What about eating?

[Shellyann36]

Oh boy.... peas (field & green) , beans,( all kinds), cucumbers, beets, lettuce (all kinds) tomatoes, squash (several varieites), broccoli, cabbage, peppers (several kinds) carrots, onions,potatoes, garlic, corn, avocados, bananas, apples, berries(seveal kinds) grapes, Oh my list could go on and on. I do so enjoy fresh produce and we eat quite a bit.

One of my homesteading forums posted a similar question about starting a garden for newbies. The first question to ask yourself is what do you like to eat and start with that in your garden.

For suppers we use alot of potatoes, carrots, onions, green peas, green beans, garlic and tomatoes. If we were to plant those things in huge quantities and can/freeze/dehydrate them we would have quite a bit of our grocery shopping taken care of. Those are just the basics though.

If only I had the wisdom, space, time and cash to devote to a truly self sustaining garden I would be in heaven or rather up to my armpits in plants and produce!

 

[ChanellG]

This is so true, I absolutely adore raw peas, they're one of the most delicious vegetables. I can't get enough of them, during sumer I eat them all the time, I can eat 1kg per day or more. Yummy! I usually buy them though, if I wanted to grow them on my own, I would have to have a whole field of peas to fulfil my needs

Wow, Claudine, if you like them, they must really be good. I only like green peas, not black-eyed or any of those other varieties. I'll have try and plan for them for next year.

...One of my homesteading forums posted a similar question about starting a garden for newbies. The first question to ask yourself is what do you like to eat and start with that in your garden...

If only I had the wisdom, space, time and cash to devote to a truly self sustaining garden I would be in heaven or rather up to my armpits in plants and produce!

I have tried stuff I like eating in the past, but never had success with anything other than herbs and flowers because of insufficient whatever (Space, sun, fertilizer...). Hopefully that is changing now. I've done okay with my grandfather's okra, and even though the tomatoes and peppers haven't produced, they've survived the summer heat now that I've taken over their care.

I'm trying beets and zucchini and I have my volunteer tomato plant from the compost. I have some sweet potato slips, but I've decided they are on their own, lol. If they survive in the compost and produce potatoes I'll be over the moon; if not, c'est la vie.

 

[headfullofbees]

Okay, I'm intrigued by the idea of pea candy. It's been so long since I had almond butter... I don't remember being knocked out by it, and I really love almonds. I also love hazelnuts so the two of them together intrigues me further. Hmmm...



They were out of spinach at the nursery, but I do have seed I can try. I may do a couple bean plants just as an experiment to see how they do and plan for down the road, but what I'd really like is to have more greens.

Spinach starts very easily from seed.
Throw a few seeds in a pot of compost, cover with a little more, water as you wait. Hey presto!

 

[claudine]

Wow, Claudine, if you like them, they must really be good. I only like green peas, not black-eyed or any of those other varieties. I'll have try and plan for them for next year.

My whole family loves eating raw peas, even our little dog loves them. Peas husks are edible too, you just have to wash them carefully and remove the hard part from the inside.

 

[ChanellG]

Spinach starts very easily from seed.
Throw a few seeds in a pot of compost, cover with a little more, water as you wait. Hey presto!

Will have to keep that in mind. I've been having trouble starting seeds indoors recently, I think it's not warm enough, but when I cloche them they mildew instantly. I have to come up with a protected system for starting them outdoors.

My whole family loves eating raw peas, even our little dog loves them. Peas husks are edible too, you just have to wash them carefully and remove the hard part from the inside.

This reminds me of when I learned about eating snow pea leaves. I don't think I would go through the trouble of removing the hard parts of the husks just to have something else to eat, but I could use them to make vegetable stock, couldn't I?

 

[Shellyann36]

Wow, Claudine, if you like them, they must really be good. I only like green peas, not black-eyed or any of those other varieties. I'll have try and plan for them for next year.



I have tried stuff I like eating in the past, but never had success with anything other than herbs and flowers because of insufficient whatever (Space, sun, fertilizer...). Hopefully that is changing now. I've done okay with my grandfather's okra, and even though the tomatoes and peppers haven't produced, they've survived the summer heat now that I've taken over their care.

I'm trying beets and zucchini and I have my volunteer tomato plant from the compost. I have some sweet potato slips, but I've decided they are on their own, lol. If they survive in the compost and produce potatoes I'll be over the moon; if not, c'est la vie.

I have had quite a bit of success in the past with tomatoes, peppers, basil and field peas. Okra has been soso as well and even squash. I always seem to have an over abundance of things that I don't care for that much. Someone gave us some polebeans (can't even remember their name) and they were a huge success last year. We ate so many of them that by the end of summer I could not stand to look at them. We love potatoes and onions here but our potato and onion crops have always been dismal at best. I keep telling myself that one of these days I am going to get it right!

You keep working on it and one day you will get it right too. I think that sometimes I get burned out on it because I am working at it too hard. It has gone from a happy pasttime to a chore at times. After that happens it is time to step back and take a bit of a break.

 

[claudine]

This reminds me of when I learned about eating snow pea leaves. I don't think I would go through the trouble of removing the hard parts of the husks just to have something else to eat, but I could use them to make vegetable stock, couldn't I?

I'm afraid that even if you cook them, the hard parts of the husks still will be impossible to chew. But I honestly don't know too much about cooking, so I may be wrong. I just know that raw peas and raw husks are the most delicious and worth any effort

 

[ChanellG]

I'm afraid that even if you cook them, the hard parts of the husks still will be impossible to chew. But I honestly don't know too much about cooking, so I may be wrong. I just know that raw peas and raw husks are the most delicious and worth any effort

If I use them to make stock, I'll just boil them along with the other scraps. I've stopped adding olive oil to the stock so that I can compost the solids after the stock is done. Boiling them will allow me to use them for flavor before recycling them in the compost - that's if I venture into growing them or happen upon them at the farmer's market. I've only ever seen snow peas for sale at the grocery though.

 

[ChanellG]

...You keep working on it and one day you will get it right too. I think that sometimes I get burned out on it because I am working at it too hard. It has gone from a happy pasttime to a chore at times. After that happens it is time to step back and take a bit of a break.

I know! Some of the easiest things to grow - like peppers and okra - are among the few things I do not like to eat. I have another volunteer tomato plant coming up in one of my flower pots. It's in with the milkweed and I am trying to figure out how it got there. I'm also trying to figure out how I am going to get it out of there without harming the roots of either plant; it may have to be sacrificed.

 

[claudine]

If I use them to make stock, I'll just boil them along with the other scraps. I've stopped adding olive oil to the stock so that I can compost the solids after the stock is done. Boiling them will allow me to use them for flavor before recycling them in the compost - that's if I venture into growing them or happen upon them at the farmer's market. I've only ever seen snow peas for sale at the grocery though.

Oh, okay, I understand now. I've never tried making vegetable stock and somehow I thought that it's something like a soup with cooked vegetables in it, and that it's already a meal ready to be eaten
What is the difference between snow peas and regular green peas? Snow peas are smaller, aren't they?

 

[ChanellG]

Oh, okay, I understand now. I've never tried making vegetable stock and somehow I thought that it's something like a soup with cooked vegetables in it, and that it's already a meal ready to be eaten
What is the difference between snow peas and regular green peas? Snow peas are smaller, aren't they?

With snow peas you eat the whole pod.

Stock is the base for a soup. It is what gives it flavor. If you just have boiled water with vegetables your soup will be rather bland, but if you save vegetable scraps through the week and boil them for an hour in water, you can strain the liquid and use it to make soup.

 

[Shellyann36]

I know! Some of the easiest things to grow - like peppers and okra - are among the few things I do not like to eat. I have another volunteer tomato plant coming up in one of my flower pots. It's in with the milkweed and I am trying to figure out how it got there. I'm also trying to figure out how I am going to get it out of there without harming the roots of either plant; it may have to be sacrificed.

Oh goodness you are from New Orleans and you don't like okra? LOL Just kidding! Okra is one of those things that takes getting use to . Does it look like the tomato is going to push the milkweed out and take up too much room? Would it be too bad to leave them both in there? I looked in my companion planting book and it lists milkweed as a weed and does not offer any suggestions for planting it with vegetables. Under the tomato section it does not include milkweed in the do's or don'ts. Good luck at figuring it out.

 

[ChanellG]

Oh goodness you are from New Orleans and you don't like okra? ...Does it look like the tomato is going to push the milkweed out and take up too much room?

I'm from New Orleans and I don't eat bell pepper, ugh! In fact, I don't eat a lot of the things that are popular here. I prefer my food healthy!

I have milkweed solely for the purpose of perpetuating monarch butterflies. There is no way the tomato would survive in the pot with the milkweed. I'm going to have to take it out of the habitat, give it a good soaking and liberate the tomato seedling. I'm kind of curious to see what kind of fruit it would produce, if any.

 

[TheCrazyPlantLady]

I have had quite a bit of success in the past with tomatoes, peppers, basil and field peas. Okra has been soso as well and even squash. I always seem to have an over abundance of things that I don't care for that much. Someone gave us some polebeans (can't even remember their name) and they were a huge success last year. We ate so many of them that by the end of summer I could not stand to look at them. We love potatoes and onions here but our potato and onion crops have always been dismal at best. I keep telling myself that one of these days I am going to get it right!

You keep working on it and one day you will get it right too. I think that sometimes I get burned out on it because I am working at it too hard. It has gone from a happy pasttime to a chore at times. After that happens it is time to step back and take a bit of a break.

speaking of things that won't grow - my very favourite garden vegetable is carrots, because I love the sweet crunchiness, and they store really well. And after planting 5 rows, staggered through the spring, I'm not sure that I'm going to get a single carrot!

 

[ChanellG]

speaking of things that won't grow - my very favourite garden vegetable is carrots, because I love the sweet crunchiness, and they store really well. And after planting 5 rows, staggered through the spring, I'm not sure that I'm going to get a single carrot!

I love carrots raw or cooked. I started some seeds at the beginning of the summer; they sprouted, I got all excited, then they disappeared. I don't think they even reached one inch tall before they were devoured. I'd like to try again, but I need a way to protect them.