Gardening/ HERBS and Low carb diets.

[donnellysdogs]

Nope chive seeds don't run amok. literally spring up and stay from where planted......no spreading...

Wish you lived nearby I still have mangetout ready in greenhouse to go out, and nobody else left to give them too!!!!

Ginger.....got told to make sure I bough knobbly eyed ones..put them on top of well drained soil buried 1/2 deep so that the eyes were under but the top half of rhizomes exposed. Planted end of April and have been waiting so patiently. They haven't rotted...so that's good...but no sign of any sprouting either....mind you I don't know whether they take an age to sprout..like cactii...I could be waiting 5 years!!!!!!!?? i just put 3 pieces with eyes in to the top of the biggest tomato plot available....bit amateurish...but that is all I though I had to do..put some vermiculite in with compost for drainage.

Have now got enough mangetout for hubby to eat a meal with me!!!!

 

[catherinecherub]

Chives do self seed and you will find the odd one growing in other places the following year. http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/garden-fresh-chives/

 

[donnellysdogs]

Odd ones yes...but not horrendous underground runners...and depending whther you eat stalk and flowers..depends whether they get chance to self seed...sorry my mistake..I should have made it clearer....

 

[sparkles]

Hi thank you both for that, I shall plant them out dince they are fairly well identifiable if they self seed elsewhere. I can cope as long as its not all over.

Donnellysdogs... here is what it says in my book about growing ginger.

The ginger plant is reedy looking and grows 2-3 ft tall It has 'brillian showy flowers'' If you grow your own you will be able to have green ginger.. which is actually not green but pink, the green refers to the fact that it isa not mature and describes the immature roots that form from the mature troot. Not all of the ginger's roots will sprout. plant them early spring indoors or in warmer weather outdoors. choose a large clean firm root not discoloured or spongy. cut into 1" or 2" pieces each with at least one 'eye' or knob. put them 1-2" deep in a pot of rich potting compost and keep the soil moist. After 2 weeks if no shoots appear dig up the roots and inspect them. If they look the same as when you planted them, wash off, dry thoroughly and put aside to use. If small pronounced ivory bumps have developed then replant -these are the beginnings of roots and show the root is alove. When you replant add a tablespoon of dried manure. continue to keep the soil moist all through the growing season but be sure drainage is good. sun is desirable for two hours a day but not more untiil the shoots are a couple of inches high. As the plant develops numerous reedy shoots will grow forming an interesting clump from which flower stalks arise in the 6-7h month. Ginger is a heavy feeder needing manure and fish emulsion, liquid compost and 10-10-10 fertilizer. If grown in house put pot on pebbles and keep them moist. Ginger does not like wind. The shoots are delicious and can be cut anytime after 3" high. and the roots will continu e to sprout if you do not take too many shoots. This cropping will not harm the plant.

hope this is of some use to you. good luck. I might have a go too since I have a good sized root bought today. I like the sound of the flowering plant and I'll see if I can find some pictures of the flowers on line.

sparkles.

 

[donnellysdogs]

OOOPs...is the ginger boought from Tesco fresh fruit section green ginger????? Think this might be my first mistake....didn't add any dried manure either.....thank you so much for the details....have copied them to my gardening tips on word to keep forever....think I may have to start again..!! Hey ho..joys of trial and practice in gardening!!!!

Think you have started a fantastic posting here sparkles......thank you....

 

[viviennem]

Yes, DD, the ginger you get on the fresh fruit/veg section is green ginger . . . sometimes you can even buy it with the little ivory bumps already beginning to sprout a bit.

I think you plant it a bit like iris rhizomes. It wouldn't do for me here - too much wind at the moment.

I did try it once as a house plant, but no luck.

Viv 8)

 

[sparkles]

just great to have some contact with other people who are diabetic and who share my love of gardening and of food in general anyhow thanks for the compliment! I think from what I've read so far, the tesco ginger... the brown woody stuff, is just fine. The green ginger (which is pink as explained above) is the new root growth which grows from the old woody bit. (WElll, thats how I read it.)
The only time I'd heard of green ginger was when i was once in Hull or was it liverpool? Anyway, one of those two places... there is a place within one of them called 'land of green ginger' I remember liking the sound of that, but didnt realise there was such a thing as green ginger.

It sounds like a real challenge growing ginger ...but imagine if you crack it.. its quite exciting. I hope you do.
Sparkles.

 

[sparkles]

just googles ginger plant flowers and clicked on images... there are many and varied, mostly white or red... quite beautiful.
sparkles.

 

[viviennem]

The Land of Green Ginger is in Hull, Sparkles - one of the medieval streets close to the old docks - or where they were, pre-WWII :shock: It was probably where it was imported, and must have smelled quite good if all the other spices were there too!

'Green' is an interesting term - as in green = inexperienced; green cheese = not aged, eg cottage cheese, or unripened hard cheese; green tea - is that something to do with the processing?

Going back to French tarragon - I love the taste, it reminds me of gentle aniseed. I use it in a lot of things, but particularly with chicken. I do a lovely thing with the last bits of chicken stripped from the carcase, mushrooms and leeks, and plenty of french tarragon, all gently sauteed together with butter and a bit of black pepper. Also nutmeg for the mushrooms. I'm having that tomorrow!

The metformin must be working on me - I'm gtting sort-of 'can't be bothered' with food at the moment. Must get weighed (I keep putting that off!)

Viv 8)

 

[sparkles]

Hi Viv,
Yes, that’s it.. I remember now.. Docks. That’ll be why I mixed it up with Liverpool. =also docks and I never made that connection: …Of cause, spice imports!

I think the ‘green’ in green ginger and in green tea is to do with the immaturity of the plant.

Your chicken dish sounds absolutely fantastic… I love leeks and mushrooms, I might give that a go. I seem to be living off stir-fries lately. Tonight though I made a dish in the oven which I saw on the net. It was basically just aubergines cut in long strips, lightly sauted and placed in an oven proof dish. Tomatoes layered on top and mozzerella slices on top of that. I also stuck a few sauted mushrooms and onions in. the only thing was I let the cheese get a bit over cooked which spoiled it.. But hey… a very easy dish.

I am due to get my first weigh in since starting the atkins diet on Friday. Hope I’ve lost weight but I’m sure I have, In fact I had a visitor today and unprompted she first told me my face looked thinner and then later mentioned she had noticed I even looked thinner from the back. Well I hope she is right as people have told me to lose weight for years. But if I haven’t (though I know I have) I really am not too bothered.. I just feel so much better than I did before I started. My energy levels are rocketing and my love of life has returned at long last. If Ive lost weight as well it’s the jackpot! Hey but Viv… promise me I wont get to the point where I cant be bothered with food. Don’t want to lose that…

Sparkles

 

[donnellysdogs]

Oh gosh, just read the recipes in latest postings......now wanting to cook and try them!!! Loooking in shops later for french tarragon seeds....haven't exactly got many garden centres here to visit so hoping that Wilko's might have some!!

Fantastic having great recipes and great all round advice for gardening, and the depth of knowlege is huge in to the plants like 'ginger'-love it....my favourite post at the moment!!!!

 

[hanadr]

I was advised by an allotment holder I walked past a couple of weeks ago thar Sweet Cicely is a good herb to cook with fruit as it reduces acidity. I haven't found any Sweet Cicely yet. there is a herb farm not far from here, which I shall try on Saturday. The rest of today and tomorrow is tied up with Grandchildren. since I'm moving about from one activity to another with them, I have no time to fit anything else in.
Hana

 

[sparkles]

Hi Hana,

Yes - a useful herb for us diabetics it seems.

this is taken from A BBC website.

Sweet cicely
This old cottage garden perennial was traditionally grown near the kitchen door, where its prettily divided fern-like leaves were at hand for sweetening tart fruit. It is airy and graceful in appearance, and yet able to shrug off cold weather and start to grow right at the end of winter. The flowers open early in the year too, and are some of the first available for nectar-loving insects. Cutting down the exhausted flower stems encourages more young growth, but they may be left to ripen the seeds which are used whole in fruit dishes or ground as a spice. This plant prefers a sunny or partially-shady position on well-drained soil. Propagate by seed in autumn or spring.

I think if I'm not mistaken it grows wild in hedgerows, but I think there may be other plants which also grow there which look like it.. Im not sure so I dont think I'll risk pulling one up. But I have seen they can be got online for £1.99.
SPARKLES

 

[viviennem]

It does grow wild - it looks like a more compact version of cow parsley (ie, umbeliferous) with creamy flowers rather than cow parsley's white. It flowers earlier than cow parsley and smells strongly of aniseed. You can use both the leaves and the seeds in cooking.

We have lots of it up here in Wensleydale. Also two or three types of mint grow wild, wild garlic, marjoram, and raspberries all over the place! I shall do more foraging when my walking improves.

I have a wonderful herbal lurking on my shelves somewhere, published in the early 20th century. When I find it I'll give you the details - fascinating! There's all sorts of unexpected things you can kill people with. DId you know bramble leaves are poisonous? :twisted:

Viv 8)

 

[carty]

Viv do you know if you can get slugs and snails to eat bramble leaves and any other poisonous plants? I am fighting a losing battle and now the butterflys are laying on my greens .The good news is that non of them seem to like spinach :lol: I could end up like popeye but I only weigh 7 stone .Happy gardening
CAROL

 

[robertconroy]

Never stayed in the same place long enough to have a garden. Now I've just started a huge project in my new home to take out all the grass and overgrown shrubs and to put in pavers on the sides and back and build garden beds. Here is technique I earned in Texas (I'm in the U.S.). In Texas top soil was dear at $55/cubic yard. I had two beds in the front of the house. I bought a small gas cultivator and dug up the existing soil, built a sifter out of lumber and sifted out al the rock except for course gravel in the soil. Then I found organic potting/garden soil on sale for $3 for 2 cubic foot bags. I mixed in about 15 bags of this with the cultivator in the existing soil and a small bag of fine sand. Next I raised the beds by adding 12" boards in a box frame. The next step was to add soaker hoses - they look like a garden hose but are made of a material that weeps moisture through the entire length of hose. I think 2 - 25 footers was only about $12.

I put landscaping cloth on top of the beds before I plant. You just cut a + in the cloth, pin back the 4 sections with landscape staples, dig a hole, plant your plant, pull up the staples and use them to tuck the cut sections around the stem of the plant. No weeds! Next I put a hardwood natural mulch on top of the bed and seed it with mushroom spawn that likes wood like an oyster mushroom. Mushrooms and plants in one bed and the mushroom mycelium helps the plants grow by fixing nitrogen to the roots.

Holy cow! You wouldn't believe how well this works. So in my new garden beds i've done the same and hooked the soaker hoses onto my previous electronically controlled sprinkler system with also drip lines to feed my expanding collection of dwarf fruit trees in large pots on the new huge paver patio. Soaker hoses are 70% more efficient than spray watering heads. I have 5 good sized beds in the back now and a large burm about 100 x 45 feet that can take grapes and berries. I'm in Virgo heaven now...

 

[sparkles]

Hi everyone,

Carol, one tip I learned recently is slugs hate coffee grinds. We generally have a fresh ground coffee in the morning. I used to tip the grinds in the compost bin but now I keep them in a separate box to put around any plants the slugs might attack. I also had awful problems with something eating my cabbages and brassicas but seem to be ok this year since I covered them with cloches and my net curtain (fleece) touch wood! Fleece is better than plastic by the way because as well as letting light in you can water through it.

Viv, your herbal sounds great. I love the old books and old ways of doing things. We have one 19th C gardening book in our house, One tip I got from it is to make liquid feed by taking a large old tin or bucket and punching holes in the bottom. Put some manure in and run water through to make a liquid feed. Simple.

Hi Robert in the USA -it sounds like you are going to be settled now. Good luck in your home and with your new garden. Your raised beds sound great and I like the sound of the soaker hoses. I do my watering by bucket as much as possible using free water from the rain butt. I did get a great head for the hose from Aldi though very cheaply. I liked it because its made of metal, very strong and has a lot of different settings -jet, spray etc. labour intensive but I quite enjoy it. I just bought my first ever packet of mushroom spawn. I know nothing about growing them but thought I’d have a go. They are just the button mushroom type but I suppose it would make more sense financially to grow the more expensive exotic types. But lets see how I do with this first. ….Your new garden sounds wonderful, it will be great when you get your first produce!

Hana, you have got me wanting to find sweet cicely now. I really would like to try using it as a sweetner. I wonder if anyone has ever tried harnessing the sweetness to create a cicely sweetner? And if it could be done what kind of carbs it would have. Here is a little more info I found in my book which you might be interested in:

“In times past the seeds were pounded and used to polish furniture. All parts of the plant had medicinal uses and the roots were boiled until tender and given to the elderly to strengthen digestion. Sweet cicely is a ‘sugar saver’ herb which can be used generously with tart fruits to cut down acidity and reduce the amount of sugar needed. Add finely chopped leaves when cooking gooseberries, rhubarb or blackcurrents. Use sweet cicely in green salads, dressings and omelettes. Put some seeds or leaves in the water when cooking cabbage and add leaves to summer drinks and fresh fruit salads. (The seeds are jet black)”

I spent my day making a small crazy paving path. It was hard work but I’m really pleased with it.
Sparkles

 

[donnellysdogs]

I think the West of UK gets all the waterfall that is due for the East, so certainly no major need for water soakers here!! I doo exactly the same for all my flower beds-3" of hardwood deciduous woodchips from tree surgeons each year-and they naturally produce loads and loads and loads of mushrooms or toadstools-don't know what they are-and having seen newspaper clippings of a chap that seriously poisoned his wife and friend...I 'm not going to risk trying to identify them!!!! I never have to weed the garden-and haven't got any landscape weed fabric down either, although shifting the woodchippings is hard work for my hubby!!!! It allows all the daffs,bluebells, wild garlic, liriope and muscari to get better and better each spring and protects all the perennials from the layers of snow that we have had for the past couple of years.

My worst failing for our big raised beds, was buying wood that really should have been thicker for support, because of the size of them we had to as an after thought support them with wooden pallets inside on the longer lengths and outside on the shorter lengths. Next garden, I will definitely have raised beds, but thicker wood, and wire chicken mesh at the bottom to stop pesky mole....full of wisdom afterwards!!!!

Wish in some ways we had the texas heat though!!!!!Being on a water meter we have to rely upon the waterbutts for the garden.....don't know how we would manage in East of England.

 

[donnellysdogs]

Sweet Cicely
Did you know that... you can pick the unripe seeds when they are still green and add them into fruit salads, and chop into ice cream. They have a sweet flavor and a nutty texture. You can also use ripe seeds (dark brown) whole in cooked dishes like apple pie, otherwise crush them. Can also add the leaves to soups, stews, and dressings. Add at the end of cooking to retain the best flavor. You can also add to cream for a sweeter, less fatty taste. It is a valuable sweetener, especially for diabetics but also for those trying to cut sugar intake.

I've read it takes about 2-4 teaspoons of dried leaves in fruit tarts-but can you use the leaves fresh?????

For the beekeeper and butterfly and wildlife gardener this is a good addition to the garden. It's one of the first nectar plants to appear in the spring.

MANY wild plants look VERY similar to sweet cicely but are highly poisonous. Be sure you have identified a plant accurately before tasting it......I'm not confident on identifying them so took the plunge to buy today!!

Also does well in shady places too.....have just ordered some plants to put in my woodland sort of border under our two oak trees..apparently they self seed??? Never tried to grow before, but seeing all the advice from here, I have had to buy some!!!!!

 

[sparkles]

Never thought of the wildlife aspect... Yes I think it is a plant that could easily be mistaken so be careful! I think it self seeds very easily. but like you DD I am feeling it is a must have for my herb patch. Thanks go to Hana for arousing my interest. Sparkles.