Edibles - '08 - Part 3

Hi Jan, mancala is played by moving markers across a board with pocket indentations for the stones or beans. Two people start at opposite ends of the board and the first to get all their markers to the other side wins.

Christmas beans are pole beans and grow here until it freezes. We are picking them way into November/December. Thus the name Christmas beans? We grow them on pole arches cut from our woods. The arches also serve as entrances at various points to the veggie garden. Makes it much easier to pick them. By this time of year the arched entries look like those beaded curtains from way back when. Actually, I see they're popular again.
Laurel

I've only ever seen the pale green limas up here.

Is the mancala board the one that looks like a long rectangle with two sets of indentations?

Yes and I think the game originated in Africa. So I thought the beans did too. They (the beans that is) are from Peru, however. Cool beans, huh? I saw them described as "chestnut flavored" online. They are earthy and rich.
Laurel

You stole my line, Laurel..."Cool Beans!" LOL

Foraging, hmmmmm? You're not helping our image there! LOL LOL (And yes, I'm really laughing as I write that!)

Those are great pole arches for beans! You've given me an idea to copy you next summer! I also loved the image of the beaded curtains in the veggie garden. Your posts are always so interesting!

AYC, maybe the "skunk" was ashamed to share in your bounty in person. Tis a puzzlement!.

Louise, I'm not sure the new deer fence will hold. If I were there would be a bigger Fall garden. One of the greatest pleasures here is to arrive on a winter Friday, at 5 p.m., when it is almost dark and run out to the garden for some greens and herbs. The temps may be freezing, but not long enough or low enough to keep us from cutting collards, kale chard, parsley, cabbages, or pulling beets and turnips. Many up here grow rutabagas and brussels sprouts through winter. The deer got the rutabagas last winter and the sprouts years ago. I'm going to try again this year.

Thanks so much for your compliments. I come here, to N.E. Because I love learning and seeing what is going on in your gardens. I really have new understandings and respect for all of the garden friends made here this past year. You get to eat a combination of foods that are unique to me because your temps are cooler longer. Your flowers are spectacular and way better cared for than mine. We can never eat lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers in the same season. Makes my salads rather disjointed. lol I can't afford to hire a P.R. person to explain our crawling around looking for edible plants in February, but after all, that is the name of the thread?
Laurel

PR person.......LOL........I'll consider taking you on pro bono! LOL I would defend to the death your right to slither around in the dark among the rutabagas, choosing one or another scintillating green over the lowly collard (which, by the way, is one of the best defenses against macular degeneration there is!). And, I would speak convincingly about the graceful manner in which you forage!

Seriously, when we were still working and would come to the farm every Friday night for the weekend, I would do the same thing. I'd take a flashlight out to the garden to see what had grown and what had been foraged. LOL PS....I still LOVE collard greens!

Who else digs brussels out from under the snow?

I'd just like to cut them in mid winter. Perhaps I'll have to rent a snow machine.:)
Laurel

I have a brussel sprout plant! It's my very first and only thanks to someone at the Spring RU. I love brussel sprouts and it probably won't last for snow!

I was a wierd kid who actually loved brussel sprouts! Still do, but no one else in my family likes them, so I don't have them often. They have to be cooked just perfectly for me to like them though. Mushy won't do.....firm but not crunchy.

Oh Louise, do I have something growing in my garden for you!
We grow then every year. My oldest DD loves them and Josh too.
When he was little he called them 'baby cabbages'. lol

Brussel sprouts are DH's favorite veggie. I grew them a couple years ago, not realizing that you are supposed to harvest after a frost. I would cut them off any time I wanted them. My dog at that time never bothered them in the garden, but I cut a stalk and left it on the picnic table, where he started chomping on them.

oh yes, the frost makes them sweeter.

Anybody ever eaten ramps? When I went to college in WVA. there were ramp festivals in the spring. A type of wild onion - am I correct? They would cook them with ham and beans. The thing is the smell would pour out of every pore in your body for days. One of the maintenance men LOVED them and yes, you could smell him for days. lol

One of my earliest posts here pertained to my passion for all things ramp. Mammasita grows them. We used to have them here, but I've lost mine with the years of drought. I could go hunt them in the wild. Ramp festivals are a part of Spring in Southern Appalachia. To me they taste like light, garlic flavored leeks. They have more leaf than onions and garlic and a more plump bulb, though the plants are small. It takes a bunch to make them into a dish because once you start...fahgetaboutit.
L

Canned 2008
6 quarts salsa.
40 quarts tomatoes.
72 pints salsa.

It all started from seed, to planting, weeding, to harvesting and canning. Thats a lot of Work for one person! Glad it is done.

For this year.

Congratulations Sherrie. Time to stock up on corn chips and tortillas.
L

Sherrie, what time should we be over for snacks? lol
Great job!!!

The raccoons got to some of my peppers - all hot ones.
They are smart animals, but not smart enough to realize that if they don't like the taste, another pepper from the same plant is going to yield the same result.
I ended up with a bunch of peppers with one bite taken out!
The finally got the message - after a lot of bite - spit out - bite - spit out & FINALLY left them alone.

These are Caribbean Red Hots

Hot Portugal Peppers

Habenero Peppers

Here's what I picked a couple of days ago.
The orange ones are the Habeneros, the red - Caribbean Red Hot & the long ones, the Hot Portugals.
The green one is one of the Habs that fell off when I was picking the others.
It's now turning orange on my kitchen counter.

BTW - I don't eat these. I have a friend who LOVES hot peppers.
He pops them in his mouth without blinking an eye!
I call him "Asbestos Mouth"!

Oh are those beautiful! I'd be canning jerk marinade if those Caribbeans were coming out of my garden. "Asbestos Mouth"...love it. lol
Laurel

Sherrie - I'm so proud of you!!! That's a heck of a lot of work and it must feel so satisfying to look at your jars all lined up and looking luscious! That's just the best feeling! Kudos!!! And yummmm........bet that salsa is tasty!!

Nancy - those peppers are gorgeous! I haven't grown any hot peppers in a couple of years, but I love to put them in vinegars, etc.. I got a few serious burns on my hands from handling habaneros without caution! They are so colorful!

Laurel - there you go foraging again! LOL

l loved reading all the posts---Laurel, your Christmas beans were just beautiful--would love to paint them as well as your peppers, Nancy. And Sherri--you are very ambitious with all that canning---I've made blueberry & peach jam--that's it! I gave a lot of produce away. I still have lots of veggies left, so I'm hoping for a late frost---still lots of green tomatoes left, but I may make green tomato pickles--oh I did make dill pickles twice, but we ate them! I'm getting too lazy to do much canning.

These hurt.

My gosh. These Bhutts are BRUTAL! I just licked my fingers and Bamm

They look like they hurt!

This is what I picked yesterday--no hot peppers for me! The small peppers here are all I've gotten so far.

I have been eating tons of raspberries, and they are sooo good.
Does anyone grow Heritage raspberries? I'm trying to decide when to prune them.
If I cut them all back in the spring, I get a big fall crop, which is what I have been doing, and it is easiest.
If I don't cut them back, I can get a smaller crop in June, and another in fall, but then, I have to prune the second year canes back, and not the first year canes, and that seems like a lot more trouble. Would it be worth the June crop?
Maybe I'll leave just a few of the old canes and see what happens in June. I read that the fall berries are better.
I made a fantastic raspberry apple crisp!

That crisp sounds yummy!! What kind of apples do you prefer for baking? I always liked macintosh, but they can get mushy.

I use all kinds, and like to mix a couple together. I don't even know what I used when I made this - it was an early local crop...

I started a new thread ~ http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/905240/
See ya there.

made my second batch of gazpacho this weekend - love it!!