www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Any gardeners here?

I thought I'd start a thread about gardening, since I've seen a couple of robins and spring must be coming at some point. What do you grow? How big is your garden? Do you eat it all or sell some/give some away?
In past years I've grown mostly pole beans, corn, tomatoes and herbs but this year we're going to try potatoes instead of corn, and I haven't decided what else. I need to rotate the crops and my garden is only about 10 x 30 feet. Definitely basil again this year (yummy homemade pesto!!), though. We eat most of what we grow, but I give away corn and tomatoes, and freeze some - I still have corn and beans in the freezer from last summer!

I grow blueberries, strawberries, peppers and tomatoes. I freeze some of everything except the tomatoes and give the rest away. My garden is rather small - 20 X 20 feet or so. Oh, I forgot about the sunflowers - love them for some reason, although the birds get most of the seeds.

I will have a little garden soon. I'm moving into a house after having been cooped in an apartment for some time.

I will grow a variety of chili peppers, I'm thinking about some Red Savina habineros, cherry peppers, and other varieties of flavorful peppers. In addition to those, I plan on growing a short line of snap peas and okra. The little plot may be 12� square. I am considering squaring it off with two climbing roses, Oklahoma Reds, to provide mid-day shade. I would want the plants to have morning and evening sun in the summer.

Inside I plan on having a little herb garden. They won�t grow as well outdoors in Houston�s climate. In the front of the house, I plan on growing a variety of Texas wild flowers to bloom in differnet seasons. I prefer perennials and haven't chosen the seed mix yet.

Does anybody know a good source for hard-to-find seeds?

Terry

Which variety of potato are you looking to grow?

Which herbs do you grow?

Terry

For potato variety, probably Kennebec, as I have a friend who grows them and will give me seed potatoes if I hem a couple of pairs of jeans. We grew them when I was younger and my mom thinks I can get 50 lb. harvest from half my garden planted in potatoes.

Herbs: basil, rosemary, cilantro, curly parsley, dill, anise, thyme, oregano, sage and chives.

I am putting tomatoes in buckets this year, last year had problem with blossom end rot and whitefly so they will be moved to another part of the yard.

I'd like to try something unusual, like okra or brussels sprouts. Maybe eggplant?

I grow tomatoes, green peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini in a patch about 4 X 10. We eat as much as we can, give some away, and freeze shredded zucchini for baking purposes all winter. We put the shredded zucchini in freezer bags, flatten them, and stack them in the freezer under the other forzen goods.

BOB

I'm going to do it for the first time ever this year. Part of my eventual declaration of independence from the system. Night and day difference between organically grown fruits and vegetables and the garbage you buy in supermarkets. While on that topic, does anybody remember what peaches were like 25 or more years ago ? Have you noticed what two major changes have occured with the ones you now find in stores.

I'm planning on growing tomatoes, various peppers, and perhaps onions and mushrooms.

Have you cooked with any of the Asian eggplant varieties? Some are light purple with a thin skin and are oblong, some of the same shape are darker purple with a thicker skin. There are round eggplant varieties too. I've seen purple, green, and white. They are pear shaped but large as a medium-sized lemon. The flesh of a white eggplant has a delicate taste, but has the thickest skin among the eggplants I�ve cooked with.

I imagine that the molecular structure of the starches and the balance of glucose and/or fructose make up most of the differences in the texture and taste of their flesh. I'd like to see the science of it.

Terry

TERRY:

Have you ever cooked eggplant lassagna (sp?)? YOu can either batter and fry the slices and use in place of the noodles OR dry the slices in the oven and layer in place of the noodles.

Either way it makes a good meal and reduces the carbs.

BOB

Bob,

No, but that sounds like a good idea. I had been stir-frying them, slicing them in ~1" cubes, with a basic Chinese sauce and a few cloves of garlic. Sometimes I add an onion, shiitake mushrooms, or sliced sweet red peppers to the mix. I try to pair the sauce with the flavor of what I'm cooking, its makeup usually changes a little from dish to dish.

Sometimes I slice the eggplant thin and put it on pizza with other ingredients--I don't put tomato sauce on my pizza so when I add eggplant its flavor carries the other ingredients.

I will try to make it that way. What do you layer eggplant with?

Terry

My mother and Baba bake something similar but since we are Ukrainians we don't call it lasagna. This a dish from Bukovyna.
The eggplants are sliced not across but the other way and salted and then put under the broiler.
Then some tomato sauce is put at the bottom of baking dish, then a layer of eggplant slices, then tons of onions of cource, herbs, sliced tomatoes and then dry or Farmer's cottage cheese. (The same dry cheese or curds used for pyrohy with salt added).

Then you just layer until near the top of the dish.
This is a summer dish when you can use your own garden stuff.
If it is not Friday or Wednesday, I like a thin layer of a mixture of minced pork
meat. But only one layer and thin of the meat in order not to spoil the taste of the veggies. Put in the oven until done as Baba says at 350 but less than 45 minutes or else it will be raw.

A nice boat made out of half a zuchinni is good too with the same cheese mixed with salt & melted butter. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Just put in the oven at 350 for a few minutes. watch it you don't want it to burn.

Have any of you ever grown tobacco?

My in-laws grew tobacco for some time. They still have several bunches of leaves hanging in a shed.

Terry

A large patch of basil for liturgical purposes and spice; tomatoes and several varieties of peppers; cucmbers (must have pickles...), several varieties of squash including acorn, zucchini, and butternut; various herbs including dill and oregano.

Speaking of eggplant I tried a few last year; not as good as expected but may try again. Am also considering asparagus.

Rhubarb (comes up every year), sugar snap peas, mesclun lettuce, garlic, bush beans, assorted squash and tomatoes. Cherry & grape tomatoes did well on the deck in containers as did basil, cilantro and dill.

Barbara