2024 gardens

[roony]

We got nipped a little this morning but not too bad
 Still got lots of tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, zucchini, pumpkins, and carrots to harvest.

[LPS]

I have not personally see any frost yet even though we did have 33 that one morning. 

[Dotch]

Had just enough daylight so Poppy & I could survey the garden last nite. See the raccoons found the sweet corn finally. Cars keep finding them. Counted 5 dead raccoons on the 6 mile trip into Bugtussle this a.m. Tossed a few monster cukes over the fence to the sheep. Ram seems to like them. Puts lead in his pencil. Found one edible cuke so had part of that in a salad at suppertime. There are enough string beans yet (Blue Lake) I could make a meal or two out of fresh. Freezing more is overrated. The few earlier snap peas provided some good snacking last nite while the later variety (Sugar Daddy) was disappointing. Once the pods get some decent size on them, they're tough. Even Poppy wouldn't eat them. Picked on the earlier side they're fine. Loads of tomatoes yet, especially romas. Peppers need more time to get full size. Not sure they'll get it. If not, won't be able to make stuffed peppers but they'll be tasty in salads or shish kebobs. Winter radishes could be harvested any time. They got large. Will share a few with one of my pals. He & his squeeze love 'em. These winter radishes have a crisp texture & taste like a kohlrabi for about 5 seconds. Then look out! The radish kicks in. Betting they'll have some firepower this fall with all the dry warm weather.   

[roony]

We were right on the edge with the last frost. It killed the pumpkin and zucchini plants but the rest just got nipped on the edges. I think I will pick everything that's decent this weekend. Serious cold front is suppose to be coming starting Sunday night. We might try some poblanos for stuffing.

 

[roony]

Picked over most of the garden and cleaned things up a little. The biggest surprise of the year was the watermelons. Having a record warm September made that crop.

[Bobberineyes]

Grabbed every bell pepper today and yanked the plants.  Still have 8 jalapeños and the maters but by the looks of things it won't be long....

[glenn57]

Grabbed every bell pepper today and yanked the plants.  Still have 8 jalapeños and the maters but by the looks of things it won't be long....

apparently your shotgun is still bent you got time to garden and not clean roosters.

Good gawd that was easy.

[tangle tooth]

      Spent a good part of Saturday clearing out the gardens. Even the taters got pulled. As someone here told me this spring, plant taters in the ground. I thought the straw thing was a good experiment. I was wrong.
      The only thing still in is the pumpkins.
      We're supposed to hit 32° tonight and 28° on Monday and Tuesday nights. We'll see.

[Bobberineyes]

Grabbed every bell pepper today and yanked the plants.  Still have 8 jalapeños and the maters but by the looks of things it won't be long....

apparently your shotgun is still bent you got time to garden and not clean roosters.

Good gawd that was easy.

Too windy yesterday but nice try 

[glenn57]

 

[HD]

Anybody ever try eating a sugar beets?

I found a recipe on line, and I figured I give it a shot.

[glenn57]

  nope. beets are to be cooked then thrown in the garbage!!!!!!!

[Bobberineyes]

nope. beets are to be cooked then thrown in the garbage!!!!!!!

Dang, your taste buds are dry as toast...  

[roony]

I like red garden beets but never tried sugar beets. We use to call them booger sheets when the neighbors grew them.

[mike89]

I like beets but never tried them... interesting!! 

[LPS]

If they were around here I would try it. 

[Dotch]

Livestock love sugar beets and beets in general. Remember feeding a mess of great big red beets to the sheep one time. They worked them over good. Since their heads are white, it looked as though they were wearing red lipstick like The Joker.

[fishwidow]

Let us know how it turns out. If it’s good tell us what you think snd post the recipe. Also, where do you get sugar beets?

[HD]

I roasted them on the grill. And actually they are very good. The sugar content is high, so they almost taste like a candy. Sorry that the picture is dark, but I ran them a long time and let them caramelize.

[mike89]

hence the name sugar beets then my guess..  I'd try them!! 

[HD]

Let us know how it turns out. If it’s good tell us what you think snd post the recipe. Also, where do you get sugar beets?

Some of the sloughs and CRP we hunt pheasants are down in Willmar. They grow sugar beets in a lot of those fields. On the "turns" there are always some beets not picked. I always was curious about how they would taste. This year I picked one to satisfy my curiosity. If it turned out like crap, I could at least say I tried it...

Here's the recipe.... I had to substitute lemon juice for the orange juice (cause that's the only citrus I had)

4 sugar striped beets
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp vinegar (balsamic or red wine)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried Italian seasoning
2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 stick butter, unsalted

Slice beets thin, no thicker than 1/4 inch
Combine all ingredients, except the butter. Place mixture on a cookie sheet. Start grill on low fire, or oven at 400. Cook slowly till they start to brown, turning every once in awhile. Add pats of butter as they cook during the browning.

[roony]

I like beets but never tried them... interesting!!

Fixed my post smarty. I like red beets

[fishwidow]

Thanks, HD. That sounds good. I’m a long way from Sugar Beet country, but I’ll scrounge around to find them.

[mike89]

I like beets but never tried them... interesting!!

Fixed my post smarty. I like red beets

I was stating the same as you was all..  I too would try them cause I like red beets cooked or pickled... 

[HD]

I do have to add, that I threw some pear wood on the grill to add a little smoke. I betcha even Glenn would eat it 😂

[tangle tooth]

      Do you till your gardens in the fall? Do you add any amenities?
      I'm probably going to till the area where we're going to plant the garlic next week. That's in the smaller garden. Thinking of tilling the big garden, adding the old compost, then till it in.
      Too much tilling?

[glenn57]

      Do you till your gardens in the fall? Do you add any amenities?
      I'm probably going to till the area where we're going to plant the garlic next week. That's in the smaller garden. Thinking of tilling the big garden, adding the old compost, then till it in.
      Too much tilling?

not in my mind.... farmers till there fields in the fall????? well most do!!!!!

if i had easy access to a tiller........i would till in the fall to. could rent one but that be overrated and i got no trailer here. or i'd till in my extra maple leaves!!!

[HD]

I pulled the last of the carrots and radishes. I will do a little tilling in the raised beds after it frosts really hard.
Even after the hard frost, I'll chop down the asparagus growth down to a stubble, then cover with mulch and manure.

[fishwidow]

TT, that’s exactly what I did back on the days when I had a really big garden. Worked pretty well. Makes me almost miss gardening.

[Dotch]

Ground is pretty hard here to think about working the garden up. Picked the last of the gourds that were hiding from us. More orange & yellow to add to the mix. Decided to bite the bullet & taste test a winter radish. The September heat must've caused them to split but they developed scar tissue so the lesions healed over. This one was a smaller one. Super sweet for about 5 - 10 seconds then the radish bite kicked in. 🔥 🔥 🔥