Coffee and ... for Thursday, August 10

Darius,

This year on a whim ,
I bought a pot of one of the Golden varieties of zukes.
Can not remember the name right now but the tag is buried with the plant ;)

I believe I will not plant the old green ones again because the yellow has way less water content and is delish.

Just this morning had some stir fried zuke as a side for breakfast along with a sliced 'quisenberry strain' Brandywine tomato and a pile of scrambled eggs all sprinkled with chives and a little tarragon.

I so love this time of year.

I will be doing a batch of the yellow zukes with tomato sauce too.

Your place looks fantastic .......... Bravo ~ ! ~

This message was edited Aug 10, 2006 5:09 PM

Scoots, I've had the golden zukes although not grown any. Love the taste!

Your breakfast sounds Yummy!!!

I took some pics of my yard. We have a tiny house and yard. I put in a few bean plants...two grew...some wild red and white strawberries...I will move these...a zuc...a couple squash...a couple tomatoes...carrots, beets, and a few other things that really didn't do well...my soil needs some fertilizer and a little TLC which I will do next year now that I know a bit more. Oh...my broccoli was wonderful. I need to try some fall veggies. I'll take out the zuc and put beets or something there. My DB has 6 zuc plants!!! I told them...you will have enough for all of Whatcom County:) I too grew up eating right out of the garden. Every year I find carrots that I can pull, wipe off and eat. I love peas off the vine and cherrie tomatoes. My tomatoes are still green but I do have a few.
Here is my Veggie View.....

Is this Canna 'Tropicana

Somer,

Canna Tropicanna has burgndy striped leaves. I am afraid that is not it.

Looky here: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/3301/index.html

Molly

This is my purple basil....How do I preserve it? Can I use the whole plant. I love the smell and have used some leaves in cooking. Cooking is not my strong point...I was in 4-H for years...cooking, sewing, canning...I love to can and I can cook, I just don't like it. Maybe now that the kids are gone, trying new recipes will perk my interest.

Ok, I know Ernie has one with the striped leaves...my leaves look the same and the flowers look like the ones in CeCe's pic above. Wonder what I have?

This is our front. I can't put pansies out front again next year...been there three years...nor do I want to. I'd like some kind of perennials....we will have tulips to begin with....any suggestions after that? On the right I use to have a rose tree....I'd like another...maybe I should just put roses out there?

Somer, keep clipping off the flowers as they appear, and when cool weather starts, pull up the whole plant and hang it upside down in a clean dry location. Once it's fully dried, you can take off the leaves and crush them. If you don't want to dry it, you can take off the leaves any time you like, lay them on a flat cookie sheet and put them in the freezer. Once they are frozen, put them in a zippered freezer bag, and they will keep nicely for quite a long time.

Why am I here, I am supposed to be cleaning up the kitchen......LOL

Sheila

I'd like to make a sitting area under the honeysuckle on the back fence....there is also some clamatis that should do well next year. I thought about bringing the gravel towards the firepit more and putting a little Bistro set there or a swing bench. We will be getting a new firepit...just waiting for the clearance sales...you can't see it, but we have started 6x8 flat stone around the outside, next to the grass...just have to go get the rest.

sommermoone you have a nice vegie patch. It's amazing how much you will get out of it. I think your house is very cute. Why can't you plant pansies there again? I've never heard that.

Ya DH is in the shower...I'm suppose to be getting ready for camping....well most of it was already packed and ready...He asked me if I was getting sidetracked?? Duh!!! I'm always sidetracked...
my coleus on the front porch

I read somewhere...????....not to plant them in the same place more than 3 years in a row. I'm happy with that...they were a pain to keep going this year.....they need dead heading again!

This is the wine barrell that was beautiful with pansies earlier...I gave up and threw some wild flowers in it.....I know the fence is all muddy...we just through more rock down in the drive last night.

Had to have my squash go up the fence as we ran out of room...they're doing great!

Well, it has been a talkative day here. I cleaned the whole house today, took a long break in the swimming pool this afternoon. DSIL's grand child came over and swam with Gabriella. Then about 3:00 we had a horrible storm roar through. Winds, thunder lightening and a downpour. That lasted about 1/2 hour and it is still raining, one of those gentle, soil soaking rains that we haven't had for a long time, and we really need.

I01, you asked about the tomato sauce. I decided to not strain it, and used it chunky, made spaghetti last night, and DGD gave it a "2 thumbs up", it was good, and I had 3 pints to freeze. Gonna do that again, but need a trip to the store for some other ingredients. I put onion, garlic, green pepper and mushrooms in last nights, so need to go buy some more mushrooms before I make it again. I do plan on making some leaving the mushrooms out, and will strain it and use it as plain sauce.

I feel so lost, and I didn't have an outside job today, oh I had somethings to do,but because of the heat and humidity, stayed in to do the inside jobs. Still have weeding to do, and hopefully tomorrow will be better temperature wise to do that.

Mary, I laughed about Fritz, male dogs do tend to make every outing a social occasion, by marking things. How do they come up with that much "liquid"?

Sarv, so did DH ask what's for supper, and did that start a dialogue?

Don't want to go back and look, but starting a garden is easy. Just have a place, small or large, pick any veggies that you like and put them in the ground. Since my DH goes overboard, and we have 3 gardens, an acre each, you can just imagine the produce that rolls in here!! It is not a small basket full, it is 5 gallon buckets full at least once a day!! We have corn that will be ready by the weekend, and the tomatoes are still going strong. DGD wants me to post some pics we took last night, so will close this post and put the pics by themselves. Or maybe not, as the connection is slow. Will do it sometime later.

One of my gardening in Fla newsletters suggested to get the fall crop in. This would be beans, green beans, pole beans and lima beans.

Since my spring crop didn't do too well, I'm going to try the fall crop. I need to do some amending though. Maybe I can get Jeremy to help out tomorrow or this weekend. I have compost, decomposed tree bits, mulch pile and stinky dirt.

HE seems to think I should plant my veggie garden away from the horse fence so those people don't have to worry about their horses breaking the fence to get the beans and corn. Now you know I was willing to help maintain that fence if she would've let us tie up to it, but noooo she said nooooo.

Because I am usually a nice person and generally don't act out of spite, I will probly move the veggie garden someplace else, but where? Now I have that peter cottontail out there munching about. hmmm, always sompin.

:^))))

The more yall talk about cleaning house, the more guilty I feel for not doing mine. You know my vacume cleaner is broken and it costs way too much to fix.

I have been watching freecyle and seen 2, one hoover and 1 rainbow. I was too late. Still watching........

:^)))

Just our of the shower - all squeaky clean!! Can you smell how fresh I am?? LOL

Didn't do a lick of anything resembling cleaning today. Spent the day outside gazing at my gardens, moving the hoses and deadheading. Also tied up a bunch of dahlias. Man are they doing great this year!! I have them in a patch all by themselves and I like it.

DH did mutter something to me about when dinner would be ready. He went out to vacuum the pool and I had to call him in to eat. The peppers weren't that good - I think I overcooked them and the tops were crunchy - not good...They usually taste better left over, so I'll give my final taste test tomorrow...

He did go with me over to DS to get their mail, feed their cats, and water the garden pots. Didn't say a word there or back. When we got home he did ask if I wanted some ice cream - I think the ice is broken and we'll have more conversation...maybe.. LOL

somer- nice looking beds!! I love your front flowers and your fire pit. Everything looks manicured!

Defoe- you have 3 acres of gardens??? Yikes- that is way too much!! No wonder you are canning up a storm - I cannot imagine the amount of produce you must get! DH must weed...mine doesn't set foot in the garden except to plant everything. Next year I want to cut back on what we put in - even with half a row of beans, we have wayyyy too many and then they go to waste.

Molly= clean when it gets cold - or doesn't it ever get cold in Fla? That's stinky of the neighbor not to let you tie into her fence. Some people are so selfish... I'm still waiting for your white 4 o'clocks to bloom. They are a nice healthy looking plant but with nary a bloom. My pink ones have been blooming for a couple of months. Wonder what the problem is?

I just checked on line about allegra D (for my allergies) One of the side effects mentioned by a ton of people was insomnia -sleeping only 3 or 4 hrs a night - that's ME!! I never slept long, but since taking this stuff, I've really been short on sleep. Let's see, plugged up and can't breath or sleep for more than 4 hrs....hmmmm difficult decision. Think it's time to go to the doc for a change of meds. I wanted to drop some weight first tho!! ha ha

I've been making the roasted tomato sauce up a storm today. Final batch is cooling before the food mill. I think I will have about 5 quarts out of a bushel of Roma's. It sure smells great. Every time Brent came into the house he said his mouth was watering!

Tomorrow, depending on whether Mike shows up with his trailer to make a run to Lowe's for materials or not, I will either be moving lumber or canning!

I'm having a hard time keeping up with receipts for my sister. All the money I am spending on improvements is hers and I have to account for every penny. Hard to keep track, like yesterday Brent asked me for some money for spending and I gave him $20 of my cash.

BBL, I hope

Hi there,

I've not grown the yellow zucchini in years, but have two types of green zucc. this year. One is going great guns with new ones big enough just about every day and couple that got away from me last week. The other is producing flowers. Lots and lots of flowers and no zucchini. Guess I won't be growing that variety next year.

Scooter - your breakfast sounded yummy.

Somer - great pictures. Like the squash on the fence. Your Canna might be Lucifer. It's a little too small to see clearly, but does it look like the picture below?

Bonnie - sounds like you had a productive day. Good you're getting needed rain. I thought with all the rain we had a week ago that I wouldn't need to water, but I've been watering all day somewhere or other. I think most of it last week just ran down the storm sewers.

Molly - a broken vacuum cleaner is the best reason I've heard of for not cleaning.

Bonnie - I agree with Sarv. No wonder you are always busy canning. How do you manage that much garden?

darius - I think I can smell the tomato sauce here. Yumm! Hope you are able to satisfy your sister with your accounting.

Well it's too early to start tomorrow's thread. I think I'll try to check my regular e-mail again. For some reason it wouldn't let me on earlier though I was able to access it through the web.

BBL

Ann

Gonna post a pick of a Big Zack tomato I picked yesterday, notice the height of the vine behind my hands.

Hi all,

sarv, my DH had cellulitis in his feet and I quote "ulcerations of the great toes". He had wounds that just wouldn't heal and of course he was having to be on his feet sometimes for 10 hours at a time. After 3 months the health insurance kicked in and he was sent to a podiatrist who probed his toes to the bone, did all kinds of tests and ordered him to stay off his feet, take heavy-duty antibiotics, etc. They are finally healing, but still have a ways to go.

Molly, sounds like your having quite a time with your bird. The Justice of the Peace that we went too also had an African Grey. Her bird seemed to specialize in whistling and calling the dogs (with her husband's voice, if I remember correctly), then laughing hysterically when the dogs came bounding upstairs.

Sheila, I forgot to mention your new and improved veggie pictures yesterday. I could see them just fine this time, thanks. I have 3 or 4 eggplants coming along as well and I'm checking the tomatoes every day to see if anything has finished ripening. The summer squash is coming along quite well now too. On the other hand, I've had it with "All the Year Round Cauliflower" Last year I thought that I just didn't get it in early enough, but this year I started it and transplanted it on time. It still just kept growing slowly and showed no sign of heading up until a couple of days ago when it seemed to suddenly develop and get too old all in the course of a day or two. I'm beginning to think that it got the name by taking all year to grow. It will probably all go straight from the garden into the composter. I've got to find a better cultivar

I finally picked a ripe (though it could have stood another day or so) tomato from my garden and ate it this morning. MMMMMM! The Italian plum tomatoes are the first ones to ripen this year.

Joyous, nice to see you again. How has your season been at the market? Thanks for the recipe. I'll have to try that. DH and I are both salt freaks, so the amount you have down there might well be what we'd prefer. I'll have to try it with less and then adjust as necessary.

I know there was more that I should respond to, but I'm afraid that I'm too tired (and 6 AM comes far too early). Good night to everyone.

1

This is Gabriella, listening to Jade, to see if she can hear the baby.

That looks luscious! Can't stay to post much, have a couple of phone calls to make before I go to bed, and tomorrow I've got golf but possibly can post something before I fly out the doorl

Hoping everyone has a good night's sleep....it's cool and the humidity has let up, so I should sleep well.
See you all in the morning ~~~~~ all
Sheila

Here's that Lucifer Canna I referred to above. I refreshed the thread. Copied the message I had written but forgot about the picture.

This is from last year. I'm still not sure whether I have it growing this year. It didn't look very healthy this spring, But my Cannas are just starting.

I'll be back in a moment to give you a link to the new thread for Friday. Have a good night everyone.

Ann

This message was edited Aug 10, 2006 11:07 PM

Here it is - the thread for Friday -

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/638072/

Sarv~Just beware if they give you Zyrtec (loratadine)...although it worked wonderful for me, it increased my appetite, I gained 10 lbs in one month! I swear I was going to ask DH to nail the cupboards shut! I started using a drink called Xango 3 years ago and haven't had allergies since. I can go to DHM's farm in OR and not take anything...Xango of course. I hadn't been able to do that EVER before, allergy season or not.

loratadine http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DR202060#g20206004
More common:
Drowsiness; dry mouth, nose, or throat; gastrointestinal upset, stomach pain, or nausea; headache; increased appetite and weight gain; thickening of mucus.

OK...I just made zucchini bread, put it in the oven, made another batch, realized my numbers were wearing off the recipe, 3 cups of flour instead of the 2 I put in the first batch...took first batch out after about 7 min. poured back into the mixer, added more flour, put back in oven...hmmmm...let's see if it works?! So, I have four in, 2 of which should do fine, 2 who knows??

Went out to camp ground earlier set up DA's camp site....the owner's had put in some wonderful flower beds, he was watering. Talked for awhile, now we'll be trading some plants and I have something to do when I want a break from the fam.....weed! I tell you, I'm going to make a sign that says Will Weed for Food and/or Flowers. I have some stuff he doesn't, he has some I don't...perennials...wonderful!

Defoe~Sounds like my DML's place. They have so much food...it's amazing the product they put out. Lots of work though....great pictures! Cute one of Gabriella & Jade....HUGE tomato!

Ann~ That's it! Thanks! So both plants are Canna...Ernie has Canna 'Tropicana" and now Lucifer Canna...going to find my little plant marker stakes right now and write that one down.