Anyone here grow their own?

[Gibby]

I mean vegetables. So far this year my garden has been a success. All of the plants have survived and are producing a bountiful crop for me. The heirlom tomatoes are suffering from leaf wilt and over watering, but have filled the basket in my pantry none the less. Zucchini, Summer squash, cucumbers and of course a selection of herbs make sure my dinners are not lacking summer freshness. The only group of plants that have me waiting are my chilis. The Poblanos, Serranos, and Trinidad Scorpions are taking forever to ripen! I only had one Poblano this season and it had very little heat in it. I am a chilihead and can't wait to try the Trinidas. They are over a million scoville. Insanely hot!
Most of the plants were started from seed with the exception of the tomatoes. I ordered them direct from Burpees and they arrived the first week of May. The plants are grown in a raised bed and several large pots. Water is supplied from a rain barrel that feeds a drip irrigation system. In this system I added an inline fuel filter, which I use as a means to fertilize the garden. I just put fertilizer in the filter as if you were making coffee in the morning and it "perks" away. A deoderized dried fish slurry is utlilized. It might sound complicated, but it is simple and efficient. This year I decided to put some effort into growing my own because food prices are high and what you get has no flavor. Any other gardeners enjoying themselves?

 

[Ben Ruset]

My mother has a container garden but the bugs or animals seem to get to everything before she does.

 

[46er]

I had one in eight 5 gallon pots last year. Critters started to get to them and I put up a chicken wire fence. They still got to them. Got some tomatos & peppers from it, but this year I'm going to the local farm stand instead. NJ Fresh has plenty of flavor for my taste.

 

[Dragonfly Whisperer]

That sounds like a great system. I had a garden a few years back. Also organic, mainly checken manure and a drip system. But since I have expanded the line of plants for the native plant nursery there is no longer room. I do have some 5 gal buckets I grew tomatoes in. They were OK, but tomatoes did not get as big as I had hoped for. Still good tho'. I can't wait to get a piece of land where I can have a nice vegetable garden AND expand the nursery.

I also support the local farmers. Its good food and helps our local economy.

 

[RednekF350]

I couldn't live without a garden.
I live in an area of typical pine barrens soil which is highly acidic, highly permeable and nutrient deficient.
When I constructed my garden 28 years ago, I boxed out a 20' x 30' area 24" deep with a backhoe and replaced the soil with a rich farm topsoil from western Burlington County. Good pH, and nutrient rich.

Not being an organic , Earth Day kind of guy, I lime with pulverized lime in the spring, fertilize with 10-10-10 at tilling and side dress with 10-10-10 and 7 weeks from planting. I do not use any pesticides or herbicides.

I grow basil, cherry tomatoes, Supersteak tomatoes, long hots, cherry hots, yellow fryers and bell peppers.
We are cooking a big cast iron pan full of mixed peppers with basil right now to have as a side with some seasoned grilled snow goose breast.

A shot of Barbancourt rum on ice on the left and a Boulder Mojo IPA on the right and you can bring on the biggest, baddest hurricane you can find.

 

[Hewey]

We are cooking a big cast iron pan full of mixed peppers with basil right now to have as a side with some seasoned grilled snow goose breast.

Sounds good!

Barbancourt rum on ice on the left and a Boulder Mojo IPA

My poison this weekend will be some HopBack and some Smokys apple pie moonshine.

Chris

 

[RednekF350]

Good to hear from you Chris !
We had to pull the boat yesterday and bail out of CM last night late. Cut our vacation week two days short.

Looks like I may have to some investigative research on Smoky's Apple Pie Moonshine tomorrow before they board up the liquor stores.

 

[Hewey]

Good to hear from you Chris !
We had to pull the boat yesterday and bail out of CM last night late. Cut our vacation week two days short.

Looks like I may have to some investigative research on Smoky's Apple Pie Moonshine tomorrow before they board up the liquor stores.

Work has been crazy! The one owner retired and the other owner is only doing about 20 hours a week, which is ok, thats why they hired me. I have alot on my shoulders but it feels good. It has been the the best year they have had since they opened up in 1998, which makes it even more rewarding. Only down fall is not alot of free time.

I was thinking about you and Dotie on my way home from work today, knowing that you had to pull the boat and head home, That sucks. You have to stay safe though. My family in Ortley Beach strapped their boats to their lifts and are going to hope for the best. I put my John boat and Canoe in my Whaler and strapped them in it and the bundle to the trailer. They will be fine as long a tree does not fall on them.

Its good. Its shine mixed with apple juice and some spices. You can get their straight Moonshine also, but its not made to drink straight. You should mix it. It is pricey at around 40 bucks for a mason jar. The Apple Pie is cheaper and ready to drink right out of the jar.

You guys hunting the early goose season?

I will see you soon. Stay safe.

Chris

 

[long-a-coming]

I'm growing peppers for the first time and its been a success. I have a total of about 12 plants, mostly hot bananna peppers that really are not hot at all. 5 tomato plants one of which is producing large beauties (cant remember the variety now and the markers have been washed away with the rains). I also have cilantro, oregano (seriously, just oregano lol!), and cilantro along with chives and white onions. Half the plants in the ground and half in containers. The peppers have been the most fun due to the consistent harvesting since late June. Daily I put some variety of hot peppers on just about everything. I have some red cayennes that are doing great, one jalapeno plant that has been very good and hot, and a serrano that is kicking ass with good heat on the red ones. I like picking the serranos when they are red and green. Next year I'm going bigger with more plants and more planning. I hand water them which is time consuming and used a mix of soils along with hummus, tomato food, and some peat moss. The green bell pepper plant is finally producing nice large peppers after an early problem with some kind of brown mushy rot which would ruin them early in the summer before they even got to a decent size.

Anyone want to sample a few hots with some cold brew and river paddle let me know.

 

[RednekF350]

Tom,

You can freeze all of the peppers that you have left before the first frost in zip locs. They are good for cooking over the winter but will not be crisp if you like them fresh. You can saute them and they taste like they did in the summer.
I usually freeze all of my cherry hots and Cubanelles the first week in October.

I also pickle and can about 8 quarts of long hots at the end of the season too.
Put them on a roast pork sandwich with some broccoli rabe and sharp provolone and you are truly living a good life.

 

[Gibby]

I was just thinking about pickle and canning. How are your results and is it worth the effort? The only down side to freezing peppers is that they tend to retain a large amount of water which is why they won't crisp later. You can rinse them under warm water to thaw them and dry them with a towel. It helps.

 

[RednekF350]

I was just thinking about pickle and canning. How are your results and is it worth the effort?

I only pickle long hots, which are not really ideal for a hot canning due to their thin skin. They are somewhat soft when done but the flavor is really good. I drop two cloves of fresh garlic in the jar with the peppers.
It is a lot of work but it's fun work and reminds me of my grandmother's kitchen when I was a kid.

 

[Gibby]

I remember the ladies making a fuss in the kitchen in my early years while canning too. My grand parents and their friends were all from Germany and preserved everything and anything. I don't recall seeing or hearing of anyone else other than them doing such a thing. Since most of them have passed on I wish I had the insight to take the time and learn what they knew. Now I have something else to teach myself. I'm going to give it a try.

 

[long-a-coming]

Tom,

You can freeze all of the peppers that you have left before the first frost in zip locs. They are good for cooking over the winter but will not be crisp if you like them fresh. You can saute them and they taste like they did in the summer.
I usually freeze all of my cherry hots and Cubanelles the first week in October.

I also pickle and can about 8 quarts of long hots at the end of the season too.
Put them on a roast pork sandwich with some broccoli rabe and sharp provolone and you are truly living a good life.

Scott,

You gave me long hots way back when i first met you on the board. I think roast pork w/ extra sharp and long hots is a masterpiece. Sarcone's rolls or similiar and you are king of the world my friend. You can always buy a great sandwich but making one yourself is way more satifying.

 

[RednekF350]

I remember the ladies making a fuss in the kitchen in my early years while canning too. My grand parents and their friends were all from Germany and preserved everything and anything. I don't recall seeing or hearing of anyone else other than them doing such a thing. Since most of them have passed on I wish I had the insight to take the time and learn what they knew. Now I have something else to teach myself. I'm going to give it a try.

Mason Ball has a great book on canning that I believe is sold just about anywhere you can buy the jars. It includes all the do's and don'ts and has tons of recipes. I buy cases of jars at Walmart and they carry all the necessities such as lids, pots, jar racks, a magnetic lid wand and a jar grabber.

I use a propane burner and a big porcelain coated pot outside to do the canning. It is a good feeling putting up the things that you grew throughout the summer.
For me, is just another good reason to be outside with a beer in my hand !

 

[Gibby]

Mason Ball has a great book on canning that I believe is sold just about anywhere you can buy the jars. It includes all the do's and don'ts and has tons of recipes. I buy cases of jars at Walmart and they carry all the necessities such as lids, pots, jar racks, a magnetic lid wand and a jar grabber.

I use a propane burner and a big porcelain coated pot outside to do the canning. It is a good feeling putting up the things that you grew throughout the summer.
For me, is just another good reason to be outside with a beer in my hand !

Thanks for the insight. I'm going thru Amazon right now looking for that and others.

 

[Gibby]

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried saving tomato seeds for replanting. If so, any tips for preparing and drying the seeds? I would like to give it a try this year and any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Teegate]

We are growing peanuts. The chipmunks dug up most of the plants but a few of them survived. Jessica dug one of shells up the other day and they looked great. We opened it and the peanuts were almost to full size. We have learned that they need to grow along the ground. The flowers send out shoots that dig in the ground and grow the peanuts. Because the chipmunks were digging them up I bought a tight fence and fenced them in but that caused them to grow up the fence stoping portions of them from getting the shoots to the ground.

At night the plants close up like a mimosa tree. Pretty cool!

Guy

 

[Gibby]

Teegate, a trick that will work to keep chipmunks out of your garden is to place a small pile of sunflower seeds as far away from it as you can. They just love sunflower seeds and will go to the bait station instead of your garden. It might take a day or two for them to find it but it is worth a try.

 

[Teegate]

Teegate, a trick that will work to keep chipmunks out of your garden is to place a small pile of sunflower seeds as far away from it as you can. They just love sunflower seeds and will go to the bait station instead of your garden. It might take a day or two for them to find it but it is worth a try.

Thanks for the tip. I will certainly try that next year.

Guy