Cohutt's Garden 5th Try (2013)

[cohutt]

It is January now so here we go again.

Between wedding of my daughter, the holidays and two knock down viruses, December was a lost month for garden work and planning.

However, the hoop house seems to be doing just fine with minimal attention with temperatures falling into the mid-20s of late.

I had forgotten about the artichoke plant that had been covered some time back with row cover for an additional level of cold protection.  One day last week I was out picking greens and checked what was going on under the row cover and was surprised and how much the plant has grown in the last 6 weeks: 





(Also, I have two water barrels adjacent to the plant that really help retain whatever modest heat is available overnight)

You can also see the 18 month old kale stems I thought were dead that have come back to life; these are sending out enough new growth than I am concerned about the competition to the artichoke....

Who knew?  I may have some serious chokes next spring.

[Jeremy Downing]

Your garden is my inspiration.  Thank you. 

[Terroir Seeds]

I love those photos, cohutt, with the artichoke still going strong and the kale coming back again! I will have to use this as an example of what can be done with fairly modest means - a hoophouse and not an expensive glass greenhouse. Great work, I'm looking forward to seeing how things progress this year.

[cohutt]

Thanks guys- I appreciate that people still enjoy the "progress" in my backyard adventure.   

The hoophouse is about $50-60 of materials tops.  Makes a big difference even for those plants that would survive outside of it.

Terroir, I've noticed with both kale and chard that the long "spent" stems/trunks of well picked plants aren't spent at all; given some time to recover they come back alive and sent multiple new side stems/leaf clusters.  It is like having a half dozen young plants all drawing on a single root superstructure.   Go figure- being lazy and somewhat curious sometimes pays off...

[Nicodemus]

It's always great to see a plant that you kind of relegated to the back of your mind thriving like that.

I look forward to a new season of following your gardening endeavors, cohutt! Your work is inspirational!

[LibertyBelle]

Beautiful as always...even in the dead of winter. 

[Terroir Seeds]

I've seen the same "regeneration" effect work with cabbage as well. Cut the head a bit tall or "proud" on the stalk and leave the root structure with some leaves attached and a couple of weeks later you'll see baby cabbages sprouting up around the ring of the roots.

[cohutt]

I've seen the same "regeneration" effect work with cabbage as well. Cut the head a bit tall or "proud" on the stalk and leave the root structure with some leaves attached and a couple of weeks later you'll see baby cabbages sprouting up around the ring of the roots.

I think Jack actually talked about the mini cabbage regrowth once about 800 episodes ago lol

Along those lines I harvested a cabbage tonight to snack on as side dishes for the next few evenings.  This is a good cabbage year here- the heads are very dense and well formed, ie perfectly round.

[ForgedPatriot]

Thanks for posting all this! The wife and I are getting serious about it this year. we will be doing at least two square foot garden beds in the back yard this spring!

[cohutt]

Thanks for posting all this! The wife and I are getting serious about it this year. we will be doing at least two square foot garden beds in the back yard this spring!

Be warned you can get a little carried away ha

[cohutt]

this is the winter of cabbage abundance- 11 lbs this one is.... 

There are another 9 or 10 remaining

[Nicodemus]

Fermented Sauerkraut!!! 

[Cedar]

I've seen the same "regeneration" effect work with cabbage as well. Cut the head a bit tall or "proud" on the stalk and leave the root structure with some leaves attached and a couple of weeks later you'll see baby cabbages sprouting up around the ring of the roots.

I always cut an "X" in the top of the remaining stalk after I cut the main head off cabbage or cauli. It will produce 4 smaller ones which are JUST AS EDIBLE! *Yum*

Cedar

[cohutt]

The "double split", I've been forgetting to do that thanks Cedar

[Terroir Seeds]

I hadn't heard about that tip, thanks Cedar! I will have to pass this one along to our customers.

[LvsChant]

I just got a new 3 gallon sauerkraut crock... that cabbage reminds me of the need to find some good cabbage to get it started

Very impressive, Cohutt1

[cohutt]

I just got a new 3 gallon sauerkraut crock... that cabbage reminds me of the need to find some good cabbage to get it started

Very impressive, Cohutt1

My mother has a half dozen and has decided that I need one for my first sauerkraut batch.

Works for me. 

[LvsChant]

a half dozen crocks or cabbages??? haha. Hope to see your review of your sauerkraut escapades...

[cohutt]

a half dozen crocks or cabbages??? haha. Hope to see your review of your sauerkraut escapades...

Crocks.  Cabbages-R-Us here @ cohutt's     

Update on things....

Cold Saturday here yesterday where it was close to 20 in the morning and never got much above 35 all day with only a few minutes of sun now and then.   Sleet off and most of the day followed by what I call "liquid arthritis", ie rain when the temp is under 40. 
Around noon I went out to the hoop-house to find something green to eat for dinner and found it to be a little too warm (and very humid), which never ceases to amaze me....  the two water barrels in one corner keep the artichoke plant growing without even a frost on it.  So I opened the door for the balance of the day and the temp stayed well above "ambient" conditions outside and the humidity got better.
But i digress......

I decided to pull on the the remaining Bok Choi (joy choi) and combine it with other items from the garden (garlic, onlion, broccoli shoots) for a big stir-fry.  This was super sweet and mild, no bitterness at all.





Winter in Georgia is perfect for all cabbages. 

Also I wanted to bake some sort of bread yesterday but didn't get started in time for any of my usuals.  I figured a flatbread might be worth trying ( 2 hrs before dinner).   I figured this qualifies as from the garden (sort of) since i added a tablespoon of fresh picked/ chopped thyme leaves from the icy outdoors at the last minute. 

I baked for 6 minutes in 500 oven on preheated tiles; it turned out well- good stuff, but some turned into hollow blowfish (look at the one on the left lol) :



This stuff was simple an relatively quick; tonight we will stuff something or other in it and call it dinner.  After the bread cooled, the puffed ones pressed down easily without damage and are perfect "natural" pockets, no need for slicing.





 

[Theswerd]

...  After the bread cooled, the puffed ones pressed down easily without damage and are perfect "natural" pockets, no need for slicing.

Do you think there might be a way to force that to happen naturally? Maybe fold the dough over in half and pinch the edges together before baking? I dunno if it would work, but it seems like something worth playing with. (Maybe if we used an olive oil coating on the inside to get them from sticking together... Hrm... drat, now the gears are turning.)




*edited for spelling

[cohutt]

Do you think there might be a way to force that to happen naturally? Maybe fold the dough over in half and pinch the edges together before baking? I dunno if it would work, but it seems like something worth playing with. (Maybe if we used an olive oil coating on the inside to get them from sticking together... Hrm... drat, now the gears are turning.)




*edited for spelling

the basic recipes usually call for it being cooked on a skillet and i saw a couple of notes saying it poofed on hot stones in the oven. so i think you are looking at the auto method.  note the flatter ones opened easily too

[Roswell]

Damn it Cohutt! You are at it again and making me feel like a sloth.    Seriously dude, you are a real inspiration.  Keep up the good work my friend.

[cohutt]

Damn it Cohutt! You are at it again and making me feel like a sloth.    Seriously dude, you are a real inspiration.  Keep up the good work my friend.

Thanks Ros-  come see again sometime


Artichoke thriving in the hoop house

[cohutt]

I went away for almost a week and returned to find my lettuce/ chard soil block seedlings doing very well.  I flooded the trays the day I left and the lights are on a timer; the blocks were still moist today and the plants were noticeably larger.



Funny, while I was out I worried more about these seedlings than work.   Ha.

[LvsChant]

Can't wait until I can try out my soil block maker...

[Cedar]

Funny, while I was out I worried more about these seedlings than work.   Ha.

Do you find after you plant seed trays that you check on them every 20 minutes to see if they came up yet??? LOL. I do.

Cedar

[cohutt]

Do you find after you plant seed trays that you check on them every 20 minutes to see if they came up yet??? LOL. I do.

Cedar

Ha not quite there yet.  Give me time though.

 I will obsess on some things one year and different things the next.  I am not in control of my garden's destiny;  I have figured out I'm just a pawn of nature's whims.

[Downeastwaves]

Enjoyed peeking at your garden. A bit of ground has appeared from its blanket of show after the rain last night...sigh...hope it is an early spring. I'm ready!

[cohutt]

Thanks.

Snow. Ugh. 
No thank you.

[cohutt]

Leeks-
I never paid much attention to them in the produce section but from the garden in the dead of (Georgia's) winter, nothing else comes close.



Getting ready for a large batch of soup: