I think we're on Day #7 of rain now? I may not be out in it, soaked to the bone, chafing the whole time, but it's sure starting to chafe my mood. I had to go out yesterday and drain some of the plants who's pots/flats aren't draining as well anymore. And I might've added a bit too many of the water retaining crystals to some of my potting soil when I prepared it - the crystals, now looking like flavorless Jello, are starting to work their way to the top of some of the soil line, accumulating in a big, clear gelatinous mess. I started scooping some of those out and putting them in an empty pot, figuring I can reuse them elsewhere.Made a pretty darn good chicken pot pie from the chicken I speed-roasted at super high temp on Saturday nite (it was still done too late for dinner - was a BIG chicken!). In addition to all the mixed veggies, creamy sauce and tons of chicken, I tossed in the remainder of our Uncle Ben's wild rice mix from the nite before - pretty good actually! We're finding I'm getting good, consistant results from the Barefoot Contessa pie crust recipe, so I think I'll stick with her! :) Still, I might've pulsed the dough fixin's a few too many times in the Cuisinart - it could've been improved with slightly bigger chunks of fat in the final product. I'll add a picture when I can.
And that brings me to....no internet. We lost internet sometime between 5 and 6 last nite I think. I don't know if it's just us or the entire street - maybe it's because of all the rain? I don't know, but we both agreed that a lack of internet can be worse than no electricity at all....quite frustrating. Good thing I was busy with cooking, cleaning and watching American Idol, or I would've gone a little nutso! (Yes, I'm an internet addict - I fess up!)
Speaking of American Idol - last nite was ok. Based on last nite's performances I'm afraid Elliot might be the one to go? We're at a point now where I can't pick a favorite contestant, so no matter who goes I'll still be happy for the remainders. Elliot was looking sharp! Taylor had some amazing performances. Katherine's "Over the Rainbow" was amazing (she should do more performances like that!), and I think her third song would've gone over better if anyone knew it! And it was fun seeing Paula and Taylor dance together... How many others can say they danced with Paula Abdul on live TV!?
That's all for now! Hope all's well out there for the rest of you! Oh, and if anyone knows any girls looking for a volleyball partner in the San Diego area, please let me know so we can put them in contact with Sharon!
17 comments:
The sun came out this morning and it scared me!
2 things:
1. Noooooo. Not Elliott. Please no.
2. Sunny here the past two days. Dare I say it: it's warm here, in fact. Well, warmish.
Come Memorial Day weekend we'll head out to the garden centre to buy this year's sacrifical plants.
The sun finally came out this afternoon. Suddenly I felt the need for sunblock - I wasn't sure how to deal with the bright light in the sky! ;-)
I picked up a couple more seed packs today - I couldn't resist, and I'm willing to admit I have a problem! I picked up a packet of pattypan squash seeds (the only one I've seen locally) since I'm worried about squash beetles killing off the plants I'll put in the ground, and I also picked up a packet of reddish okra, just to see how they compare to regular green okra. (MMmmm Peter - OKRA!) Gonna have to slice those bad boys, roll 'em in cornmeal, and fry 'em up til they're tastey good!
I'm telling you, the diatomaceous earth is a wonder against critters, another thing I've heard about is crab shell powder; apparently crab shells (Which are chitin)sprinkled in the dirt will produce chitin eating funguses and beetle's shells and jaws just happen to be made of chitin.
Patty Pan squash is the best, I'm growing some this year. Oh and okra I love, but not fried, steamed to just before it gets goober-y.
So you sprinkle this diatomaceous earth lightly on the plants themselves, just like you would (ok, don't shoot me here) Sevin? Is it a fine powder, or like a loose soil?
My first year, when I was doing all sorts of reading about gardening, etc, I saw all the red egg cases under the leaves of my squash and pumpkins, and thought "oh hey! I don't want to kill of any bugs!! I bet there's a good chance they're beneficials!! Plus I hate to think of killing them!" Then the slaughter of my plants happened. From that point on it's been all out war each year! Last year was my most successful, when I used some Sevin on the seedlings and also floating row covers stapled down and then covered with straw around the edges (I've NO idea if the straw-seal did ANY good, especially considering the size/scale of insects...). Sure did the job - had a TON of squash!
I saw you and Farmgirl discussing it over at her site...you really do have me curious!
BTW - have you ever grow italiano largo squash? Those things are MONSTERS!!! Rather than eating them, I was using the end-of-season ones out on the front porch with the pumpkins for display.
diatomaceous earth is a fine dust like ummmm SEVIN. It's the skeletons of tiny water creatures and it's basically glass. Under a microscope the diatoms have spiky projections that are very sharp. These projections pierce the shells and skins of beetles and the diatoms also clog up their joints. Needless to say, you need to wear a mask when dusting.
I'm also a big fan of spraying the undersides of leaves with plain old water and Dawn dish soap, but unless your fellow Community Gardeners are diligent with the pest control you're fighting an uphill battle.
I had a plot in a community garden when I was an apartment dweller and we were having some insect problems. A couple of the gardeners and I chipped in and bought about 5000 ladybugs and about 50 mantis egg casings and we started seeing some really good results until this crazy old guy took it on himself to spray pesticide everywhere and kill all the good bugs. He was obviously disinvited from the garden.
I haven't grown Italian Largo, but they're a close match to the zucchini striata I'm starting. If they get really big all I can say is you're picking them too late. I pick my squash (unless it's a hard squash)young. Stuff like zucchini and crooknecks are better when they still have soft skins. The only time I let zucchini get big is when I'm going to stuff it,which is never 'cos stuffed zucchini is a big waste of time..lol.
I was a Biology major for a few years, so I loved reading your description of diatoms - really took me back! :) (Ahhhh...to be the biology geek as opposed to the computer geek!)
And yes, you're exactly right, gardening in a community garden really is a tough battle when it comes to the pests because no matter what you try to do to take care of the problems in your garden plot, those same problems are flourishing just a few feet away and spilling back over into your spot.
I agree - I normally like small, tender young squash, but with a name like Italiano Largo, I just had to see "how largo" they wanted to get. QUITE largo!
(Behave, Peter!) LOL
tsk,tsk,tsk it's pronounced lar-go, not lar-joe and it means "wide" or "broad" lol.
LOL, yeah yeah, I know - I've been pronouncing it right, but I didn't realize it specifically meant "wide", so thanks!
I actually first saw Joe Lamp'l grow these on Fresh From The Garden on the DIY Network (so that's how I knew the correct pronounciation). When I saw the seeds available last year, I decided, heck, might as well try 'em!!
I don't think I'll be growing them again. I AM, however, really looking forward to all the baby squash in the garden this year. Mmmmm...stir fried, grilled, sauteed, in soups, breads...can't wait!
I am a huge squash fan as well, I love grilling them with peppers and onions.
This year I am growing zucchini striata (striped), yellow crookneck, and patty pan. I'm also growing butternut and Hubbard for winter storage. I grew Waltham butternut last year and it was a big success, I still have a few in the basement that are edible. The Hubbard I'm growing from seed from a HUGE squash I bought at the grocery store. I love Hubbard not only for the taste, but also the beautiful grey-blue color and the size/shape.
I'm already sensing a storage crisis come harvest and I think I'm going to need to buy a freezer or I'll be leaving veggies on my neighbor's doorsteps like abandoned infants.
I've never had Hubbard squash before - they always look too intimidating! For one thing, I'm the only one who'll eat it at home - Brett won't touch it. So how'm I supposed to eat an entire one before I get tired of it! And then there's the challenge of getting inside them.
What would you say the taste is comparable to? Acorn squash?
In addition to the usual summer squash varieties, I'll be growing the Rumbo squash/pumpkin that I grew last year - BEAUTIFUL! They're sort of a green-to-putty colored flattened pumpkin shape. I gave mom two at Thanksgiving and she STILL has them - they apparently don't go bad. I can't convince her to try cooking them... I used all of mine for decoration and wish I would've tasted them. Definitely something to do this year.
I'll also be trying a small orange supersweet squash - I believe it's called Sunshine? I guess it won some awards when it was introduced a year or two ago.
I hear you on the Hubbard, this monster I bought for the seeds was about 15 lbs and I cut it up and distributed it to my Aunt, my cousins and ate a lot of squash. The flavor is similar to acorn and the other hard squashes, I mean it's all pumpkin with varying density and sugar content in my book. I really need to do something with the remaining squash in the basement.
I saw those pics of all the squash you stored in the basement - very impressive! I'm jealous - I look forward to the day when we're able to have a cellar/storage like that. And maybe make basement pickles! Ooh, and if I can do that, I might as well make kimchee too!
My Korean friends say that kimchee MUST be made in the ground! I know it's because the ground is a constant temperature and it keeps the wild bacteria from going nuts during fermentation, but having made sauerkraut in the basement, I like to think its because fermenting cabbage makes the house smell hideous.
Mom's actually got some kimchee pots, and yes, they DO make it by burying it in the ground (and yes, smell COULD very well be a factor - grin!) I have some radish kimchee in the fridge I need to remember to visit one of these days. I don't expect it'll blow the top off it's container, but I suppose it's possible! (And no, I didn't make it...I'm not that daring)
I love kimchee. My favorite is the kind with the cabbage,turnips and dried shrimps. It smells awful but it tastes like heaven. There is some evidence that HEAVY consumption of kimchee and similar pickled vegetables increases one's chances of developing stomach cancer, but since all of the data comes from Korea and Japan it seems suspect. There's a lot of other things in their diet that could contribute as well.
That being said, my business partner in Florida and I were completely addicted to this kimchee from a store down there and we would regularly go through a gallon jar in a week. No one else in our office appreciated it very much and they bought another refrigerator for their lunches and snacks because our kimchee made their food taste and smell weird.
It's amazing how the smell can leak out and offend others! Hm, maybe just for fun I should bring some in to work sometime sooner. If I do, I'll let you know how it goes over. I might be asked to work from home!
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