"What have you eaten" Parallel Chat

[Annb]

Crisis yesterday evening when my system rebelled against the antibiotics and the Lactulose combination! Then I was so tired that I fell onto my bed and managed to sleep there for 2 hours - on my left side. Despite that, the arm is much better this morning and I can move it fairly easily - still sore but it moves and I can take a little weight on it AND I can use it on the keyboard. It's all good. Legs not so, but, hey, I'm used to that.

Breakfast was cooked, chilled and refried sausage and potato. Tea and plenty of pills.

2nd meal will be the last of the lamb ragout with some vegetables added.

The nurse that I saw yesterday was kind enough to say that nobody would think I was 80 to look at me. It's the still brown hair that does it. I used to think that my father was mistaken when he told me that his elder sister, at 85 still had blond hair. I thought she must have dyed it. But here we are, in much the same boat. Also the nurse gave me the result of the blood test from 2 weeks ago which checked my egfr and it is slightly up again at 46. Quite happy with that - the further away I can get from Stage 4 CKD the better.

 

[jpscloud]

a mix of cos and iceburg?

Yes exactly that! There's a lot of seeds in the packet, 200 I think, so I feel justified in growing them for baby leaves as well as a few for mature heads. I like iceberg lettuce because of the high water content but I wanted a bit more lettucy-green as well, so these seemed to fit the bill.

 

[MommaE]

Yes exactly that! There's a lot of seeds in the packet, 200 I think, so I feel justified in growing them for baby leaves as well as a few for mature heads. I like iceberg lettuce because of the high water content but I wanted a bit more lettucy-green as well, so these seemed to fit the bill.

I’ll look for those seeds this season, sound good.

 

[jpscloud]

I had salads for lunch and tea yesterday but today will involve meatballs.

The "Christmas" potatoes did survive the -7C frosts but not without casualties - a few were mushy, and they're small because I had to cut the foliage off when blight came to town. I got about as many as in a supermarket bag of salad potatoes out of one container so at least there's something and considering how late I planted them I think that's not bad.

I made some decent progress in the living room declutter yesterday too. I need to declutter my understairs cupboard, which is unusually big, so that I can organise storage and stop piling things up all over the place. Same goes for the box room upstairs, it's mostly about organisation at this stage. I don't know why I'm so bad at putting things away!

 

[Annb]

I’ll look for those seeds this season, sound good.

Local garden centre doesn't have those seeds but I found some on Amazon so ordered them there, getting ready for planting various ones. Also ordered some Jerusalem Artichoke tubers from Carbeth Nursery. This time, I hope it will be tubers and not seeds.

Breakfast was crackers with some ham and tomato.
2nd meal will be a hotpot of left-over bits and pieces.

Neil found some chicken flavoured tofu which I would not normally even look at (nor would he). Actually, he fried some and it tasted good, so may have some more if I can see what is in it. He won't though, so it's up to me to finish it off. Don't actually see the point in meat flavoured tofu.

 

[jpscloud]

Local garden centre doesn't have those seeds but I found some on Amazon so ordered them there, getting ready for planting various ones. Also ordered some Jerusalem Artichoke tubers from Carbeth Nursery. This time, I hope it will be tubers and not seeds.

Great! I think mine were from Amazon as well, I usually shop around the different seed companies online but they don't always have what I want. I find garden centres very limited in their seed stocks.

If you're starting them now, I'd definitely consider using one of the bog standard grow lights that you can get online, I have the cheapish ones and they seem to be doing a good job along with windowsill light. They need to be really close to the seedlings at first so those flexible ones are good.

If you like the taste of peas, I'd also really recommend growing some pea shoots - they don't need a lot of light, so just a windowsill is fine even at this time of year. I don't get commercial seeds for the shoots, I buy a pack of marrowfat dried peas from the supermarket, very economical!

Edit: I don't use their soaking tablet if growing for shoots, just put them in an old grapes container with some cotton wool and a half inch of compost, and keep wet until they start shooting. They're ready in about two weeks!

 

[Annb]

Great! I think mine were from Amazon as well, I usually shop around the different seed companies online but they don't always have what I want. I find garden centres very limited in their seed stocks.

If you're starting them now, I'd definitely consider using one of the bog standard grow lights that you can get online, I have the cheapish ones and they seem to be doing a good job along with windowsill light. They need to be really close to the seedlings at first so those flexible ones are good.

If you like the taste of peas, I'd also really recommend growing some pea shoots - they don't need a lot of light, so just a windowsill is fine even at this time of year. I don't get commercial seeds for the shoots, I buy a pack of marrowfat dried peas from the supermarket, very economical!

Edit: I don't use their soaking tablet if growing for shoots, just put them in an old grapes container with some cotton wool and a half inch of compost, and keep wet until they start shooting. They're ready in about two weeks!

I am hoping to start some of the seeds right away. I already have grow lights at my kitchen window but was given a present of individual self watering pots, each with their own little light which I am also intending to try out. These are a good idea because, for those that have to be put into the porch, out of sight tends to be out of mind. Not good for the plants.

I was going to try sprouting marrowfat peas, but never got around to trying it. I wasn't sure they would work out but with your encouragement, I will have a go at that as well.

 

[jpscloud]

I am hoping to start some of the seeds right away. I already have grow lights at my kitchen window but was given a present of individual self watering pots, each with their own little light which I am also intending to try out. These are a good idea because, for those that have to be put into the porch, out of sight tends to be out of mind. Not good for the plants.

I was going to try sprouting marrowfat peas, but never got around to trying it. I wasn't sure they would work out but with your encouragement, I will have a go at that as well.

I'm envious of your self watering pots with grow lights! I often look at them but they are quite expensive. Please keep me updated on how they do!

 

[shelley262]

Great! I think mine were from Amazon as well, I usually shop around the different seed companies online but they don't always have what I want. I find garden centres very limited in their seed stocks.

If you're starting them now, I'd definitely consider using one of the bog standard grow lights that you can get online, I have the cheapish ones and they seem to be doing a good job along with windowsill light. They need to be really close to the seedlings at first so those flexible ones are good.

If you like the taste of peas, I'd also really recommend growing some pea shoots - they don't need a lot of light, so just a windowsill is fine even at this time of year. I don't get commercial seeds for the shoots, I buy a pack of marrowfat dried peas from the supermarket, very economical!

Edit: I don't use their soaking tablet if growing for shoots, just put them in an old grapes container with some cotton wool and a half inch of compost, and keep wet until they start shooting. They're ready in about two weeks!

Love the pea shoots idea and have ordered the lettuce seeds so ready for growing season. Thank you.

 

[jpscloud]

Love the pea shoots idea and have ordered the lettuce seeds so ready for growing season. Thank you.

It's absolutely my pleasure! Hope they are a great success! One of my favourite gardening you tube channels must be reading this thread, because he literally posted a couple of hours after me about starting lettuce and pea shoots (and other things) now I have to say, though, he lets his pea shoots get really big before harvesting, I harvest mine when they're about 4" tall and leave one leaf node at the bottom, which usually regrows. Any bigger and they're a bit stringy, I find.

Am I allowed to share the name of the channel on here?

 

[Antje77]

Am I allowed to share the name of the channel on here?

Yup.

 

[jpscloud]

Yup.

Thanks Antje! The channel is called GrowVeg, he's such a lovely guy and really encouraging. Fair warning though, once you let you tube know you like gardening, you get so many channels popping up! I also follow a few allotment channels, my favourite is Jessie At Plot 37 - she has chickens!

 

[shelley262]

GrowVeg - Definitely something to explore when time thank you

 

[MommaE]

Great! I think mine were from Amazon as well, I usually shop around the different seed companies online but they don't always have what I want. I find garden centres very limited in their seed stocks.

If you're starting them now, I'd definitely consider using one of the bog standard grow lights that you can get online, I have the cheapish ones and they seem to be doing a good job along with windowsill light. They need to be really close to the seedlings at first so those flexible ones are good.

If you like the taste of peas, I'd also really recommend growing some pea shoots - they don't need a lot of light, so just a windowsill is fine even at this time of year. I don't get commercial seeds for the shoots, I buy a pack of marrowfat dried peas from the supermarket, very economical!

Edit: I don't use their soaking tablet if growing for shoots, just put them in an old grapes container with some cotton wool and a half inch of compost, and keep wet until they start shooting. They're ready in about two weeks!

Have you tried a glass jar with draining lid? When I’m in Canada I use that for sprouting seeds to eat when there’s no local or garden salad veggies around. It only takes 4-5 days to go from seed to edible fresh sprouts and doesn’t need grow lights. It’s very easy and convenient.

 

[Annb]

Thanks Antje! The channel is called GrowVeg, he's such a lovely guy and really encouraging. Fair warning though, once you let you tube know you like gardening, you get so many channels popping up! I also follow a few allotment channels, my favourite is Jessie At Plot 37 - she has chickens!

Just checked that GrowVeg channel. Very interesting. Great coincidence, he had a video about growing Jerusalem Artichokes, and I've just ordered some to try growing them.

Breakfast: I used the last of the cooked, chilled potato to make some potato cakes (2 biggish ones) with chives, peas and curry spices. Had 2 quarters of one of them with 2 fried eggs.

Then I went and had another quarter about 2 pm because it was good.

3rd meal today will be some of the tofu/chicken that Neil bought in a kind of stew with some mushrooms, onions and some bits of broccoli.

 

[jpscloud]

Have you tried a glass jar with draining lid? When I’m in Canada I use that for sprouting seeds to eat when there’s no local or garden salad veggies around. It only takes 4-5 days to go from seed to edible fresh sprouts and doesn’t need grow lights. It’s very easy and convenient.

I haven't tried glass jars for pea shoots, I don't have anything big enough, but that's a great idea for small batches of supergreens and cress, I might give that a try!

 

[jpscloud]

Usual breakfast, getting a bit bored with that now so I'll have to have a think about something else. Lunch was beef and broad beans, with a few tiny new potatoes from the garden. I had silly snacky things at about 4pm so I haven't bothered to make anything for tea.

 

[MommaE]

I haven't tried glass jars for pea shoots, I don't have anything big enough, but that's a great idea for small batches of supergreens and cress, I might give that a try!

Just a regular pickle type jar would work. The lids are sold to fit standard sized jars. You eat the shoots when they are very small, usually after only 4-5 days. I don’t know how to attach a picture but if you search seed sprouting jar lid they should come up.

 

[jpscloud]

Just a regular pickle type jar would work. The lids are sold to fit standard sized jars. You eat the shoots when they are very small, usually after only 4-5 days. I don’t know how to attach a picture but if you search seed sprouting jar lid they should come up.

I've got some packets of mizuna and microgreens in my seed stash - I'll get some of those going!

 

[MommaE]

I've got some packets of mizuna and microgreens in my seed stash - I'll get some of those going!

The instructions that I follow are to use about a tablespoon of seeds in a 500 ml jar. Fill with water and soak for about four hours. Then drain them. Twice a day I fill the jar with water, give it a swirl and drain it out. The purpose designed lids allow you to stand the jar upside down so that water doesn’t pool in the jar. That gives me enough for a few days of salad or sandwich topping sprouts.