Planning for our vegetable gardens

Our salt comes 'neat', you have to look specifically for iodized salt - so I should be fine. But I will check with the cook shop to see what they say.

Sharon, I would like you to teach ME! I grew up on a farm with a mother who was determined to hold onto the old ways, even though HER mother had embraced Wonder Bread & no-bake cookies & cake mixes.

It was an interesting childhood, and often an embarrassing one, because Mom had no compunction about sending us kids to school with weird lunches that made everyone else crane their necks around their hot lunches to see what those Walla kids were wearing & eating this time.

But mixed in with the head cheese & oxtail stews were amazing fresh veggies & homemade cheese, plus Dad's dill pickles, venison jerky & smoked trout.

Being just me, I have the luxury of experimenting with food & cooking pretty much from scratch. I have definitely inherited my mother's disdain for commercialism & quick food. Don't people know that Bisquick is just flour mixed with baking soda & salt? Or how easy it is to make your own yogurt?

summerkid, having grown up on a dairy farm, and having a Uncle and Grandfather whose own a slaugter house business, I ate homemade butter, all homemade sausage, smoked meats, we all had to help canning fruits vegetables. oh that generation before me all died from heart disease from high colesterol. I do miss all of that great homemade food. so all that's in Bisquick is flour and baking soda? I wonder what proportions? thanks for the sharing, Jim

You know, Jim, I think growing up on a farm (we only slaughtered a steer & a couple of pigs every year) helped lead to my decision to give up meat. I just had no stomach for the killing & butchering, even though the animals had good lives compared to the horrors of modern factory farming.

I'm thinking of starting a thread about old-time ways, inspired by a History Channel show about how people would survive after a pandemic that killed 90% of the American population. Could be a fun exploration! I think us PNW'ers would be magnificently suited for survival.

We must be hardier than a person living in the city and have more knowledge of the outdoors. Having grown up in the fortires I remember cutting hay, milking cows,outhouses, wringer washers, no tv, gardening and canning.

My husband and I built our home in the early 80s and by choice put in an antique wood cookstove, which I used for the next 25 years (remodeled a couple years back and replaced now with propane). I always felt rather smug when the power went out as we had a cuckoo clock, the woodstove, several kerosene lamps, a fireplace, and a wood furnace. So, we were generally cozy with little inconvenience. The biggest problem is water, we have a drilled well with an electric pump. We do have a year round creek, and if push comes to shove, we can haul water, although filling the bathtub in anticipation of wind storms seems to work well.

Summer, I saw that show also. It sure made me think about my own survival (or lack of) skills. I appreciate the miracle of seeds a little more now.

I would love a thread on "old time" skill sets that would help with survival. We're fairly well set here but could alway use food for thought. Great dinner conversation for the kids.

I have very much enjoyed learning to process our fruits and vegies and preserve them. I had always enjoyed the results, but until we lost Dad, it was something that I rareley helped with as he and Mom did it together. I must say that I was truely amazed at the sense of pride the first batch of pickles, pickled green beans, canned tomatoes, etc each gave me. The really neat thing is that even though there have been quite a few batches of things now, you still get a thrill at hearing the "pop" of the lids sealing each time!

I think an old time ways thread would be very interesting. I am thankful that I was taught a lot about hunting/gathering/farming and survival as I grew up. With the lifestyles changing and the yards that the majority of the population being either postage stamp size or non existant, there are a lot of skills that are being forgotten. One of my favorite things about going to EWA is that it is still a farming area.

Bonehead, I love the story of the antique wood cookstove! Oh to smell the combination of food cooking and a wood fire burning! When we moved out into South Prairie, one of the first things that my Dad invested in was a wood fired hottub, and it was awesome. The firebox was on the outside of the tub, and you regulated the heat just like you do in a smoker...opening or closing the lid and vent. Not only were you soaking in nice warm water, but you could enjoy the smell of the fire and the cedar tub as well.

I have been thinking about the concept of being able to survive without the convieniences of modern society today (my mind takes side trips during the day to escape from the stress that the daily grind at the body shop can generate...to "regain my center"), and it was interesting pondering.

This type of conversation always brings to mind one of my favorite songs of all time.... "A Country Boy Can Survive".

So after much contemplation, I have determined that if the world were to go crazy tomorrow, I am pretty much covered in general survival techniques....with one exception. I have stored food, seeds to grow more, knowledge of preserving meat and vegetables, tools to provide my family with meat, knowledge to start and preserve a fire with the tools that I have at hand.... but although I know people who do, I have never made my own alcohol other than fruit liquor, which starts with bottled vodka as an ingredient. Methinks that I need to invest in a still making book..... just in case, you know?

hee hee. absolutely!

Julie, I got you covered with the beermaking. I am a master at keeping myself supplied with alcohol.

Hmmm.... will gladly trade beermaking lessons for canning lessons!

Beer making is so much fun. What is incredible is that the human drive to get drunk must supersede all others. IT'S COMPLICATED. There is good bacteria & bad bacteria & one misstep spoils the whole brew. There is boiling & aerating & steeping & aging. So how on earth did humans figure out all those steps?

My dad made home-brew when we were young. I have very fond memories of his crock of beer in the concrete laundry sink in the basement, balanced over an upturned clay garden pot with a light bulb inside it (for heat I guess). My 27 year old son is now making what I still refer to as home-brew, and he is much much more scientific about it. Not fond of it as a youngster, still not fond of it -- I'm rather partial to clear beer. But, be that as it may, nice to see the tradition continuing.

I was actually thinking that I need to learn to go the whiskey route (although I really am not much of a whiskey fan) as if the world really goes to heck, I know that you need yeast for beer and I don't have a handy yeast pile hanging out. I think that the whiskey thing is a bit less complicated. Or maybe I should stock up on potatoes for rooting, cause I am much more of a vodka person.... research here I come!

Bonehead, it is really nice to see traditions passed down one way or the other. Even if they are made better over time, they still carry the concept of the original project, and the desire to do for oneself for nothing more than the pure satisfaction of it.

I wonder about all of the stuff that humans have figured out over time. And about all of the things that have been lost as life has become easier and more "instant". Who was the first person that walked by a plant and decided to eat/drink/smoke/smash/process etc it? Am very glad that I am not living in that age of trial and error...could be hard on a person!

Or, who figured out that if you do a bunch of toxic things to an olive, in a few months it becomes edible?

Wouldn't it be a whole lot easier to grow your mind altering substance?

If you are living in survivor-mode, it would be a good idea to not be drunk. Wine is fairly easy and doesn't take much you wouldn't have handy.

Whoever figures out how to make wine from compost will be a hero.

Hmmm, I've tasted a bunch of home made wines (it is my vice of choice at the end of a long day) and have yet to find one that I really liked. Not so say that there isn't one out there... just haven't come across either the right recipie or the right cook (brewer?).

Judy, LOL regarding the compost wine! I think you are right!

It is my wines she has mostly tasted, and they are definitely well aged! I tried to make just about anything that was suggested back in the Midwest, from wild grapes to chokecherry to dandelion to rhubarb. The only one I thought worth anything at all was the rhubarb. The dandelion was particularly bad.

Guess, however, if we were in the survival mode we wouldn't be quite so particular.

Wine is my choice at the end of a short day as well...

Do any of you worry about buying organic seeds? For the most part, I figure it's not that important for my purposes.

This is a surprise (or is it?). . .

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/19/monsanto-gm-corn-causing_n_425195.html




This message was edited Jan 20, 2010 11:31 AM

If organic seeds are available, we'll buy them. We look for OP/Heirloom varieties to save our own seed for next time. My son is working on stabilizing his own crossed OP variety of tomatoes... we'll see where that goes.

Not surprising. Just another stupid, greedy giant.

This is a great thread! Thanks for starting it Katie!


Arugula
Sylvetta Wild Arugula


Beans
Bush beans Maxibel
Tendergreen Bush
Scarlet Runner (great for hummingbirds)


Broccoli
Early Dividend
Packman
Southern Comet Hybrid
Liberty
Calabrese Green Sprouting


Cabbage
Parel Hybrid
Charmant


Celery
Utah 52-70 Improved


Collards
Champion)
Georgia Southern Creole
Morris Heading

Carrots
Rodelika
Yaya
Bolero
Tokita’s Scarlet


Corn:
Bodacious
Miracle
Incredible



Cucumber:
Summer Delight (BEST EVER!!)



Eggplant
Black Beauty
Nadia Hybrid
Hansel Hybrid
Round Mauve


Kale
Nero Di Toscana
Russian Red
Improved Dwarf

Asparagus Kale



Kohlrabi
Kongo
Kolibri


Lettuce
Merveilles de Quatre Saisons/Continuity


Mustards:
India Mustard
Tah Tsai


Melon
Georgia Rattlesnake
Yellow Doll

Onions
Walla Walla
Yellow of Parma
Copra
Redwing
Yellow Sweet Spanish Onion


Parsnips
Cobham
Gladiator


Peas
Snow Peas Sandy


Pepper Hot
Cayenne Long Red Thin
Jalapeno Early
College Anaheim
Sport
Pepperoncini
Kung Pao Hybrid
Big Bomb Hybrid (My favorite!)
Trinidad Perfume
Golden Nugget
Rocotillo (very mild and flavorful)


Pepper sweet
Mini Red
Mini Yellow
California Wonder
Golden California Wonder
Italian Sweet

Winter Squash
Delicata
Delica
Naguri


Spinach
Spinach Space Hybrid
Spinach Melody Hybrid
Monstreaux de Viroflay
Red Malabar
Tyee
Space


Summer squash
Cocozelle
Yellow Crookneck Squash

Early Prolific
Yellow Scallop
Crookneck Early Golden


Swiss Chard
Oriole Orange
Flamingo Pink
Swiss Chard Bright Lights
Perpetual


Tomato
Ananas Noir
Azoychka
Aunt Gertie’s Gold
Black Prince
Bloody Butcher
Caspian Pink
Eva Purple Ball
Green Zebra
Jaunne Flammée (favorite!)
Lime Green Salad
Limmony
Marianna’s Peace
Moskvich
Silvery Fir Tree
White Tomesol

Cherry Tomatoes
Coyote
Dr. Carolyn
Jolly
Small Fry
Sprite
Sungold


Tomatillo
Mexican Strain

Herbs
Mammoth Dill
Dill Dukat
Chives
Toothache Plant (for fun!)


Parsley
Parsley Krausa
Parsley Moss Curled
Parley Triple Curled
Parley Forest Green

Cilantro/Coriander
Slow Bold Winner (Best Cilantro I have grown!)

Basil
Basil Siam Queen
Globe
Genovese
Sweet Basil






This message was edited Feb 3, 2010 7:38 PM

Oooh, Boel. I'll add all your picks into the first thread when I get home tonight. It's so good to have to benefit from the experience of those of you who have been growing vegetables for so long. I've grown just a few things, but am really looking to branch out!

This message was edited Feb 6, 2010 12:51 PM

Do you use this all or do you sell some? WOW!!!
they sound great

Merveilles de Quatre Saisons/Continuity has done really well for me also.

salad mix from Botanical Interests

Flat Italian Parsley
chives
thyme
hot & spicy oregano
rosemary

Sweet million tomatoes are always fabulous, great producers for me. Also yellow pear. It's a habit to try at least one different variety every year, but these are repeat performers for me.
In the years I tried them, I' ve also had good success with Green Zebra, Legend (det. Hybrid from OSU) Willamette (indet. hybrid from OSU). I neglected to write down what I tried last year, but I also messed with soil mixes and that wasn't smart, so none did as well as they should have.

little fingers carrot
"Bell Boy" bell pepper. The peppers I got were on the small side, but I got a bunch of 'em.

Also, here's a neat veggie seed starting chart from Portland Nursery. http://www.portlandnursery.com/plants/docs/veggies/veggie-cal09.pdf

Thanks, Sue!

I heard about these two sites recently on KUOW Weekday (94.9 in Seattle), which is on Tuesdays at 9:00 or 10:00.

Willi Galloway is a local writer and NW editor of Organic Gardening.

http://www.digginfood.com

Yesterday there was discussion of growing and harvesting fruit in the city (Seattle), including tips on taking care of your fruit trees:

http://www.cityfruit.org/



This message was edited Feb 3, 2010 2:42 PM

Does anyone else have a recommendation for shelling peas that you can just pick and enjoy in the garden?

Thanks you guys for the sites. Sue, I have already printed the chart and will take some time later to look over the sites you recommend, Kathy.

Essential, I think I want to come visit you about harvest time! What a list!

It IS really nice to have recommendations for things that have done well here. Our vegie climate is so fussy sometimes!

Most of the time I grow it all for our use, except for giving away surplus to the local food bank.

A couple of years ago I did sell some, but have not done that since.

Great idea

Rarejems, you just have to be clever about compensating for growing hot weather crops like tomatoes, beans, cucumbers. I start germinating my tomatoe seeds in April under lights. then pot them up in cell packs, when they're 6 to 8" I pot them up to 4" pots and move them into my greenhouse, I don't plant them out until late May and then I still give them protection wrapping clear plastic around the plants, on sunny days I open up the plastic so they don't bake. in July I'm picking Tomatoes until Oct. and then when it starts raining I pick the rest and bring them in to ripen. I've had tomatoes at thanksgiving. it's extra work here to grow them but really worth the effort, Jim

Hmmmm ... so being Z8b rather than Z8a, perhaps I follow your methods by starting a couple of weeks earlier?

Growing those crops, plus peppers, is the one thing I am determined to manage out here; it is the ONLY thing I will miss about the Midwest climate.

Jim, do you have any anecdotal advice about plastic mulch, silver vs. black vs. red?