Any Gardeners Here?

[flyfisher]

Hmmmm homemade spaghetti sauce...that be something for me to do this year.

It really isn't that hard to do in my opinion....i can't even eat the jarred stuff anymore after making my own.  It is especially good when you roast your own fresh tomatoes, talk about ridiculously good flavor.  I am growing some San Marzano tomatoes specifically for sauce this year.

[wnybassman]

We can our own tomato soup concentrate.   Have not eaten store bought tomato soup since.

[fish-fighting-illini]

I basically use the square foot garden method as a model. By not walking on the soil it is much easier to weed.

I will dig in leaves in the fall. I mulch with lawn clippings (don't use chemicals on the lawn) during the summer which also adds to the soil makeup.

We mainly grow full size & cherry tomatoes. The kids can never get enough cherry tomatoes.

We will grow a few red & orange bell peppers just to save a few dollars.

Sometimes we grow cucumbers & green beans.

I use a frame made out of emt conduit to grow the tomatoes vertically.

After the tornado I'm sure that we will have tiny shards of glass as a new soil lightener for the next couple of years! (eye roll).

[Hi Salenity]

I grow weed and tomatoes. Actually that's more like lots of weeds and hopefully a Tomatoe.

I've grown my tomatoes in the exact same spot for 8 years and they are worse and worse every year.

[flyfisher]

I grow weed and tomatoes. Actually that's more like lots of weeds and hopefully a Tomatoe.

I've grown my tomatoes in the exact same spot for 8 years and they are worse and worse every year.

I am no gardening expert but growing the same crop in the same spot year after year rids the soil of the nutrients for that particular crop so you are supposed to rote everything around....at least that is what i read lol

[Hi Salenity]

I am no gardening expert but growing the same crop in the same spot year after year rids the soil of the nutrients for that particular crop so you are supposed to rote everything around....at least that is what i read lol

I know but I live in town and it's a good spot next to a water spicket

I'd hate to have to run a hose daily...

And my dad has a huge garden and feels sorry for me. Lol

[wnybassman]

Definitely need to rotate crops around.    My routine for building the soil revolves around my potato crop, which gets moved around from year to year.   After I hill the rows when the plants are a foot or so tall, I fill the troughs created with all of the compost made the previous year then cover the whole works with leaves I raked up from the previous fall and had stored in a bin.   The leaves basically prevents any seeds in the compost from growing.    By fall that is all matted down pretty good and keeps the potatoes nice until I dig them up.    Once dug up, the whole mess gets tilled in and the process begins at a different location the next year.

 

I had a very nice potato crop last year, and still have a bunch in cold storage.

 

 

[flyfisher]

I thought about potatoes but it seems like they take up a lot of space and given my yard, I just don't have the room.

[Missourifishin]

Many years I had a couple tomato plants. But last year was my first real garden. I had a bunch of tomatoes of 2 different varieties, 2 different kinds of cucumbers, and about 5 different kinds of peppers... I love peppers, especially the hot ones. It was all organic, and it turned out well.

This year, I'm living in an apartment with no yard. My mom said I could plant a garden in their back yard and she'd try to water it occasionally since I can't be there to take care of it multiple times a week. So I'm thinking about just trying corn and beans and seeing how that goes.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

We decided to grow our own cotton this year in order to make our own clothes with. Well, the dang stuff doesn't yield enough for a bandanna. You see I live in an apartment. So my cotton plant is an indoor outdoor plant. Maybe that affected the results. The polyester plants never came in. (Least that's what the salesman told me they were). I think I may have been hood winked. Same with the silk plants. All we got were a bunch of worms that made cocoons. Very disheartening.

[jhoffman]

I usually grow food to eat myself but I also grow food for the animals I hunt. In a couple weeks I will have 125 different seedlings to plant. 25 apples of my own 100 of a combo of apples, oaks of different varieties at a buddies house. Food plots will go in soon too for spring then summer will come to an end and food plots for fall.

[Oregon Native]

I love growing potatoes under straw.  Amazing.....as plant gets older just lift straw and grab those lil spuds and steam...add butter and pig out!

[Siebert Outdoors]

do you jar your sauce and if so how do you handle having the correct acidity level or do you use a pressure canner?

 

I have been researching the jarring of sauce and everything i read said the acidity level of most tomatoes is not high enough to prevent certain bacteria from growing that can only grow in a vacuum or something like that...a pressure canner kills it as does the correct acidity level but most recipes call for lemon juice added to the sauce.  it says it doesn't hurt the sauce but my sauce is pretty good and i don't want to screw with it lol

 

My wife does most of the canning but I do know she adds lemon juice to it.  To tell you the truth I've never been able to taste the lemon.  Its not much at all.  Teaspoon I think.  We actually just can the sauce.  No ingredients to for pasta sauce or anything.  We add all of that when we use it.  We started with a standard canning kit but we did just get a pressure canner for this year.

 

I did grow a few sweet potatos and had one bigger then a football.  LOL

[Siebert Outdoors]

I love growing potatoes under straw.  Amazing.....as plant gets older just lift straw and grab those lil spuds

 

Please explain.  I need to raise my yields on this.

[flyfisher]

Please explain.  I need to raise my yields on this.

I am interested too...i have heard of people growing potatoes in a barrel where as they start to sprout you add more soil which makes more roots which adds more potatoes....you do this all the way till the barrel is full of soil and eventually potatoes....i haven't tried it and was going to this year but i think i have enough to keep me busy lol

[Grizzn N Bassin]

Hmmmm homemade spaghetti sauce...that be something for me to do this year.

Thats what we,do,with are tomatoes. Finishing up the last of our bags.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

I love growing potatoes under straw.  Amazing.....as plant gets older just lift straw and grab those lil spuds and steam...add butter and pig out!

id,like to hear about,that to. Id like to try it!

[.ghoti.]

Yeah i dont freeze meat in m sauce either.  You bring up a question i have had though with regards to storing either by freezer or canning sauce.  Is it best to season when reheating it or before freezing or canning?

 

I currently season it like normal and freeze but i always wonder if any flavor is lost while freezing.  It never seems to taste quite the same as when it is hot but that may just be my mind messing with me because it always smells so good when cooking it

 

Since both salt and sugar are preservatives I add a little of each while cooking down the sauce. When I take some out of the freezer I will add salt, sugar, or both depending on the dish. I prefer Aleppo pepper for heat, but the heat seems to dissipate after being frozen, so I don't put it in before freezing. 

[Oregon Native]

Pretty easy.  First I chew up ground a bit and then put a handfull of good dirt or Poo with dirt.  Lay tater in center and cover with straw.  (couple inches)  As plant grows it pushs up on straw a bit so you just kind of add a bit more and you also do this to keep it dark under there as you don't want green potatoes.  After say a month or so or when plant gets pretty big you can start looking under straw for the small potatoes.  Gently take some eatin size ones and steam em a little ... add butter,salt and pepper and its an OH MY meal.

[flyfisher]

We decided to grow our own cotton this year in order to make our own clothes with. Well, the dang stuff doesn't yield enough for a bandanna. You see I live in an apartment. So my cotton plant is an indoor outdoor plant. Maybe that affected the results. The polyester plants never came in. (Least that's what the salesman told me they were). I think I may have been hood winked. Same with the silk plants. All we got were a bunch of worms that made cocoons. Very disheartening.

I think you should stick to "pharmaceuticals".....

[Siebert Outdoors]

Pretty easy.  First I chew up ground a bit and then put a handfull of good dirt or Poo with dirt.  Lay tater in center and cover with straw.  (couple inches)  As plant grows it pushs up on straw a bit so you just kind of add a bit more and you also do this to keep it dark under there as you don't want green potatoes.  After say a month or so or when plant gets pretty big you can start looking under straw for the small potatoes.  Gently take some eatin size ones and steam em a little ... add butter,salt and pepper and its an OH MY meal.

 

Thanks.  Sounds easy enough.  I'll give it a shot.

[flyfisher]

Update on the garden....went with expanding it out another 10x10 foot plot.  anyways...here are the pics.....My soon to be 4 year old liked the bags of dirt as you can see

 

[webertime]

I thought about potatoes but it seems like they take up a lot of space and given my yard, I just don't have the room.

http://tipnut.com/grow-potatoes/

Problem solved.  Works very well.

[flyfisher]

yeah i saw that same potato method using one of those plastic barrels.  I figured potatoes are cheap so i am going to just buy them this year.....maybe next year though.  If this garden takes off like it did last year i may have to turn into a vegetarian....

[Siebert Outdoors]

Nice work flyfisher!!