That's a good list Mike. I'd like to try growing Bok Choi next year. I've been eating it more often now and really like it. Does it grow just like a regular green?
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Anyone into gardening here?
- Thread starter shanekingsley
- Start date
I grew it a year or so ago....unfortunately something in my garden really liked it, maybe slugs. It was easy to grow though, just like a lettuce.
That same year I grew some okra as an experiment, surprisingly that was easy to grow and one plant (all I had) grew really well in a sunny well drained spot.
I have a huge lovage plant. It has an abundance of leaves that taste like celery but it’s a very strong taste. Anyone got experience with this plant? Any ideas what to do with it? It’s a perennial and grows really well in poor soil. You can put a few leaves in a salad but it can overpower the taste sometimes.
I also have a lot of tarragon too. Again, a perennial that grows very well indeed in a Canadian climate. Very aniseedy type taste. Pretty pungent.
This year I have about 12 different types of toms. Some heritage and some Canadian faves like Early Girl (I try to mix the ripening times of toms). A new one this year is a Cherokee purple toms. I have a few striped ones, cherry roma, lots of purple ones as I like the taste (Purple prince), Brandywine (Amish heritage) is a perennial fave.
Poblano, jalapeno and some banana peppers for the spicy. Long red finger peppers for sweet.
Two different types of eggplant. One small for frying, one large for dishes like Imam Bayeldi (literally...the priest fainted....a great vegetarian dish but very rich). I like making moussaka from these too. A great Greek version of a sort of cross between shepherds pie and lasagna.
Arugula, spinach (2 varieties), kale, romaine and curly lettuce. 3 varieties of zucchini (I love zucchini sliced thin and fried). Several cucumber plants. Manage tout peas.
Basil, sage (grows like a weed), pineapple sage, chives and garlic chives (amazing on scrambled eggs) along with the tarragon. Bunching onions, garlic and yellow onions and a few shallot plants (shallots elevate everything, one of the best steak dishes I ever had was cooked with finely chopped shallots).
Two different apple trees seem to be doing well but the fruit has often been deformed at the end. I suspect wasps and other critters. I might try sulphur dusting this year. A plum tree that gets a bit sulky...some years nothing, other years I get a bazillion pounds of fruit, this year seems like it might be one of those years as the tree was full of bees and the flowers have nice little swells behind them now.
I also have a lot of tarragon too. Again, a perennial that grows very well indeed in a Canadian climate. Very aniseedy type taste. Pretty pungent.
This year I have about 12 different types of toms. Some heritage and some Canadian faves like Early Girl (I try to mix the ripening times of toms). A new one this year is a Cherokee purple toms. I have a few striped ones, cherry roma, lots of purple ones as I like the taste (Purple prince), Brandywine (Amish heritage) is a perennial fave.
Poblano, jalapeno and some banana peppers for the spicy. Long red finger peppers for sweet.
Two different types of eggplant. One small for frying, one large for dishes like Imam Bayeldi (literally...the priest fainted....a great vegetarian dish but very rich). I like making moussaka from these too. A great Greek version of a sort of cross between shepherds pie and lasagna.
Arugula, spinach (2 varieties), kale, romaine and curly lettuce. 3 varieties of zucchini (I love zucchini sliced thin and fried). Several cucumber plants. Manage tout peas.
Basil, sage (grows like a weed), pineapple sage, chives and garlic chives (amazing on scrambled eggs) along with the tarragon. Bunching onions, garlic and yellow onions and a few shallot plants (shallots elevate everything, one of the best steak dishes I ever had was cooked with finely chopped shallots).
Two different apple trees seem to be doing well but the fruit has often been deformed at the end. I suspect wasps and other critters. I might try sulphur dusting this year. A plum tree that gets a bit sulky...some years nothing, other years I get a bazillion pounds of fruit, this year seems like it might be one of those years as the tree was full of bees and the flowers have nice little swells behind them now.
thanks! the best part is those blocks were all free, a renter (renting a house) had a backyard firepit, and the landlord said "no more fires"
My gain their loss.
I was going to have to build a garden bed otherwise
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Easy to grow -- except for the 'baby' variety. I've tried that a few times including this year, it bolts well before it's ready. No more.
Regular bok grows like any leafy greens -- very fast and it tolerates cold and heat. You can get 3 crops per season. I lop it off at the ground and if you give it lots of water it usually grows back twice.
jdmsteR
Well-known member
Haven't been able to find any bok choi seedlings, even in Markham (sheridan)
Poor selection of seedlings to choose from this year, Kale nowhere to be found
kale from seed has grown pretty fast for me. Get a cold tolerant variety (many are) plant it out and wait. Mine are a good 3-4” tall right now. If you lived locally I could give you the thinnings.
Daily crops of arugula and curly lettuce right now. Salads have been great. Chives are huge, cilantro starting to give a crop too, tarragon is massive, thyme doing well. Basil is a bit disappointing but it might not be the right variety for the climate. My lovage plant is a monster but I don’t really know what to do with it aside from a few leaves in salads. It’s pretty powerful tasting.
We had a storm with ice pellets (pea sized) last Saturday and as a result I have big holes peppered in my hostas and my banana plant leaves are shredded a bit. Starting to come back though.
We had a storm with ice pellets (pea sized) last Saturday and as a result I have big holes peppered in my hostas and my banana plant leaves are shredded a bit. Starting to come back though.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Kale is a perennial in zone 5 -- it comes back every year if you leave it in the garden. I never replant my kale, I've been harvesting daily since mid May.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Vegetable;es are the new toilet paper -- hoarded out by May 24 weekend -- you won't find much right now.
The last seedlings I saw were Toms at $12/4 pack. and they were limited 1/customer. I bought 6 packs from Kennedy Greenhouses for $1.89 the first week of May.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
All my leafy greens have been under harvest since May. Everything is doing well this year for me except my peppers -- don't know what's happening but they are all stunted -- some flowering.
Rarely do my plumb trees and passion vines give fruit -- this year looks like a bumper crop!
If you want to ride over and grab some kale from me, I have pots with way too many plants that I am thinning or eating - maybe around 10-20 plants could be thinned out. Also have some arugula that could be thinned and some cilantro and borage and tons of echinacea and other plants I'm pulling out like weeds.
jdmsteR
Well-known member
Thanks I would appreciate that. I would be open to doing some sort of seedling/seed swap with fellow GTAM'ers. Agreed on the cold tolerance, the kale plants I had last year survived well into November.
jdmsteR
Well-known member
That would have been good to know. I left the plants in the ground over the winter but yanked the rootballs in the spring as I worked over the soil. Was quite surprised to see how developed it was
jdmsteR
Well-known member
Awesome I might have to take you up on that, I still have one plot in the garden bed to be filled up. I'll reach out to ya
my peppers are doing great....or they were until the ice pellets came...I think they are springing back. I have one poblano plant that I’m babying, I love poblano peppers. Got some red sweet peppers to plant out from the aero garden still too.
Yes...our plum tree has baby plums all over on it right now and it’s usually useless. There were tons of bees out in May so my guess is it’s been well pollinated.
Planted kale for the first time this year as my vegetarian son wants to make kale chips (read: I'll end up making them and he'll eat them)
I always suck with harvesting any lettuces (all my others I have abandoned as I think I make them go to seed much too quickly...is that even possible??)
Anyway, do I cut the head off? Pull leaves off? Cut leaves off?
I'm lost here!
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Edited because my grammar looked like I got drunk mid-post.
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As some may recall, we got rid of the Mulberry tree last year after the family of racoons were visiting it nightly. My wife was freaked out.
This year she didn't like the lack of privacy, so we added a birch, that will hopefully grow well and add some privacy and much needed shade.
Also added 3 black cedars on the opposite side of the yard. The cedars are doing well, but the birch has had some leaves turn yellow and fall off.
My buddy that planted them said to give it a good soak 3x per week.
How does it look to you guys?
Watering suggestions?
Every other tree we've ever planted survived on some watering for first couple of weeks and then rainfall.
This was planted ~two weeks ago.
(Pic was yesterday)
Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk
This year she didn't like the lack of privacy, so we added a birch, that will hopefully grow well and add some privacy and much needed shade.
Also added 3 black cedars on the opposite side of the yard. The cedars are doing well, but the birch has had some leaves turn yellow and fall off.
My buddy that planted them said to give it a good soak 3x per week.
How does it look to you guys?
Watering suggestions?
Every other tree we've ever planted survived on some watering for first couple of weeks and then rainfall.
This was planted ~two weeks ago.
(Pic was yesterday)
Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk
Dirty Frank
Well-known member
Looks like its going to be a bad year for powdery mildew in the garden I'm seeing mold damage on a lot of the wildflowers already usually this does not show up till much later in the season.
Might be wise to stock up on PM treatment product early this year.
Might be wise to stock up on PM treatment product early this year.
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