SouthernBreeze
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Heirloom garlic or are you in a place that has ramps coming up already?
What's ramps? My garlic is over a foot tall already.
Heirloom garlic or are you in a place that has ramps coming up already?
Ramps and Wild Leeks are both used as names here. They come up very early in spring, sometimes poking through the snow. Here's a link to a site from Ducking them: Wild Ramps: The Complete Guide to Finding and Eating Wild Leeks
They're getting scarce here because nobody pays any attention to the law not to dig them. The patch that we normally pick from is getting very thin so we'll be in search of some new ones this year.
Edit: Trimming the tops which we do is perfectly legal.
YesHeirloom garlic or are you in a place that has ramps coming up already?
Sherree they grow in your area just known by another name. Wild onions?Thanks for the link. They don't grow this far south I don't think. I guess that's why I've never heard of them.
This is garlic. And was planted by someone at an old home place. Asked owner if I could dig some up and he said “Take all of it”. Didn’t have to tell me twice! Ramps are up here also.Heirloom garlic or are you in a place that has ramps coming up already?
Sherree they grow in your area just known by another name. Wild onions?
A couple of years ago my grandson and I harvested a snapping turtle. We picked ramps or wild onions and wild carrots and made a stew! The wild onions were mild but tasty.
So would I.I'm going to have to look up wild carrots. I don't know what those are but would love to have some of them on our property as well.
Please be careful harvesting wild carrots. They look almost exactly like poison hemlock (hemlock has purple splotches on the stems). I can't pull over images right now, but you can google them. I know you probably already know this, but someone else that is reading might not.
Did therapy this morning, and am trying to muddle thru work. It is so cold - even with the woodstove going.
You didn't. To each there own. I spent time last year studying the variety of hemlock and how to ID them. But I'd rather get seed from someone who knows what they are doing and deliberately plant it in the yard.[QUOTE="SouthernBreeze, post: 9593557, member:
Oh dear didn’t mean to start a thing! I will be less controversial next time! Today we planted beets. We were given permission to get some blackberry sprouts from our previous home and a muscadine that DH had rooted. So we dug them up and replanted them. A big job! Tilled up some of the garden working in compost. Hens continue to do their job. Tomorrow we will put up more trellises for blackberries and muscadines. My 8 pound wonder dog loves Brussels sprouts and helps himself to them in the garden every chance he gets!
For sure, you can buy a turkey around Thanksgiving MUCH cheaper than you can ever grow one... heck, the cost of poults hasn't been much less than you'd pay for a dressed, "loss leader" turkey... forget the grain input!IMO, turkeys aren't worth it. I feel the feed to meat ratio is low, and they are harder to kill. That being said, I have 4 or 5 out inthe chicken shed as DH does not feel the same way.
Not much going on today except work. It is so cold out.
No telling what nefarious ingredients are in the broth they add.For sure, you can buy a turkey around Thanksgiving MUCH cheaper than you can ever grow one... heck, the cost of poults hasn't been much less than you'd pay for a dressed, "loss leader" turkey... forget the grain input!
But I've never had better turkey than when we grew them ourselves. No added water/broth, but the meat was moist and tender... even the 42# Tom we roasted (the 44# Tom had to be cut into pieces... couldn't fit in the oven!)
Summerthyme
[QUOTE="SouthernBreeze, post: 9593557, member:
Oh dear didn’t mean to start a thing! I will be less controversial next time! Today we planted beets. We were given permission to get some blackberry sprouts from our previous home and a muscadine that DH had rooted. So we dug them up and replanted them. A big job! Tilled up some of the garden working in compost. Hens continue to do their job. Tomorrow we will put up more trellises for blackberries and muscadines. My 8 pound wonder dog loves Brussels sprouts and helps himself to them in the garden every chance he gets!
For the past 3 years, each year the amount of brine vs bird has increased. IIRC, this past year some of the discount birds listed that they could be as much as 20% brine in the package. So that price break may not really be there. As well as taste and ingredients issues.
It's very easy to tell poison hemlock and wild carrot apart... simply break a leaf off and sniff! Wild carrot smells strongly of carrot... hemlock has a musky, slightly disagreeable odor.No, you didn't start anything! I just thought that for carrots, I would play it safe and plant my own domestic seeds, instead of trying to distinguish between wild carrots and hemlock. I googled them, and they look too similar to each other. Absolutely no harm done.
When GS and I took on the turtle project it was to demonstrate to him that he could live off the land with very basic skills and knowledge. I shared my knowledge with him and then we built off of it together! We both learned lots.No, you didn't start anything! I just thought that for carrots, I would play it safe and plant my own domestic seeds, instead of trying to distinguish between wild carrots and hemlock. I googled them, and they look too similar to each other. Absolutely no harm done.
Just remember that ramps like it wet. I have the perfect spot in my woods and a small patch I started that I'm letting slowly grow. I see other people talking about wild onion, but those are different, the tops are more narrow and they taste and smell like onion. Ramps have a very wide leaf top and taste and smell like garlic.I want to plant ramps in some of the garden beds. But it's on the list. I might be able to work them in this year.
I'm keeping fingers crossed. Body gave warning signs this morning but I've been drinking raspberry leaf, once a day, for two weeks. (I had to wait for it to arrive.) I'm truly hoping that this helps with the issue because I'm not doing that again. But I am prepared to call the doc and ask for help if it goes overboard again this month.
Just remember that ramps like it wet. I have the perfect spot in my woods and a small patch I started that I'm letting slowly grow. I see other people talking about wild onion, but those are different, the tops are more narrow and they taste and smell like onion. Ramps have a very wide leaf top and taste and smell like garlic.
Our temp at 2 p.m. is 12º above zero. It was zero until nearly noon.
My preps have taken a major hit from using and not shopping for the last two months. I have gift certificates for Aldi and Fareway but have shopped only at the local expensive store for necessities due to my back issues and bad roads. Both last week and this week we've had snow on possible shopping days, so I've stayed home. My shopping list is quite long and I hope that when I do shop, I will be able to find everything I need. Also, no limits on number of items as I'm replacing six of some items that I've used.
A real tragedy this week a father of six was killed in a head-on car vs semi accident on icy roads. The news today reported his family was in the process of moving back to Iowa after having served ten years as missionaries to Peru. A go-fund-me page was set up for funeral expenses, moving expenses and replacing the vehicle. The man's name was Mark Rader if anyone is inclined to pray for his family.
First of all, I am glad you are feeling better. I have been praying for you, and mouldy, and several others on this board.We broke all records here in my area of Mississippi, yesterday, with our high temp of 87 degrees. Today, high of 56 and RAIN. It's raining now. Tomorrow will be in the mid 60's, then going back into the 70's, but RAIN almost every day next week. Wet Springs are the reason most here don't have Spring gardens. It usually doesn't start drying out, until May. Last year, we didn't stop using our wood heater, until sometime in May.
First of all, I am glad you are feeling better. I have been praying for you, and mouldy, and several others on this board.
The key to being able to grow an early garden in this area is maintaining a soil bed with lots of organic matter on a regular basis, so that you do not ever need to till your garden soil.
if you need to till your bed every year, you are at the mercy of the elements. Too much rain - or too little - and you cannot till without doing major damage to your soil structure. Not to mention endangering the life of your garden’s earthworm population.
The earthworm is the gardener’s best friend. We need to do everything possible to encourage their colonization of the garden bed with earthworms. Not chop them up with our tiller.
I planted 4 feet by 20 feet of garden bed a week ago - lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and spinach. The soil in this (and other) of my beds is really just compost. I use an organic mulch on my plants:
1/3 fresh grass clippings (from lawns that have NOT been chemically treated;
1/3 chopped autumn leaves, chopped up using the lawn mower; and
1/ 3 small broken branches or twigs, specially mixed in so that the organic mulch does not matt up and block water from getting to the plants.
I use this mulch around my spring plants, replenishing it as needed, as it will break down and create compost right there on your garden bed.
It also feeds the earthworms. The earthworms, in return, thank me by keeping my garden soil well tilled with all their tunneling. And they fertilize the soil on an ongoing basis with their manure (worm castings).
So all I have to do in the early spring is mix some aged chicken manure into the top few inches of soul with my garden rake, dig my planting holes, and I am good to go.
I planted much of my early spring garden last week, between rains. Of course, I do have row cover available to protect them from harsh winter frosts - but I have not even had to do that this past week.
That is the basis for a no till garden (at least Barry’s method of growing no-till - there are other ways that others employ their no-till gardens).
it is a very cheap way to grow vegetables, as I do not have to buy any fertilizers or chemicals for my garden. None at all. I just recycle free organic matter over and over to keep my soil fresh and my current plantings well mulched.
And because I do not till, I can plant my garden much earlier than others in this area.
Maybe you could set up a test patch of garden and use this method for a year, and see how you like it.
You really would be able to plant that test patch early next year, if you so desire.