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Post by Mini Mia on Jun 1, 2015 18:45:20 GMT -6
I mentioned having a container garden on her side deck, and she said she thought about doing it every now and again. I know she loves okra, green beans, tomatoes ... I thought those might work well in a container. Plus maybe potatoes. She loves new potatoes in her green beans.
She didn't say no, but she didn't say yes either. If not this summer, maybe next. If I remember to bring it up earlier.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 2, 2015 6:16:17 GMT -6
Oh-my-gosh! Who doesn't?!
Oh! And new potatoes with fresh sweet peas too! Reminds me that I should stop by the berry farm on the way home from work; they always have shelled sweet peas this time of year.
We didn't plant potatoes (yet?). Hubs put in three times as many beans as we normally grow because we always run out mid-way through winter of the batches I blanch and freeze. I had planned to do the potatoes in large 20 gallon nursery pots, but I never got around to buying seed potatoes, and don't know if I can still find them.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jun 2, 2015 18:17:05 GMT -6
I don't believe I've ever had new potatoes in green peas, fresh or otherwise. I do love them in green beans. And smothered in butter.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 3, 2015 5:55:23 GMT -6
Oh, new potatoes and sweet peas are the bomb. Boiled until just tender, with a little salt, pepper, and butter...ahhhh, springtime heaven on a plate.
Lots to do today. I brought home another yard of mulch, and it's been sitting in the bed of the truck since Monday; I haven't had time to spread it because first I've got to weed, dig stuff up, transplant, as well as plant new stuff. Did the front three beds last week; hoping to get one more done today, and start on another.
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Post by stepper on Jun 3, 2015 17:54:30 GMT -6
You nearly got it right that time. Here how I'd say it... "Oh, new potatoes and shrimp are the bomb! Broiled and boiled until just tender, with a little salt, pepper, and butter...ahhhh, springtime heaven on a plate." See how much better that is?? And when the shrimp comes in several forms and you are at Red Lobster, it's as close to heaven on a plate that you can get.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 9, 2015 7:40:23 GMT -6
Oh, I love shrimp. I can't ever remember eating it with potatoes, though - I've most often had it served with either pasta or rice, and I do prefer some kind of green vegetable along with. I got the smaller of the two vegetable gardens mulched on my last day off. The other one doesn't need mulching, but this one has the asparagus, blackberries, an arbor with the grapevine, a small start from one of the big roses I tore out of the front beds last year, and some narrow paths around and between two raised beds - one filled with kale and beets, and the other with strawberries. Hubs picked a whole big bowl of the first strawberries of the season yesterday afternoon before the rain hit and turned them to mush. I like a pretty vegetable garden, and I think this one fills the bill....except for the ugly flexible downspout snaking through it, although it is better than having the garden flood out after a heavy rain. I've got the day off today since I worked Sunday. Still lots to do out there, and wondering where to start.
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Post by stepper on Jun 9, 2015 18:08:14 GMT -6
It was some kind of baby potato salad that included small shrimp - sorry, I'm not sure how it was flavored but they had done something half subtle to it. Clearly flavored but I couldn't figure out how or with what. I thought there was a slight hint of lemon but it was very slight. I'm a bit prejudiced though - I love shrimp even when it's over garlicky.
I found this on the Food Network web site
Ingredients 2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered 2 teaspoons salt, divided and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 pound medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (the salad I had used small shrimp) 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 3 shallots, finely chopped 1 small bunch oregano, leaves only, finely chopped 3 tablespoons capers 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Directions Place the potatoes in a bowl and rinse them with slowly running cold water until the water runs clear. Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with fresh water. Add 1 teaspoon salt and bring up to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the potatoes are almost tender but not flaking. Drain in a colander.
In a heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shrimp and saute for 2 minutes, tossing every 30 seconds or so. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more, or until shrimps are pink. Do not overcook.
Transfer the shrimp to a large bowl and add the potatoes. Add the olive oil, shallots, oregano, capers, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and toss together until evenly mixed. Serve on tiny plates or in small ramekins.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 10, 2015 6:02:01 GMT -6
I love the Food Network! The recipe sounds good, except for the capers; I dislike them, and would probably leave them out. Got a lot done outside yesterday...not as much as I wanted to, but what I did was time consuming. Ripped out 5 large boxwood from the hillside garden, and one huge itea ( plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/itea-virginica/ ) from the bed in front of the house. The the boxwood and itea in the other gardens are doing fine, but the ones I dug out bore the brunt of the winter winds, and haven't fared well through the past two winters. Though I trimmed out all the dead wood, I was tired of looking at them languishing away. Nearly broke my back in the process, and I did break a shovel. Hubs was quite impressed and said he'd never seen a shovel break like that; the handle didn't break, but the metal actually bent and split. Thinking about loading up the carcasses and dumping them in the brush pile at work today, picking up a fothergilla I've picked out as a replacement for the front bed, and a load of topsoil to fill in the holes; though I hate to go in on my day off (I usually end up helping a customer or two while I'm there), I really want to get this stuff done, especially in the front bed, which is visible from the street. I've already got a huge fothergilla ( www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/shrub/fothergilla/ ) planted there, and I love it; another will be a nice complement. Though this one is a bit smaller, it's still really big...not quite sure how I'm going to handle it; like Q, Hubs has re-injured his rotator cuff, and won't be able to help. Wondering if I'll succeed in breaking my back this time.
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Post by stepper on Jun 10, 2015 18:41:52 GMT -6
Sort like me and the "S" word. It's just that I'm a bit more dedicated than you.
I've never heard anyone refer to brush, limbs, culled trees, or anything of the timber or cordwood family as "carcasses." If you burn them does that make you the crematorium manager?
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Post by Phalon on Jun 12, 2015 6:18:05 GMT -6
No, that would make me Hubs; he likes to burn stuff...but not before its time. If I didn't take them (the carcasses) to the brush pile at work, they'd sit here in a big, ugly pile under the maple until they (the carcasses) were dry enough to burn.
Dead trees, shrubs, limbs....why not carcasses? If a burned-out house, or a rusty-old car can be referred to as a carcass, why not the remains of a once-living thing like a shrub. If the word fits, use it I always say.
Actually, I never said that 'til now, but if the cliche fits, twist it.
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Post by stepper on Jun 12, 2015 19:40:04 GMT -6
Because these things are not referred to as a carcass. ( Certain dictionaries say yours is also a valid reference, but it is very much the exception.) The word refers to the body of an animal, usually deceased and/or slaughtered for food, and can be used as a reference to the body of a person such as "Get your carcass out of bed young lady!"
It invokes a particular mental picture - what I was really thinking was that it shows how differently or even personally you view plant life compared to, literally, everyone else I've known including nursery owners. (I'm related to a couple of them and never heard them use the term carcass in reference to a plant.) It's just an observation. Perhaps you are more comfortable using it this way because of your writing classes.
An apt expression.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 14, 2015 8:29:03 GMT -6
But they are...and fairly often. A carcass doesn't necessarily refer to a dead animal specifically. The two biggies in the dictionary world - Merriam Webster and the Oxford Dictionary both define carcass (after the dead animal reference) as a structure or thing that has been rendered useless. Merriam-Webster: the decaying or worthless remains of a structure (the carcass of an abandoned automobile); the underlying structure or frame of something. Oxford Dictionaries: the structural framework of a ship, building, piece of furniture; the remains of something.
I don't think it needs to be dissected like that at all. A mental picture - yeah, ok. Carcasses, why not? To me it's just more interesting than calling them "ugly shrubs I didn't feel like looking at anymore even though they were still alive that I dug out of the ground after first dismembering them so they were easier to handle". Carcass is also quicker to write. I could have just as easily written skeleton or corpse - because they were that too.
The use of word has nothing to do with how I view plant life....if it did, I'd probably have to refer to myself a psycho serial killer who chops her victims into little pieces before killing them, and unceremoniously dumping them in the woods in a heap to rot with all the other carcasses like they were garbage.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jun 14, 2015 17:45:16 GMT -6
File that away somewhere. It would make for an interesting story.
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Post by stepper on Jun 14, 2015 20:17:30 GMT -6
More bell peppers, although I've been reading recently that red ones are healthier. Maybe next year I'll include those too.
Dear psycho serial killer of the plant world...
If this is a true statement, it is in your part of the earth that this occurs. I'm not saying I have all that much exposure to all the cliques in the world, but carcass is not all that common of a reference for plant life. The ones I was referring to when I made the statement. And perhaps the reason you are a wordsmith and others are not. Nor have they been to classes intended to stretch the imagination or their personal vocabulary. All words that people would use in reference to people, or pets, but not plants. The exeption being a Halloween spook story where the intent is to invoke darkness and death, like the commercial where the little boy looks out the window of the vehicle he's in and the tree "reaches" for him, but the car protects him. You humanize otherwise inanimate objects and by doing so disturb the accepted parameters of how the universe operates. But back to what I was saying...you have a tendency to use "personal" terms when talking about your plants. I'm not saying it is a bad thing - just that you have an unusual way of expressing things sometime.
Joxcee is right - you have the beginnings of a great (Halloween) story if you chose to pursue it. And I know she's been busy, but where is the bard?
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Post by Phalon on Jun 15, 2015 6:30:51 GMT -6
I was referring to a burned house or a rusty vehicle - I see and hear those referred to as "carcasses" all the time. If the definition of the word includes 'the worthless remains of something' why not use it to refer to something that is 'the worthless remains of something'. The same is true for 'skeleton' and 'corpse'. Skeleton: the remaining part of something after its life or usefulness is gone. Corpse: something no longer useful or viable (rusting corpses of old cars).
<shrugs> Don't take things so literally; I don't. BTW, I've never taken a writing class in my life...Ha! That must be the problem!
Wow, I must be quite powerful...maybe even as powerful as Joxie.
I was thinking more along the lines of a crime drama than a Halloween story. It shall star only beautiful people except the old Italian guy who pretends to know everything, and will revolve around the FBI's BAU (Botanical Analysis Unit), who travel the country solving crimes of planticide; I shall call it "Minimal Minds".
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Post by Mini Mia on Jun 15, 2015 17:32:25 GMT -6
I'd read it.
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Post by stepper on Jun 15, 2015 17:48:26 GMT -6
So you're saying this thing has turned carcassy?
Proof that my rememberer isn't functioning properly. I thought you said the A Cup Club was for a writing class/group.
O! O! The hero of your drama needs a tag line. Like Colombo's 'one more thing'...your person can go with "let me chew on it a moment" or "this one is harder to swallow than most". Right? Pretty good for a tree cop huh! The arboriculturist who abhors missing limbs on America's greatest and greenest treasures! He could write a tree tease (treatise) as the lead in to his/her adventures! Maybe he could be a secret agent of, as you called it, the FBI's BAU (Botanical Analysis Unit) and he works for the OUT - (Orbiculate Ubiquitous Treester) branch. Why? So he can BAU-OUT!! I'm certain your "Minimal Minds" people would be veracious fans of planticide adventures - much like the people who go ga-ga for golf on TV, or that perennial favorite, Bass Fishing.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 17, 2015 5:41:56 GMT -6
No, your memory is just fine. I belong to a writing group, which is quite different than a class. It's just a bunch of people who like to write, getting together once a month and sitting around reading to the group what they've written. There's no instruction, and criticism (even of the constructive sort) is not allowed; only positive feedback is welcome per the woman who started the group. The idea is that it encourages people who aren't writers but who like to write to write more. It's a lot of fun.
I've never heard that red bell peppers are more healthy than green bell peppers, so when I was at the grocery store yesterday, I checked the little nutritional information signs they have above each vegetable - it was the same for the reds and greens. I usually buy the red ones though - gonna sound weird, but I have a slight allergy to bell peppers (and melons); if I eat them raw, they make my ears ring, and the back of my throat itches just enough to be annoying. I notice it less though, with red bell peppers. They're sweeter...and prettier too! I sometimes buy the yellow and orange ones too...just because colorful food is more exciting.
If you leave the green bell peppers on the plant long enough, they'll turn red. I don't know if a red green bell pepper is the same as a red bell pepper though.
Edited to add that I just drilled: green bell peppers are just bell peppers that are harvested before they're mature; red bell peppers have reached maturity.
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Post by stepper on Jun 17, 2015 20:23:29 GMT -6
From FarmFlavor.com... "All bell peppers are very nutritious. These summer vegetables, members of the nightshade family, are filled with fiber, antioxidants and vitamin C. But did you know that red bell peppers actually contain even more antioxidants than their green, yellow and orange cousins?
That’s right. Red bell peppers boost your immune system due to high vitamin A, C and antioxidant properties, including beta carotene, which helps maintain healthy skin and vision. In fact, these mighty red vegetables contain 1.5 times more vitamin C, 8 times more vitamin A and 11 times more beta carotene than green bell peppers. (Yellow bell peppers have more vitamin C than green ones, but less vitamin A and beta carotene.)"
livestrong.com "The spicy-crunchy green pepper is a less mature version of the red pepper, which is not only sweeter than its emerald-hued cousin, but it also contains 11 times more cancer-fighting beta carotene."
misschefrd.com " These peppers are considered “fully ripened” or matured. They contain the same nutrients that are found in green peppers, however the content is higher since they have been allowed more time to bloom on the vine. Additionally, they contain lycopene, an antioxidant pigment that can help prevent certain types of cancer such as prostate and breast cancer. Other pigment related nutrients distinct to red bell peppers are lutein and zeaxanthin, which are known to aid in the prevention macular degeneration and cataracts."
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Post by Phalon on Jun 18, 2015 6:09:51 GMT -6
Well, that all makes sense since beta-carotene, lycopene and other antioxidants are found in vegetables with red/orange/yellow pigments; those things aren't listed though on the grocery store produce nutrition labels. I wonder why though, they had vitamins A and E listed the same for the reds as the greens. Pfft - last time I trust those produce department labels; actually, I never looked at them before this.
Speaking of nutritional stuff; last night we had kale from the garden. I was prepping dinner, and Hubs asked if there was anything he could do to help. 'You can go pick some kale." I should have said, "Please only pick enough kale for dinner." He came in with a 10-gallon pail full of it!!!!
I've gotta drill some recipes...cuz it looks like we'll be having kale every night for the rest of the week!
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Post by stepper on Jun 18, 2015 17:49:31 GMT -6
I'm thinking of letting a couple of my peppers go until they're red. Steppet doesn't like them that way, but I like the red ones. I just didn't know they were better for you. Kale, kale, the gangs all here... That's how it goes isn't it? Actually, you have enough of it you could share with crazy Shirley, and use it for extra bedding, and send some to me! I could use it for mulch!
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Post by Phalon on Jun 21, 2015 7:18:37 GMT -6
Great minds.....or bad punners...think alike. We are hosting a nutritionist at the nursery next weekend who is giving a seminar about the importance of incorporating more vegetables and fruits into meals and such. "Kale, kale, the gang's all here" is how I started off the press release last week. HA! We'll see if it makes the newspaper today....the editor isn't one for humor....or cheesy puns.
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Post by stepper on Jun 21, 2015 10:18:26 GMT -6
It must be great minds because if we both thought of it, it can’t be a bad pun.
You put cheese on your kale? (Stodgy editors are no fun!)
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Post by Phalon on Jun 24, 2015 5:57:10 GMT -6
I did last night. Found a recipe online that got a bunch of good reviews, and made cheesy kale crisps. The taste and texture was good, but I won't make them again. You've got to spray the baking sheet, and the oil from the cooking spray in addition to the oil from the cheese made them awfully greasy.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 24, 2015 7:14:03 GMT -6
Look what I scooped up that was left on the side of the road, discarded for trash pick-up. The seat design was the same as the back, but a few of the metal straps were broken. I was able to cut them all off with heavy-duty tin snips, except one which is steel. It doesn't matter though because now it's not that visible. Voila! Instant planter.
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Post by stepper on Jun 24, 2015 19:23:08 GMT -6
Ya know, I had a WTF moment here. Two actually. The first one revolved around seeing "it" at first, which was quickly followed by the second one which revolved around the thought that you just happened to have this enormous elephant ear looking plant in need of a "planter".
Still, one wonders what the original owner thought on seeing the strange lady furtively collecting the chair intended for the city recycling program.
Curiosity - did it make it?
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Post by Phalon on Jun 29, 2015 6:34:02 GMT -6
Kale no. (a pun only understood if you've ever heard Hubs, with his Southern accent, say "Hell no".) Yes, and no. I've had that hosta (the elephant ear looking plant) in that same pot for at least five years. I keep a number of hosta in pots until they get too big, then I liberate them into the gardens, and just plant another one into the pot to replace the one I set free. Did that just a couple of weeks ago to my "front porch hosta". The pot the hosta in the photo is in is just a liner; the planter was a large crock which can't be left outside over the winter. It was a pain-in-the-butt to take the hosta out, and turn over the crock after every rain though....mainly because I always forget about it until the water turns rank and stinky. The crock now is a nice table for another porch plant which always sat on a chair (I picked up on the side of the road), which after being outside for a number of years, finally bit the dust, and went curbside for the last time. I like the crock in its place... I'm betting the owner expected someone to pick it up - it was set out on the curb four days before trash pick-up. Other stuff I've gathered out of the trash over the years... Table - the first piece of trash I ever collected (I prefer the term "Good Junque"); I've had this for at least 20 years. Basket containing hosta - trash. Chair - trash. Planter with hosta - trash I painted. Chair - trash. Plate the blue pot is sitting on - trash. Back piece of a buffet table - trash; Hubs fitted it with stakes, and I painted it because I wanted color in a shady place where nothing will grow. Of course there's more. I'd show you all the now restored wood furniture that someone set out for the garbage that I have inside the house, but I haven't dusted in a while.
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Post by stepper on Jun 29, 2015 21:12:42 GMT -6
I 'hosta' tell you, that's a pretty substantial plant. And it looks heavy.
See, I would have said "trash" with a good reason. I'm glad you can find things and repurpose them. It's not something I could do. I look at a pile of trash and see trash.
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Post by Phalon on Sept 28, 2015 6:23:07 GMT -6
People pay ridiculous amounts of money for stuff that that at "antique" shops, flea markets, and such; there are even companies that produce new stuff that looks like junque...the shabby chic, BoHo, and whatever other names they call the style. I prefer paying nothing.
Right after, to the day, you wrote that, I dragged home another piece that was sitting out for the trash - a wooden cradle. BP wanted to turn it into a planter; I had other plans, and it's been sitting behind the shed, until Hubs brought it back out yesterday - it's almost time, yanno. Now all I have to do is find a creepy-@ss baby doll to put into it....maybe one that's been experimented on with the "Reborn Eyeball Removal Tool".
As far as actual gardening goes...
Finally! I'm done....nearly done....somewhat done....and not even close to being done.
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Post by stepper on Sept 28, 2015 16:17:05 GMT -6
Almost time for a cradle? You keeping secrets? Yes I know I've teased you with that one before and if it was true, it wouldn't be a secret any more. You'll just have to hang on to it until you need it for its intended purpose. No fake baby dolls for that one!
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