What's in your garden?

[unperson]

Sandy soil. WA is very sandy soil, like 75 percent sand and a leetle bit of dirt. It's poor in nutrients. NSW is loam I think, and mid north is fairly rich soil? Might be a bit rich for 'em.

 

[watersprite]

@unperson okay that’d be why. They had been put into a slightly richer soil.
Thanks! I love it when I can put aside a mystery like that.
(I thought I was the only person who used “leetle.” )
Also, if you get a pic of them someday please share.

 

[unperson]

You could probably grow it in a pot with like 60 percent river sand. I'm surprised anything grows in this soil, but it's all highly adapted, there's some really unique plants in the west.

 

[SakuraRoseMilkTea]

So it's not really a "garden" type of garden but I have a couple of houseplants I keep adding on to. I currently have three succulents (including a giant aloe, moon silver and what I believe to be a cotyledon but I could be wrong) and one devils ivy.

I sincerely tried keeping a French lavender and a lemon balm but they sadly didn't make it.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

So it's not really a "garden" type of garden but I have a couple of houseplants I keep adding on to. I currently have three succulents (including a giant aloe, moon silver and what I believe to be a cotyledon but I could be wrong) and one devils ivy.

I sincerely tried keeping a French lavender and a lemon balm but they sadly didn't make it.

You can have my lemon balm. It's invasive where I live. It smells very sweet, and I like it, but it just spreads everywhere in my little patch of earth. It fights for territory with the peppermint.

 

[SakuraRoseMilkTea]

You can have my lemon balm. It's invasive where I live. It smells very sweet, and I like it, but it just spreads everywhere in my little patch of earth. It fights for territory with the peppermint.

That sounds wonderful! I wish things like that grew where I live. I have a rose bush outside my apartment that's gotten unruly and it only blossoms about two months out of the year, but every time it does it smells fantastic. Wouldn't mind some more variety though.

 

[tree]

You can have my lemon balm. It's invasive where I live. It smells very sweet, and I like it, but it just spreads everywhere in my little patch of earth. It fights for territory with the peppermint.

Do you cut the lemon balm and dry it to make tea?

I have a couple gallons of dry lemon balm.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Do you cut the lemon balm and dry it to make tea?

I have a couple gallons of dry lemon balm.

It makes my throat itch. I think I'm allergic to it. But I'd like to make an infused oil out of it for fragrance, one of these days.

 

[tree]

It makes my throat itch. I think I'm allergic to it.

That's unfortunate.

"Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), a member of the mint family, is considered a calming herb. It was used as far back as the Middle Ages to reduce stress and anxiety, promote sleep, improve appetite, and ease pain and discomfort from indigestion (including gas and bloating, as well as colic).

Even before the Middle Ages, lemon balm was steeped in wine to lift the spirits, help heal wounds, and treat venomous insect bites and stings. Today, lemon balm is often combined with other calming, soothing herbs, such as valerian, chamomile, and hops, to promote relaxation."
Lemon balm Information | Mount Sinai - New York

 

[Mary Terry]

You can have my lemon balm. It's invasive where I live. It smells very sweet, and I like it, but it just spreads everywhere in my little patch of earth. It fights for territory with the peppermint.

Very true. Never plant lemon balm or any kind of mint in the ground. I constantly try to get rid of lemon balm in the yard and garden that came from the single plant I had years ago. It's a scourge in mild climates where it thrives. Maybe it isn't as invasive in cold climates.

My mint is planted in a large container and doesn't spread to the yard or garden.

Beware horseradish, too. It will take over your land if you plant it in the ground. I grow it in a huge pot so the roots cannot invade the ground.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Very true. Never plant lemon balm or any kind of mint in the ground. I constantly try to get rid of lemon balm in the yard and garden that came from the single plant I had years ago. It's a scourge in mild climates where it thrives. Maybe it isn't as invasive in cold climates.

My mint is planted in a large container and doesn't spread to the yard or garden.

Beware horseradish, too. It will take over your land if you plant it in the ground. I grow it in a huge pot so the roots cannot invade the ground.

I grew horseradish in a bucket a few years ago, I was so impressed with how large it was, and how many taproots there were. I can imagine this would make it very invasive.

I grow all my root vegetables in buckets, so that at the end of the growing season, instead of digging everything up, I can just be lazy and flip the bucket over and harvest it that way.

 

[Magna]

I grow a lot of the same things as Martha. Our summer garden is winding down, and we will plant the fall garden soon.

I still am getting lots of tomatoes (have made gallons of tomato sauce for the freezer and canned a lot of salsa), green beans, field peas, horseradish, jalapenos, cherry peppers, serrano peppers, and the muscadines are just now getting ripe. I also grow all kinds of herbs - rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme, parsley, cilantro, different kinds of scallions and chives, several kinds of basil, sorrel, and others. We had a lot of asparagus, cucumbers, blueberries, blackberries, plums and figs earlier in the summer. The gigantic persimmons are getting ripe.

The fall garden will be all kinds of green leafy vegetables including lots of lettuce, broccoli, radishes, maybe cauliflower, all of which survive the winter here as long as we don't get snow.

I've planted field peas this year as well, Mary. What do you use yours for?

 

[LadyS]

Thank you all for sharing! Some of you have quite a spread (jealous)!

Do any of you sell or share some of your produce? Or just pickle, and/or store em?

I usually give most of mine away to friends and family since we really can't consume it all. This season in particular has been a milder than normal summer with lots of rain so we've had a big surplus in everything.

 

[Magna]

Field Peas
Shelling peas
Green beans
Celery
Kale
Garlic
Beets
Mangel beets (meat bird feed supplement)
Lettuce
Broccoli
Shallots
Onions
Carrots
Potatoes
Napa Cabbage
Cabbage
Watermelon
Winter Squash
Basil
Cantaloupe
Tomatoes
Peppers (bell)
Peppers (hot)
Ground (husk) cherries
Spinach
Sweet Corn
Zucchini

 

[LadyS]

If I may also be an advocate for Holy Basil, we call Tulsi plant (I only just learned the English name). It's a highly regarded plant where I'm from. It has lots of great properties that help with all sorts of ailments. Also supposedly helps reduce anxiety, stress, improves sleep, etc.

Holy Basil: Benefits for Your Brain and Your Body

There's also cultural superstitions about the plant bringing wealth into a household if you believe in those sort of things.

 

[Mary Terry]

I've planted field peas this year as well, Mary. What do you use yours for?

I like them best when cooked simply in water with some olive oil, onion and garlic, maybe a big pinch of red pepper flakes. Many Southerners cook them in ham hock stock or add cooked bacon or ham to the pot.

You can freeze them, Magna. Blanch them in boiling water for about 3 minutes, drain, put into ice water to cool, spread on a clean, lint-free towel to dry, then spread in a single layer on a sheet pan and freeze them, then scrape them into a freezer safe bag or container.

 

[Streetwise]

Thank you all for sharing! Some of you have quite a spread (jealous)!

Do any of you sell or share some of your produce? Or just pickle, and/or store em?

I usually give most of mine away to friends and family since we really can't consume it all. This season in particular has been a milder than normal summer with lots of rain so we've had a big surplus in everything.

I have an apple tree but no-one wants to cook apples but wild omnivorous birds eat them

 

[Mary Terry]

If I may also be an advocate for Holy Basil, we call Tulsi plant (I only just learned the English name). It's a highly regarded plant where I'm from. It has lots of great properties that help with all sorts of ailments. Also supposedly helps reduce anxiety, stress, improves sleep, etc.

Holy Basil: Benefits for Your Brain and Your Body

There's also cultural superstitions about the plant bringing wealth into a household if you believe in those sort of things.

I love basil. You can root it in water and then plant it. A few days ago, I took about 10 basil cuttings from the garden and put them in water in small vases. When roots develop, I'll transplant to little pots with soil. I always have basil in my kitchen window during winter, and I give away the extra basil plants to family and friends for their winter kitchens, too.

I also root rosemary the same way. Now is the time to do it.

 

[Magna]

I like them best when cooked simply in water with some olive oil, onion and garlic, maybe a big pinch of red pepper flakes. Many Southerners cook them in ham hock stock or add cooked bacon or ham to the pot.

You can freeze them, Magna. Blanch them in boiling water for about 3 minutes, drain, put into ice water to cool, spread on a clean, lint-free towel to dry, then spread in a single layer on a sheet pan and freeze them, then scrape them into a freezer safe bag or container.

How long can you let the pods go before you have to pick them to eat? What I mean is, if you mean you cook them pods and all, at some point the pods would get too fibrous to be edible? Or are you shelling the field pea pods and only cooking the peas? I planted mine late so where I'm at they're still blossoming like crazy and I have small snow pea type pods. They're not as sweet as snow peas, but I have blanched and froze a big bowl of them so far for stir fries this winter.

 

[Mary Terry]

How long can you let the pods go before you have to pick them to eat? What I mean is, if you mean you cook them pods and all, at some point the pods would get too fibrous to be edible? Or are you shelling the field pea pods and only cooking the peas? I planted mine late so where I'm at they're still blossoming like crazy and I have small snow pea type pods. They're not as sweet as snow peas, but I have blanched and froze a big bowl of them so far for stir fries this winter.

I pick the field peas when I can feel and see that the peas have filled out inside the pods. I shell them, never cook or eat the pods. But my donkeys like the pods after I shell the peas.

If you want to save the peas to plant next year, let them dry completely on the vine, then pick them, shell them, and immediately freeze them. Be sure to label them as "for planting" so you won't accidently eat them.

Field peas aren't sweet at all. They are very earthy tasting, like black-eyed peas or pinto beans. There are all kinds of "field peas". It's a generic term, I think. One of my favorites is called "purple hull peas" and they are very hard to find.

They take a fairly long time to cook - just keep tasting them till they are soft.