Gardening-for flavor!

[Houndbb]

I’ve pretty much been obsessed with herbs since my 20s. Now, I just love trying different tomatoes to find the best tasting ones (subjective, I know). Since we have blight here, I grow in containers or straw bales. Tomatoes I like (never to be found at home centers/greenhouses/farm stands): Sweet Seedless, Super Sauce, Fresh Salsa, Rutgers, Big Daddy, Steak Sandwich, Super Steak, and Jelly Bean (grape). All but Jelly Bean are Burpee’s (no affiliation).

Three bell peppers I like because they all are thick-walled and they dice and freeze very well: Great Stuff, Golden Giant II, and Candy Apple.

I have a little room in the SE corner of the barn that costs $20 more in electricity to heat/light for the short time it takes to get the seeds started.

When we go away for extended periods, the plants are watered on a drip system that has been permanently installed around the deck perimeter.

Basil is not an herb, it’s a CROP!!!
N (can’t guess spring is my fave, can you?)

 

[DaveMatthewsBand]

Making me hungry!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Houndbb]

Making me hungry!


Ha!
Used to belong to a gardening forum. One tomato grower had a sig line that made my mouth water:

“Nuthin’ like a kitchen sink ‘mater sammich”

indeed

 

[Country Campers]

Nothing better than "fresh from the garden" yummies. I'll eat just about everything while I am picking the fruits of labor from our garden.
Not a big fan of tomatoes but I will eat them occasionally. Green beans , cantaloupe , sweet tators , cabbage, sweet peppers and hot, cuke's , watermelon , are some of our must haves.

Brian

 

[Houndbb]

Nothing better than "fresh from the garden" yummies. I'll eat just about everything while I am picking the fruits of labor from our garden.
Not a big fan of tomatoes but I will eat them occasionally. Green beans , cantaloupe , sweet tators , cabbage, sweet peppers and hot, cuke's , watermelon , are some of our must haves.

Brian

What do you do with your garden while on a trip with your trailer?

 

[Country Campers]

What do you do with your garden while on a trip with your trailer?

Its heavily guarded , 8 dogs , 14 security cameras , 3 neighbors , and my mom , so don't get any ideas.

We plan when we plant the beans , they always seem to be ready when we are going on our July trips.

Brian

 

[Canyonlight]

Carol and I have been making our own Salsa for a few decades. The demand has grown so great with friends and family that our garden has been growing only tomatoes and various varieties of peppers for a few years. We used to grow a yearly rotating mix of 1/2 dozen or so different herbs (we love Italian food) along with potatoes, corn, green beans, onions, peas, etc.

When we built our home we set aside space (30ish feet X 10ish feet) for the garden complete with it's own irrigation system so it can be watered while we are away.


Dan

 

[Houndbb]

Brian,
Can’t find a bean variety that I like enough to go to battle with the groundhogs over them. They climb right on the deck, set off the motion lights and gnaw on each and every one!

Dan, Excellent use of chicken wire (my blueberries are surrounded with it). If you start your own seeds, the Fresh Salsa or Super Sauce varieties are excellent. Salsa has looong vine life, very rich dark color and few seeds, very firm-stands up to the water bath. Super is just that- super sized like a Roma on steroids. Good flavor, few seeds.
N

 

[kevinpo]

We are under a freeze warning tonight . I have the garden ready but I think I will wait a couple of more weeks. I really like homemade salsa and hot sauce. I have 6 Ghost pepper plants, 2 Tabasco, 2 Garden Salsa, 1 Habenero, and 2 Jalapeno. I have a 18' x 24' greenhouse that extends the growing season by one month at each end resulting in about 7 months growing time VS 5.
For a few years I brought some of the plants indoors like my peppers as they will grow 4-5 years if kept under the right conditions. I got tired of the mess they made and the work it took. Here are a few pictures from this weekend.

Regards,
Kevin





From 2017
Yes those are pineapples growing in the center back They were grown from the tops that were cut off from store bought ones.

 

[Country Campers]

[MENTION=3091]kevinpo[/MENTION]
I am jealous , wish I could grow pineapples.
Great set up you have there.

Brian

 

[kevinpo]

Hi Brian,
I have about the same weather you have (read long winter). Those were some 400W metal halides I had left over from my coral growing days. That room used to house a 600 gallon marine tank with 2,400W of light over it If only I could find some use in the RV world for my light knowledge

Cheers,
Kevin

 

[Houndbb]

[MENTION=3091]kevinpo[/MENTION]
I am jealous , wish I could grow pineapples.
Great set up you have there.

Brian

Brian,
But see, you could. Kevin says he’s in zone 5, so you’d just have to take on the plant as an extra family member for awhile. If you like artichokes, you can grow those too. There are instructions online for doing that. I started 4 plants one year (in ‘15), and all 4 produced and were surprisingly pest free (the pests didn’t know what they were). You have to pick the right variety (a bit more hardy), start the seed in January, subject the plants to an imposed “first winter” for about 8-10 weeks (temps 35-40), then plant outside. Overall, I ended up with about 15 fruits, problem was, each plant produces one normal sized artichoke, then the rest are progressively smaller. Very tasty though. Makes me want to find a mail order source for a product that is fresher than what you can get in the local grocery store!

 

[Houndbb]

Hi Brian,
I have about the same weather you have (read long winter). Those were some 400W metal halides I had left over from my coral growing days. That room used to house a 600 gallon marine tank with 2,400W of light over it If only I could find some use in the RV world for my light knowledge

Cheers,
Kevin

Kevin, What did you do with the coral? (My cogs are spinning here, in all directions-donations, aquariums, scientific experiments, just because you COULD?)
N

 

[kevinpo]

Kevin, What did you do with the coral? (My cogs are spinning here, in all directions-donations, aquariums, scientific experiments, just because you COULD?)
N

Hi Nancy,
From 2003 to 2013 I farmed corals commercially and shipped nationwide. Here is a video of one of my tanks. When I get home tonight I will post a picture of the former plant room from about the same angle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v25iAwroKWg

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Houndbb]

Hi Nancy,
From 2003 to 2013 I farmed corals commercially and shipped nationwide. Here is a video of one of my tanks. When I get home tonight I will post a picture of the former plant room from about the same angle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v25iAwroKWg

Regards,
Kevin

Kevin, That is so impressive! Must have been gratifying, sustaining that little ecosystem for those beautiful fish. Were your customers predominantly aquarium owners and dealers? I love that this forum has so many people on it with such diverse skills, interests, and backgrounds.
N

 

[kevinpo]

Were your customers predominantly aquarium owners and dealers?

Yes they were. Many through forums such as this one. To maintain live corals is more work than maintaining an RV ( I know that's hard to believe ). You have to be an electrician, plumber, Lighting guru, chemist, biologist, scientist, and above all have lots of $! LOL. I had about $30,000 USD in my 600 gallon home aquarium. The difference between that and an RV is that at its peak it generated about $50,000 USD/yr. in coral. Farming can pay

Here is a picture taken in the same room as the plants in Sept. 2006:

and a few of the corals:





Best regards,
Kevin