardens. Don't forget to post pictures for us color starved northern farmgirls this winter!

Dawn in IL

“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house." N. Hawthorne
windypines Posted - Nov 13 2019 : 02:40:52 AM
Each person has their own ideas that work for them or are looking for new ideas. I always listen, read and make up my own mind of what i think will work. My garden always has weeds, don't think you can get away from that with soil that is not covered. I do try to mulch everything that I can. That has made a big difference and then it is converted to soil as it decomposes. I would love to transition to raised beds. But then you have to water them, so each method has it plus and minus.

Farming in WI

Michele
FGOTM June2019

saram Posted - Nov 12 2019 : 9:12:48 PM
Michele, there’s nothing more helpful than a friend with a tractor!!

I’ve been trying to move my plot around the last few years but honestly I’ve been battling terrible weeds since. You just made me realize the folly of that! Maybe I should just put more effort into fall improvements like you and save myself a lot of trouble!

Thanks!!
windypines Posted - Nov 11 2019 : 4:15:22 PM
We have lived on our place for 31 years now and the garden is in the same place. Every year, it get cow or some chicken manure, and straw put on it. I use leaves as mulch for the plants, so it has that too. Works up beautifully. I should throw a bag of lime on it but usually don't get that done. I have never done a soil test on my garden, just on the fields, and they do need lime. I am just happy to have it worked up to keep any weeds at bay in the fall. This year we did not have to worry about it, as we were so wet and now cold. lol no dreaming till spring, I need that break from the extra work. Now that there is just two of us, my garden has gone down to just one and it has gotten smaller. Saram, I should say that my sister and her husband brought a new lawn tractor with a tiller attachment. They came by and worked it up for me. I do usually try to get it plowed every fall. It is nice to have help!

Farming in WI

Michele
FGOTM June2019

saram Posted - Nov 11 2019 : 09:13:19 AM
Michele, I admire your ability to properly finish a garden. That takes real foresight and character that I usually come up short on!

Tell me, do you rotate the garden location, or do your amendments take care of all your soil needs? And what kind of manure do you apply?
YellowRose Posted - Nov 11 2019 : 06:54:18 AM
Michelle, now that you have put your garden to bed the winter months are the time to dream and plan for your 2020 garden. Happy dreaming.

Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015. & Feb 2019

Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.


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