| Page 1 of 2 | 1 | 2 |
|
|
lentils and pulses
Does anybody have any experience of growing lentils and pulses? What
climate do they work well in? Of the hundreds of varieties do any suit a warm temperate region with hot humid summers? How about soil type? -- David - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Corporate propaganda is their protection against democracy |
lentils and pulses
On 25/02/2015 11:47 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Does anybody have any experience of growing lentils and pulses? What climate do they work well in? Of the hundreds of varieties do any suit a warm temperate region with hot humid summers? How about soil type? I too would be interested in any advice or information anyone has to offer. |
lentils and pulses
On 26/02/2015 1:21 AM, Derald wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote: Does anybody have any experience of growing lentils and pulses? What climate do they work well in? Of the hundreds of varieties do any suit a warm temperate region with hot humid summers? How about soil type? Not directly responsive _but_.... I asked a similar question in the NG a few years back and the consensus of qualified responses was that lentils' yield does not warrant the space required and the difficulty in extracting them from their pods so I stopped considering lentils for my (small) home garden. :-)) That lack of space wouldn't worry David or I since we are both on acreage. The lack of yield would be of more concern. So thanks for that bit of info. OTOH, a significant number of the planet's human population depends on lentils as a protein source and, surely, they don't all just pick them up in little bags at the supermarket? However, it seems to me that after lentils are dried extraction and separation should be fairly straighforward so the challenge is to find a variety that works in ones growing conditions. If you decide to try a test planting, I'd be interested in learning your results. It sounds like a group project might be a good plan. :-)) |
lentils and pulses
David Hare-Scott wrote:
Does anybody have any experience of growing lentils and pulses? What climate do they work well in? Of the hundreds of varieties do any suit a warm temperate region with hot humid summers? How about soil type? they grow a lot of lentils in Canada so i would guess they'd grow in a wide range of climates. my own one year attempt at them didn't get any results. i think they were overgrown by the surrounding plants. i liked the plant itself though. i've grown a large variety of dry beans. most seem to need pretty good soil and regular moisture (shallow root structure) to produce well and i don't think they do particularly well at high temperatures. too much late season rain is a real bugger for dry bean production (sometimes i have to pick them when they are close to being done and dry them inside). the pinto bean works well here. it seems more tolerant of poorer soils. if you have enough moisture through the summer to keep plants alive then you could try adzuki, edamame soy, mung, chick peas, blackeyed peas, as i think these will all out-produce lentils for the same space. these need a little longer season than what i have here and will like a dry spell to finish. if you want to try to get a crop in before the hot season hits i'd try field peas, some are edible at pod, seed and dry stage making them a very useful alternative. i have some soup peas that will finish that quickly too but the pods aren't as good. songbird |
lentils and pulses
On 1/03/2015 4:35 PM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote: :-)) That lack of space wouldn't worry David or I since we are both on acreage. The lack of yield would be of more concern. So thanks for that bit of info. I have plenty of room to expand but no motivation to do so. Wise man beign so sensible! 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 so I might just have to have more productive area - this tiem it will be productive bushes though such as gooseberried and Blueberries and some dwarf stock apples or peaches. Currently have nine (nominally) 3ftx8ft raised beds plus a variable number of containers, primarily consisting of halved 60-gal. olive/pickle barrels. Enough to keep two old farts in seasonal fresh veggies with a few for the freezer. :-)) 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. I'm on 4+ acres with only enough cleared to accommodate two dwellings, a small barn and the attendant flotsam that seems so necessary to human beings. The remainder (as well as most of the surrounding similarly-sized tracts) has remained unmolested since the middle 1960's at the latest. I am allowing more of the area to naturalize over time with certain knowledge that, ultimately, it will be paved parking lot (car park? what do you call them in Oz?) equivalent. Either of those would be be acceptable, but more people would probably say 'car park'. |
lentils and pulses
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. |
lentils and pulses
In article ,
Fran Farmer wrote: Wise man beign so sensible! .... 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. I'm still using some of the bumper crop of apples from 2013, which I dried a vast number of. Good in pies, crumbles or porridge, or straight out of the keg (I'm using 2Kg olive kegs to store them, once I figured out how to get the olive smell out of those with baking soda and water.) Also much more compact dried than wet. Of course, that was after they got frozen in the blossom stage 2012 and did nothing, and last year they were exhausted from 2013 and did nearly nothing, so they are in a biennial pattern now...if the blossoms don't get frozen off this year. Wise woman planning on planting more fruits that only need to be planted once. Even though they do need maintenance, it's less work than planting is. -- Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away. |
lentils and pulses
On 3/3/2015 11:18 AM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote: On 3/03/2015 3:51 AM, Derald wrote: 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. The on, off nature of our winters and the long near-tropical summers make it nearly impossible for peaches, apples, pears to cope. Although, within my memory, serious attempts were made to introduce hybrid peaches, apples, "improved" blackberries, "improved" wine grapes, and "improved" table grapes commercialy in my immediate "neighborhood", all failed and I never have seen any of those, save for Pierce-resistant table grapes, grown as "dooryard" fruit. Citrus is less common now than in past years but still popular, although, it requires protection or strategic siting, as you mention. We have one tangerine tree, from a volunteer seedling, that bears sparsely because it's shaded but the trees that shade it are protective so.... Commercial orange groves (In the US Southeast, oranges and pecans live in "groves", not in "orchards". Who knows why.) once abounded where I live but several successive freezes between 1984-1989 were major factors in the eventual death of that industry in these parts. Nowadays, many former groves now sustain introduced planted pines or houses but a fair amount of it is being allowed to naturalize. We have a fig and a kumquat, both young, growing in the backyard. The kumquat fruits in the fall and we have been picking them up until late last month. We have a young pear tree in the front yard, blossoms last year got frost bit, this year it looks as though we may escape a late frost and may, maybe, I hope, get a few pears this year. We moved back to Texas after 24 years in SW Louisiana, town called Sulphur. Had a very large backyard with a mature fruit trees, two kumquat trees generally gave us about ten gallons of fruit, fig tree almost that much, Japanese persimmon, two plum trees, one Ponderosa lemon tree that was very fruitful too. We were basically one step up from sub-tropical, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) heat zone 9b, we're one zone down here at the new place so get a bit more frost. In 8b our last frost date was generally around mid-February, here it's mid-to-late March. snip Climate variations and what is achievable in certain areas always interests me. I'm continuously confused by the phase differences among regional climates in the two hemispheres. Although we have had March surprises, for practical purposes, "winter" is over where I live. Only had overnight freezing temperatures two or three times. One night, temps remained at or below freezing for almost nine hours, which is unusual—two nights like that are a cold wave. One sparkling frosty morning and no ice, at all. Haven't made a fire for a couple of weeks, at least. Looking for a high today of 26-27 real degrees; low tonight 15-16. The window for planting veggies that demand cool temperatures is closed, or nearly so, and it's time to think about beans, eggplant, etc. snip 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. The okra is frozen either whole or sliced, the slices being alread breaded and ready to cook (fry). The diced/sliced "bell" peppers keep their texture very nearly as well as the flash frozen commercial products. The hot peppers (mostly jalapeño) are frozen whole and, yes, they do get squishy and are suitable only as ingredients. Slicing, if needed, is done while peppers are still nearly frozen. Although we keep a stock in the freezer, with a little effort, I can grow jalapeño peppers as perennials, which keeps fresh green peppers available almost year 'round but we use enough ripe (red) ones that we keep some in the freezer. We freeze a lot of vegetables. Generally I will slice and dice then put on a bun pan and into the freezer for 1 hour, then vacuum bag. Do that with peppers, okra, green beans, etc. For greens I blanch them for three minutes in boiling water, drain the liquid off, put on a bun pan in a serving size for two, vacuum pack and into the freezer again. Pulled some Swiss chard out the other night from 2011, still like new snip 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. Well, as noted, many of the veggies named _are_ pre-cooked or are in finished side dishes. Eggplant, for example, frequently will be in a casserole or vegetarian lasagna, although DW has learned a technique for preserving its texture well enough for other uses; the collards and other greens are only par-cooked so that they can finish cooking without getting all mooshy. Green beans don't freeze well in home freezers but they're tolerable in January, when there's not a fresh bean in sight unless one is willing to pay exhorbitant prices for those things the grocery stores sell. We puree a lot of eggplant and/or zucchini, turn into fritters, let cool, vacuum bag and freeze, handy to get out for dinner in the winter. Lots of zucchini and other summer squashes get either sliced for casseroles, or shredded to make bread or fritters during the winter. snip Pressure canners have only fairly recently become available int his country... Goodness; I find that surprising but I do remember seeing, in an online catalog, types of containers no longer used here. Seems to me the lid-sealing arrangement differed. I would not be without my pressure canner and assorted menagerie of boiling water bath canners. We put up a lot of beans and peas by pressure canning plus we make lots of jams and jellies for our extended family there's about 21 of us around the area now, all descendants or married into the family. We both learned to pressure can and otherwise preserve food in the late forties, early fifties from our parents. Hardy farm folk in the main. I have a small closet in my office that is full of canning jars, lids, rings, full jars of this and that, and most of our canning pots and pans plus extra rolls of vacuum bags, etc. Once you learn how to do it and do it the proper way so no one dies from eating your stuff it becomes easy and, I think, saves lots of money instead of buying more stuff that you don't know where it comes from. I have become one of those who avidly reads food labels. I don't buy food canned in certain countries and try not to eat anything that comes out of those countries. I don't visit certain American restaurants because most of their food comes from one or more of those countries. Home made is best. |
lentils and pulses
On 3/3/2015 9:19 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote: We moved back to Texas after 24 years in SW Louisiana, town called Sulphur. Had a very large backyard with a mature fruit trees, two kumquat trees generally gave us about ten gallons of fruit, fig tree almost that much, Japanese persimmon, two plum trees, one Ponderosa lemon tree that was very fruitful too. We were basically one step up from sub-tropical, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) heat zone 9b, we're one zone down here at the new place so get a bit more frost. In 8b our last frost date was generally around mid-February, here it's mid-to-late March. The most recent USDA remapping changed us from 9a to 9b. However, the white shirts neglected to tell the weather sprites and nothing really has changed. We freeze a lot of vegetables. Generally I will slice and dice then put on a bun pan and into the freezer for 1 hour, then vacuum bag. Do that with peppers, okra, green beans, etc. For greens I blanch them for three minutes in boiling water, drain the liquid off, put on a bun pan in a serving size for two, vacuum pack and into the freezer again. Pulled some Swiss chard out the other night from 2011, still like new Yours is basically the procedure that I follow except for the vacuum. I spread the stuff out on cookie sheets so that individuals are separated. They freeze quickly and remain separate when packaged. I do, however, vacuum pack dehydrated foods such as onion or celery but don't use any of those "systems" that use plastic bags. In the 1990's DW&I purchased and tested every countertop vacuum appliance that we could find at retail. 100% of the bags, even brand name bags, failed within just a few months. In many cases the failure was undetectable until one opened the package. Most failed along the factory seams. I obtain a higher vacuum than the Tilia ever achieved by using a high quality bicycle pump (the repairable kind from a bicycle shop, not a Walmart throwaway) with reversed valving (Had to add an external check valve because the stock valve does not seal when reversed). Tape tabs over piercings in the lids of the same Mason jars we used for canning makes touching up the vacuum from time to time easy. The last time I used the Foodsaver was to remove excess fluid through the fill tube of an automatic transmission in '03 or '04; really. I'm still using the FoodSaver but I don't buy bags from them. Find 50 foot rolls online and have only had two fail in service recently. My main gripe with the FoodSaver is that the new ones eat about an extra two inches of bag each time you seal one due to setting the vacuum channel back that much. My first FoodSaver only used about a quarter inch of bag but it croaked after several years due to bad construction of hinges on the lid. Super glued that and it kept working until some of the internal plastic died too. I'm looking on line for a better vacuum sealer without all the foibles of Tilia. I would not be without my pressure canner and assorted menagerie of boiling water bath canners. We still have ours, too, along with a motley assortment of pressure cookers none of which ever gets used. However, a five or six quart weight-regulated pressure cooker makes a fine retort in which to evacuate multiple small jars at once. Attach the pump onto the cooker's vent tube and let'er rip. snip I have a small closet in my office that is full of canning jars, lids, rings, full jars of this and that, and most of our canning pots and pans plus extra rolls of vacuum bags, etc. Once you learn how to do it and do it the proper way so no one dies from eating your stuff it becomes easy and, I think, saves lots of money instead of buying more stuff that you don't know where it comes from. I have become one of those who avidly reads food labels. I don't buy food canned in certain countries and try not to eat anything that comes out of those countries. I don't visit certain American restaurants because most of their food comes from one or more of those countries. Home made is best. Ironically, even at upscale restaurants the fancy dishes could come frozen in a bright white box bearing the "Sysco" label. Not many upscale restaurants where I live, mostly TexMex, sandwich shops, etc. Do better cooking everything myself. My kraut is working, made its own water and is doing well. Hit 81F here today and if it stays hot there goes the kraut. Unless I put it in the old fridge in the garage and keep it around 60F, if possible. What the heck, it was only two five lb heads of cabbage, turn it into compost if it fails as kraut. |
lentils and pulses
On 4/03/2015 4:18 AM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote: Green beans don't freeze well in home freezers but they're tolerable in January, when there's not a fresh bean in sight unless one is willing to pay exhorbitant prices for those things the grocery stores sell. :-)) On the few occasions I've bothered to look at sites online that showed the prices of food in the US, I can't believe how cheap it is. You would not like the prices we pay in Oz. snip Pressure canners have only fairly recently become available int his country... Goodness; I find that surprising but I do remember seeing, in an online catalog, types of containers no longer used here. Seems to me the lid-sealing arrangement differed. I'm sure the pressure canners haven't been available here because really there has never been a real need for them. Most of our country is snow free all year round and only a small part of the country gets any snow at all and so our shops all stock large quantities of fresh fruit and veg all year round. It's all affordable even the tropical stuff when in season. Our climate generally allows keen gardeners to produce fresh product all year round to some degree. For example, I live in a cold climate but I still can eat something out of my garden even in the depths of winter. David H-S who live sin amuch warmer climate can grow far wider range than I can but perhaps he is too warm and humid for growing good apples. Australia also des't have the sort of hunted animals that USians often 'can'. Any Australian who did shoot a kangaroo is far more likely to use it for dog food than for eating himself and if you told him that he could probably 'can' it as USians do for deer, he'd think you were trying to pull his leg. The common preserving method used here was known as the Fowlers Vacola method (hot water bath) and that covered the sort of preserved food most households ate here ie fruit. Preserved veg was never popular when home preserving was a big hobby/domestic habit. |
lentils and pulses
On 4/03/2015 5:27 AM, George Shirley wrote:
On 3/3/2015 11:18 AM, Derald wrote: Fran Farmer wrote: On 3/03/2015 3:51 AM, Derald wrote: 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. The on, off nature of our winters and the long near-tropical summers make it nearly impossible for peaches, apples, pears to cope. Although, within my memory, serious attempts were made to introduce hybrid peaches, apples, "improved" blackberries, "improved" wine grapes, and "improved" table grapes commercialy in my immediate "neighborhood", all failed and I never have seen any of those, save for Pierce-resistant table grapes, grown as "dooryard" fruit. Citrus is less common now than in past years but still popular, although, it requires protection or strategic siting, as you mention. We have one tangerine tree, from a volunteer seedling, that bears sparsely because it's shaded but the trees that shade it are protective so.... Commercial orange groves (In the US Southeast, oranges and pecans live in "groves", not in "orchards". Who knows why.) once abounded where I live but several successive freezes between 1984-1989 were major factors in the eventual death of that industry in these parts. Nowadays, many former groves now sustain introduced planted pines or houses but a fair amount of it is being allowed to naturalize. We have a fig and a kumquat, both young, growing in the backyard. The kumquat fruits in the fall and we have been picking them up until late last month. We have a young pear tree in the front yard, blossoms last year got frost bit, this year it looks as though we may escape a late frost and may, maybe, I hope, get a few pears this year. We moved back to Texas after 24 years in SW Louisiana, town called Sulphur. Had a very large backyard with a mature fruit trees, two kumquat trees generally gave us about ten gallons of fruit, fig tree almost that much, Japanese persimmon, two plum trees, one Ponderosa lemon tree that was very fruitful too. We were basically one step up from sub-tropical, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) heat zone 9b, we're one zone down here at the new place so get a bit more frost. In 8b our last frost date was generally around mid-February, here it's mid-to-late March. snip Climate variations and what is achievable in certain areas always interests me. I'm continuously confused by the phase differences among regional climates in the two hemispheres. Although we have had March surprises, for practical purposes, "winter" is over where I live. Only had overnight freezing temperatures two or three times. One night, temps remained at or below freezing for almost nine hours, which is unusual—two nights like that are a cold wave. One sparkling frosty morning and no ice, at all. Haven't made a fire for a couple of weeks, at least. Looking for a high today of 26-27 real degrees; low tonight 15-16. The window for planting veggies that demand cool temperatures is closed, or nearly so, and it's time to think about beans, eggplant, etc. snip 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. The okra is frozen either whole or sliced, the slices being alread breaded and ready to cook (fry). The diced/sliced "bell" peppers keep their texture very nearly as well as the flash frozen commercial products. The hot peppers (mostly jalapeño) are frozen whole and, yes, they do get squishy and are suitable only as ingredients. Slicing, if needed, is done while peppers are still nearly frozen. Although we keep a stock in the freezer, with a little effort, I can grow jalapeño peppers as perennials, which keeps fresh green peppers available almost year 'round but we use enough ripe (red) ones that we keep some in the freezer. We freeze a lot of vegetables. Generally I will slice and dice then put on a bun pan and into the freezer for 1 hour, then vacuum bag. Do that with peppers, okra, green beans, etc. For greens I blanch them for three minutes in boiling water, drain the liquid off, put on a bun pan in a serving size for two, vacuum pack and into the freezer again. Pulled some Swiss chard out the other night from 2011, still like new snip 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. Well, as noted, many of the veggies named _are_ pre-cooked or are in finished side dishes. Eggplant, for example, frequently will be in a casserole or vegetarian lasagna, although DW has learned a technique for preserving its texture well enough for other uses; the collards and other greens are only par-cooked so that they can finish cooking without getting all mooshy. Green beans don't freeze well in home freezers but they're tolerable in January, when there's not a fresh bean in sight unless one is willing to pay exhorbitant prices for those things the grocery stores sell. We puree a lot of eggplant and/or zucchini, turn into fritters, let cool, vacuum bag and freeze, handy to get out for dinner in the winter. Lots of zucchini and other summer squashes get either sliced for casseroles, or shredded to make bread or fritters during the winter. snip Pressure canners have only fairly recently become available int his country... Goodness; I find that surprising but I do remember seeing, in an online catalog, types of containers no longer used here. Seems to me the lid-sealing arrangement differed. I would not be without my pressure canner and assorted menagerie of boiling water bath canners. I don't own a pressure canner and can't see that I would ever use one. I do own three water bath preserving outfits but these days the 2 stove top ones are in retirement and I only use my Electric outfit. We put up a lot of beans and peas by pressure canning plus we make lots of jams and jellies for our extended family there's about 21 of us around the area now, all descendants or married into the family. I make lots of jams and jellies but of course I don't need any of my water bath outfits when I make them. I did recently do a very extravagant thing though for my jam and jelly making. I've always wanted a big copper jam pan and when we cam back form an overseas trip and i still had a few hundred unspent dollars, I lashed out and bought myself the biggest copper jam pan I could find. It IS beautiful but TBH, I don't believe it improves my jam and it IS a pig to clean, but I feel like such a good little hausfrau each time I use it. We both learned to pressure can and otherwise preserve food in the late forties, early fifties from our parents. Hardy farm folk in the main. I have a small closet in my office that is full of canning jars, lids, rings, full jars of this and that, and most of our canning pots and pans plus extra rolls of vacuum bags, etc. Once you learn how to do it and do it the proper way so no one dies from eating your stuff it becomes easy and, :-)) Botulism will do that. That is probably why most people in this country who are into preserving only do fruit and use the freezer for long term keeping of veg or meat. |
lentils and pulses
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 4/03/2015 4:18 AM, Derald wrote: Fran Farmer wrote: Green beans don't freeze well in home freezers but they're tolerable in January, when there's not a fresh bean in sight unless one is willing to pay exhorbitant prices for those things the grocery stores sell. :-)) On the few occasions I've bothered to look at sites online that showed the prices of food in the US, I can't believe how cheap it is. You would not like the prices we pay in Oz. snip Pressure canners have only fairly recently become available int his country... Goodness; I find that surprising but I do remember seeing, in an online catalog, types of containers no longer used here. Seems to me the lid-sealing arrangement differed. I'm sure the pressure canners haven't been available here because really there has never been a real need for them. Most of our country is snow free all year round and only a small part of the country gets any snow at all and so our shops all stock large quantities of fresh fruit and veg all year round. It's all affordable even the tropical stuff when in season. Our climate generally allows keen gardeners to produce fresh product all year round to some degree. For example, I live in a cold climate but I still can eat something out of my garden even in the depths of winter. David H-S who live sin amuch warmer climate can grow far wider range than I can but perhaps he is too warm and humid for growing good apples. We should get together and compare sin where we live sometime. I have just harvested most of my pomes. The medar will be another two months if the possums don't get them. I have one producing apple tree, it gave a little less than one crate of granny smiths, they are very tasty, I just love the tart-sweet crispness. I have one quince that gave one and half crates of fruit. I have two pears. The Josephine Dumaurier (sp?) gave one crate this year, in years past more. The Packhams Triumph had a good year and gave 7 crates. Despite the hot summer we still get frost in the winter. We selected cultivars that do not require high chilling. Why do they vary so much from year to year? I don't know. The hot humid summer doesn't seem to do any harm, the pomes don't appear to get fungal diseases. They do get birds, bats, possums, chooks, fruit fly and rats however. These are milk crates that hold about 20kg (45lbs) of fruit. So the Packam had about 140kg (310lbs) of fruit, some branches were broken. The common preserving method used here was known as the Fowlers Vacola method (hot water bath) and that covered the sort of preserved food most households ate here ie fruit. Preserved veg was never popular when home preserving was a big hobby/domestic habit. I will bottle some and freeze some and try to give away most of the pears before they rot. -- David - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Corporate propaganda is their protection against democracy |
lentils and pulses
On 3/4/2015 4:41 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 4/03/2015 4:18 AM, Derald wrote: Fran Farmer wrote: Green beans don't freeze well in home freezers but they're tolerable in January, when there's not a fresh bean in sight unless one is willing to pay exhorbitant prices for those things the grocery stores sell. :-)) On the few occasions I've bothered to look at sites online that showed the prices of food in the US, I can't believe how cheap it is. You would not like the prices we pay in Oz. snip Pressure canners have only fairly recently become available int his country... Goodness; I find that surprising but I do remember seeing, in an online catalog, types of containers no longer used here. Seems to me the lid-sealing arrangement differed. I'm sure the pressure canners haven't been available here because really there has never been a real need for them. Most of our country is snow free all year round and only a small part of the country gets any snow at all and so our shops all stock large quantities of fresh fruit and veg all year round. It's all affordable even the tropical stuff when in season. Our climate generally allows keen gardeners to produce fresh product all year round to some degree. For example, I live in a cold climate but I still can eat something out of my garden even in the depths of winter. David H-S who live sin amuch warmer climate can grow far wider range than I can but perhaps he is too warm and humid for growing good apples. Australia also des't have the sort of hunted animals that USians often 'can'. Any Australian who did shoot a kangaroo is far more likely to use it for dog food than for eating himself and if you told him that he could probably 'can' it as USians do for deer, he'd think you were trying to pull his leg. Actually most US hunters preserve their catch by freezing the meat. I've been a hunter since I got my first rifle at five, that's about 70 years ago. We never canned meat, took to long in the pressure canner and wasn't all that tasty when opened. Worked with a number of folks from Oz back in the eighties in the Middle East, none of them appeared to have hunted anything but several were avid fishermen. Their main hobby was hunting for beer. G Good workers and, generally, good people. Passed through Oz once when I was a young man in the flying Navy, good beer there. The common preserving method used here was known as the Fowlers Vacola method (hot water bath) and that covered the sort of preserved food most households ate here ie fruit. Preserved veg was never popular when home preserving was a big hobby/domestic habit. A friend tried to explain the Vacola method but I never understood it completely. We hot water bath fruit, jellies and jams here but use a different jar, one with a ring and a self-sealing lid when boiled. Here's a website that has all the info on that: http://nchfp.uga.edu/ |
lentils and pulses
On 3/4/2015 5:48 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote: On 4/03/2015 4:18 AM, Derald wrote: Fran Farmer wrote: Green beans don't freeze well in home freezers but they're tolerable in January, when there's not a fresh bean in sight unless one is willing to pay exhorbitant prices for those things the grocery stores sell. :-)) On the few occasions I've bothered to look at sites online that showed the prices of food in the US, I can't believe how cheap it is. You would not like the prices we pay in Oz. snip Pressure canners have only fairly recently become available int his country... Goodness; I find that surprising but I do remember seeing, in an online catalog, types of containers no longer used here. Seems to me the lid-sealing arrangement differed. I'm sure the pressure canners haven't been available here because really there has never been a real need for them. Most of our country is snow free all year round and only a small part of the country gets any snow at all and so our shops all stock large quantities of fresh fruit and veg all year round. It's all affordable even the tropical stuff when in season. Our climate generally allows keen gardeners to produce fresh product all year round to some degree. For example, I live in a cold climate but I still can eat something out of my garden even in the depths of winter. David H-S who live sin amuch warmer climate can grow far wider range than I can but perhaps he is too warm and humid for growing good apples. We should get together and compare sin where we live sometime. I have just harvested most of my pomes. The medar will be another two months if the possums don't get them. I have one producing apple tree, it gave a little less than one crate of granny smiths, they are very tasty, I just love the tart-sweet crispness. I have one quince that gave one and half crates of fruit. I have two pears. The Josephine Dumaurier (sp?) gave one crate this year, in years past more. The Packhams Triumph had a good year and gave 7 crates. Despite the hot summer we still get frost in the winter. We selected cultivars that do not require high chilling. Why do they vary so much from year to year? I don't know. The hot humid summer doesn't seem to do any harm, the pomes don't appear to get fungal diseases. They do get birds, bats, possums, chooks, fruit fly and rats however. These are milk crates that hold about 20kg (45lbs) of fruit. So the Packam had about 140kg (310lbs) of fruit, some branches were broken. The common preserving method used here was known as the Fowlers Vacola method (hot water bath) and that covered the sort of preserved food most households ate here ie fruit. Preserved veg was never popular when home preserving was a big hobby/domestic habit. I will bottle some and freeze some and try to give away most of the pears before they rot. Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And, with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear trees. I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but better), and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies, cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top. |
lentils and pulses
George Shirley wrote:
A friend tried to explain the Vacola method but I never understood it completely. We hot water bath fruit, jellies and jams here but use a different jar, one with a ring and a self-sealing lid when boiled. Here's a website that has all the info on that: http://nchfp.uga.edu/ The vacola system is quite simple. The jar has a shallow slot around the top. You stretch an annular rubber seal into that slot. You then pack the jar and put a metal lid on it that sits on the rubber seal. You add a metal clip that holds the lid down tight and process in the normal way. When cool you take the clip off. The lid now magically stays on as the processing drives out the air from the jar but as it cools the seal prevents it from re-entering. So you have a sterile vacuum sealed jar. In the case of fruit it will last for years. -- David - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Corporate propaganda is their protection against democracy |
lentils and pulses
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote: The vacola system is quite simple. The jar has a shallow slot around the top. You stretch an annular rubber seal into that slot. You then pack the jar and put a metal lid on it that sits on the rubber seal. You add a metal clip that holds the lid down tight and process in the normal way. When cool you take the clip off. The lid now magically stays on as the processing drives out the air from the jar but as it cools the seal prevents it from re-entering. So you have a sterile vacuum sealed jar. In the case of fruit it will last for years. ie (and hardly surprisingly) fundamentally similar to the ball-jar method, except that the seal is separate, rather than fused to the (for ball jars, "use once, per official guidelines") metal lid. The function of the vacola clip is served by the threaded ring on ball-jars. Harking back to the all glass jars with glass lids and separate jar rubber rings, which I have a bunch of but don't use for canning (officaldom's concern with those is that one might not find a failed seal as obvious, since glass lids don't "pop" in as the metal ones do when sealed.) I have relegated mine to dry storage duty. I have canned meat exactly once, to make "real mincemeat" - and that's the only thing that would lead me to can meat (and hasn't for 25 years...) -- Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away. |
lentils and pulses
On 3/5/2015 11:11 AM, Ecnerwal wrote:
In article , "David Hare-Scott" wrote: The vacola system is quite simple. The jar has a shallow slot around the top. You stretch an annular rubber seal into that slot. You then pack the jar and put a metal lid on it that sits on the rubber seal. You add a metal clip that holds the lid down tight and process in the normal way. When cool you take the clip off. The lid now magically stays on as the processing drives out the air from the jar but as it cools the seal prevents it from re-entering. So you have a sterile vacuum sealed jar. In the case of fruit it will last for years. ie (and hardly surprisingly) fundamentally similar to the ball-jar method, except that the seal is separate, rather than fused to the (for ball jars, "use once, per official guidelines") metal lid. The function of the vacola clip is served by the threaded ring on ball-jars. Harking back to the all glass jars with glass lids and separate jar rubber rings, which I have a bunch of but don't use for canning (officaldom's concern with those is that one might not find a failed seal as obvious, since glass lids don't "pop" in as the metal ones do when sealed.) I have relegated mine to dry storage duty. I have canned meat exactly once, to make "real mincemeat" - and that's the only thing that would lead me to can meat (and hasn't for 25 years...) Same here, have several of the glass lid jars, up to one gallon (what the heck did they can in a jar that big?) Very good for keeping grains and cereals from getting old quick. I've never canned meat, family got their first Deep Freeze (actually the name on the plate) in 1951 and it lasted until Mom went to the nursing home in the early eighties and might still be with the neighbor that bought it. My folks didn't can meat either, before home freezers they had a "locker" at the ice plant in town to keep lots of meat in. I do make pear mince meat and really like it. Warming up rapidly again, seems the pear tree and the other plants will keep their blooms. Hopefully it stays that way, we have about two weeks left for possible frost. Sauerkraut is doing well sitting in the unused bedroom that is a cold room at the moment. The bucket is in a plastic tub, just in case. Note: rec.food.preserving is a good spot to hit for home food preserving. Some folks on this spot ride that one occasionally too. |
lentils and pulses
On 5/03/2015 10:48 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote: On 4/03/2015 4:18 AM, Derald wrote: Fran Farmer wrote: Green beans don't freeze well in home freezers but they're tolerable in January, when there's not a fresh bean in sight unless one is willing to pay exhorbitant prices for those things the grocery stores sell. :-)) On the few occasions I've bothered to look at sites online that showed the prices of food in the US, I can't believe how cheap it is. You would not like the prices we pay in Oz. snip Pressure canners have only fairly recently become available int his country... Goodness; I find that surprising but I do remember seeing, in an online catalog, types of containers no longer used here. Seems to me the lid-sealing arrangement differed. I'm sure the pressure canners haven't been available here because really there has never been a real need for them. Most of our country is snow free all year round and only a small part of the country gets any snow at all and so our shops all stock large quantities of fresh fruit and veg all year round. It's all affordable even the tropical stuff when in season. Our climate generally allows keen gardeners to produce fresh product all year round to some degree. For example, I live in a cold climate but I still can eat something out of my garden even in the depths of winter. David H-S who live sin amuch warmer climate can grow far wider range than I can but perhaps he is too warm and humid for growing good apples. We should get together and compare sin where we live sometime. I know you live inland a long way north of me. I had placed you from the things you'd said and the weather conditions reported at times when you said certain things as being inland in a triangle bounded by Taree, Musswellbrook, Newcastle. How close is that fit? I have just harvested most of my pomes. My inclusion of "perhaps" was right. The medar will be another two months if the possums don't get them. I have one producing apple tree, it gave a little less than one crate of granny smiths, they are very tasty, I just love the tart-sweet crispness. We have at 5 of a size that produce and more coming on. Our trouble now is netting them quickly enough to keep the blasted Sulphur Cresteds off. I have one quince that gave one and half crates of fruit. I lost all fruit form mine this year on a hugely loaded tree in l2 hours. Guess what got them? Ran out of netting..... I have two pears. The Josephine Dumaurier (sp?) gave one crate this year, in years past more. The Packhams Triumph had a good year and gave 7 crates. We've got 2 pears and they seem to alternate and both are ???? Williams??? This year both are going to give a huge harvest Despite the hot summer we still get frost in the winter. We selected cultivars that do not require high chilling. We are in high chill area. Down to -9C is not unusual. -7 is common. Why do they vary so much from year to year? I don't know. The hot humid summer doesn't seem to do any harm, the pomes don't appear to get fungal diseases. They do get birds, bats, possums, chooks, fruit fly and rats however. My chooks never seem to do any harm to our trees. Teh worst problem so far is that one hen got inside the nettign and I dint notice she was missing and then realised she'd been out in the open under the tree without water or food for 3 days and we'd had a humungeous storm in that time. Poor thing. She survived but was thirsty by the time I foudn her. I felt very guilty. These are milk crates that hold about 20kg (45lbs) of fruit. So the Packam had about 140kg (310lbs) of fruit, some branches were broken. I have had the same trouble with one of my prune trees this year. I knew i should have put props under the branches and didn't. I felt guilty again. The common preserving method used here was known as the Fowlers Vacola method (hot water bath) and that covered the sort of preserved food most households ate here ie fruit. Preserved veg was never popular when home preserving was a big hobby/domestic habit. I will bottle some and freeze some and try to give away most of the pears before they rot. Make soem pear juice? I've made apple juice in the Vacola using very large jars and it was lovley int he depths of winter. Yesterday I made plum jam. I've also frozen stewed plums, I've also done the "5 minute Microwave Bottling" method of putting away plums in old Salsa jars. Later Today I am going to do the Vacola method of preserving plums after I deliver basket loads to various people around the village (along with eggs, tomatoes, zucchini and there is somehting else someone asked me for so I'd better recall that before I set out...). |
lentils and pulses
On 5/03/2015 11:27 AM, George Shirley wrote:
Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And, with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear trees. I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but better), and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies, cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top. What is a 'cobbler'? I'm wondering if it is anything like what David and I would call a 'crumble'. I make various 'crumbles' eg Apple Crumble, rhubarb crumble etc. It's a topping over stewed fruit and the 'crumble' component is traditionally made up of flour, sugar and butter that looks crumb like before it is baked in the oven to make a crunchy topping. Lovely served with ice cream or cream in the cold weather and much loved by men more than women IME. |
lentils and pulses
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 5/03/2015 10:48 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote: Fran Farmer wrote: On 4/03/2015 4:18 AM, Derald wrote: Fran Farmer wrote: Green beans don't freeze well in home freezers but they're tolerable in January, when there's not a fresh bean in sight unless one is willing to pay exhorbitant prices for those things the grocery stores sell. :-)) On the few occasions I've bothered to look at sites online that showed the prices of food in the US, I can't believe how cheap it is. You would not like the prices we pay in Oz. snip Pressure canners have only fairly recently become available int his country... Goodness; I find that surprising but I do remember seeing, in an online catalog, types of containers no longer used here. Seems to me the lid-sealing arrangement differed. I'm sure the pressure canners haven't been available here because really there has never been a real need for them. Most of our country is snow free all year round and only a small part of the country gets any snow at all and so our shops all stock large quantities of fresh fruit and veg all year round. It's all affordable even the tropical stuff when in season. Our climate generally allows keen gardeners to produce fresh product all year round to some degree. For example, I live in a cold climate but I still can eat something out of my garden even in the depths of winter. David H-S who live sin amuch warmer climate can grow far wider range than I can but perhaps he is too warm and humid for growing good apples. We should get together and compare sin where we live sometime. I know you live inland a long way north of me. I had placed you from the things you'd said and the weather conditions reported at times when you said certain things as being inland in a triangle bounded by Taree, Musswellbrook, Newcastle. How close is that fit? That's where I live but you missed out on the sin part. My chooks never seem to do any harm to our trees. Teh worst problem so far is that one hen got inside the nettign and I dint notice she was missing and then realised she'd been out in the open under the tree without water or food for 3 days and we'd had a humungeous storm in that time. Poor thing. She survived but was thirsty by the time I foudn her. I felt very guilty. Ours will jump up to peck at the low hanging fruit. These are milk crates that hold about 20kg (45lbs) of fruit. So the Packam had about 140kg (310lbs) of fruit, some branches were broken. I have had the same trouble with one of my prune trees this year. I knew i should have put props under the branches and didn't. I felt guilty again. The common preserving method used here was known as the Fowlers Vacola method (hot water bath) and that covered the sort of preserved food most households ate here ie fruit. Preserved veg was never popular when home preserving was a big hobby/domestic habit. I will bottle some and freeze some and try to give away most of the pears before they rot. Make soem pear juice? I've made apple juice in the Vacola using very large jars and it was lovley int he depths of winter. good idea -- David - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Corporate propaganda is their protection against democracy |
lentils and pulses
On 3/5/2015 5:05 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 5/03/2015 11:27 AM, George Shirley wrote: Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And, with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear trees. I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but better), and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies, cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top. What is a 'cobbler'? I'm wondering if it is anything like what David and I would call a 'crumble'. I make various 'crumbles' eg Apple Crumble, rhubarb crumble etc. It's a topping over stewed fruit and the 'crumble' component is traditionally made up of flour, sugar and butter that looks crumb like before it is baked in the oven to make a crunchy topping. Lovely served with ice cream or cream in the cold weather and much loved by men more than women IME. Pretty much the same thing, a US southern cobbler is stewed fruit with dough ladled into it and the dough puffs up when baked. Favorites here are blackberry, dewberry, peach, and pretty much any available fruit. I can dig up a recipe and post it if you like. I've made blueberry and everything else but apples. About the only way I eat apples is sliced up and have a plate of sharp cheddar cheese handy. I was brought up in a house full of women, ranging from a great grandmother on down to two older sisters. Being the only boy child I learned to cook, clean, and preserve pretty much anything. When you have that many women hovering over you you learn to be polite and correct. I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of zucchini bread. |
lentils and pulses
Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote: What is a 'cobbler'? Basically, "deep dish" berry or fruit pie with no bottom crust and a biscuit dough top crust. snippage happens We have crumbles, too-in the Southeastern US, at least-known by a variety of names and they are exactly as you describe. Again, there are regional variants. Our cobbler recipe is basically a stick of butter melted in a deep baking pan (we use a 4 qt round pan), a pint or two of fruit added , then a batter of 1 cup each of sugar , flour , and milk with some baking powder poured in the center of the whole thing . Toss it in the oven at 375 for about 45 min to an hour , then enjoy with ice cream on top . We've used apples , cherries , fruit cocktail (!) peaches , and blackberries . Fresh , frozen or canned , if you use fresh add some sugar to the fruit . If we use canned , we use the juice and water with dry milk in the batter . Another variation uses a chocolate cake mix with reduced liquid and canned cherry pie filling (google dump cake) cooked in a dutch oven over a camp fire , that one was a really big hit with the Boy Scout troop I was involved with (as a leader) . -- Snag |
lentils and pulses
Terry Coombs wrote:
Derald wrote: Fran Farmer wrote: What is a 'cobbler'? Basically, "deep dish" berry or fruit pie with no bottom crust and a biscuit dough top crust. snippage happens We have crumbles, too-in the Southeastern US, at least-known by a variety of names and they are exactly as you describe. Again, there are regional variants. Our cobbler recipe is basically a stick of butter melted in a deep baking pan (we use a 4 qt round pan), a pint or two of fruit added , then a batter of 1 cup each of sugar , flour , and milk with some baking powder poured in the center of the whole thing . Toss it in the oven at 375 for about 45 min to an hour , then enjoy with ice cream on top . We've used apples , cherries , fruit cocktail (!) peaches , and blackberries . Fresh , frozen or canned , if you use fresh add some sugar to the fruit . If we use canned , we use the juice and water with dry milk in the batter . Another variation uses a chocolate cake mix with reduced liquid and canned cherry pie filling (google dump cake) cooked in a dutch oven over a camp fire , that one was a really big hit with the Boy Scout troop I was involved with (as a leader) . Forgot to add , what you're calling crumbles is probably the same dish we call a crisp . Sliced fruit covered with a mixture of oatmeal , flour , brown sugar , and butter and baked hot enough that the topping gets browned and crispy - thus the name . -- Snag |
lentils and pulses
On 6/03/2015 2:11 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
Forgot to add , what you're calling crumbles is probably the same dish we call a crisp . Sliced fruit covered with a mixture of oatmeal , flour , brown sugar , and butter and baked hot enough that the topping gets browned and crispy - thus the name . Bingo! It is the same thing is an apple crisp/crumble according to Wikipedia although given the two photos that Wikipedia has put in to illustrate the dish, they should have foudn someone who could actually cook because both of those look like a very lame effort : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_crisp But form there i followed the link to 'crumble' and there it says that a 'crumble' is also called a Brown Betty! Not in my universe! |
lentils and pulses
On 6/03/2015 10:19 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote: On 5/03/2015 10:48 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote: (snip) We should get together and compare sin where we live sometime. I know you live inland a long way north of me. I had placed you from the things you'd said and the weather conditions reported at times when you said certain things as being inland in a triangle bounded by Taree, Musswellbrook, Newcastle. How close is that fit? That's where I live but you missed out on the sin part. Snort! Some interesting environmental challenges up your way these days........ You may as well turn to either sin or the bottle. My chooks never seem to do any harm to our trees. Teh worst problem so far is that one hen got inside the nettign and I dint notice she was missing and then realised she'd been out in the open under the tree without water or food for 3 days and we'd had a humungeous storm in that time. Poor thing. She survived but was thirsty by the time I foudn her. I felt very guilty. Ours will jump up to peck at the low hanging fruit. I've got standard Australorps so they are probably too big and heavy to bother. |
lentils and pulses
On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote:
On 3/5/2015 5:05 PM, Fran Farmer wrote: On 5/03/2015 11:27 AM, George Shirley wrote: Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And, with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear trees. I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but better), and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies, cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top. What is a 'cobbler'? I'm wondering if it is anything like what David and I would call a 'crumble'. I make various 'crumbles' eg Apple Crumble, rhubarb crumble etc. It's a topping over stewed fruit and the 'crumble' component is traditionally made up of flour, sugar and butter that looks crumb like before it is baked in the oven to make a crunchy topping. Lovely served with ice cream or cream in the cold weather and much loved by men more than women IME. Pretty much the same thing, a US southern cobbler is stewed fruit with dough ladled into it and the dough puffs up when baked. Favorites here are blackberry, dewberry, peach, and pretty much any available fruit. I can dig up a recipe and post it if you like. Thanks for the kind offer but I've just done a google, which in all honesty, I should have done to begin with rather than asking you, but then it does make for newsgroup conversations I guess. I've learned a few more things about American food as a result of my hunt and that is always a worthwhile activity. I've made blueberry and everything else but apples. About the only way I eat apples is sliced up and have a plate of sharp cheddar cheese handy. Yum. Apples and Blue vein. I'm slobbering at the thought. I was brought up in a house full of women, ranging from a great grandmother on down to two older sisters. Being the only boy child I learned to cook, clean, and preserve pretty much anything. When you have that many women hovering over you you learn to be polite and correct. Snort! You mean you didn't learn to dish it out to them when they dished it out to you? I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of zucchini bread. Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts come. |
lentils and pulses
On 3/5/2015 10:34 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote: On 3/5/2015 5:05 PM, Fran Farmer wrote: On 5/03/2015 11:27 AM, George Shirley wrote: Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And, with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear trees. I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but better), and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies, cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top. What is a 'cobbler'? I'm wondering if it is anything like what David and I would call a 'crumble'. I make various 'crumbles' eg Apple Crumble, rhubarb crumble etc. It's a topping over stewed fruit and the 'crumble' component is traditionally made up of flour, sugar and butter that looks crumb like before it is baked in the oven to make a crunchy topping. Lovely served with ice cream or cream in the cold weather and much loved by men more than women IME. Pretty much the same thing, a US southern cobbler is stewed fruit with dough ladled into it and the dough puffs up when baked. Favorites here are blackberry, dewberry, peach, and pretty much any available fruit. I can dig up a recipe and post it if you like. Thanks for the kind offer but I've just done a google, which in all honesty, I should have done to begin with rather than asking you, but then it does make for newsgroup conversations I guess. I've learned a few more things about American food as a result of my hunt and that is always a worthwhile activity. I've made blueberry and everything else but apples. About the only way I eat apples is sliced up and have a plate of sharp cheddar cheese handy. Yum. Apples and Blue vein. I'm slobbering at the thought. I was brought up in a house full of women, ranging from a great grandmother on down to two older sisters. Being the only boy child I learned to cook, clean, and preserve pretty much anything. When you have that many women hovering over you you learn to be polite and correct. Snort! You mean you didn't learn to dish it out to them when they dished it out to you? Back then if I came home from school with a note from the teacher or the principal I got whopped good by all five of those women. It was the old timer way of teaching kids to be a) polite to their elders, b) do well in school and not cause problems, c) don't make Mama mad, you might die. Of course there were lots of hugs and kisses after the punishment. My grandmother taught me how to play board games, my big sisters taught me to read and write at four years of age, great grannie let me cut the sweet gum small branches she brushed her teeth with. She dipped snuff and brushed her teeth with snuff. Died at 89 years of age with a full set of teeth. I loved all of them to pieces just like they loved me. They did make sure I would grow up to be polite, courteous, and not a trouble maker. Seems to have worked. I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of zucchini bread. Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts come. Last summer's zucchini crop was sparse, only picked about six or seven fruit, they all weighed more than three pounds and were seedless. Put up a lot of shredded zukes and also yellow squash, which also makes a good squash bread and can be used in casseroles. Got down to almost freezing again early this morning, the rest of the week the weather heads are predicting temps in the 70's and 80's. So much for climate change. Will plant spring carrots today and clean out the last of the fall garden. Then will amend those two beds and get ready for all the seeds we have on the counter now. We have tomatoes and sweet chiles nearly a foot tall under the grow light and others coming on steadily. It's either plant out or fight the jungle inside. I used to fly in and out of both Australia and New Zealand back in the late nineteen fifties, was a crew member in a U.S. Navy transport squadron. We flew stuff all over the world and it was a hoot for a rural Texas farmboy. Don't miss it because wife and I averaged over 100,000 miles a year in flight time when we worked and lived in the Middle East and other parts of the world. I haven't flown since 1990 when we came home for good. Met a lot of nice people though, at least the sober ones. G |
lentils and pulses
On 3/5/2015 8:11 PM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote: What is a 'cobbler'? Basically, "deep dish" berry or fruit pie with no bottom crust and a biscuit dough top crust. Whether "real" cobblers have bottom crusts has been the subject of debate at (USA) Southern family reunions for generations ;-) The crust, also, is more casual and less demanding than pie crust, resembling biscuit dough much more than it does traditional, butter-rich flakey pie crust. Regional variants abound. Although, I'll eat damn-near anything with sugar in it, I regard guava cobbler as unmatched for purely decadent but forgiveably sinful, pleasure. Some people abuse ice cream and cobbler by combining the two—to my mind, a practice as questionable as combining whiskey with Coca Cola. Of course, I'm revealing my personal bias, he Ice cream and cake, pie or cobbler _never_ should be mixed for the same reason that one adds five only drops of water, and nothing more, into a 2-oz "shot" of single-malt. We have crumbles, too—in the Southeastern US, at least—known by a variety of names and they are exactly as you describe. Again, there are regional variants. You're a sick puppy Derald. You can't eat cobbler without BlueBell Homemade vanilla ice cream on top. BlueBell makes a very good "Southern Blackberry Cobbler" ice cream too. My new favorite is "Chocolate Covered Cherries." Outstanding ice cream. I don't think I've ever eaten a guava, since you're in Florida you probably grow your own. My favorite fruit is papaya, ate some for the first time in Bangkok and fell in love with it. Bought one in the supermarket yesterday and it is chilling before I devour it. Even the dog likes papaya. We have a lot of guava plants in our neighborhood, pineapple guava. Most don't get a chance to ripen fruit. Neighbors across the street have four of the plants in their front flower bed. She's from Puerto Rica and didn't realize the plants were guava. Guess she had never picked her own and didn't recognize the growing fruit. I keep hoping they will produce some ripe fruit one day. |
lentils and pulses
On 3/5/2015 9:02 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
Derald wrote: Fran Farmer wrote: What is a 'cobbler'? Basically, "deep dish" berry or fruit pie with no bottom crust and a biscuit dough top crust. snippage happens We have crumbles, too-in the Southeastern US, at least-known by a variety of names and they are exactly as you describe. Again, there are regional variants. Our cobbler recipe is basically a stick of butter melted in a deep baking pan (we use a 4 qt round pan), a pint or two of fruit added , then a batter of 1 cup each of sugar , flour , and milk with some baking powder poured in the center of the whole thing . Toss it in the oven at 375 for about 45 min to an hour , then enjoy with ice cream on top . We've used apples , cherries , fruit cocktail (!) peaches , and blackberries . Fresh , frozen or canned , if you use fresh add some sugar to the fruit . If we use canned , we use the juice and water with dry milk in the batter . Another variation uses a chocolate cake mix with reduced liquid and canned cherry pie filling (google dump cake) cooked in a dutch oven over a camp fire , that one was a really big hit with the Boy Scout troop I was involved with (as a leader) . Used to make biscuits in the 24 inch wide, footed dutch oven back in my scouting days. Started at age 8 and quit in my thirties. Still have that giant dutch oven, just don't do much with it. My Dad was a scout leader for over forty years, good program at the time. Nothing tastes as good as grub cooked over a wood fire in cast iron pots. Thanks for jogging some very old memories. |
lentils and pulses
On 3/5/2015 10:23 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 6/03/2015 2:11 PM, Terry Coombs wrote: Forgot to add , what you're calling crumbles is probably the same dish we call a crisp . Sliced fruit covered with a mixture of oatmeal , flour , brown sugar , and butter and baked hot enough that the topping gets browned and crispy - thus the name . Bingo! It is the same thing is an apple crisp/crumble according to Wikipedia although given the two photos that Wikipedia has put in to illustrate the dish, they should have foudn someone who could actually cook because both of those look like a very lame effort : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_crisp But form there i followed the link to 'crumble' and there it says that a 'crumble' is also called a Brown Betty! Not in my universe! Lots of Usian southerners call them Brown Betty, we never did but we're more south westerners than southerners. My mother-in-law, from Virginia, made Brown Betties a lot. |
lentils and pulses
On 3/6/2015 11:41 AM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote: You're a sick puppy Derald. Well, hell: It certainly took you long enough to notice. You can't eat cobbler without BlueBell Homemade vanilla ice cream on top. BlueBell makes a very good "Southern Blackberry Cobbler" ice cream too. My new favorite is "Chocolate Covered Cherries." Outstanding ice cream. Don't start. I wouldn't eat the Bluebell ice cream alone (too many ingredients) and no dairy with fruit or berries, thank you. Truth is, I don't eat much fruit because it just doesn't taste good (to me). I don't think I've ever eaten a guava, since you're in Florida you probably grow your own. Not this far north, no. Don't know whether they're native but guavas are naturalized from about the Tampa Bay Area, southward. Unusually cold winters in the mid and late 1980's reduced their number to the point that recovery took ±20 years. Ironically, much guava habitat was destroyed in the process of remediating earlier environmental disruption from open pit phosphate mining. My favorite fruit is papaya, ate some for the first time in Bangkok and fell in love with it. Bought one in the supermarket yesterday and it is chilling before I devour it. Even the dog likes papaya. Had'em in the back yard years ago when still living in NBT, a little further south of here. Never acquired a taste except for the juice. I'm that way by mango, tried them several times and they were always astringent so gave up. We have a lot of guava plants in our neighborhood, pineapple guava. Most don't get a chance to ripen fruit. Neighbors across the street have four of the plants in their front flower bed. She's from Puerto Rica and didn't realize the plants were guava. Guess she had never picked her own and didn't recognize the growing fruit. Hah: spent her early years in PR indoors, I guess. I suspect she came to New York City as a child. She and her husband are nice people, she taught grade school in Harlem for many years and he was a Customs officer at JFK for 32 years. Grow bananas in their backyard and have a couple of 4X4 raised beds. Have a very friendly pit bull named "Lilac" who loves everyone she meets. Moved here when they both retired to get away from the "CITY" as they call it, and because they have a kid nearby. Living in Houston, TX area nowadays is weird for a native Texan. We have 290 homes in this subdivision and about fifteen different nationalities living here. Our next door neighbors who moved home in January were Russian, very nice folks. New neighbor is a retired American school teacher who is married to a Chinese woman who works in China most of the time. Folks from all over South and Central America, Africa, most countries in Europe, and, of course, quite a few from Latin America. Pretty quiet here but the inhabitants drive like idiots, running 40 or 50 MPH down the streets, running stop signs, etc. Scares me badly when it's time for the school bus to come by. We sit a great grandson most school mornings to ensure he gets on the bus as both parent work. So we've become street patrol while all the kids are out. I can remember when Houston was a much smaller city the last time we lived here back in the mid-seventies. Now it's gone berserk. To many toll roads too. I want to move back to East Texas but wife wants to stay close to all our get. Heck, we raised them and set them up, let them live their lives without us bothering them. G Besides, I want more gardens, chickens, rabbits, etc. |
lentils and pulses
On 7/03/2015 2:58 AM, George Shirley wrote:
On 3/5/2015 10:34 PM, Fran Farmer wrote: On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote: Snort! You mean you didn't learn to dish it out to them when they dished it out to you? Back then if I came home from school with a note from the teacher or the principal I got whopped good by all five of those women. It was the old timer way of teaching kids to be a) polite to their elders, b) do well in school and not cause problems, c) don't make Mama mad, you might die. Of course there were lots of hugs and kisses after the punishment. My grandmother taught me how to play board games, my big sisters taught me to read and write at four years of age, great grannie let me cut the sweet gum small branches she brushed her teeth with. She dipped snuff and brushed her teeth with snuff. Died at 89 years of age with a full set of teeth. I loved all of them to pieces just like they loved me. They did make sure I would grow up to be polite, courteous, and not a trouble maker. Seems to have worked. It sounds like it did. I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of zucchini bread. Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts come. Last summer's zucchini crop was sparse, only picked about six or seven fruit, they all weighed more than three pounds and were seedless. Put up a lot of shredded zukes and also yellow squash, which also makes a good squash bread and can be used in casseroles. I like to pick mine smaller than that size and eat them. The big ones usually go to the chooks after I slice then right down the middle. They loooooovvvvve them and the next day all that is left is a very thin shell of skin. zucchini is such a great summer veg and like you, I too like it in various b read forms (including cake, but then I love food). Got down to almost freezing again early this morning, the rest of the week the weather heads are predicting temps in the 70's and 80's. So much for climate change. Odd weather is consistent with climate change - it's about variability as much as anything. Will plant spring carrots today and clean out the last of the fall garden. Then will amend those two beds and get ready for all the seeds we have on the counter now. We have tomatoes and sweet chiles nearly a foot tall under the grow light and others coming on steadily. It's either plant out or fight the jungle inside. So will you plant out and put protection over them? IME, I find it's no real use in planting anything out until the soil is warm for thier liking because the plants just sit there and sulk until the soil warmth suits them. I used to fly in and out of both Australia and New Zealand back in the late nineteen fifties, was a crew member in a U.S. Navy transport squadron. We flew stuff all over the world and it was a hoot for a rural Texas farmboy. Don't miss it because wife and I averaged over 100,000 miles a year in flight time when we worked and lived in the Middle East and other parts of the world. I haven't flown since 1990 when we came home for good. Met a lot of nice people though, at least the sober ones. G :-)) I'm not much of a drinker so I avoid nearly all drunks unless they are family and they know to avoid over consumption (99% of the time). these days I don't like planes much either (or at elast cattle class travel) and international travel is a PITA since ever airport now seems ot be filled with little men with mostly dumb bossees who all seem to think that all travellers are terrorists. Although Vietnam and Cambodia don't yet fit that mould. |
lentils and pulses
On 3/6/2015 4:54 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 7/03/2015 2:58 AM, George Shirley wrote: On 3/5/2015 10:34 PM, Fran Farmer wrote: On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote: Snort! You mean you didn't learn to dish it out to them when they dished it out to you? Back then if I came home from school with a note from the teacher or the principal I got whopped good by all five of those women. It was the old timer way of teaching kids to be a) polite to their elders, b) do well in school and not cause problems, c) don't make Mama mad, you might die. Of course there were lots of hugs and kisses after the punishment. My grandmother taught me how to play board games, my big sisters taught me to read and write at four years of age, great grannie let me cut the sweet gum small branches she brushed her teeth with. She dipped snuff and brushed her teeth with snuff. Died at 89 years of age with a full set of teeth. I loved all of them to pieces just like they loved me. They did make sure I would grow up to be polite, courteous, and not a trouble maker. Seems to have worked. It sounds like it did. I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of zucchini bread. Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts come. Last summer's zucchini crop was sparse, only picked about six or seven fruit, they all weighed more than three pounds and were seedless. Put up a lot of shredded zukes and also yellow squash, which also makes a good squash bread and can be used in casseroles. I like to pick mine smaller than that size and eat them. The big ones usually go to the chooks after I slice then right down the middle. They loooooovvvvve them and the next day all that is left is a very thin shell of skin. zucchini is such a great summer veg and like you, I too like it in various b read forms (including cake, but then I love food). Our problem was a lot of rain, blooms on the zukes one day, two days later a giant zuke was there.It's like they sucked up all that rain and just exploded to size. Foliage was so big and so thick they were hard to find. Got down to almost freezing again early this morning, the rest of the week the weather heads are predicting temps in the 70's and 80's. So much for climate change. Odd weather is consistent with climate change - it's about variability as much as anything. Will plant spring carrots today and clean out the last of the fall garden. Then will amend those two beds and get ready for all the seeds we have on the counter now. We have tomatoes and sweet chiles nearly a foot tall under the grow light and others coming on steadily. It's either plant out or fight the jungle inside. So will you plant out and put protection over them? IME, I find it's no real use in planting anything out until the soil is warm for thier liking because the plants just sit there and sulk until the soil warmth suits them. We can plant carrots starting in mid-February through mid-April and then it gets to hot to plant them. Probably should have put them in last month for a good start. The soil stays fairly warm as we mostly have sunshine every day. I used to fly in and out of both Australia and New Zealand back in the late nineteen fifties, was a crew member in a U.S. Navy transport squadron. We flew stuff all over the world and it was a hoot for a rural Texas farmboy. Don't miss it because wife and I averaged over 100,000 miles a year in flight time when we worked and lived in the Middle East and other parts of the world. I haven't flown since 1990 when we came home for good. Met a lot of nice people though, at least the sober ones. G :-)) I'm not much of a drinker so I avoid nearly all drunks unless they are family and they know to avoid over consumption (99% of the time). these days I don't like planes much either (or at elast cattle class travel) and international travel is a PITA since ever airport now seems ot be filled with little men with mostly dumb bossees who all seem to think that all travellers are terrorists. Although Vietnam and Cambodia don't yet fit that mould. I quit drinking in 1979, had Hep A in 76, didn't drink until 79, had a couple of shots of Kentucky bourbon, doubled up in pain, never had another snort. Never did drink much anyway. Don't miss that or the cigarettes I was addicted to for 42 years. I reckon getting old wakes you up some. G Air travel used to be a lot of fun, we could go around the world for about US$1500 each back in the early eighties so every trip home was an around the world trip with TWA and Singapore Air. As long as we didn't backtrack we could stop and go anywhere we wanted. Always went through Thailand, some of the nicest people in the world and lots of good food. Mostly flew business as that's what the company paid for, a little more room than cattle car and, from what I'm hearing, the seats are smaller and jammed in together nowadays. Reckon I will drive or take a train nowadays within the States. |
lentils and pulses
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote: I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of zucchini bread. Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts come. gloat I have both fresh-frozen blackberries and shredded zucchini in my freezer ... and several gallons of muscadines . -- Snag |
lentils and pulses
On 3/6/2015 6:24 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote: On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote: I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of zucchini bread. Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts come. gloat I have both fresh-frozen blackberries and shredded zucchini in my freezer ... and several gallons of muscadines . I haven't seen a muscadine in years, most people that buy land with muscadines cut them down so they won't be in the way. Between muscadines and possum grapes we used to make lots of jellies and jams. I miss them but the builders don't like them. What are you going to do with them? |
lentils and pulses
George Shirley wrote:
On 3/6/2015 6:24 PM, Terry Coombs wrote: Fran Farmer wrote: On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote: I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of zucchini bread. Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts come. gloat I have both fresh-frozen blackberries and shredded zucchini in my freezer ... and several gallons of muscadines . I haven't seen a muscadine in years, most people that buy land with muscadines cut them down so they won't be in the way. Between muscadines and possum grapes we used to make lots of jellies and jams. I miss them but the builders don't like them. What are you going to do with them? Wine and jelly/jam . Might make some juice , the wife had a recipe for grapes that should work . -- Snag |
lentils and pulses
On Fri, 06 Mar 2015 18:45:49 -0600, George Shirley
wrote: On 3/6/2015 6:24 PM, Terry Coombs wrote: Fran Farmer wrote: On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote: I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of zucchini bread. Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts come. gloat I have both fresh-frozen blackberries and shredded zucchini in my freezer ... and several gallons of muscadines . I haven't seen a muscadine in years, most people that buy land with muscadines cut them down so they won't be in the way. Between muscadines and possum grapes we used to make lots of jellies and jams. I miss them but the builders don't like them. What are you going to do with them? We have both muscadines and scuppernongs. I eat lots of them and make jelly too. Will probably can some juice this year. When I was young I would go to my uncle's and stuff myself on scuppernongs. We moved to Florida and that first fall he mailed me a cigar box of scuppernongs. When we moved back to NC my grandfather had built a scuppernong arbor in the back yard. Heaven! -- USA North Carolina Foothills USDA Zone 7a To find your extension office http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html |
lentils and pulses
On 3/6/2015 6:51 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
George Shirley wrote: On 3/6/2015 6:24 PM, Terry Coombs wrote: Fran Farmer wrote: On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote: I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of zucchini bread. Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts come. gloat I have both fresh-frozen blackberries and shredded zucchini in my freezer ... and several gallons of muscadines . I haven't seen a muscadine in years, most people that buy land with muscadines cut them down so they won't be in the way. Between muscadines and possum grapes we used to make lots of jellies and jams. I miss them but the builders don't like them. What are you going to do with them? Wine and jelly/jam . Might make some juice , the wife had a recipe for grapes that should work . Should work just fine. I've made all of the above with muscadines many moons ago. Kids liked the juice, we like the wine, everyone liked the jelly. Friend in Louisiana had domestic muscadines, both the purple and the green ones. They were also tasty fresh. Never understood the guy, had four or five pear trees, muscadines growing on the hurricane fence, he never did anything with them. We would go and pick over a hundred lbs of pears for canning, offer him jars of the stuff, turned it down. I miss his trees and vines since we moved back to Texas. We had lots of free picking spots with folks who had inherited fruit trees, etc. and never did anything with them. One friend cut down four very nice pear trees because they were littering her yard. What a waste. |
lentils and pulses
On 3/7/2015 12:37 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote: Friend in Louisiana had domestic muscadines, both the purple and the green ones. They were also tasty fresh. Never understood the guy, had four or five pear trees, muscadines growing on the hurricane fence, he never did anything with them. Gee, that could be me. To the rear of the hovel is an "improved" muscadine which, IIRC, was installed about 30-35 years ago. Wife and I have no interest in the fruit, and because the vine is in an area we're allowing to naturalize, it doesn't get much attention. I water it during fruiting season, though: Blue jays and raccoons are extraordinarily fond of the fruit. Better that than the tomatoes and bell peppers. If I can beat the beasts to the punch, I sometimes pick a few to deliver to a neighbor who eats them fresh and that's about it. We would go and pick over a hundred lbs of pears for canning, offer him jars of the stuff, turned it down. I miss his trees and vines since we moved back to Texas. We had lots of free picking spots with folks who had inherited fruit trees, etc. and never did anything with them. One friend cut down four very nice pear trees because they were littering her yard. What a waste. LOL: I can see myself removing pear trees either to avoid mowing around them or to replace them with native trees. You're just sick Derald. G I can see the native pines beyond the fence line and we loved our oak trees in Louisiana. Had a cherrybark oak in the backyard that was nine feet in radius at four feet above the ground and about sixty feet tall. Front yard tree was a white oak, just a bit smaller than the cherrybark. Hurricane Rita knocked the white oak over. Came home after the hurricane and the city had cut it up to get it out of the street. Sat out their morning the tree, drinking a cup of dark roast coffee, counted 401 growth lines on that tree. Should have saved a cut of just for fun. I truly prefer things that are planted to be used, fruit trees, berries, etc. Should have bought a bunch of land when I was young and healthy and put in all the fruit trees I wanted. Of course I didn't have the money back then to do that. It's amazing how much money you can save when your kids leave home. Had to move twice and they still found us. I'm thinking of rebuilding the fence around the backyard and put in a trellis over the back gate and maybe put a Doyle thornless blackberry on that. Would look nice and give us lots of blackberries. We will see. |
lentils and pulses
On 3/7/2015 12:37 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote: We can plant carrots starting in mid-February through mid-April and then it gets to hot to plant them. Probably should have put them in last month for a good start. The soil stays fairly warm as we mostly have sunshine every day. I succession-plant carrots from about November until about now, depending on temperature, although most years I optimistically (and pointlessly) continue to plant until April. Despite the, no doubt, brief cool spell we're having now, consistently cool weather definitely is gone and planting carrots is just mean. However, I do have a little patch of carrots of unknown variety (poor record keeping—they didn't sign the register) in full bloom right now. Gonna save the seeds and see what comes from them the coming autumn. Edible carrots, I hope. Haven't grown zucchini for years and years but I do plant four yellow squash seeds and three cucumber seeds each spring. Still a bit early, but they'll probably go in next week. In these parts, one must plant early in order to beat the insects and the mildew to the squash, which usually succumbs in early summer. We have much the same problems with insects and mildew. Last year DW planted tomatoes along the back fence, very close together. Between the cutworms and the stink bugs we hardly got a tomato off of them. She was gone one weekend and I took every other plant out, pruned the heck out of them, and, Lo!, no stink bugs and I could get to the worms. Put a skewer on the fence and stuck the cutworms on them and the birds had a feast. After that the mockingbirds were hoping around in the tomatoes every day looking for more. The redbirds I shooed away as they ate the seeds out of the tomatoes. |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:56 AM. |
|
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
GardenBanter