Text 8227, 198 rader
Skriven 2008-06-02 16:31:33 av Carol Shenkenberger (14333.cooks)
   Kommentar till text 8203 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
Ärende: putting up                                               [1]
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 >  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.

Well, my plans are later to build up a sort of long tall box along the back
porch area and fill with dirt.  Raised garden effect.  Then we can fleaspray
with no problems and i can get it raised up a good 2ft.  I'm thinking to
start with one 16ft loong, 2ft tall but leave the posts taller so I can drop
in more wood to make it higher if it seems good.  Going in 8ft sections, I
can extend out to 36feet the following year.

 >  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.

Yup, and Don just doesnt think of things like that often enough to be of help
<g>.

 >  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.

I like salads, but more apt to get them at work.  Kinda partial to the KFC
chicken one and the Wendy's 'BLT salad'.

 >  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)

As I started from a plant vice seeds, we'll be ok on that score.  But it's
just one plant so I expect to just get 'munchies for fun' out of it.

 >  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.

See, first timer at some of these <grin>.  I did not grow up on a farm at
all.  Mom's plantings were lovely but were flowers except a few tries at
fruit trees (none of which had fruit before we moved, being too young).

 >  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.

Lets see how many we get.  Like several of my items, it's just one plant
(tomatoes and cucumbers are the exception).

The tomatoes now have from 3-6 little green ones on almost all the plants.  I
need to add more stakes in around them.

 
 >  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.

I'm guessing the first few may be ready in about 15-20 days and from then on,
I'll be swamped with tomatoes.

 >  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.

Yellow.  Got 6 babies now and more flowers.  This plant is almost as tall as
me due to the raised container pot <g>.  Probably with just one plant, have
enough for our needs but then we love summer squash!

 >  CS> Out front in the ground, rosemary.

Now this, I can bring plenty of!  I dont use that much of it.

 >  CS> I also have some flowers and such <g>.
 > 
 > Did you ever get the last of the blue flowers you were intending to?

Nope, but we can get the one missing plant next spring to finish out the
pattern.  For now, I have a small container planter with flowers there.

 >  >  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.

The lettuce is perfect now and much more than we normally would eat up.

 >  > but with jalapenoes and bells.
 > 
 >  CS> I think I caught it in time ;-)
 > 
 > Time will tell.

True!  The bannana pepper seems to be doing well.  The bell pepper is getting
bigger and the plant has many flowers.  Might be a prolific cropper.

 >  >  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.

Ants are mounding up but so far they are well in check with my old fashioned
'grits kill ants' outdoor treatment.

 >  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.
Sounds like the one I had in Hawaii except the sink and stove were next to
each other and the window was high up.

 >  >  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)

I have the little magnet thing in there too.  The smaller jars arrived today.
 They hold about 1/2 cup and have quilted pattern with wide mouth (more
adaptable to get that).

I'll have to MM some of the great simple recipes in this book 'The Complete
book of Small Batch Preserving'.  Suitable even for those with limited space,
many of the recipes just make a 4 cup yield.

 >  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.

That was my experience before too.  Pectin seems like salt, it's all the same
stuff.

             xxcarol
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