2024 Gardening Thread

Maybe add some plant food to the water at some point?

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I like fig butts and I cannot lie.

Some of the bamboo is now creating a canopy over the hammock!

Some sunflowers…

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Hope you get lots of figs!!!

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the birds have already enjoyed a few that ripened early. They seem to have a knack for knowing which ones are a day or 2 away from being ripe and then they peck into them and ruin it. Bastards! :laughing:

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Some of my tomatoes have started getting ripe, even though it’s not quite July (which I always think of as “tomato month” here in East Tennessee). Here is a “Mason Marvel”:

Here are some “Black Strawberry” tomatoes, which for some reason look more like “Golden Golf Balls” (I don’t know what happened):

My Brandywines are ripening but still on the vine, here:

All of the other tomato varieties in my garden are lagging a bit behind. My eggplants and hot peppers are starting to bear fruit, but are a few weeks away from being ripe enough to pick. My cucumbers and watermelons have not yet started to vine, probably because I was a bit late in getting the seeds in the ground.

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They look yummy! Our fruit crops in the area are about 2 weeks ahead they are saying but not seeing that advance in my garden het

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Reporting back on the bushy top that broke which I put in water. It worked!! I added some fertilizer in the water as you suggested. When all the leaves started turning yellow, I replanted it even though it didn’t yet have as many roots as I had hoped. The plant is now doing well back in the pot, and has started flowering again with some tomatoes already growing. Thanks for the suggestion!

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Those look great! We’ve had a pretty late start to summer in Northern CA, so all my tomatoes are still green.

Woohoo!!! Tomato plants are pretty resilient, aren’t they?! :+1::+1:

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Our peach tree (Frost) is LOADED! Some fruit looks like it will be ripe in a couple of weeks! Unbelievable with the crappy weather we had. We had to put protective netting on it to keep the bastards out :laughing:

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My first Brandywine tomato of the season:

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Cilantro!!

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I get frustrated with cilantro and dill because they grown out and done too quickly - do you have a trick to get yours so bushy and nice? Do you plant in stages to have timed crops? Do you start from seed?

What are you making with it?!

I’m having a bumper crop of basil this year. If anyone has any ideas for basil to freeze/keep beyond pesto let me know!

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My cilantro is doing well. Any suggestions for using it? How about storing? We are going on a long vacation, wondering if I can dry or freeze.

There was a recipe in the Wall Street Journal (I think) a couple of years ago for basilcello, which involved making a basil-infused syrup and mixing it with some vodka, then keeping it in the freezer until you are ready to use it.

Interesting…I don’t drink alcohol for the most part but my kids might be interested!

BASIL-INFUSED VODKA (BASILCELLO)

(adapted from the Wall Street Journal, 07/16/22)

Ingredients:

375 ml vodka (i.e., ½ of a fifth of vodka)
2 cups of loosely packed basil leaves (can include green stems, but no woody stem parts)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup water

Directions:

(1) In a quart-sized sealable Mason jar, combine the basil and vodka. Use a muddler or a wooden spoon to gently muddle the basil until it is very lightly bruised, about 10-15 seconds. Seal the jar and shake gently; then refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 1 week. (I put mine in the fridge for a week; if you leave the mixture in the fridge for that long, you will have a darker infused vodka but that’s okay because you will be mixing it with other liquids, so the resulting apertif will be lighter in color.)

(2) When you are ready to use the basil-infused vodka, make a simple syrup by putting the water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, and stirring continuously until the sugar dissolves. At that point, remove from the heat, and let cool.

(3) Strain the basil-vodka mixture, reserving the vodka and discarding the basil.

(4) Rinse out the Mason jar, and pour the resulting infused vodka back into it; then add the simple syrup. Seal, and shake to combine; store in the freezer (it won’t freeze, because it’s alcohol).

(5) For the basilcello that I get from keeping the basil-infused vodka in the fridge for a week, I mix it with lemonade and/or seltzer water in these proportions: 1 part vodka, 2 parts lemonade, 2 parts seltzer water; or, 1 part vodka, 4 parts seltzer water. (If the latter, maybe add a slice or two of lemon.)

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I’m not much of a drinker myself; but my wife likes it.

Regarding cilantro. A favorite recipe is to roast some potatoes cut in large cubes w/skin on and topped with a nice drizzle of olive oil and salt and garlic powder. Roast until browned and crispy. Meanwhile chop some cilantro coarsely.

As soon as you take the browned crispy potatoes out of the oven, sprinkle chopped cilantro and a nice sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top of the hot potatoes and toss. Extra fresh garlic is nice too. DE-licious!

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I make a compounded butter (cilantro and lime) and cilantro pesto and use the recipe below for the cilantro pesto (I use pine nuts and don’t put in any hot pepper). Both freeze well. i have never had much like freezing cilantro or basil. Usually I don’t get much cilantro. I plant from seeds but got some plants from an organic farm this year.

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