Hello my gardening friends! It has been quite a few months since my last post. It's not that I had too little to show you, even though it was deep winter here in upstate New York, USA, but rather that I have been unable to find the time to post! An explanation of what I have been up to is at the end of this post.
Last fall I planted 100 tulip bulbs in my tiny yard, and this spring I got quite the pay off!
The rest of this post will be largely about what I have learned regarding what I, Owasco, should be planting so that I can feed Owasco all year.
One important lesson I have learned about growing my own food is that I must grow stuff I will actually eat! Figuring out what to plant that will actually sustain me during the winter, in addition to providing me with fresh veggies during the growing season, is critical. For instance, tomatoes are big in nearly all food gardens, but in my diet, they are a minor ingredient. I eat them raw only in the summer and now and then as highlights in winter dishes - no big tomato sauce dishes for me! Just one or two plants is enough, one to eat fresh from the garden in high summer, and another to dehydrate for quick tomato additions to pasta dishes. Another example is that two years ago I managed to pickle 21 quarts of cucumbers, only to discover that I don't eat very many cucumber pickles - I have 12 quarts left two years later, and I gave quite a few away. After several years of devoting far too much of my tiny garden to tomatoes and cukes, I will save a lot of space for other foods, such as green veggies and sweet potatoes, which I had to buy this past winter, that are far more important to me.
Last year was the first year I tried to store root veggies for winter use. I did quite well! Just last night I mashed the last of my potatoes, I still have some mushy garlic, one large shallot, and a few nice hard onions. I've finished off the last of my frozen non-fruit vegetables, but still have loads of frozen raspberries - I'll be giving a lot more of those away this year, and I hope to freeze more veggies for quick meals during the winter.
Here's a really easy recipe for you, while I try to channel @riverflows and her fabulous cooking skills.
An innovation on an American classic,
Macaroni Salad
I almost never follow recipes in the kitchen, except for when I am canning or making baked goods. Most of my dishes are made with whatever I have in the kitchen. This salad is composed of my very first harvest of the year, a handful of chervil. I also used white beans that were grown and dried by one of my daughters, the last of my home-grown shallots, garlic, and carrots, and one surprise ingredient - raw Harukai turnips! The dish was surprisingly good.
In brief: soak the beans overnight, then cook them in salted water until tender but not falling apart, about one hour for great northern beans. Cook the macaroni and cool. Chop chervil, garlic and shallots. Dice the carrots and turnips very small.
Put all cooled and cut ingredients into a bowl. Drizzle with a fair amount of a very good white vinegar (I used white balsamic), a little excellent olive oil, enough salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
Now for the mixing. I had overcooked the beans just a tiny bit, and was worried they might become mushy had I stirred this all together, so I whipped out an old trick. When faced with the possibilty that your ingredients will lose their shapes in a dish, do not stir! (think avocados, cooked potatoes, cut tomatoes etc) Rather, toss the whole shebang back and forth between two bowls of nearly the same size until well mixed. Your ingredients will retain their shape and defined margins, and you will have one fewer utensils to wash. (Of course, there will be that extra bowl...)
Taste, adjust seasoning if necessary, and serve. I like macaroni salad best when served soon after preparation, but this did taste just fine the next day, after refrigeration.
Why have I been so absent? It's all good! I have been studying to become a bonafide homeopath with Joette Calabrese, and my studies are sucking up a great deal of my time. Time I used to spend here on Hive, I now spend learning how to treat any ailment you can think of, from splinters to heart attacks. You can do this for yourselves, your friends, and your families, too. Go to her blog and search for anything you would like help with. Chances are very good you will find some free information on exactly what to do to remove some suffering from your world.
This is my entry to Hive Garden Community's monthly garden challenge for May 2025.
That's wonderful @owasco! I'm sure you must be learning a whole lot about health issues! I've gone to a couple of homeopaths over the years when I've had health problems that I know doctors cannot treat effectively, always been very happy with the outcome.
Enjoy, and thank you for sharing that link and the recipe!
I'm so glad to hear you've had such good experiences with homeopathy. So far, I have helped myself with bunnions, arthritis and sleeplessness. Homeopathy is the medicine we thought we were getting. It's painfully obvious now that the USs conventional medicine is more interested in getting us on as many of their drugs as possible, and for life. I hear that homeopathy is more highly regarded in other countries. I'd love to hear more about what your experience with it has been.
My medical aid sets aside a limited fund for 'alternative' healthcare.
My first wow moment was when my son had quite a bad femur fracture at the age of 2. He was supposed to be in traction for 5 weeks, & then a week to learn to walk again. I was seeing a homeopath for allergy and sinus issues at the time. She gave me one tablet(comfrey, the knitbone herb she called it) to give to him (obviously not in front of the nurses)
At the 4th week x-ray they took him off the traction, the fracture was totally healed, a whole week sooner than expected.
I believe alkaloid-free comfrey tea helped heal my fractured ankle so quickly, they couldn't even see where the fracture was after 4 weeks.
A homeopath also helped wean me off antidepressants.
Some say the biggest killer is MD! A harsh statement but the fact that we're put onto chronic meds when we have mild symptoms, is criminal in my opinion!
I admire doctors who do not over-prescribe, but there aren't many.
Enjoy your journey of finding and treating the cause, not just the symptoms!
I'm so delighted that you had these experiences!
Symphytum would have been the remedy's name for knitbone and it is made from comfrey. I'm taking it now for arthritis, and it has made an incredible difference. That one is useful, as are all the remedies, for a great many ailments.
I just recently learned a protocol for weaning someone off anti-depressants. Can't remember it off the top of my head. Boy do I wish I had known what I now know back when Niko was suffering so.
I need to find a good homeopath in my area, the one I used to see is a little too far! My friend who tore a ligament is taking Symphytum. Would it help with joint pain due to bone density loss?
Symphytum definitely would be a remedy to consider. The bone loss could even be ameliorated. If a ligament is torn Ruta graveolens would likely be very helpful. Hypericum perforatum for the pain. Go here and use the search bar under the blog tab for any condition you need help with. Here's a link directly to her blog post about what to do for all of those conditions. Free free free. It's very easy to get the remedies, and they are inexpensive. This is not only a medicine that actually heals, it is also one we can easily administer to ourselves, and for peanuts.
Insomnia?
#sleeplessness
What natural remedies help with insomnia?
I've tried melatonin, valerian, lion's mane, L-threonate, m-glycinate, etc etc etc.
But not Z-factor or the others advertised on the radio as "all natural" (expensive too).
There are many remedies for insomnia. I finally had success with my third try. It's not all better two months later but it is much improved. I used to have nearly sleepless nights every night. I would fall asleep easily, but be unable to get back to sleep until dawn when I woke, which I did every night. Now, after two months of the thrid remedy, I sleep through the night once a week, am able to get back to sleep most nights, and only have to read for an hour before getting back to sleep a couple times a week. This does not work like valium, it actually uproots the condition, specific to you, that causes your insomnia. REally cool stuff.
Tell me more about what your insomnia is like, so I can better choose a remedy for you. Do you have trouble falling asleep? Do you wake at a certain time? Is there something that causes you to wake, such as dreams or noises? Do you start suddenly awake? What do you think or feel at the time? Are there any bodily sensations. such as sweating, chilliness, itch? Gotta pee? Anything you can think of, tell me. Email is better, unless you wanna go public with private stuff!
Yay welcome back!
We kept the lights on for you and it is great to see that you have had a progressive and educational few months. Sharing your homeopathic lessons on hive may be a great addition to your blog and contribution to the blockchain.
As far as tomatoes go, I am quite the same as you but I do have tomato sauces in the winter. I would suggest early girls (shorter growth to harvest) beefsteak (great on sandwiches) cherry tomatoes for snacks and salads, and Roma for preserving for winter/sauces.
Let’s garden. Welcome back!!
Hello! I can't promise I'll be posting very often again, but it's nice to get this one up.
I have always grown Brandywine tomatoes for fresh eating. I love them. My problem is that most tomato plants get so large they block precious sun on anything near them. This year I'm going to try a different variety, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye, which are supposed to be of small stature. I'm still trying to decide which cooking variety to plant, possibly Hungarian Hearts which do get large as plants (but not as large as Amish paste), but produce ENORMOUS fruits that are very easy to peel. Perhaps a roma. I'd better get cracking on starting those!
Thanks for the welcome back. It feels good to have posted.
Tulips looks stunning but no you can't eat them, perhaps raised gardens for more growing.
Great to see you again, learning what you enjoy and want out of life and the garden, always learning that is what makes life so interesting.
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Thanks Joan! The tulips put a big smile on my face whenever I looked at them, a different kind of nourishment. They were not, however, good for cutting boo hoo. I'm so happy I tried it. Now I have to hope they come back year after year, as they should for this variety.
I have one 8 by 2 foot elevated planter that I plan to put bush beans in. They are such a back breaking veggie to harvest, I think elevating them will help me enjoy them more, and all year long because they freeze so well.
Tulips are soul food, would also smile with joy seeing those faces dancing on a breeze. Planting what you eat will saving in the pocket. Food everywhere has become expensive, the joy of growing ones own is rewarding. Have a wonderful day and great to see you back writing.
Well, well, well, so reports of your demise have been severely exaggerated!
I've come to more or less the same conclusion as you have, I'm growing far too much food. The chickens were munching on cucumbers all the way to November.
haha. I don't have those critters any more, but I'm sure I would be doing the same.
Who has been talking about me?! (maybe I need some Aurum metallicum to combat my paranoia)
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you!
You're far too far advanced for me
I've only made it to lesson three
So Aurum metallicum's unknown to me
But I do know my fever ABC.
lemme see if I remember - aconitum, belladonna, chamomile
Correct, of course.
Aurum is super important for depression, especially but by no means exclusively, for men. I think of your brother often when I encounter it. Might be of interest and help.
Thanks. I'll have a look.
That macaroni salad looks really good, and your tulips don't look too bad either lol. That trick of mixing your beans without crushing them is new to me. Just goes to show you absolutely can teach an old dog new tricks :D
Thanks! And try it, you'll never use a spoon to mix a final mixture again.
You can't be older than I am!
lol sometimes I feel like Methusela's mother and other times I'm ready to take the training wheels off.
I am so happy to see your post. How cool for you to be studying to be a homeopath, now if you could find the spare time to write about what you are learning will make interesting posts.
My husband and I are the same with our gardening, we do not grow what we will not eat.
How lucky you are to grow tulips, my kids buy them for me on special occasions, I wish they would not do this. The stores sell them down here because it is too hot for them to grow.
Tulips are so cheerful! Here, I am lucky, because my yard is fenced and deer can't get in to eat them.
Lovely to see you @owasco! I am not on much either, but always nice to see some friendly faces when I get the chance. Sounds like some wonderful studying going on there!
I try to keep adjusting what we grow to make the most room for what we actually enjoy eating, but sometimes one thing over another just decides to take over. Last year I couldn't give enough eggplant away. We still haven't ever grown enough to put much away, but we keep adding more beds to expand our production!
Wow - you have a LEGIT excuse for not being on HIVE, and what a calling - this suits you to the very bone! I bet you wish you'd started a while ago, but I know life circumstances may not have been conducive to it. Things happen when they happen. The meal looks delicious! And yes, pickled cukes - I've just thrown three jars in the compost in disgust. I don't even like them.
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Tulips!! Splendid!!! Years ago I planted a hundred bulbs, and all but one (in rocky soil) got eaten by voles or moles or mice.
One important lesson I have learned about growing my own food is that I must grow stuff I will actually eat!
Oh I love that - YES!
Reminds me of the cartoon where the old couple ("Pickles") sneak around leaving zucchini at doorsteps and in unlocked cars.
This sounds like a plan! become a bonafide homeopath with Joette Calabrese
Thanks for the fab photos and fun updates!