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Tomatoes ~ Garlic ~ Plantain

Hubby and I were sipping coffee at 5am on the porch Friday morning (won't be many more mornings to do this), and the radio had garden talk and advice going on.  They gave advice on whether to pick your tomatoes and bring them in to ripen or have a tomato fight.   If you pick green tomatoes when it's in the 70's, they will ripen in two weeks.  If you pick them in the 50's, it will take 4 weeks. 





I decided to get out there and pick them all.  We had a frost warning, and after that they won't be any good.  The ladies and Stud Muffin Sparta had a hay day helping clean up too.

As for the garlic, it depended on the weather at 4:30pm when Hubby got home.  Rain was in the forecast.  We managed to toss down some peat moss, and get the garlic bed tilled just before rain arrived.  



Once the parsley left the dehydrator, plantain went in.  I'm hearing more people are getting bitten by spiders this year, and requiring doctor care.  It's also good to have on hand for a medicinal tea as well as a tincture.  It's good for colds, flu, bladder issues, bronchitis, etc.  You can also eat plantain for it's nutrition (calcium, vitamin K, A, C, and B-6, and more), but I have yet to try it.  I'm wondering if I should blanch some for winter?  I guess it depends on time, if we get a frost and so forth.  I'll be adding plantain to soups this winter as well.  It is highly nutritious.


It was perfect weather one day to get back to this job - removing nails, sawing them up, and stacking them for kindling.  We already have some cut and stacked.  


Got two quarts of pickled hot banana peppers made.


Current dishcloth on the knitting needles.

Saturday morning we woke up to a chilly 39° (felt like 34°F).  Due to the rain, no mowing could be done, nor gardening, but we still had a list.  First, work on our daughter's car, second pick more plantain if we didn't get a frost, fold laundry, run to the library, prepare more winter kindling, dog proof the house, clean bathrooms....and on and on.

Sunday the weather was a bit nicer.  We gained two dogs - Mia and Jesse.  Not sure how long we'll have Jesse, but it could be until June of next year.  Sunday morning Hubby helped me plant all the garlic.  Woot woot!  So happy to get it in the ground.  More mowing was done.  

It rained last night, so I was even happier not to have to water the garlic.  So happy that the sweet potatoes are still getting time to grow too.

It's too wet to work out in the garden today, but I have much to do inside as well.  I'm hoping for a good laundry drying day outside as the rain clears up.

Youngest got me with the plastic rat.  She stuck it in the cupboard and I opened it to get a glass.  Ha.  I'll have to find somewhere to hide it and get her now.  


Comments

Debby Flowers said…
nice getting the garlic in! I don't have mine planted yet - getting a little worried!
Debby, thanks. we were getting close to not getting it in this fall. Hope you get yours planted.
mamasmercantile said…
I don't think I would cope well with the rat either.
mamasmercantile, it all started because her cat Tiger is a great mouser and leaves her presents in the morning, ha ha!
Susan said…
I love that you and your daughter have the Hide-A-Rat game going!
I managed to get my garlic in between rains, too. Our forecast is for rain every other day. Enough! I picked a pail-ful of small green tomatoes, thinking I might try making them into a spicy pickle - sort of like a martini olive! Love the colors on your dishcloth.
Thanks Susan, the yarn for the dishcloth was in my stash. I sold all but a few at the last craft show. Yeah, we are having fun with the rat. Today I hope to get her, lol! I'm trying to let my green tomatoes ripen, but we'll see. Mia, my oldest daughter's dog, loves tomatoes, and may be swiping a few off my table.
Interesting. The same system with tomatoes here, in Hungary. But locals also make a special pickles with green tomatoes called Chalamade (you just add chopped cabbage, onion, paprika and cucumbers, salt it all and add some vinegar.
Do you plant tomatoes in autumn? People say it helps to grow a special frost-steady plants.
Kind regards,
Szvetlana
Smily, that dish sounds very good. Thanks.

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