Garden Veggie You Most Enjoy

[redback]

Celery has a beautiful smell.
New little potatoes quickly boiled and eaten with butter and salt.
Freshly picked beans, asparagus, strawberries and carrots.
Just one? Let me think.........
If I juice freshly picked apple, carrot and celery can we call that one?

 

[A. Lyric]

Celery has a beautiful smell.
New little potatoes quickly boiled and eaten with butter and salt.
Freshly picked beans, asparagus, strawberries and carrots.
Just one? Let me think.........
If I juice freshly picked apple, carrot and celery can we call that one?

Yes! A smoothie!

Once I tasted green beans from the garden, I couldn't face green beans in a can.

 

[redback]

Yes! A smoothie!

Once I tasted green beans from the garden, I couldn't face green beans in a can.

There's a lot of salt in canned vegetables. The first Mexican meal we ate with tomatoes and kidney beans from the garden awoke us to how much salt there is in canned products.

 

[A. Lyric]

There's a lot of salt in canned vegetables. The first Mexican meal we ate with tomatoes and kidney beans from the garden awoke us to how much salt there is in canned products.

I know. But the odd thing is, it doesn't really taste salty to me.

 

[redback]

I know. But the odd thing is, it doesn't really taste salty to me.

Does it taste at all? Tacos with mince, spice mix, onions, tomatoes, mild cheese and red kidney beans don't need extra salt. Buy 1Kg of red kidney beans in a dried form and soak them overnight and then boil until soft. They can be frozen in can size portions for a year or so. The lack of salt probably helps your blood pressure.

 

[Ruderunner]

Well, of course not. But if you had to choose, if you could only grow one or two....

Well if that's the rule, I would say tomatoes and pickles. Both are great snacks right off the vine. We can pickles cheaper than we purchase.

Most other veggies we have a source that is cheaper than doing it ourselves, notable exceptions are beets and cabbage.

We do a serious amount of canning, approaching 200 jars this year. Which reminds me, we need more jars for coming crops. We freeze as well, 4 milk crates full.

 

[A. Lyric]

Well if that's the rule, I would say tomatoes and pickles. Both are great snacks right off the vine. We can pickles cheaper than we purchase.

Most other veggies we have a source that is cheaper than doing it ourselves, notable exceptions are beets and cabbage.

We do a serious amount of canning, approaching 200 jars this year. Which reminds me, we need more jars for coming crops. We freeze as well, 4 milk crates full.

Tomatoes rank high with almost everyone, I guess. Do you have a favorite tomato? My garden is too small to can, but I did freeze some squash this summer when it got ahead of me. I'd love to have a big garden!

 

[pepper]

Tomatoes rank high with almost everyone, I guess. Do you have a favorite tomato? My garden is too small to can, but I did freeze some squash this summer when it got ahead of me. I'd love to have a big garden!

This year a picked up a bunch of 5 gallon buckets from the hardware store for about $5 each, on-top of that I already had. I planted a bunch of extra tomato and pepper plants in them (one in each bucket) and they did fantastic. That is an option for you if you run out of room in the garden, just drill holes in the bottom.

 

[A. Lyric]

I planted a bunch of extra tomato and pepper plants in them (one in each bucket) and they did fantastic.

Determinate? Indeterminate? What soil did you use? What variety of tomatoes? I thought tomatoes needed more room.

 

[Ruderunner]

Tomatoes will grow to the size of the container usually. Ditto for peppers.

If you want lots of basil, plant it in the ground. I make that mistake every year.

I don't necessarily have a favorite tomato beyond San Marzano. I do a variety every year. Mostly indeterminate so I can pick fresh often for salad or sandwich. Various colors just for variety. If there's an abundance, soup, sauce salsa.

 

[pepper]

Determinate? Indeterminate? What soil did you use? What variety of tomatoes? I thought tomatoes needed more room.

Just normal heirloom beefsteak bush tomatoes. I agree with the above post tomatoes and peppers tend to grow to the size of the container. I grow for size with tomatoes and toss all the annoying little ones away that are smaller then a tennis ball. The 5 gallon bucket grew them almost as big as the ones in the ground. I'll do it again next year 100%. Soil I used aged horse manure from my friends farm and my own compost, with a bit of my garden soil. I would have no problem using bagged cow manure from the store if I didn't have an endless supply of free stuff.

 

[Mick Emery]

First, to get the Sun Sugar question out of the way...
I grow them & we love them.
I was introduced to them by a customer who was an avid gardener.
He told me to try one & if I like it he would give me some to take home.
I took a bag home & the next day I went to eat some & they were gone!
I asked my wife what happened to them & she said, "Maddie (our granddaughter) ate them."
Maddie said they taste like candy.

What do you most enjoy growing in your garden and why?

That's like asking who's your favorite child.
My fav to grow is pickling cucumbers.
They're quick, prolific & we eat a lot of pickles. Garlic Dill (Claussen Clones), Fermented, Bread & Butter, Sweet etc. plus relish...

Do you have a tried and true favorite?
Boston & National Pickle

A recent discovery that delighted you?
Starting seeds indoors.

Do you enjoy it because of flavor, productivity, disease resistance, or something else?
All of the above.

I also enjoy root crops. They're "like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
Harvest is like Christmas morning as a kid!

 

[A. Lyric]

That's like asking who's your favorite child.

That made me laugh.

First, to get the Sun Sugar question out of the way...
I grow them & we love them

Your Maddie sounds like my Abby. Abby was 3 or 4 and trailing after me in the garden and stopped to look up – way up – at the Sun Sugar. It was huge, laden with clusters of little yellow tomatoes. She was properly impressed. “How did that big plant get there, Abby? Do you know?” She shook her head. No, she didn't know. So I took her by the hand, we went inside, and I said, “I'll show you.” I pulled out the tomato seeds from the fridge and put one in her palm. She looked down at the tiny, plain-Jane tomato seed, looked back at the garden, looked up at me, and starred down again at the seed for the longest time. It was a big leap. Then she popped it in her mouth!

I'm sure she was disappointed, lol. I told her there was a lot of magic in that little seed, but it needed the soil so it could grow into the tomatoes she loves.

 

[redback]

How to you 'can' produce at home? Is there a canning device I don't know about?

 

[Meadowlark]

How to you 'can' produce at home? Is there a canning device I don't know about?

My goodness no "canners" in Gawler? You really should get out more!

"The history of home canning dates back to early Mediterranean civilizations who dried figs in the sun and the ancient Egyptians who doused fresh herbs with olive oil. Home canning as we know it today came along in France in the early 19th century, when Nicolas Appert invented a way to safely store food by vacuum-sealing it in jars1. Home canning in the United States made a pronounced appearance during World War I, maintained a steady following through the Great Depression, peaked during World War II, suffered a substantial decline after the war, and has been regaining popularity since the 1970’s"

Here is the canner we use:

We annually can about 30 quarts each of tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, carrots, beans of all varieties, corn, okra, salsa, jalapenos, etc., etc.

The spring crop produces the majority of our canned veggies but also many quarts of late season fall veggies are canned...green beans being one of the chief ones. Canned veggies are the best way I know to preserve that fresh garden taste and extend it through many months of non-growing. During COVID, our stash of canned veggies was invaluable.

Like the migration away from the big cities, canning has significantly gained in popularity since COVID. People are beginning to figure out what we have known for decades...organic garden veggies are like "gold" on the shelves canned.