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I did think we were posting in the hot sauce thread for a minute there. I have peppers fruiting indoors in my basement set up for winter now. It shouldn’t be the worst struggle to keep temp, but I’ll find out when it actually gets colder. I put my attempts at autumn-winter gardening into the garden. It’s a bunch of radishes and mustard greens mostly. I found that I’d bought a pack of giant daikon seeds that I’m giving a try. I may try to get things in a little earlier next year, but I should still have 6-8 weeks of warm enough to grow temps. It’s just so dry that I’ll have to keep a really good watch on moisture levels. The soil here is also more sandy than I’m used to, but that will help when I get November full of rain. Gardening is just the best. So excited to get some actual production. Only thing I’ve really gotten this year is some bell peppers.
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Sep 17, 2020 21:02
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mischief posted:They're the hottest I've tasted of the 7 pots. I believe the Douglah may have tested hotter but I've never grown one that hot. Yes the flavor was very fruity the millisecond before the spice kicked in. Cant wait to try more
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Sep 17, 2020 21:41
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Jhet posted:I did think we were posting in the hot sauce thread for a minute there. I've used the seed mats and thermostats I finally sprung for way more than I thought. I've got an extra big garage where my starts and over wintered stuff lives when necessary, my only regret with this house was not having a basement. Seems like basement peppers with some heat and maybe a light would be happy. I've never succeeded with any root veg - I've tried daikon, multiple carrots, onions... Raised beds seem like the solution there. Even with all the amendments I've made my beds are just too dense apparently. Fall mustard greens are wonderful in NC. Collards too if you have the patience to actually prep them from scratch. I don't know if there will be a first frost this year but surely it will cool off eventually.
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Sep 17, 2020 21:54
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Basement peppers are very happy. I just lowered their shelf, but I need to prep the bigger space now, they’re getting too crowded. I use the heat mats to help keep temps consistent and it’s been 75-80 since I started. I did collards last year outside and they were great, but they were summer crop for me. I’ll have to find a different variety for winter crop next year. My parents have a lot of clay in their gardens and they put in like 10 yds or so of compost/top soil this year and will probably do it again next year until it really gets nicer for a while. Even with all the leaves they add every year the carrots are always short/crooked/crazy. She has good results with onions though and I wouldn’t have expected it with the clay.
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Sep 17, 2020 22:34
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My first garden was the one that I double dug and then limped a bunch of municipal compost into, I posted a shitload here about it. I dug it down four feet and then back filled with compost and peat moss tilled in with the original clay. We ended up having to dig out a french drain and reprofiling the bottom of the whole thing. In this new house I just tried for volume I guess. I've put at least a few tons of compost into the plot but it never went deeper than my tiller can reach.
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Sep 18, 2020 02:05
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Help I have a ton of scallions I had a bunch of volunteer onions this spring and so I transplanted them around my garden and kinda forgot about them when I should have been eating them all summer. Anyway the "how" isn't important - I just pulled them up and I have two bundles of green onions that are about a foot in diameter (per bundle). Suggestions? So far I'm looking at a) grill a ton of them and eat them up, b) throw some of them into my salsas and then with the remainder my better half has given me the suggestion of oil + food processor + ice cube tray. I'm contemplating drying them out and powdering them. Any other suggestions for a gently caress ton of green onions? mischief posted:I've never succeeded with any root veg - I've tried daikon, multiple carrots, onions... Raised beds seem like the solution there. Even with all the amendments I've made my beds are just too dense apparently. I had some nice carrots grow this year in deep (11 litre ice cream parlor) pails. I filled the bottom half with grass clippings and the top half with last year's potting mix and chopped a drainage hole in the bottom. It was just fluffy enough with just enough nutrients that the carrots thrived. The grass clippings composted and by the end of the year the pail was only 1/2 full - I dumped one today and there was a monster nightcrawler in there! A friend of mine grew up on a carrot farm. They did nantes carrots in loamy soil and they'd run a tiller between the rows at least weekly to make sure that the carrots had room to expand.
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Sep 18, 2020 02:47
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It’s supposed to finally cool off this weekend and a storm knocked over my 10’tall okra so I don’t have to and I’m gettin a little excited about fall garden. Time to plant carrots and greens and lettuce and idk, maybe some sweet peas? Broccoli? Brussel sprouts? I have never grown those before and excited to try. Need to find some bok chit seeds too.
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Sep 18, 2020 03:05
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Where are you that you're planting so late?
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Sep 18, 2020 03:23
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CommonShore posted:Any other suggestions for a gently caress ton of green onions?
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Sep 18, 2020 07:49
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CommonShore posted:Any other suggestions for a gently caress ton of green onions? Korean style spicy spring onion salad. It is spring here so today I put snow pea, spinach and lettuce seeds into my vege bed. Now we just have to keep fingers crossed that they get a chance to germinate and come away before the cat breaches my chicken wire barricade and digs them all up so she can poop in there.
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Sep 18, 2020 08:12
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CommonShore posted:Help I have a ton of scallions I would have left those scallions in the ground and harvested as I went, but yeah, drying sounds like a good plan. Also yep on the carrots: I don't think there's a more ideal growing condition for them than a pot with potting soil.
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Sep 18, 2020 08:18
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CommonShore posted:Any other suggestions for a gently caress ton of green onions? Never a bad time to experiment with different styles of ramen and noodle and/or soup dish
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Sep 18, 2020 08:41
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Ok Comboomer posted:Never a bad time to experiment with different styles of ramen and noodle and/or soup dish This right here. Onion and hot pepper elevate cheap ramen to a whole nother level. You could also cook them down and make some sour cream dip.
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Sep 18, 2020 12:29
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I make a version of this ginger scallion sauce all the time with my grocery-scraps-turned-garden-monster scallions: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/momofuku-ginger-scallion-sauce-50175120 It really does go on anything Asian. One of my default meals when I have no other ideas is plain white rice with a big spoonful of the sauce stirred in with leftover veg and meat thrown on top and/or a fried egg.
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Sep 18, 2020 13:50
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Hello! I'm in the process of sketching out a redesign of my garden, and I'd like to check in to see if there's any features I should add or remove, specifically in the area of growing things, which I'm not super experienced with. The entire garden is being redone and the soil is good, so I'm not limited by much. I'll be drawing up plans soon, but here's the "before" layout:  My initial list of things I'll probably have: - A large outbuilding (workshop) at the end of the garden - A planting area (raised bed? what's the benefit of raised beds over.. flush ones?) by the fence on the sunnier side - A planting area by the fence on the shadier side - A permeable path leading from the side of the house down to the outbuilding - A shady tree towards the center of the space - Taller fencing - Some sort of dog washing station by the main gate - Enough permeable decking by the bifolds to allow al fresco dining, within the limits of our slightly odd planning laws (I've emailed out local planning policy team for clarification) - Probably some non-muddy permeable surface like gravel to allow walking between the entrances of the house, and probably similar near the outbuilding - Insect-friendly planting - Close cut lawn everywhere else (mostly towards the middle)
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Sep 18, 2020 16:37
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Lead out in cuffs posted:I would have left those scallions in the ground and harvested as I went, but yeah, drying sounds like a good plan. I pulled them up because things are starting to freeze. I should have just been eating them all summer.
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Sep 18, 2020 16:45
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JRay88 posted:This right here. Onion and hot pepper elevate cheap ramen to a whole nother level. Package ramen is scrub-tier for poverty diet. Buy bulk noodles & babby’s first basic broth is veggie or meat broth+mirin+hon tsuyu+soy sauce+garlic clove, most miso broths/soups work quite well too. Soft boil an egg or two, pop on some tasty kippers or sardines or smoked salmon or chicken or pork (katsu is dead easy, but I like to cheat with oven-reheated Popeye’s because I’m a lazy rear end), scallion, bok choy, sweet corn from a can, maybe melt in some cheddar cheese, and you got yourself a gourmet lunch for cheap that’s easy to precook/make in a microwave.
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Sep 18, 2020 17:26
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I make scratch ramen sometimes. I haven't for a while. Maybe I'll buckle down and make like 10 packages of noodles this weekend for something to do and individually wrap and freeze them. Gonna chop some onions up into some packaged ramen right now though with a poached egg instead of a soft boiled one because it's 1% the work for 85% as good.
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Sep 18, 2020 17:48
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Jaded Burnout posted:Lots of good words The two things that jump out at me. What are you planning on growing in the beds? Flowers or veggies, because that will make my answer to the shade tree in the center different. If you’re planning on shade plants, or partial sun plants you’ll be fine with a tree. If you want to do tomatoes or veggies that need many hours of sunlight, you need to think about where the shade is going to be in 10 years. Raised beds are slightly easier to reach. They’re especially useful if your soil is terrible and you’re just trying to fix the spot you’re growing. Or other soil prep or repair purposes. You can absolutely use the regular ground if it is already good soil. Some people also like the way it makes a border, so it’s also aesthetic.
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Sep 18, 2020 18:00
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CommonShore posted:I make scratch ramen sometimes. I haven't for a while. Maybe I'll buckle down and make like 10 packages of noodles this weekend for something to do and individually wrap and freeze them. Oh yeah, gently caress putting effort into eggs unless you got someone you need to impress. 99% of the eggs I make for ramen topping are like: crack two eggs into like 2” of water in a mug/Pyrex cup, into the microwave for ~70 sec.
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Sep 18, 2020 18:13
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Ok Comboomer posted:Oh yeah, gently caress putting effort into eggs unless you got someone you need to impress. 99% of the eggs I make for ramen topping are like: crack two eggs into like 2” of water in a mug/Pyrex cup, into the microwave for ~70 sec. I just crack it into the soup pot about 20 seconds before I throw in the noodles
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Sep 18, 2020 18:24
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I just poach the egg in the ramen. Easy and tasty.
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Sep 18, 2020 18:25
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Jhet posted:What are you planning on growing in the beds? Flowers or veggies, because that will make my answer to the shade tree in the center different. If you’re planning on shade plants, or partial sun plants you’ll be fine with a tree. If you want to do tomatoes or veggies that need many hours of sunlight, you need to think about where the shade is going to be in 10 years. Probably both. There should be enough room to provide beds on the sunny side out of the shadow of the tree, even when it's well grown. Probably the tree will be further towards the shadier side of the garden, just not right up against the fence. Jhet posted:Raised beds are slightly easier to reach. They’re especially useful if your soil is terrible and you’re just trying to fix the spot you’re growing. Or other soil prep or repair purposes. You can absolutely use the regular ground if it is already good soil. Some people also like the way it makes a border, so it’s also aesthetic. Gotcha. I mean, I've not had the soil checked officially or anything, but when I had some foundations dug I looked at what came up and to my untrained eye it looked like a good mix of the different types of soils I saw when googling "how 2 tell if soil gud". I'll talk to the gardeners then about whether they're necessary or not, and for now just mark them as "beds".
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Sep 18, 2020 18:29
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Jaded Burnout posted:Hello! To add on to what Jhet said, raised beds are also very useful if you have drainage problems. This can be from being a low-lying area or having very heavy clay soil. They are useful aesthetically to make small plants look bigger and put flowers closer to eye level. They can be useful to if you have a specific thing you want to grow, like trying to grow acid-loving plants on neutral or basic soil-fill the bed up with an acidic soil and away you go. Having some idea what you want to grow in the bed (annual flowers? Perennial bulbs? Herbs? Vegetables?) will help figure out what the requirements for the bed are. My favorite garden book quotes I think William Blake with the line ‘consult the genius of the place’ and I think that’s a great first step for garden design. My yard has a huge oak tree in the back, and I’ve mostly built my garden around that ‘genius’. You have a long, narrow space with a bunch of nice windows looking out on it. IF it were my space, I would put a focal point at the far end of the space. Likely that will be your shop-make it pretty on the side facing the house- but a nice tree or fountain or sculpture or dining area sort of does the same thing. Have a destination out there and keep an open view towards it so you have somewhere to want to go. You might further frame the view from the big doors with beds along the edges, and maybe a pair of trees or hedges at the far end around whatever the thing you want to look at is. If you want shade, instead of one tree in the middle, you might plant several along the sides and make sort of an allée. I don’t know what the UK equivalent of a crepe myrtle is, but a small, vase shaped tree with year round interest is the idea. Big tree centered on the lawn could certainly work too, but there Is going to be an awkward phase where the big tree is bush sized and blocks your view down the lawn. I’m not familiar enough with UK trees to recommend anything, but I think the end goal would be something tall and spreading- American elms have that sort of shape. Electoral Surgery posted:Where are you that you're planting so late? Kaiser Schnitzel fucked around with this message at 18:34 on Sep 18, 2020 |
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Sep 18, 2020 18:31
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Jaded Burnout posted:Probably both. There should be enough room to provide beds on the sunny side out of the shadow of the tree, even when it's well grown. Probably the tree will be further towards the shadier side of the garden, just not right up against the fence. Trees are important in gardens imo, but it’s important to think about it in terms of the future. So if you’re planting a maple, you know what a maple will do in 10-50 years. If you put in a birch tree, it’ll be different. Clearly the answer to testing soil is to taste it. If it tastes good, then you’re g2g (good to grow). Or you could send it for soil testing I suppose. Then you’d know what you’re short on and can amend while you tear everything up. I’d plan on at least adding a bunch of compost the first year and maybe one or two smaller adjustments for sure. Then realize you’ll end up adding more compost and nutrients while growing big plants anyway. Oh, and greenhouses can throw shade and mess with expected light too, so keep that in mind. The plants on the side of it will like the heat sink too.
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Sep 18, 2020 18:40
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:I like your drawing! It might be helpful to whoever you show it to to have North pretty clearly marked to get a better idea of where the sun moves. Good call. The sun as I drew it is coming from the South. Kaiser Schnitzel posted:To add on to what Jhet said, raised beds are also very useful if you have drainage problems. This can be from being a low-lying area or having very heavy clay soil. They are useful aesthetically to make small plants look bigger and put flowers closer to eye level. They can be useful to if you have a specific thing you want to grow, like trying to grow acid-loving plants on neutral or basic soil-fill the bed up with an acidic soil and away you go. Noted. Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Having some idea what you want to grow in the bed (annual flowers? Perennial bulbs? Herbs? Vegetables?) will help figure out what the requirements for the bed are. This I don't know yet; I guess I'll need to discuss it with the gardeners. Kaiser Schnitzel posted:My favorite garden book quotes I think William Blake with the line ‘consult the genius of the place’ and I think that’s a great first step for garden design. My yard has a huge oak tree in the back, and I’ve mostly built my garden around that ‘genius’. You have a long, narrow space with a bunch of nice windows looking out on it. IF it were my space, I would put a focal point at the far end of the space. Likely that will be your shop-make it pretty on the side facing the house- but a nice tree or fountain or sculpture or dining area sort of does the same thing. Have a destination out there and keep an open view towards it so you have somewhere to want to go. You might further frame the view from the big doors with beds along the edges, and maybe a pair of trees or hedges at the far end around whatever the thing you want to look at is. Good points. My rough mental concept is that the tree forms part of the lawn space, in a sort of "focal point where people might go to sit under if it were in the middle of a park" sort of way, but off to the left of the view as you look out. So I suspect the view down the garden would have the shop partially obscured by the tree, with the right of it visible, plus the path and beds on the right hand side. I haven't looked into tree species yet, but moderate sized, high-ish branched, like your typical oak shape but maybe not an oak I don't know what's appropriate. But it would let you see past it most, is what I mean. Aforementioned bush stage notwithstanding. Jhet posted:Oh, and greenhouses can throw shade and mess with expected light too, so keep that in mind. The plants on the side of it will like the heat sink too. There won't be a greenhouse.
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Sep 18, 2020 18:51
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gently caress gently caress gently caress I just found aphids on the plants I brought inside. I'm going to have to go nuclear on them so they don't get into our other plants
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Sep 18, 2020 19:42
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Jaded Burnout posted:- A planting area (raised bed? what's the benefit of raised beds over.. flush ones?) by the fence on the sunnier side Raised beds are only good for: - Can look a bit neater, especially if there’s a boundary with a lawn. - Saves your back when weeding etc. Especially if you go for ones 12”+ tall. - Some pets will stay off a raised bed rather than messing with your veg. - some pests are less likely to find their way into a raised bed. - if you have really rocky ground with thin soil, a raised bed in top can improve it fast. Though you can just dump new soil / compost on the ground anyway. There’s no benefit to plant growth, and the wooden sides can be a haven for slugs in the UK climate. I have a couple built this spring, probably wouldn’t bother if doing it again. For a lawn, you may want to consider alternatives to turf that are more interesting, less effort, and better for insects. I have a creeping thyme lawn which flowers, doesn’t need to be mown, is always green without watering. And smells nice. Not sure it’s dog friendly though. Good to see someone else concerned about permeable paths & things. I’m a fan of self binding gravel for that, which is the stuff they use for paths at stately homes and things, and makes a decent patio too. It’s really cost effective and DIYable and there are loads of colour options. Failing that, a resin bound gravel path offers identical look and more permanence for a bunch more money.
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Sep 19, 2020 16:02
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wooger posted:There’s no benefit to plant growth For those with clay soil, it doesn't matter how much you improve the soil you are directly planting in, it's still just a bunch of good soil in a clay bowl that won't drain appropriately. Raised beds drain well at a predictable rate.
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Sep 19, 2020 16:15
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Motronic posted:For those with clay soil, it doesn't matter how much you improve the soil you are directly planting in, it's still just a bunch of good soil in a clay bowl that won't drain appropriately. Raised beds drain well at a predictable rate. Or you're yard has been leveled with fill, then 2" of 'soil' put down, then sods. AKA my yard. Next raised beds for me are going to be the corrugated high ones that I'll fill 2/3 with wood and other organic materials then top with soil (depending on the height of the bed).
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Sep 19, 2020 16:45
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I got's good soil, down to about 5ft at least.
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Sep 19, 2020 16:47
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Jaded Burnout posted:I got's good soil, down to about 5ft at least. Must be nice,  . I had an uncle that had a farm that had soil like that. It was amazing. He sold it to a developer that turned it into a golf course. 
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Sep 19, 2020 16:49
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Motronic posted:For those with clay soil, it doesn't matter how much you improve the soil you are directly planting in, it's still just a bunch of good soil in a clay bowl that won't drain appropriately. Raised beds drain well at a predictable rate. Yup, either you're doing raised beds so you have sides or you're mounding soil, anything else you just get soup with dying roots in
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Sep 20, 2020 15:13
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I've decided to focus more on easy stirfry veg for next year's garden -- I like stuff that's easy to pick and fry. I'm in Georgia so most of them do well with our season length and heat. This year I had great luck with longbeans and thai chilis (+some other misc chilis). I didn't start my bittermelon early enough, but in going to make that a priority next year. I neglected my green onion but should give them another shot. I'd like some nonspicy chilis and might add some more beans. What else am I not thinking of?
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Sep 20, 2020 19:31
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wooger posted:Raised beds are only good for: Thanks for the tips! wooger posted:For a lawn, you may want to consider alternatives to turf that are more interesting, less effort, and better for insects. I have a creeping thyme lawn which flowers, doesn’t need to be mown, is always green without watering. And smells nice. Not sure it’s dog friendly though. Dog friendly is important, but does this also produce the sort of space you'd be up for kicking back on? The percentage of lawn would be much smaller than currently, and I'm open to alternatives, provided it's still usable as a Chill Zone. wooger posted:Good to see someone else concerned about permeable paths & things. I’m a fan of self binding gravel for that, which is the stuff they use for paths at stately homes and things, and makes a decent patio too. It’s really cost effective and DIYable and there are loads of colour options. Yeah it concerns me a little, because drainage, but also because impermeable hard standings make the planning permission equation more complicated. Also because the goal is something walkable in heavy rain, which concrete only sort of is. Thanks for the suggestion! I was concerned I'd have to go for something more modern material science type thing.
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Sep 20, 2020 20:08
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Fitzy Fitz posted:I've decided to focus more on easy stirfry veg for next year's garden -- I like stuff that's easy to pick and fry. I'm in Georgia so most of them do well with our season length and heat. This year I had great luck with longbeans and thai chilis (+some other misc chilis). I didn't start my bittermelon early enough, but in going to make that a priority next year. I neglected my green onion but should give them another shot. I'd like some nonspicy chilis and might add some more beans. What else am I not thinking of? Eggplant?
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Sep 20, 2020 20:20
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Jaded Burnout posted:Dog friendly is important, but does this also produce the sort of space you'd be up for kicking back on? The percentage of lawn would be much smaller than currently, and I'm open to alternatives, provided it's still usable as a Chill Zone. It’ll cover anything if you plant enough of it. However, I only planted mine this spring, so not sure I can report fully on it as yet - it takes up to a couple of years to fill out fully, plus I got bored and planted a squash plant in the middle during lockdown boredom. It’s soft and pleasant to walk and lay on, but I guess wouldn’t hold up to sports. If there is one issue, it’s that when it flowers it’s too popular with bees, and I’d be concerned of a child getting stung. I can’t recall exactly, but I think one of the other alternative lawns (maybe camomile) is impervious to dog piss, I.e. doesn’t yellow.
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Sep 20, 2020 20:35
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wooger posted:It’ll cover anything if you plant enough of it. However, I only planted mine this spring, so not sure I can report fully on it as yet - it takes up to a couple of years to fill out fully, plus I got bored and planted a squash plant in the middle during lockdown boredom. I'm like 75% likely to get a hive so being popular with bees might be a bonus.
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Sep 20, 2020 20:45
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showbiz_liz posted:Eggplant? Good one, I just forgot to mention it. We had good results with our thai eggplants this year.
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Sep 20, 2020 20:48
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Jaded Burnout posted:I'm like 75% likely to get a hive so being popular with bees might be a bonus. May I suggest mixing in some yarrow and clover? The yarrow in my yard stays nice and soft on the feet, and a lush green long after the grass dries and gets tough to walk on in bare feet. Same with clover, and that has a bonus for bees. Nobody around here waters lawns, lest we look like the kind of person who wastes water during a drought.
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Sep 20, 2020 21:35
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