Queen of Kale
Portland, Oregon
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I studied ecology and ethnobotany in college. I am interested in growing nutrient rich veggies for myself and my hubby.
USDA Zone: 8
Soil: Clay
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Is there anyway to post photos to this site from a mobile device? Putting them on my aged computer is such a tedious process? Flickr maybe...
Queen of Kale
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
What mobile device do you have? If you have an iPhone, unfortunately, the mobile Safari (and other web browsers I've tried) don't support it.
It's frustrating, isn't it?
I've thought about writing an iPhone app for just this reason, but it is a lot of work, unfortunately.
Jade
Jul 22, 2011
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2009/05/radish_leaf_pesto.php
Here is a link to a fabulous recipe I made from my radish thinnings last week, seriously it was delicious!!!!!
Here is a link to a fabulous recipe I made from my radish thinnings last week, seriously it was delicious!!!!!
Queen of Kale
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
That looks delicious!
Jade
Jul 22, 2011
Harvested my garlic and some of my shallots today. I think it may have been a tad early but with all the rain we have been getting I thought I might as well.
Ate my first ripe tomato.
The lettuce, cabbage and kale are all doing fabulously!
Ate my first ripe tomato.
The lettuce, cabbage and kale are all doing fabulously!
Queen of Kale
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
Wait, your first ripe tomato? What variety, and what are you doing that I'm not? I am on a Jill so I notice I'm a few weeks behind 'down'-town Portland, but I'm impressed you're harvesting already!
Jade
Jul 21, 2011
The variety I ate yesterday was 'Violet Jasper' and I also have some 'Bloody Butcher' that are ripening. I got a small Costco greenhouse last Fall so in addition to the plants I raised from seed I bought some 4" pots of tomatoes at Garden Fever, put them in 1 gallon pots and grew them in the greenhouse for about 6 weeks before putting them out around Memorial Day. I should have done it earlier as I cared for a friends plants in my greenhouse, he started about 2 weeks previous to I and his were ripening a week ago and look absolutely fantastic. I believe the variety of his that was first this year as well as last was 'Stupice' which I keep meaning to plant.
I also had great luck with peas especially the ones planted early (Jan. 28th) but the later crops fared well also.
Have you grown bulb onions? I planted Walla Walla sets last fall and they looked lovely, grew large, we ate the scapes and they died back but were either rotten or pithy inside when I harvested, only a couple good ones?
I think I will stick with leeks from now on.
Queen of Kale
Jul 21, 2011
I've never heard of Violet Jasper or Bloody Butcher.
I have grown Stupice for a couple of years. It's a very reliable, early tomato.
Leeks are good -- garlic is also easy, and you can eat the scapes and greens. I've had luck with smaller bulb onions, but have never tried Walla Wallas yet.
Jade
Jul 25, 2011
Going to buy my garlic and shallots today to plant. Anyone know if there is any advantage to waiting until October to plant them, sometimes September is so mild I don't want to give it a false start.
Queen of Kale
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
I think the idea with waiting is that you want to encourage root growth, not top growth starting to sprout, which could happen if you plant before the days get noticeably shorter. My experience with shallots and garlic is in a colder climate than yours, and I don't usually plant them until mid-October through early November. Maybe in your wetter climate, you need to not wait so long, because they might rot if planted that late?
..........
aha, here's what the Territorial catalog says: "In the maritime Northwest, garlic is best planted by October so it has time to establish a good root system before cold damp weather settles in." There you have it.
earthsong
Sep 15, 2010
Thank you very much! I will plant it today!
Queen of Kale
Sep 15, 2010
This is timely. I was wondering the same thing. Thanks, Earthsong!
Jade
Sep 15, 2010
One of my neighbors had a row of radish that never set roots early this summer, they were thinned, not sure what happened but another friend (a chef and gardener) suggested he let them go to seed and eat the green seed pods as a veg in stir fry. I had never heard of this but tasted them and they are excellent so had to let some radishes bolt on purpose,delish and very pretty, the different varieties have different colored flowers.
Queen of Kale
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
That's really good to know. I'll have to try that. Thank you for sharing!
Jade
Sep 03, 2010
'Rat's Tail' is a variety of radish grown specifically for its large, tender seed pods for stir-fry, pickling or salads.
earthsong
Sep 13, 2010
I've grown the 'Rat Tail' variety earthsong mentioned and I really like it. It takes up a lot less row space than regular radishes, and it lasts longer in the garden. The two plants I grew last year was plenty for me for the season.
Jerod
Jan 09, 2011
Fantastic year for cucumbers in our garden, this is our 1 lemon cuke plant which has been very prolific.
Queen of Kale
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
Us too, overwhelmed with cucumbers, which is a problem I like to have.
Jade
Sep 03, 2010
We haven't been able to keep up with eating all of our Swiss Chard and now it is crowded and getting eaten by something, I suspect cabbage moths as there are a lot of those white moths around.
Any great Chard recipes other than just sauteing as a side veg?
Queen of Kale
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
My guess would be slugs. Do you see any slug tracks around? I don't know anything about cabbage moths, though, so I always blame slugs.
We sometimes throw sliced up chard in a pasta dish. It adds a little green. But I'd like to hear everyone else's ideas, too.
Jade
Sep 03, 2010
I think it's yummy and beautiful sliced very thin and added raw to a salad! beet greens also.
Kat
Sep 05, 2010
Harvested one of our Hops plants yesterday, maybe a tad early but we were worried about rain. They had a poor year generally. This plant produced probably 8-10X as much last season. This is 'Liberty'.
Queen of Kale
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
It's hard to get a perspective from this (very cool) picture. Is this a swimming pool? I didn't realize hop buds(?) were that large.
Jade
Sep 03, 2010
It is a kiddie pool. They are usually about 2 inches long and maybe 3/4 inch wide on average depending on the variety, very pretty too.
Queen of Kale
Sep 06, 2010
will you be using them to brew beer, or for the dried herb?
earthsong
Sep 13, 2010
I have a glut of ripe lemon cucumbers. Any great recipe ideas other than the standard stuff. I have pickled them before too but would love to hear about any great fresh recipes. Thanks!
Queen of Kale
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
We mix yogurt and mayonnaise with some pressed fresh garlic, and dip the cukes in it. Delicious!
Jade
Aug 24, 2010
To make it even better, you can add feta cheese to the mix.
Jade
Aug 26, 2010
I often grate cucumbers into a yogurt/garlic sauce for use with middle eastern type cooking.
Or do a kind of light fresh pickling: vinegar, sugar, salt, chopped chili pepper, lots of ginger. Good with Chinese or Thai food.
Kat
Aug 26, 2010
Yum! Thanks for all the suggestions!
Queen of Kale
Aug 26, 2010
The kids snack on them fresh, but we like them diced vinegar/salt/sugar/dill relish on salmon!
Garden Growers
Aug 31, 2010
We went through a huge garden transformation this year building 2 new raised beds and moving an existing bed to make room for our new 6'X 8'greenhouse! So everything is a bit willy nilly as I planted what needed to go in as space became available. I am very excited about winter gardening in the Pacific NW.
Your leeks are looking a lot better than mine!
Please keep us posted on what you're doing for winter gardening -- I'm a little new to it, and am hoping to get my timing a little better this year.
Jade
Aug 24, 2010
Well thank you, my leeks would look better if the dog hadn't dug them up when I left the garden gate open accidentally awhile back :( grrr...
Last year my winter garden consisted of some spinach, kale, cabbage and head lettuce direct sown in January which all did very well. I'm going to try some covered beds this year to stave off all that extra moisture that leaches our soil and see if I can do a bit better.
I have overwintering Coles, spinach and lettuce started in the greenhouse now and direct sowed a fall crop of carrots and beets. i only wish I had more space:)
Queen of Kale
Aug 24, 2010
And I cannot wait to plant garlic, though I'm not exactly sure where it will go...maybe the peppers will be done by then.
Queen of Kale
Aug 24, 2010
©2012 Email Jade
Portland, Oregon | Clay | Zone 8
Most cabbage family crops taste better after cold weather, since they convert starches to sugars to protect themselves from the cold. I imagine kohlrabi would do fine in the cold.
I'm not sure about recipes. We sauted them once. Delicious.
Jade
Nov 11, 2011
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