Text 8203, 183 rader
Skriven 2008-05-31 15:12:15 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
Kommentar till text 8037 av Carol Shenkenberger (14122.cooks)
Ärende: putting up [1]
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Hi Carol,
> CS> Thats probably the way to go. That or a neighbor with a surplus.
> More likely somebody from church. We live in a new housing area on post;
> peope aren't encouraged to dig up their yards & plant vegetable gardens
CS> Having lived in so many apartments over the eons it seems, it was
CS> natural to me to take to containers. It's going really nice so far!
Thinking back, when we were in Germany I did a couple of window box
gardens. Tomatoes in Frankfurt (tied to the balcony above) and lettuce
in Berlin. In AZ we dug into the ground in our little courtyard--did
lots of tomatoes and peppers there but we lived there 8 years.
CS> Charlotte is excited as now she can see what I was trying to do in
CS> Sasebo on the porch but kept going to sea and would die in summer from
CS> lack of water.
Lack of water and attention probably.
CS> Inventory-
CS> Butter and another type of lettuce, plenty to keep me in samwich
CS> lettuce and salads (we arent frequen sald eaters or have a small one
CS> every few days so a head tends to go bad on us). 4'x8" and about 9
CS> deep are all but a few of my containers. I'll mention if it's in
OTOH, we'd be having a salad regularly. We've made sort of a habit of
going out on Friday nights since the beginning of the year. Went to
Olive Garden last night and Steve had the salad instead of Pasta Fagiole
Soup. I usually get the salad, as I did last night.
CS> Catnip and strawberry, living in sin together <g>.
CS> The strawberry shows some small green fruits already. I'll be drying
CS> some catnip shortly.
Sounds good to me. I know it's a bit late for strawberries but you'll
be enjoying them when others are long gone. (G)
CS> 6 cucumber plants, later added. They've grown bigger and now are
CS> about 6 inches tall. First time I've tried them. Probably supposed
CS> to stake them or something later?
No, they don't get staked; they're runners.
CS> 1 bell pepper, has a nice green pepper on it already and a grunch of
CS> flowers. From the picture these might be the smaller more intense
CS> ones I grew to love in japan. This one is in a standard sized roughly
CS> 14" across hanging style planter but set on the ground.
CS> On the opposite end (12 ft away?) is another container like it with a
CS> bannana pepper plant. I see buds that want to become flowers soon on
CS> it. Since we arnt into 'hot' peppers, this heat level is right for
CS> our use.
Dry some for next winter--or brine them. They'll make a nice addition
to lots of things.
CS> Then another long container with 5 tomato plants and a smaller 3'x7"
CS> container with 3 more tomatoes. All covered with flowers, 6 of one
CS> type (an italian sort) and 2 others (1 early girl, one beef eater).
CS> The early girl and beef eater are smaller and were the ones I suspect
CS> had some sort of tomato blight but they are fruiting just like the
CS> others so will see what happens.
Those should be staked or caged. You'll be up to your ears in tomatoes
soon. We grew the romas in AZ--good for lots of things.
CS> The crowning glory is the straightneck squash with 3 obvious fruits
CS> and several others behind it as well as lots of little flowers. It
CS> seems realy happy in it's tall ceramic pot. The pot is about 24"
CS> across and about the same deep.
Yellow or zuchinni squash? You may be bringing some up to the picnic if
they continue as prolific.
CS> Out front in the ground, rosemary.
CS> I also have some flowers and such <g>.
Did you ever get the last of the blue flowers you were intending to?
> CS> I ended up with more plants for the new containers so.... Gonna try
> CS> cucumber and a bannana pepper plant. The green bell pepper seems to
> CS> be setting fruit now already. The little bannana pepper is
> CS> practically doubling in size in just this week. I think I need to
> CS> move them to opposite corners from each other.
CS> Notice how fast they are progressing. 'seemed to be setting fruit'
CS> has a definate nice bell pepper on it.
Yes, they do go fast. You will be enjoying the fruits (and vegetables)
of your labors soon.
> If not into another container and separate by even more distance. You
> may end up with mild bannna peppers and warmish bells. We did that once
> but with jalapenoes and bells.
CS> I think I caught it in time ;-)
Time will tell.
> CS> Yes, and no worries about fleasprayed food plants. It's a monthly
> CS> ritual here to have to flea spray the yard.
> No fun but with pets, it's a must.
CS> Absoultely especially if you have a dog who has to go out!
Well, we don't have critters so don't have the flea issue. Just every
so often, lots of little tiny ants (no uncles) that we now keep baits
out for.
> Dishwasher is on the end of a bar type arraingement in the kitchen. In
> order, there's a set of drawers under a counter top, the sink and the
> dishwasher under another counter top. The kitchen window is at a 90
> degree angle to the bar & low enough that the ledge is about a foot
> above the open dishwasher door. If anything on the ledge sticks out
> over it (along the first 18" or so), the door will clip it as I open it.
CS> Ah. Ok. I bet earlier design was thinking a small breakfast nook for
CS> 2 then the dishwasher got added.
No, it's the very small kitchen in this place. Not room enough for a
nook. We have to move the garbage can and stool every time we open the
dishwasher or the cabinet on the wall opposite the dishwasher. The
stove is on the wall opposite the sink; I can turn from the stove and
put stuff into the sink.
> CS> I figure to make some of the little 3-4 cup yield recipes in a new
> CS> book that just arrived. It's filled with small batch recipes. Also,
> OK, that sounds like it would work for us. For me, it's no problem to
> get the small jars in the shape I want (just a fairly straight side with
> a diamond effect).
CS> Well these are a mix, some quilted like that. I got a canning tool
CS> kit too, simple one. Just a 5 piece but has all I really need. Oh
I picked up most of that piecemeal. I don't have the magnetic wand that
they sell but everything else. The funnel gets used for non canning use
at times as well. (G)
CS> and got some pectin which was a little cheaper online even with
CS> shiping. Pickling salts and some pickle mixes.
That is good; I've bought store brand pectin (Kroger, cheap) and the
name brand (expensive) but they work equally well.
> > raid the supply. My youngest sister likes to raid the supply of full
> > jars; I think that's why my parents still put in as much of a garden as
> > they do. I'd rather take the empty jars.
CS> >
> CS> They probably enjoy the past time of putting up produce for later.
> CS> It's a fun and useful hobby. I'll be traching Charlotte how to do it
> CS> later in the year.
CS> >
> My sister gets the jars full of food. I don't think she has any interest
> in putting stuff up but wants to save a few $$ on her grocery bill. My
>> CONTINUED IN NEXT MESSAGE <<
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Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly@earthlink.net FIDO 1:396/45.28
... Get shopping while the gettin' is good!!!
--- PPoint 3.01
* Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)
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