Gardening, Part 2

[zfirphdn]

Ooh, that looks so good. My parents used to can grape juice when I was small. It was delicious!

But one year the whole family was sick with the flu and the doctor prescribed a terrible-tasting medicine. It turned out that the only thing that masked the taste was grape juice. It broke my parents’ hearts to see all their hard work drunk up by people who were too sick to really appreciate it. They told that story for the rest of their lives!

May you enjoy your home-canned grape juice in good health, @docosc

[docosc]

No canning today, but did get my first flush of jujubes in, cored and in the dehydrator to make “dates.” Left with a bowl of cores, i asked myself, “To compost or not to compost?” Well, experiment/inspiration kicked in. Apparently, if you boil the snot our of them then put them through a food mill, you get something that will pass as spiced applesauce. Who knew? So i have a tray of goji berries and a buttload of jujubes in the dehydrator and a pint of “applesauce” in the fridge. Not bad for a laid back Sunday!

[NukeML]

I think the hot days are behind us, and the days will be getting a lot shorter very quickly, so its time to start clearing out the garden.

Tomatoes will get put under lights in the basement to ripen.

I’m going to attempt repotting some peppers and eggplant and grow them indoors.

Also will set some radishes and spinach for a late crop

[Mindysan33]

[MerelyGifted]

Long-Lost Myrrh Species Resurrected from 1,000-Year-Old Seed | Sci.News

Morphological features of Sheba at different ages: (a) ancient seed prior to planting; (b) developing seed at 5 weeks showing epicotyl and developing cotyledons covered by seed coat; (c) seedling, 6 months; (d) peeling bark, 12 years; (e) leaves showing fine hairs, 12 years; (f) mature tree, 12 years. Image credit: Guy Eisner / Elaine Solowey / Sallon et al., doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06721-5.

The woman King Hatshepsut sent an expedition to Punt, an African nation on the Red Sea.

We’re not exactly sure where Punt was located,* and neither were the Egyptians in Hatshepsut’s time! Trade with Punt had last been conducted centuries before her birth, so many old maps and records were consulted as the ships were built.

Myrrh trees were among the exotic goods and animals whom they brought back.

Myrrh oil has an interesting, earthy, rather coffee-ish scent. It’s also quite good for sore muscles - it warms a bit as it’s massaged into the skin.

*We do have a better idea now than we’d ever previously had:

How Baboons Led Us to a Lost Civilization

[docosc]

First frost today, had to scrape the windshield to get to work. That means gardening is almost done for the year. This weekend, gotta get winter wheat planted, persimmons, medlars and granny smiths harvested and last of the winter mulch down. Then it’s a little bit of down time for a couple months until we need to get seeds ordered for next Spring.

[FloridaManJefe]

wow, already…
will you get many granny smith apples? my fave! i’m all about this cider making now, and it just so happens, the “winter” crop of starfruit is now on the tree! oh, and also:.

moar bananas! (i swear, these two trees…!)

but it is also time to turn the garden beds and amend with compost and manure tea. already choosing peppers and squash for the “winter” garden.
yes, i put scare quotes around “winter” and y’all know why: we get two growing seasons a year down here (zone 11) and it is the cooler months that grow best, even if sunlight hours are diminished some.
good harvest, Doc! enjoy!

[chgoliz]

Best time of the year for kale (after the first frost).

[docosc]

It’s still a baby tree. Last year we only got 3. Apples, not bushels. This year there is likely a half bushel or so. This is compared to our Liberty (a disease-resistant Macintosh variety) that gave us close to 5 bushels, and our Jonathan that gave us 2. But it will get bigger and better.

[docosc]

First persimmons ripening finally. Got 1 1/2 pts of persimmon jam, a great fall treat.

As expected, got about 1/2 bushel of granny smiths. Che fruit just starting to soften. And brought in the last of the beets. It’s Fall, folks!

[nick_warr]

I love persimmon, but most places in europe have a name which evokes dried prunes, in Italy they’re cachi, other places kaki, I think you get the drift.

Does it have any effect on you?

[docosc]

No, but truly just about any dried fruit will have a laxative effect. Dried apricots are particularly effective when taken as a snack while backpacking…

Anyway, i usually eat them fresh, but the trees are coming a cropper and trying some methods of preserving. I have dried them in the past, and probably will some this year, but that’s not my favorite.

[docosc]

Ok, so we are reporting the results of a not-very-scientific, but still interesting, study that i completed today. Divided my “field” garden into 100 sq ft plots and planted them in various grains to compare yields. I apologize to any farmers out there who will roll their eyes and go “duh,” but i wanted to know, in my climate and my technique. So, here it is:

Winter wheat: 8#
Spring wheat: 2#
Barley: 2#
Buckwheat: 2#, but reseeds and could get multiple harvests in one season.
Amaranth: 2#, but should have been better, because apparently ground hogs like it too.
Oats: 8#
Corn: 14#

There’s a reason corn is a staple so many places, i guess.

Also, regarding a previous post, it was pointed out to me that “normal” people won’t know what che, medlar or trifoliate orange are. I don’t know any normal people, but just in case:

Che fruit heading into the dehydrator. Very vigorous bush here, mild flavor, Asian native whose name apparently translates as melon berry, which is about right. Mild, sweet flavor, excellent producer.

Medlar, also known as Dog’s Ass or Open Arse, put aside for bletting. Basically, ley it just begin to rot, and you get a “spiced applesauce” bite.

Trifoliate orange. Last year i got 1 fruit, but was pretty happy because, hey, citus in VA! This year i got enough to actually work with. It is really only good for juicing, because the rind and seeds have a lot of a latex-like compound that can cause unfortunate GI effects. So,

Juiced. Intensely sour. Like, lemon juice is sugary relatively speaking. Will get more later to try “dragon-ade,” (also goes by "Flying Dragon) but this batch made a pint and a half of jelly. Can’t call it marmalade without peel, now can we?

Anyway, I’m sure more experiments will come. That’s all for now!

[Wayward]

@docosc

Trifoliate orange

I love me some citrus growing where it shouldn’t, and I was thrilled to find one of these in the back yard when we bought our current house. I happily picked about a dozen fruit off it that first year and juiced them. The juice smelled more like those orange oil cleaning products than something to ingest, no matter how much I fiddled with the water/sugar/juice ratio. And that latex-y stuff in the rind stuck to my chefs knife like it had been welded on. No amount of Dawn dish soap, mineral oil, or Goo Gone budged it. It took full-strength Goof Off (NOT food safe) to save my knife. I dug up the plant and gave it away to the next optimist.

My next citrus experiment will be yuzu, which is supposed to be cold-hardy enough for my Zone 8a.

[docosc]

I found it was like latex paint. I was able get it off right away, before it dried, with soap and water and a little scrubbing. After it was allowed to set? Yeah, probably paint stripper. The jelly worked out well, the flavor is a little indescribable… tart plus floral plus something else. Very much a “wow, that’s different.” My wife went to “What could i use that on?” right away. Definitely something to use with a light touch.