23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

gunny sack bean threshing -- I've used the "find a small child to jump on the sack" method, which is really fun and has the same result as wacking it with a stick.

Of course, when the kids grow up you have to wait for the next generation to become of jumping age.

Just did some with cowpeas - much easier than regular beans.

wintergaarden- Could you explain your carrot method a little more as I'm a bit confused. Did you start them inside then transplant outside into the bag or did you start them in the bag and transplant them into the ground? If it was the former, what did you initially start them in and how tall were they when you transplanted them?

Rodney

Hi Rodney, I started the carrots indoors in a long skinny plastic tray leftover from my fig newtons. I only have 2 in my family so if you need more carrots you might use 2-4 fig newton trays or a larger take out tray. I just wet the soil, sprinkled seeds all over the top about 1/4 inch apart, put a tiny dusting of sifted soil on top of those and kept them moist w a spray bottle til they came up. I put them about 1/2 to 1 inch (CLOSE!) under my home depot plain ol flourescent shoplight til they grew 1 tiny true leaf.

At that point I transplanted the young seedlings out into an ikea bag filled with very loose a little sandy soil with a few knife holes poked into the bottom. (i recommend loose bagged potting soil w a little sand mixed in, not heavy clay soil from outside) It's better NOT to fertilize carrots, it just makes them grow more leaves and not get sweet.

I followed Jon Hughes' instructions on his youtube video: Transplanting Carrots 3-3-2010 except mine plantings weren't nearly as neat as his. My carrots came out perfecto! straight as an arrow and sooo yummy. Mine were the skinny long carrots (finished size about 1/2 inch thick by 8 inches long.) I didn't do any thinning at all.

john hughes' youtube tranplanting carrots method here good luck, lemme know if you have any more questions.

p.s. i plan on starting my parsnips indoors on a paper towel inside a zip bag that's wrung-out-damp. Then once the first root comes out, sprinkling them outside in my 18" x 1 x 6ft open bottom trough filled with loose friable potting soil (i use cedar grove veggie mix it's half topsoil half compost.)

Last year I started parsnip outdoors and got NOTHING, zip, zero, ziltch, so I started starting seeds indoors so as to not waste my life lol

This post was edited by wintergaarden on Sun, Nov 9, 14 at 21:41

And if they haven't been picked yet just leave them on the vine even tho it may appear to be dead - it isn't.

Dave

Very young winter squash (still light green) can be peeled & eaten much like summer squash, with varying degrees of acceptability... some good, some not so much. Those that have begun to change color can be ripened indoors, but may be more watery & less flavorful that those ripened on the vine.

Squashes which are near full size but not yet changing color are a crap shoot... in my experience, they will generally be inferior quality no matter how they are handled. I would still eat them for sustenance - and eat them first - but not if squashes of better quality were available.

I agree with Digdirt, leave the squashes on the vine as long as possible, even after the first light frost. Most of the leaves may be singed, but ripening will continue as long as the vine itself is still alive. I have observed that the vine may pull nutrients from some of the less mature squashes at this time. If further frosts are expected (low 30's) after the foliage has been nipped, the now unprotected squashes might sustain cold injury, so use best judgement, and cover or harvest if necessary. The squashes should always be harvested when a hard freeze (below freezing) is forecast.

Most winter squashes will begin to sweeten in storage, as starches are converted to sugars. This process starts as soon as the squashes are cut from the vine. Along with the sweetening, the squash may become more watery over time, and fibers in the flesh may become more pronounced. Seeds within the squash also continue to fatten up in storage, so if you are saving seeds, or intend to eat them, then do so 3-4 weeks after harvest.

Personally, I like winter squashes best in the first week or two after harvest, when they are firmer & their starch content is higher. Toward the end of winter, the squash may still technically be "edible", but I often find them to be unpalatable to my taste.

I myself don't really care about GM food. Much to do about nothing. As far as the crows, just shoot a couple put them on poles around your corn and I'm pretty sure the rest will stay away.
I have seen squirrels take one bit out of a peach and toss it to the ground. Then do the same to about 50 peaches. I have no sympathy for pests. I saw two raccoons fighting. One was a mother. She lost, the other bit her baby on the back of the neck. I tried to help, but it's neck was broken, it died. Seems we may have ethics, but animals do not. Often lions kill other types of cats in their territory like Cheetahs as they compete for the same food, so the lions just murder the cougars and cheetahs and leave the carcass to rot. The cruelty, violence, and viciousness of the animal kingdom makes us look tame.
Deer often kill young trees like crazy, very sad, no concern at all for the tree. Most animals are extremely selfish creatures, and I have no love for such things. Hard for me to feel sorry for them in anyway. They have no concern about anything but themselves. Now if we could share the food, no such luck.

"Understand your concerns on the GMs. But you can't avoid them completely."

No, it is impossible to avoid them completely, because GM ingredients - due to heavy lobbying - are not labeled. I can, and do, avoid them when given a choice. If others choose not to, that is their prerogative... but we all should have the right to make an informed choice.

"...Corn oil... Soybean oil..."

I use canola... which is also nearly all processed from GM plants. Personally, I am not as concerned with refined products, as when the whole plant or whole seed is consumed... a chemically pure substance is the same, regardless of the source. Others are not as accepting of GM, even in refined products, and I respect their right to choose based upon their own convictions.

"And all the food item you eat at restaurant, you buy at stores, the crackers, soup, more and more.
The meat you eat." (emphasis mine)

That statement really is an over-generalization, and gives a false overview of our food supply. There is (presently) no GM wheat, so most crackers and breads have no GM ingredients. The same can be said for most soup, I am more concerned about the container (and what it is lined with) than I am about the ingredients. GM meat is not common in our food supply - yet. So to say that "all of our food" is GM, is to exaggerate the prevalence of GM in our food supply.

"Everything is a compromise.

With respect to life in general, that is true... but it really does not apply in this case. There is a difference between compromise (where all parties agree to give a little) and submission, where one party is forced against their will to accept the decision of another. Consumers were not represented at the table when GM was approved for consumption, or when informative labeling was struck down. If there was a bin labeled "GM corn", and one next to it labeled "non-GM", which one do you think would be empty first? We should have a right, as a society, to answer that question.

If you or any of your neighbors get a real Christmas tree, you can also cut the branches when it's done and lay them over the beds. Makes a nice extra layer that is easy to take off in the spring.

Thanks Elisa, there should be plenty of Christmas trees around the neighborhood. Good idea. :-)

"What the heck are people eating in Milwaukee?"

maybe lots of Quarry breakfast cereal?

Yeah I'm at a loss for the lead content? I used it on my grass this year, first time. And you know right now in Michigan, fall, cold, on my block, my grass is by far the greenest. The stuff is excellent..

Nancy - have a friend - neighbor - teenager - show you how to move a photo to your desktop - simple when someone shows you but more difficult if you try to follow written instructions. Good you are taking a class too!

Hudson, my kids always do the "yajust" clickety clickety! I do need someone to come show me step by step, write it down do it 5x from the checklist, THEN and only then will it sit in my brain pan!
I think I'll start heading to the 1 hour classes every Monday at Best Buy!
I went to a ukulele festival today and one of the workshops was using the I-pad to collect, save and make folders of your music. About half of us old farts were getting wind burn from the info flying over our heads! (And I'm one of the younger ones at 58!) Nancy

I just harvested most of my purple sweet potatoes a week ago and I am doing the same but with some vine cuttings. It seemed such a shame to throw out all those beautiful healthy vines. I heard you can eat the leaves so I tried that too, it was ok, but I am not much of a greens person anyway. I am going to keep a few vines going indoors to put out early next year. Sweet potatoes are so easy and pest free I am sure I won't have much issue.

Maryland's weather is too cold to start sweet potato slips in March.
We start rooting slips by end of May which will be ready by second week of June giving a shorter season to grow for taters before first warning of frost.
By saving few vines indoor during winter we can have slips in time for planting.

I have found that the peanuts survive fine in the soil over the winter, and that there are quite a few sprouts in the spring. You do want to thin the plants once they get going, because there may be quite a few more than you want. However, do wait until well after your last frost, because some of the peanuts may come up before damaging frosts are over, and will be killed. Other seeds will sprout later, still giving you a crop. For what it is worth, the shells rot over the winter, but the seeds seem to be just fine.
Renais

Thanks Renais.

Right now we're picking lettuce, collards, brocolli, cabbages, spinach, carrots, peas, turnips, and beets. It's been a good fall here in Va.

I am starting to eat spinach and lettuce i bought in 6packs and planted several weeks ago. Last week i planted one 6pack each of bok choi, toi choi, mizuna, collards, parsley, red kale, blue kale, some kind of lettuce..cannot remember...and italian dandelion.

Imeant to start marveille de quatres saisons lettuce seeds (pardon my french) but have not done so yet. I also have some chinese celery and japanese spinach seeds i might try. And of course peas...i can start them all winter here.

I am really looking forward to the miner's lettuce, aka claytonia, that grows as a wild native all over my yard in winter. I am trying for many different greens species and not just brassicas onky because the bugs love them too much.

Cooling weather brought another flush of peppers and cherry tomatoes, we will see what ripens.yelliw squadh and burgundy okra are still flowering tho the fruit is staying smsll, we are pretending they are pticey organic baby veggies we grew thst way on purpisr.

I like to leave them standing until late winter/early spring to catch snow. Then I cut them down and burn them on the spot w/a propane torch. This eliminates weed seeds and pests and doesn't hurt the asparagus at all.

lacey, I find that interesting cause I asked a question about A beetles living in the leaves and was told it was a fluke! Then last year I pulled the leaves off the asparagus before they started shooting and shot the area with sevin. No problems with A beetles. I don't normally use sevin, but was really bummed the year before when all my gus was squirly and eaten by the beetles!
I think I'll distribute some of the leaves to other beds and just keep an inch or so on the gus beds. Nancy

Lot's of people overwinter carrots, there are many methods to doing so. The method that I use is a think layer of mulch comprised of grass clippings and shredded leaves. The mulch has worked for me over several winters in Pennsylvania.

Nope, no need. The tops of all these vegetables will tolerate freezes much lower than 29 degrees. The only concern with a container is that the soil and roots could freeze, but a container with moist soil has sufficient thermal mass to not freeze during a 29 degree event. If it was getting to the mid-20s, I'd be more concerned about it happening. How big are your containers?

Tripleione, you did well to collect tomato seed your first year. I still havenâÂÂt tried that, being a little more involved and messy.

I did the same thing , not a lot of effort, but I guess IâÂÂm going to try to make a little more effort.

Minnie, I didnâÂÂt think of saving cucumber seeds, does it work with hybrids? And how long do you leave them on the vine?

I'm not Minnie, obviously, but I'll answer the cucumber question. To save seeds from cucumbers you leave them on the vine until they are golden before picking them. If you save seeds from hybrids you won't know exactly what you'll get next year. It's also best if you only grow one variety to avoid cross pollination (although there are ways around this).

The above photos were taken last year and are a couple of Ellen's Family White cucumbers. The one on the left is a good size for eating/pickling (it could have gotten a little bit bigger). The one on the right is perfect for saving seeds, which is what I did with it.

Rodney

Here is a link that might be useful: Saving Cucumber Seed