Cohutt builds a garden, Chapter 2

[Sweethearts Mom]

I want a whole 4x8 bed full of garlic. I know I have to plant it soon too. No one carries it here any more. I will have to order some. I might try some elephant garlic too but I like  mine with more of a bite.

[cohutt]

I'll end up with the equivalent of a bed and then some....

I plan on inter-planting some around so thta each bed has a little, for the purported pest deterrence.

____________________________________

and now for a chest beating interruption:

mrs c's dinner plate past night, all from the garden including the parsley

[swoods]

There is nothing prettier than a plate full of food that has grown in your own backyard. Very nice. I hope my efforts are as productive.

[johngalt]

A high quality meal from your own hands creates a most satisfying feeling.  Very Nice!

[Greywolf27]

I will never forget the look on the face of a friend on mine, who was over for dinner one night, when I told him I needed a few things and was going to go shopping....  He grabbed his coat and looked at me wierd as I walked past the front door on the way to the back door.  10 minutes later I returned with herbs, green beans, peppers, tomatoes, a couple beets, some lettuce and a butternut squash.

His response:
"THAT is really $*&@#*$ cool!!!!!"

I think I priced out what I had harvested the next day... worked out to something like $20.00

I agree, the feeling (and flavor) is unmatched.

[TwoBluesMama]

Beautiful dinner - what time shall I be there?  And what kind of Lima beans are those? We grew Christmas and regular - are those a mix of 2 kinds? Sure is pretty - I love to eat from the garden. 

Today I had a bunch of very ripe tomatoes and some sad looking red peppers and one little lone yellow zucchini so I made a baked spaghetti (noodles covered with beaten egg, garlic, spices and Parmesan cheese) topped with the veggies and more cheese instead of sauce.  For being almost compost it rocked.  Nothing like fresh garden veggies.  Again what time is dinner at the Cohutt household?

[cohutt]

LOL, if anyone takes the trouble to show up I'll feed you.

Those are "christmas" and "king of the garden" limas.   

For those who haven't grown "christmas" limas:  the beans are large and when harvested frech they have red/purple serrations and specks on an almost white surface.  When cooked, they turn the red specks dissolve into the surface to make the interesting grey/plum/purple color.  The texture and flavor are fantastic, our favorite of the 3 limas we've grown.

Normal people, not even the true "sheeple", really do look stunned when you walk out back and harvest stuff fresh out of the garden.   Saturday we had friends over for dinner (90% came from garden) and after the salad had been dressed, my wife noticed she forgot to put any fresh pepper in it.  No trouble, hold on, and in 2 minutes a small fresh bell pepper was thinly sliced and added.   They really do think it is amazing. 

Where the hell do people think food comes from? 

[TwoBluesMama]

Where the hell do people think food comes from? 

The store.  I know people who think meat comes in little packages and has nothing to do with animals. We have gotten too far from our "roots" (pun intended!) I think it's awesome Cohutt that you are sharing your garden with your dinner guests. It's how we teach others.  Blessings!

[Roswell]

The store.  I know people who think meat comes in little packages and has nothing to do with animals.

Ugh. I got in a shouting match with one of those people once. My wife's friend, who used to live with us. I was headed out turkey hunting and she saw me and asked where I was going. After I told her she asked why I didn't just go to the store. I said it tasted better, was better for me and more satisfactory. She said something like, "that's gross. You don't know what they have eaten or where they have been. At least when you buy it at the store you know where it's been." I seriously didn't know how to respond except to ask if she was serious. Of course I told her she was insane, the store turkey is injected with hormones and soaked in chemicals. We argued for a few minutes before I gave up and went hunting. As I was leaving she said,  "Well, have fun, but I hope you don't get anything." Disgusted, I slammed the door, then left.

long story short... not because of that (well, not just that)... she no longer lives with us and isn't even friends with my wife. Good riddance.

[cohutt]

With the gourd vines mostly withering at this point, I went a ahead an harvest some of the "crop" for drying and curing.   I didn't realize I was under surveillance at the time I was moving them to Lizzie's porch; immediately after these pictures were taken I was appropriately mocked and ridiculed by Mrs c for spending maybe a little too much time setting them up and making sure all were steady.   Hey, no use losing one of these at this point by being clumsy, right?

Anyway, here are about 2/3s or maybe 3/4 of the gourds the monster vines produced, 40 something of them:







They are in all shapes and sizes and I'll have a lot of options when considering if/how they will become birdhouses by spring.

I figured the porch was as good a place as any to dry them- it is sheltered and gets the afternoon sun increasingly as winter comes on.  Plus,  even mrs c eventually admitted she liked the way they looked there.

[fritz_monroe]

So, how do you dry them, just like that?  When does the hole for the bird entrance get cut?

[cohutt]

Dry for a few months, the wash with bleach (some use pressure washer to get discoloration/mold off. That stuff comes as they dry i believe)
Basically they say you want to keep them dry with air circulation, this was the best spot i could think of on short notice

Come January or February I'll to the cutting, will post then (after i research more).

[Sweethearts Mom]

I got 1.....yep 1....bird house gourd. But I figure a purchased birdhouse is around 5-15 dollars. So that 1 gourd paid for the seed packet.

[cohutt]

SHM and FM,
Gourd birdhouses and accessories  http://store.skmfg.com/

Purple martins would be nice to have around but I don't think I have enough gourds that are large enough.

The good news is there are plenty of other (smaller) bug eating species that would like homes in my yard.

[Sweethearts Mom]

My vines are still alive and well so I guess I will leave it on for a while longer.

[cohutt]

Leave them on even if the gourd doesn't seem to be getting any bigger- the walls will thicken after they stop growing larger and thin walled gourds tend to shrivel or rot when drying

I've read where some growers didn't get much on the vine until very late in the season and those turned out to be good gourds.  you can leave them on the vine until after frost if you want.   I cut mine for fear they would start dropping and they'd be damaged (99% of mine were off the ground)

a good gourd tip page: http://www.amishgourds.com/site/1278922/page/441669

[fritz_monroe]

So, will a birdhouse gourd last more than 1 season?  I'm just wondering if this is something that needs to be grown every year.

[cohutt]

Fritz,

They can last a long time- many seasons, assuming:

1- Mold/fungus killed via bleach or similar solution bath/scrub
2- Outside is sealed well (i've seen several ways to do this listed)
3- water drain holes are drilled into the bottom of the gourd
and
4 - bringing them inside for the winter will extend the number of seasons they will last. also, I've read where some people will reseal them occasionally to help them continue to repel water adequately
 

I'll dig/study in more detail when the time comes to prep them and will post what I find and document the process I use, but it will be mid winter before it is time.

[Sweethearts Mom]

Cohutt, I just went out to my garden and discovered that my yard long beans grew about 2 feet after the rain yesterday morning. They do not look like green beans really...kinda bumpy...have you eaten any yet? Did you grow a 3rd eye or anything as a result?

[cohutt]

shm,
I didn't have anything but limas this year so you'll have to be the guinea pig on those. 

I don't know much about them other than they supposedly get tough and their flavor suffers if left on the vine too long.

But this recipe looks tasty to me

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/vegetablesrecipes/r/greenbean.htm

[cohutt]

We've gotten a good soaking rain starting last night and though most of the day so far today; this is the first in over a month.

Yesterday I plucked a few peppers - jalapeno, poblano & pimento



Fritz posting a picture of his pepper poppers got me motivated to experiment a little myself.  I made jalapeno poppers with cream and cheddar cheese and then stuffed the poblanos and 3 small pimentos with the same.  After I wrapped them all up in bacon we couldn't resist and baked some samples @ 450 in the convection oven for about 10 or 12 minutes.

The jalapenos were pretty much what we expected - good (and spicy)

The surprises were the pimentos and poblano

I'll make up a bunch of the pimentos and freeze them since I have a bunch on the plants right now.  The only thing I'll do different is to saute the bacon first and mix it in with the cheese.  These peppers are shaped like little pumpkins and hollowed out they make great stuffers.

mrs c and I agreed we liked the poblano flavor the best of the three- not as sweet as the pimentos and not as spicy as the jalapenos.

[Sweethearts Mom]

Ok I picked a hand full of yard long beans and ate one. I will post on my kitchen garden blog.

[fritz_monroe]

I hadn't thought about doing the poppers with poblano peppers.  Maybe that's my next batch.  I also like the idea of cooking the bacon first and mixing it with the cream cheese, sure would make the making and cooking go quicker.

[“Mark”]

The heat of peppers can be controlled by their growing conditions. Generally, the more stressed the plant is, the hotter the pepper.

[Greywolf27]

Last year I grew some poblano's that riveld my jalapenos.  I can attest to the stressing of the plant (less then normal water) causes the concentration of the stuff that brings me back to them

[cohutt]

The Napoleon bell pepper plants are really covered up with a bunch of large healthy peppers





cole coming on strong in the beds where the Romas were earlier:



Even the artichoke plant i had given up on summoned up all its energy and has one choke on it all of a sudden

[Sweethearts Mom]

Your broccoli is so beautiful!

[cohutt]

Your broccoli is so beautiful!

Actually those beds have some cauliflower, cabbage & brussel sprouts mixed in as well.  It was hanging on ok then really took off after the soaking rain we got last weekend and the couple of showers since then. It also helps that it has finally cooled off a little here- highs only in the 80s last week and the 70s forecast for this week.

Last year the broccoli was almost stripped to the stem by cabbage worms before i caught on.  This year I have dusted with dipel (BT) periodically from the time I planted them and it has kept the damage to a minimum.   The poke sallet or poke weed just outside the fence is getting ravaged by them so I know they are around.

[Sweethearts Mom]

lol shows you what i know

[cohutt]

What, you think i can tell them apart?   At this stage they all look the same to me mostly except for the brussel sprouts.  The cabbage leaves are rounder too maybe.