Victory Garden 2012

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Originally Posted by FTIII

I do like your idea of canning with a small hot pepper what kind?

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Whatever you can get in the bottle!

ETA:

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Originally Posted by FTIII

I do like your idea of canning with a small hot pepper what kind? and will darn sure give that one a try. Some of the best growing veges we can grow here are the greens due to the cooler nights in this part of the country. I'm always looking for new things to try and your pepper in greens is a new one to me, sounds great.

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Having re-read your post, the pepper vinegar isn't added during canning. It's added after cooking! Use whatever peppers you like, mild to wild. When the juice is gone out of the jar, add some vinegar again to whatever peppers are left. Let sit as long as possible and it ought to be as good or better the next time or three! A few jars in rotation works well. The flavor's good even after the peppers get a bit "less than fresh" looking.

Whilst it's still March, some photos from the 21st and maybe a day or three later:

Grass is stating to grow (Not my grass, BTW!):

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More flowers. I like 'em, but I don't buy 'em! Plenty enough to go around in my yard as it is.

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I did "liberate" some trillium from the woods while turkey hunting a few years back. It seems to do well around the shady spots. A little more each year.
Looks like next year's new camo pattern!

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Ancient dogwoods.

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About the best smelling plant in the woods!

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I've no idea. But it's interesting looking.

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How can I keep the brickwork "sanitary" when these and other little beauties insist on growing where they "ought not"? Just gotta be careful where you step.

Tomato plant report fairly soon. Beans in early this year. Figured it might not freeze again! But the spinach is a no show! Very odd...

Where I grew up the collards were chopped up before cooking and then removed from the water afterward. Just before serving they were put into a skillet with a little bit of lard and stirred as they were refried. Hard to beat; lots of vitamin K, so if you're on an anticoagulant you might want to limit your intake or your blood will turn to mud. The water they were cooked in is referred to as "pot liquor" and is drunk from a cup, usually with the help of some good cornbread. The only thing which will get me to the table quicker is a good squirrel gravy over my grits and eggs.

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[I]I've no idea. But it's interesting looking.

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That one is a Columbine.

Many decades ago my first wife's family had a small alfalfa seed farm in SW ID and asparagus grew like weeds there; hardly anyone cared about it but my wife and I would drive the distance from Mtn. Home in our MGB and fill the small boot with brown-paper bags of asparagus to take home and share with friends. I still love asparagus above all other kinds of 'greens'. Beet greens are another favorite of mine; local 'green grocer' saves them for me - folks up here don't want to haul them home on the beets. Rutabaga (peel on a lathe with an spokeshave, simmer for 2 months) and kohlrabi are favorites for us old-timers, along with parsnips and turnips up here in northern MN. I love Brussel sprouts but my wife won't tolerate being cooked when she is in the house (same for fine liver and onions). jmoore; I'm looking to see your fabulous tomato garden again this year! So, why do I live up here if I so love garden procuce? It's the Loons and Mergansers and Wood Ducks (not that I eat them - I provide the nesting).

Aspen catkins are developing. Ice went off the lake one week ago, earliest ice-out we've ever had. I can recall ice still thick enough to walk on at fishing openers (typically Mothers' Day) for many years. Had a storm a few days before that drove 10" thick half-ton slabs of it up onto my shore-line. Crocus are peeking up now through the just-thawed ground.

Anybody hungry? How bout some BBQ'd deer loin and fried onions fresh from the garden seasoned with a little bacon.

Have had to split up the onion clumps again. Now they're going to seed. Smallish, but not too firey.

Oh, and it's snowing. -Dogwood petals! A blizzard of white and pink.

Still freezing here at night. Must have 2 foot of snow to melt off yet. I wish that global warming would show it's face in Fairbanks!

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Originally Posted by vintage hunter

Anybody hungry? How bout some BBQ'd deer loin and fried onions fresh from the garden seasoned with a little bacon.

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Had some vacuum sealed 2006:eek: vintage deer ham steaks last weekend. Wasn't expecting much, but they were excellent! That vacuum sealer is an absolute wonder when used carefully.

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Originally Posted by Old Soldier

Still freezing here at night. Must have 2 foot of snow to melt off yet. I wish that global warming would show it's face in Fairbanks!

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The only "blizzard" at our house this year:

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Dogwood petals! Swept up big piles of 'em!

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Some future food:

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Way early to plant beans, but there's lots of seed in reserve.

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Blueberries already

Onion Kapow!
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Tomatoes are going slow, though:
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What type of vaccum sealer do you have JM? I've been using the ZIPLOC vacuum bags for several years. They work ok but are'nt much for long term storage. By the time deer season opens up in August my stocks from the previous year are gettting low anyway so no real dramas there. Soon as I get a spare moment I'll post some pics of Asparagus when it's fully grown for those who've never seen it.