let's see your veggie garden {pics}

[deluxestogie]

Yesterday, when I walked through my living room, and approached my front door, I noticed my friend the resident groundhog on the front porch. This time, he wasn't eating a pear from the bushel basket of them. He was stretching to eat the enormous leaves of my Genuine Cornfield pole beans. So far as I can tell, he hasn't touched the bean pods themselves--just the leaves. Of course, he can reach only the lower ones, and has not attempted to yank down the higher ones (which go up another 8 feet).

This made me curious. Can people eat bean leaves? Some easy searching on the Internet confirmed that the leaves of green beans (and cowpeas) are indeed eaten regularly in a number of traditional societies across the world. Bean leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. Today, I stared at the younger leaves on the vines, but just couldn't bring myself to give them a try. BUT...FYI, they are edible. Maybe some day.

Bob

 

[SmokesAhoy]

So are groundhogs.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Yesterday, when I walked through my living room, and approached my front door, I noticed my friend the resident groundhog on the front porch. This time, he wasn't eating a pear from the bushel basket of them. He was stretching to eat the enormous leaves of my Genuine Cornfield pole beans. So far as I can tell, he hasn't touched the bean pods themselves--just the leaves. Of course, he can reach only the lower ones, and has not attempted to yank down the higher ones (which go up another 8 feet).

This made me curious. Can people eat bean leaves? Some easy searching on the Internet confirmed that the leaves of green beans (and cowpeas) are indeed eaten regularly in a number of traditional societies across the world. Bean leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. Today, I stared at the younger leaves on the vines, but just couldn't bring myself to give them a try. BUT...FYI, they are edible. Maybe some day.

Bob

Come on, Bob. Give it a go.

 

[wooda2008]

Yesterday, when I walked through my living room, and approached my front door, I noticed my friend the resident groundhog on the front porch. This time, he wasn't eating a pear from the bushel basket of them. He was stretching to eat the enormous leaves of my Genuine Cornfield pole beans. So far as I can tell, he hasn't touched the bean pods themselves--just the leaves. Of course, he can reach only the lower ones, and has not attempted to yank down the higher ones (which go up another 8 feet).

This made me curious. Can people eat bean leaves? Some easy searching on the Internet confirmed that the leaves of green beans (and cowpeas) are indeed eaten regularly in a number of traditional societies across the world. Bean leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. Today, I stared at the younger leaves on the vines, but just couldn't bring myself to give them a try. BUT...FYI, they are edible. Maybe some day.

Bob

Tried it today. Tasted like a mature lettuce, but sandpapery

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Tried it today. Tasted like a mature lettuce, but sandpapery

I gotta see what it's like fermented. It might soften up and be a nice crunchy kimchi.

I'm getting ready to plant garlic for the first time. I believe I have a two week window to get them in. It isn't the sunniest spot on my property, but it's really all that's left. 75% of the day should be alright, though, hey? I have three different kinds. 5 bulbs of Spanish Roja,
https://garlicseed.ca/collections/rocambole-garlic/products/spanish-roja

5 bulbs of Chesnok Red https://garlicseed.ca/collections/purple-stripe-garlic/products/chesnok-red-garlic-bulbs

https://garlicseed.ca/collections/artichoke-garlic/products/sicilian-gold-garlic-bulbs
and 4 of Sicilian Gold.

I haven't split them apart yet to see how many cloves there are. I might hit the grocery store if I need to fill in more space. I built two beds, 10' x 2'

 

[Gavroche]

I like the flowers off Rocambole China...

 

[deluxestogie]

I'm getting ready to plant garlic for the first time. I believe I have a two week window to get them in.

No rush. I typically plant them after the first freeze (to kill off a lot of pests). They will remain dormant during the coldest part of the winter. I like to heap at least 8-12 inches of mulch over them.

Bob

 

[OldDinosaurWesH]

If you have ever been to Gilroy California, the "Garlic capital of the world" (or so they claim), you can smell the garlic for miles. I was there in the October/November time of year, and boy it was pungent. A nice kind of pungent though. Certainly not like driving past Sunnyside, Washington on the freeway, where they specialize in cattle feedlots. If you get my drift...

Wes H.

Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

No rush. I typically plant them after the first freeze (to kill off a lot of pests). They will remain dormant during the coldest part of the winter. I like to heap at least 8-12 inches of mulch over them.

Bob

I'm glad you mentioned that, Bob. I checked when the supplier plants, and they don't even start until the last week of September. As it's warmer here, I should probably wait until October.

 

[deluxestogie]

My Korean Daikon radish grow was a failure all around. I had a hell of a time keeping the critters from getting to them. Eventually, I covered them with a thin sheet of floating row cover, held down with baseball-size rocks. Despite that, I would find one corner or the other of the row cover pushed aside each morning.

This morning, the row cover was completely gone. I discovered it lying in tatters beside the white board fence at the back of the yard, next to the “entrance” to a rabbit run. (I wish I had a video of the rabbit discovering it was ensnared by the fabric, and trying to flee in panic.) Since it’s about the time to harvest the Daikon, I closely inspected the visible portion of the roots. Of 30+ radishes that I planted, only two were fatter than a pencil.

So I pulled those, each about the size of a small French Breakfast radish. I thinly sliced them, lightly fried them in sesame oil, then added diced tofu, fish oil, ginger, soy sauce, pepper and powdered garlic. I allowed this to simmer for about 20 minutes.

When the Daikon first began to cook, it smelled like armpits, but that passed. The thin slices have the consistency of rubbery mushrooms, a fairly bland taste, and seem to be just space fillers. They bulked up my little pile of tiny tofu cubes. They don’t taste bad or even peculiar. There seems to be little taste left after cooking. Sort of like the tofu itself, but a lot more work to obtain.

Maybe they would grow better, and be more tender, if I plant them in early spring. But I don’t think I’ll find out. It was fun to explore.

Now, for some Cheesy Corn Puffs and a big glass of chocolate milk.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Daikon Radish Addendum

After spending some time outdoors, I returned to the house to discover that, despite cross-ventilation through the screen door, my house smelled like farts. It's the thiols (sulfur compounds) produced by radish. That's impressive in its intensity and ability to linger. The sulfurous fumes released by the radish as it cooked outlasted the aromas of sizzling sesame oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger and garlic. I expected the the house to smell like the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant. I got the bathroom instead.

So radish, any radish, is quite edible, and cooks into a presentable vegetable, but not if you plan on having guests over for a visit on the same day.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

My Korean Daikon radish grow was a failure all around. I had a hell of a time keeping the critters from getting to them. Eventually, I covered them with a thin sheet of floating row cover, held down with baseball-size rocks. Despite that, I would find one corner or the other of the row cover pushed aside each morning.

This morning, the row cover was completely gone. I discovered it lying in tatters beside the white board fence at the back of the yard, next to the “entrance” to a rabbit run. (I wish I had a video of the rabbit discovering it was ensnared by the fabric, and trying to flee in panic.) Since it’s about the time to harvest the Daikon, I closely inspected the visible portion of the roots. Of 30+ radishes that I planted, only two were fatter than a pencil.

So I pulled those, each about the size of a small French Breakfast radish. I thinly sliced them, lightly fried them in sesame oil, then added diced tofu, fish oil, ginger, soy sauce, pepper and powdered garlic. I allowed this to simmer for about 20 minutes.

When the Daikon first began to cook, it smelled like armpits, but that passed. The thin slices have the consistency of rubbery mushrooms, a fairly bland taste, and seem to be just space fillers. They bulked up my little pile of tiny tofu cubes. They don’t taste bad or even peculiar. There seems to be little taste left after cooking. Sort of like the tofu itself, but a lot more work to obtain.

Maybe they would grow better, and be more tender, if I plant them in early spring. But I don’t think I’ll find out. It was fun to explore.

Now, for some Cheesy Corn Puffs and a big glass of chocolate milk.

Bob

There must be a trick to growing daikon because, as you know, the ones in the store are massive. I wonder what the deal is.

 

[deluxestogie]

The secret is that they know what they're doing. If any of the Daikon that remain in the ground develop any size at all, I might try making a very tiny jar of Daikon pickles.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Daikon Radish Addendum....fish sauce....

Bob

I am impressed.

 

[wooda2008]

Produce harvest is slowly spooling up for the fall.

I planted my own daikon because radish is supposedly a pest repellent. It didn't as far as I could tell.

It did, however, thrive on neglect.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Produce harvest is slowly spooling up for the fall.

I planted my own daikon because radish is supposedly a pest repellent. It didn't as far as I could tell.

It did, however, thrive on neglect.

View attachment 22043

Hopefully they have the same gastronomic qualities as Bob's. Sounds wonderful.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

I've always wanted to grow daikon. Cheers on the fish sauce I was raised on that stuff! There used to be entire towns where I grew up that smelled like fish sauce around dinner time when I was taking the bus home.

I know what it is and how it's made but even so I love it, I used to get so hungry waiting for the bus

 

[deluxestogie]

I planted my own daikon because radish is supposedly a pest repellent. It didn't as far as I could tell.

I've made many a pot of mixed veggies that started out looking like your collection. Nice variety.

I planted two or three dozen common radishes (Scarlet Globe and French Breakfast) surrounding and within my small cucumber patch this year. It's supposed to deter cucumber beetles. I believe that it did. But I allowed the majority of the radishes to go way beyond time to harvest, so they put out 3' tall flower heads (which causes the root to become woody).

I gathered some of the plump, immature radish seed pods, and pickled them like kosher dill pickles. They are delightfully crunchy and have a very slight tang. The seeds themselves remained soft.

Radish leaves are also edible like any cabbage family green, but they do release a bit of sulfur smell when cooked.

Bob

 

[OldDinosaurWesH]

I'm going to rotate part of my tobacco garden out next year. Send me some seed, or apprise me of where I can get it & I'll give it a go. They can cohabitate with some short season watermelon I wanted to try. An odd couple if there ever was one!

Wes H.

 

[deluxestogie]

Send me some seed, or apprise me of where I can get it & I'll give it a go. They...

Seed for what particular sort of plant?

Bob