• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Gardening, Pickling, Fermenting?

Jammintree said:
Yeah, several kinds of squash, pumpkins, carrots, beets, and lots of onions and garlic. All of which can last all the way till spring. The squash and Pumpkins even do fine at room temp in a closet.

For dry storage, beans and corn are really easy.
I just got a dehydrator last fall. I dehydrated a bunch of zucchini and cherry tomatoes. In the future I plan to dehydrate shiitake mushrooms which are really easy to grow. You can rehydrate them and wouldn’t even know they had been dried. Apple slices are easy to dry on a string in the house, particularly if you have a wood stove to quickly suck the water out.

I can all sorts of stuff. Salsa and pasta sauce are always easy. Depending on the year I can different kinds of Pickles and relishes - dilly beans, pickled cukes, hot peppers, relish. Some years I’ve canned bbq sauce, hot sauce and ketchup - which can be made from any number of domesticared and wild foods - my favorite is using rose hips. Also jams and jellies are nice to have around.

If I can free up some space for another chest freezer I may freeze more this year. It’s insanely easy to do. Watching how much frozen vegetables my girlfriend buys to feed her kids inspires me to spend more time freezing Brussels sprouts, broccoli, peas, roasted red peppers and frozen berries are always a favorite and are easy to do.

the hardest part is being available to do the work when the work needs doing. It’s a hard sell for the modern mind: you can’t really schedule time for it, you just have to do the work whenever the food is ripe.
Click to expand...
How do you use the dried zucchini?
 
Another thing that’s easy to do with dried veggies is to make your own ready made ultralight meals. A handful of assorted dried veggies, a cube of bullion, and a handful of noodles in a baggie is instant dinner - just mix with boiling water and cook till the noodles are ready.
 
Jammintree said:
Another thing that’s easy to do with dried veggies is to make your own ready made ultralight meals. A handful of assorted dried veggies, a cube of bullion, and a handful of noodles in a baggie is instant dinner - just mix with boiling water and cook till the noodles are ready.
Click to expand...
I seem to remember a Good Eats episode where he did that with jerky, and a bunch of dried veggies. Probably worth experimenting with.
 
Made some progress on the weeds in the rain yesterday by the garden, the back yard is for later lol. also got some blackberries planted in the far left bed (forgot to take an after-planting picture). Still feel somewhat silly using all these beds for berries, but oh well, it's in now and I suppose I can always dig them up and move them next year if I get more ambitious.
Screenshot_20230501-123920.png

I really need to get my temporary fence/netting up, somewhat surprised these strawberries haven't been eaten yet
Screenshot_20230501-123950.png

And anyone know what type of wild mushroom these are? No plans to eat them, just wondering, getting quite a few on the woodchip pile from a poplar tree I had cut down a few years ago (also known as the pumpkin patch this year)
Screenshot_20230501-123934.png
 
thedutchtouch said:
Made some progress on the weeds in the rain yesterday by the garden, the back yard is for later lol. also got some blackberries planted in the far left bed (forgot to take an after-planting picture). Still feel somewhat silly using all these beds for berries, but oh well, it's in now and I suppose I can always dig them up and move them next year if I get more ambitious.
View attachment 84339

I really need to get my temporary fence/netting up, somewhat surprised these strawberries haven't been eaten yet
View attachment 84341

And anyone know what type of wild mushroom these are? No plans to eat them, just wondering, getting quite a few on the woodchip pile from a poplar tree I had cut down a few years ago (also known as the pumpkin patch this year)
View attachment 84340
Click to expand...
No idea what kind of mushroom that is, but I got this book for my girlfriend, and it is super helpful in identifying edible mushrooms (if you're into that sort of thing):

How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Identifying 29 Wild, Edible Mushrooms: Hyman, Frank: 9781635863321: Amazon.com: Books

Buy How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Identifying 29 Wild, Edible Mushrooms on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
www.amazon.com

I'd look it up, but I don't have the book handy at the moment
 
Jammintree said:
the hardest part is being available to do the work when the work needs doing. It’s a hard sell for the modern mind: you can’t really schedule time for it, you just have to do the work whenever the food is ripe.
Click to expand...
Hate to say it but I believe you may be doing it wrong sir. My Dad said they purposely let the kids out of school during the summer so the garden doesn't spoil. ;)
 
cville_bowhunter said:
No idea what kind of mushroom that is, but I got this book for my girlfriend, and it is super helpful in identifying edible mushrooms (if you're into that sort of thing):

How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Identifying 29 Wild, Edible Mushrooms: Hyman, Frank: 9781635863321: Amazon.com: Books

Buy How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Identifying 29 Wild, Edible Mushrooms on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
www.amazon.com

I'd look it up, but I don't have the book handy at the moment
Click to expand...
My mother just bought that book. I was checking it out just the other day & its excellent.
Speaking of growing stuff, I believe Im in zone 5 in Michigans thumb, and have tried growing Persimmon trees twice now over last 5 yrs. & it looks like another bust. Ive seen few in our area but just wondering, has anyone had success growing Persimmon trees and how North are you doing it?
 
Slabzilla73 said:
My mother just bought that book. I was checking it out just the other day & its excellent.
Speaking of growing stuff, I believe Im in zone 5 in Michigans thumb, and have tried growing Persimmon trees twice now over last 5 yrs. & it looks like another bust. Ive seen few in our area but just wondering, has anyone had success growing Persimmon trees and how North are you doing it?
Click to expand...
I'm in Zone 3 and have had a hell of a time with apples, frustratingly enough. Following!
 
Well we just planted our starters yesterday. Good thing we waited another week! Had some cold nights towards the end of last week.

We're trying sweet potatoes again in 5b. Definitely rabbit around, I'm pretty sure there's quite a bit of nighttime deer too. I see prints around and have seen a possum here at the house. Any good idea who's the culprit eating down the sweet taters? I tried once before, outside of any fencing ( it's minimal at best, had rabbits in mind) There were a couple troopers but they too succumb to being eaten down.

Planning a full enclosure this try. I'm considering how high, how big of gaps in the fencing and if a top is necessary- for example rabbits, no. Deer, probably. They're in an 8 inch high raised bed, cedar, so any fence should be a little taller than advertised.

Thanks for thoughts!
 
Horn said:
Well we just planted our starters yesterday. Good thing we waited another week! Had some cold nights towards the end of last week.

We're trying sweet potatoes again in 5b. Definitely rabbit around, I'm pretty sure there's quite a bit of nighttime deer too. I see prints around and have seen a possum here at the house. Any good idea who's the culprit eating down the sweet taters? I tried once before, outside of any fencing ( it's minimal at best, had rabbits in mind) There were a couple troopers but they too succumb to being eaten down.

Planning a full enclosure this try. I'm considering how high, how big of gaps in the fencing and if a top is necessary- for example rabbits, no. Deer, probably. They're in an 8 inch high raised bed, cedar, so any fence should be a little taller than advertised.

Thanks for thoughts!
Click to expand...
I bought some bird netting online and have a combination of stakes in the corners of my beds and bricks around the edges to cover the whole thing. Squirrels are my main enemy though I believe we've had some nocturnal deer as well. So far so good, we've already picked more strawberries this month than all of last year. (Though that's partially because the plants are more established/more of them)
 
Horn said:
Well we just planted our starters yesterday. Good thing we waited another week! Had some cold nights towards the end of last week.

We're trying sweet potatoes again in 5b. Definitely rabbit around, I'm pretty sure there's quite a bit of nighttime deer too. I see prints around and have seen a possum here at the house. Any good idea who's the culprit eating down the sweet taters? I tried once before, outside of any fencing ( it's minimal at best, had rabbits in mind) There were a couple troopers but they too succumb to being eaten down.

Planning a full enclosure this try. I'm considering how high, how big of gaps in the fencing and if a top is necessary- for example rabbits, no. Deer, probably. They're in an 8 inch high raised bed, cedar, so any fence should be a little taller than advertised.

Thanks for thoughts!
Click to expand...
I finally finished my fence this weekend. Over-built, because I found a stash of cut-down telephone poles on the property, so they replaced the 4 broken fenceposts. 2' chicken-wire at ground level, with 7' of deer netting above that. Gate is made out of 2x6s and chicken wire. I'll be augmenting with rat traps and probably some Havaharts as well - we have owls and foxes so the bunnies leave us alone, but raccoons and skunks and squirrels. And deer, of course, but lethal control of those will have to wait until mid-September. Once I got the enclosure done my wife picked up a bunch of started plants - I'm not even sure what all we have - which will be distributed between the straw bales I started a month ago, and the raised beds I built but am still filling with topsoil and compost. And probably a strip I'll tiller up some evening for squash, zucchini, pumpkins, corn, etc.
 
I meant to add, raccoon tracks in the area. Rarely see them, or deer, they're here nonetheless. Rabbit is plentiful if I'm not doing control.

I'll be adding this enclosure to a previously ( very poorly I should add :sweatsmile: ) enclosed area that has helped with rabbit in the past
 
Horn said:
I meant to add, raccoon tracks in the area. Rarely see them, or deer, they're here nonetheless. Rabbit is plentiful if I'm not doing control.

I'll be adding this enclosure to a previously ( very poorly I should add :sweatsmile: ) enclosed area that has helped with rabbit in the past
Click to expand...
I'll have to check the DNR regs... but I think I can trap or otherwise harvest "nuisance" rodents in my garden year-round. I might be coming here for small-game recipes. Unfortunately we've got small red pine squirrels instead of big grey fox squirrels so those culinary options are limited.
 
Iron_llama said:
A couple of things to lay the groundwork here:
1) I'm doing the low-carb thing, and eating a lot of vegetables. This includes both salads, and cabbage stir-fry
2) I'm planning a very optimistic garden, in the assumption that the ground will thaw in northern MN sometime before deer season. I've had gardens before, but nothing on the scale I'm planning.
3) I'd rather grow a year's supply of cabbage than buy it at the grocery store.
4) I've got years of experience pressure-canning meats and beans and other low-acid foods, but I've never pickled anything.

Since I can't can or freeze lettuce or other salad greens, I'm looking at 'putting up' cabbage for the long winter. I like and eat both sauerkraut and kimchi. I've been reading up on various pickled salads, and different 'fusion' fermented cabbage recipes.
I know there are a bunch of canners, and gardeners, in the group. Any advice I should know about? Any vegetables or strains to avoid, or seek out?
I've got a couple of bags of Cleveland-brand sauerkraut, and they look like live-culture foods. I've got the idea that I could use the brine from one of these, or a jar of kimchi, to make my own "fermented salad" from cabbage I grow. Anyone ever done this? How does home-fermented cabbage hold up to winter storage?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Here’s a good how to from Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension:
 
Any of y'all growing asparagus? Or knowledgeable? I feel like all mine is the seed bearing ( sex if I recall right) rather than shoot/stalk producers. Those tall seed bearers are killing it! But poor production for decent edible stuff, is all thumb fat or bigger
 
How old is your patch? My parents house, they purchased 2 Octobers ago, has a patch. Been trying to keep it weed free. Only lil stringers this yr & last, so have been letting it go to seed. I guess I couldve cut 2 for eating this spring. Everything I researched points to a very young patch. Im gonna do the early spring tiller job to it next spring, only 1/2" deep or so. Couple buddies of mine do this & have great results. It also takes care of the early weeds.
 
It's pretty new, 4 or 5 years now I think. It never really has produced much. There's a lot of plants in there now, just not what I want
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top