Gardening/ HERBS and Low carb diets.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread.

I inherited a garden that doesn't lend itself to growing produce but I always give it a bash and have quite a bit of stuff in pots. Some peas, yellow and green french beans, yellow and green courgettes and the triffids. There are a couple of tomato plants just sitting there, watching me. No flowers yet so I'm hoping I might get a late crop.
I bought some spaghetti squash seeds online, six germinated, I bunged them in growbags and now they are taking over the world. I'm pretty sure I can hear them grow. Is it worth nipping off the growing tips? They have loads of flowers and I've seen plenty of insects buzzing around so hopefully I'll have a few squash to spread amongst my friends. I remember eating one many years ago and loved it's uniqueness. I normally have courgette 'spaghetti' with my bol, can't wait to try the squash.

I also rescued a small willow tree and have potted that up. I've forgotten how fast they grow too! I also got and olive tree reduced form £80 to a tenner. The front garden is dry and blazing hot in summer but a little too exposed for it in winter so I'm leaving it in it's pot for now and will protect it from the cold.

I've also planted a bit of Jerusalem 'fartichoke' from some I bought in Sainsbugs last year That's growing well but not for harvesting yet.

Is anyone growing anything unusual?

wiflib

I have six very large raised bed, no dig gardens. Have been growing spaghetti squash for a couple of years now after the first season provided me with more than 3 dozen which have a long shelf life. Very useful vegetable which I sometimes steam in a xylitol and lime juice solution to make a dessert out of. Served with cream and diet jelly cold is a treat that evokes a stewed apple type of memory. I do nip the runners now.

I grow chokos which can be cooked in stir fries especially the tendrils and young leaves. The pear shaped vegetable takes on any flavour it is cooked with and is great mixed with celeriac topped with a cheese, garlic and cream sauce and baked.

I have many varieties of salad leaves from mizuna, sorrel, lettuces, kale, spinnach, silverbeet. I have galangal, tumeric, lemon grass, chiilies, curry leaf, lime verbena, boysenberries, youngberries, raspberries, alpine strawberries, strawberries, yacon, yam bean (jicama), leeks, onions, rhubarb, cherry tomatoes and brassicas and much, much more.
Nearby dairy farms sell off the cow manure for charity and I have a great source of sea grass and seaweed across the road that I collect in my wheelbarrow to keep adding to my no-dig gardens.
Our nine year old cocker spaniel loves hunting the rosellas out of her garden as she investigates the lizzards while the new puppy has a lot to learn about where cocker spaniels are not allowed to play!

Clearviews, what a lovely post! I'm almost there with you.
How I wish we got a bit more sun here in Leicester although I live at the top of a hill in a fairly exposed garden so I think I get more than my fair share. It's a trade off for lugging water around the garden to keep everything growing.
I was out this morning admiring the squashes. There are plenty of bees around but I've been busy with a soft paintbrush, just in case. I like that dessert recipe, I'm a pretty good cook so I shall be experimenting with them. I googled squash images and it came up with thousands of beautiful dishes.

I think I shall try to squeeze in some narrow raised beds for next year, there's a reclamation yard nearby and I'm pretty sure I can get soil for next to nothing too.

Anybody got a good link for a supplier of less common vegetables?

wiflib

I have a wide variety of herbs, tomatoes, courgettes, berries and this year I have for the first time grown kohlrabi.

I've only just got to this thread. Had to laugh about the dog eating the pears DD! Was it the pears that triggered the diabetes though, or the grain-based dog food and biscuits???

Lib, was reading about jerusalem artichokes the other day in Sally Fallon's 'Nourishing Traditions' book. She says that the reason people have problems with JAs is because approx "50% of it's dry weight is made up of inulin, a long-chain starch made up of fructose molecules. The human digestive system lacks the enzymes needed to break down inulin into absorbable sugars".

She goes on to say that fortunately, inulin dissolves in hot water, so the vegetables must be eaten very well-cooked. Lemon juice added to the water will prevent the iron-rich flesh from turning black. The Indians of North America would roast them in pits for as long as 48 hours, during which time the flesh turns brown and jelly-like and a sweet distinctive flavor develops - a sign the inulin has broken down into simple sugars.

Raw or undercooked JAs have been recommended for diabetics because most of the starch is unavailable, however they can cause severe intestinal distress. But eating well-cooked JAs with plenty of butter or cream slows the absorption of the sugars, and helps to prevent spikes.

I have never tried cooking them in a pit for 48 hours so cannot vouch for this . My very brief foray into JAs led to the formation of mount Vesuvius in my gut, so I never went there again. If anyone has any experience of long cooking and the results of such, it would be interesting to see your comments.....

As far as the garden is concerned, my sole contribution is a pot of parsley. I have plenty of dandelion leaves in the garden though, and they are good for the liver......

We have around a quarter acre, but it is, like yours Lib, not set up for vegetable growing. I have tried to persuade my husband to dig up one of the lawns but he is very reluctant - I suspect that the thought of having far more work than just mowing the grass is a bit of an off-putter, plus, the fact that most of our garden is in the front doesn't help either - he would consider it more 'untidy' than nice neat grass and a few shrubs. Mind you the old lady who lived here before had a veg garden where one of the lawns is, so I am sure the locals would consider it home-from-home...

I have grown some veg in the past in our old garden - runner beans, courgettes, peas and all sorts, in a tiny plot around ten foot square, but not here. The garden is on a hillside and very sloped and that makes it difficult to deal with too. One of my criteria when moving was a flat garden but somehow that never materialised. 'Flat' is not something readily available in Wales.....

Our daughter created a small veg plot in her last house and grew all sorts of things, but her garden now is pretty miniscule so that hasn't happened this year. She's tidied the garden and plans next year to grow some veg in among the roses in the one bed against the garden wall. I have always said that if I grew nothing else I would always try and grow runner beans, but haven't even achieved that since we have been here.

I am a dismal failure in the home-grown department...... :cry:

Hi Ali.
I was eating JA's last year. Mostly roasted. No impact on BS because, as you say, inulin is not digestible and no carb craving either! I made sure I wasn't in company though, IYSWIM.

My gardens are on quite a bit of a slope too. The front could well be adapted to growing but there's no water access and at the bottom of the hill is the A50 so I'm not keen on exhaust covered veg. The back has two large terraces, one of which is hidden under those squashes and the other is crammed with pots and a lovely seating area. A pretty ordinary lawn with a path up the middle and borders each side finish it off. It's there I'm going to try the raised beds next year.

My daughter and her family are moving to Swansea in a fortnight. I've never been to Wales and they can see the sea. I'm going to take my chances and take the little ones camping for a few days in August on the Gower Peninsula.

Can't wait!

wiflib

Gower is lovely if you get the weather, Wiflib. I spent 6 years in the 80s/early90s doing archaeology in South Wales, based in Swansea - many happy memories!

Viv 8)

Wow. That's lovely Lib. Some parts of Swansea are very nice. A friend of ours lives at Clydach, up on the hill and she can see the sea too - at night there is the most beautiful view of the bay and all the lights. We are up in one of the valleys above Swansea so are too far to see the sea, but even this valley is breathtakingly beautiful, especially when it has been raining (it does that a lot here!) and you can see all the waterfalls running down the mountainsides.

There are three things Wales will never run out of. Sheep (over three to every person), trees (pretty much more forest here than anywhere in the UK), and water........

Well, I'm off to invade the family tomorrow.
I'm hoping my squashes will be ok. I've got quite a few big ones on the go but they need water attention as they are in gro-bags and I'm away for 4 days. I'm looking forward to my first spaghetti squash and I'll be saving the seeds for next year. No doubt I'll have quite afew left over if anyone else would like some.

wiflib

Enjoy your spaghetti squash wiflib, I find them so versatile. Had spaghetti squash chips last night fried in pork fat with a nice steak, cucumber and green capsicum.
I do like the SS cubed and poached in lime or lemon juice, water and xylitol solution. I cool it when soft and serve with diet jelly and double cream and a few berries as a dessert. Multiple savoury uses also. I have one more squash left from last summer and would have harvested these in February 2011 so they store excedingly well.
I spent a total of 5 years living in Pembrokeshire as a child and teenager and have very fond memories of the people, countryside, sport and the choir singing. Travelled through Wales in 2006 taking my husband to see all the places I loved.

This thread has gone very quiet ! only found it be chance as someone was talking about aspartame and I immediately thought of sweet cicely, did a search, donc, here I am.

As you were talking about sweet cicely some time earlier - has anyone tried it. I used to grow it for a nice lady that I worked for, she had a small hotel, and used it regularly in puddings. But I must admit I never tried it myself, always used sugar. However, now things seem to have changed a bit, was wondering if it would be worth doing for next year - ready for the rhubarb season

marymeg7 said:

I enjoyed the introduction of gardening threads the other day and when my sister sent me an e-mail yesterday regarding her allotment thought some of you might enjoy it too.

"I had a companion up the allotment today. He was the sweetest, tiniest, cheekiest little robin you ever did see. I was turning over some ground ready to plant the sweetcorn when he arrived. At first, he would wait till I got to the end of a row then come looking for tasty treats. Wire worms went straight down, but little worms needed more work. He took them among the potatoes, did what he had to do, then reappeared a couple of minutes later. Big worms defeated him and were left. The more I dug, the bolder he got; as I lifted the spade, he would hop into the hole and wolf down whatever he could find. Talk about a free lunch. He stayed around while I weeded the shallots and beetroot and was quite put out when I packed up to come home. He'll be there next time I hope, with his knife and fork, fearless as ever. He really lifted my spirits.
Take time to smell the roses. Love, Joyce xxx"

She has had the allotment for about 12 years and gets so much satisfaction from it and is on the committee. She makes her own jams and chutneys, raspberry vinegar, and is very generous with the goodies she creates.

Mary

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Awwww ... I so love your post about your sister and her little Robin friend. I love Robins because the do seem to appear when we need them, they're so tame it's hard to believe they're supposed to be wild birds and it's as if they can really communicate with you and are interested in what you're doing and work with you in the garden. They are a real companion bird in my opinion and I love the little fellas.

I have a very small garden and find it hard to bend down so my friend brought me two of those deep oblong shaped plastic boxes that you can buy in the likes of Poundstretcher etc. We filled them with soil and then I bought some herbs from the local garden centre - parlsey, dill, sage, thyme, coriander, spearmint, etc which I planted all in the one box and in the other box I planted Austrian Strawberries. The herb box looked like a little forest of herbs, they just grew and grew like crazy the more I cut and chopped at them and the strawberries were still yeilding well into October last year.

However, this year I was plagued with some horrible bright orange fat slugs that I've never seen before and they destroyed the flipping lot! So I've had to chop it all back and I've salted more slugs than I care to admit. I can't stand the buggas! Anyone got any ideas about how to keep them at bay next year because they really make my stomach turn just looking at them. :sick:

Hi Grace Im afraid that slugs have been a bigger menace than usual this year .I go out and collect them in the evenings and swim them in a bucket of salted water :mrgreen: You can buy copper strips from garden centers that you can put round your tubs which stop the slugs climbing up them You can also buy nematodes which you water into the soil and these destroy them .Dont let them win :!: :!:
CAROL

carty said:

Hi Grace Im afraid that slugs have been a bigger menace than usual this year .I go out and collect them in the evenings and swim them in a bucket of salted water :mrgreen: You can buy copper strips from garden centers that you can put round your tubs which stop the slugs climbing up them You can also buy nematodes which you water into the soil and these destroy them .Dont let them win :!: :!:
CAROL

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Thanks for that carty ... I'll be ready for the buggas next year!

Hi All

Only just re logged in to this so luvly post.

Have moved now from South Wales and just starting blank canvas on another garden.. grass, Sourh facibg..

Workshop up. summerhouse almost done.... But greehouse to do and most impotantly chicken house for 3 or 4 to do!!!

Has anybody any advice on building.. What NOT to do???

Thorougly enjoyed catching up... Brilliant relaxation...

Loving all comments..
DDxxx