On 3/03/2015 3:51 AM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:



I can't stop myself, but the end of my expansion will be when I ask
Himself to move the fences out. He'd say no, however.. .......... we've
just been advised that there are new rules to apply to our septic tank
leach field and we have to fence it off so that stock can't walk over
it.

To include that area, we'll have to enclose another acre at least
so that it forms a logical shape with the rest of the area around the
house...
Why?

Because if we just fence off the leach field, it will be a long skinny
rectangle sticking out like a finger into a paddock that is about 20
acres in size and that would make it unusable. It's not a sensible
thing to do whereas a larger rectangle is able to be used even if it is
only as garden and not as grazing.

snip

:-)) I find my biggest challenge in the veg garden is keeping up the
supply of the fresh greens. We too are two old farts but I do a
delivery to the offspring. Today it was apples, plums, tomatoes and
eggs. What produce do you generally feed your freezer? I've fed mine
plums, raspberries and tomatoes in the last few days but it will get a
few more feeds of apples in the next few days.
No fruit (well, tomatoes, sometimes), berries, or the like.
Neither my mate nor I has much taste for them—not enough sugar, I
guess.... Many tree fruits, even citrus, need some amount of coddling
(primarily protection from cold, heat, sun), which I'm not willing to
do, and those that "vernalize" easily get badly confused, bloom 'way too
early only to have blossoms and nascent fruit freeze in February (I just
watched my neighbor's peaches do that dance for the third consecutive
winter)

That's interesting about the peaches. We can grow peaches here well out
in the open and even though we get heavy frosts, I am starting to get
lemons to grow close in to the house and put in a spot where the sun
doesn't reach them in winter till about 10am so that the frost is
thawing before the sun hits their leaves.


and the varieties purported to do well in this climate just
don't deliver the goods. Too far south for many ("good" apples,
peaches, pears) and too far north for others.

That is most interesting as we grow supperb apples and pears here and
although we have peaches they are more marginal and citrus are all
reputed to "not grow"in this climate as we are considered a "cold
climate". Climate variations and what is achievable in certain areas
always interests me.


I'd enjoy beng able to
grow avocadoes, mangoes, papayas or hassle-free citrus, as when living a
little further south, but it won't happen.
As far as the freezer goes and without bothering to go look: Okra,
green peppers (julienne and diced), hot peppers (whole),

Do you use those in cooking? I assume they go squishy which is why I
ask about cooking.

young yellow
squash, eggplant (aubergine?), "English" peas, cowpeas, green beans,
mustard greens, collard greens. Items that do not freeze well in their
native state or that require parboiling will, in general, be par-cooked,
fully cooked, or ingredients in prepared side dishes to be cooked or
heated. Ironically, I garden in order to enjoy a diet of thaw-and-gnaw.
Ain't technology grand? Truth is, I'd rather pay the electricity
provider to keep the stuff better than I could do (have done) with a gas
stove and pressure canner.

LOL. You freeze much more than I do in it's vegetative state. If I was
going to freeze a lot of those things, they'd be included in cooked
meals (stews/casseroles etc). I'm trying to think what veg we eat that
has come out of the freezer and the only thing that comes to mind is
peas. Most of my preserving is also designed to later be incorporated
into cooked items (eg apple crumble or pie or even just to add to
cereal in the morning). Pressure canners have only fairly recently
become available int his country so we don't have a tradition of
preserving and eating the sort of food that Americans have tended to eat
after pressure canning.

Thanks for an interesting post.