Mike Barkley

Going to try some moringa from seeds. Also some alpine strawberries. Have never grown strawberries from seeds before.

On a similar theme ... I built a squash tunnel this year. Have wanted one since the first time I learned of that technique. It will have butternut squash, yard long beans, Dragon's Tongue beans, cucumbers, & probably a few tomatoes climbing on it.

Winter is probably over for this year around here. We have a few days of rain coming tomorrow. Figured it's time to start the 2025 guerrilla gardening season. Soaked a bag of 15 bean soup overnight. Went for a hike today & spread those beans in about a dozen sunny out of the way spots along a trail. Flowers in a couple of spots too. Some old cilantro seeds were also in the flower mix. Most seeds had the leaves scraped back & the soil loosened just a bit before adding the seeds. Others were just tossed around. Also tossed some of both along a really ugly stretch of road next to a long abandoned property right outside the county road maintenance zone. Also tossed wildflower seeds along a fence line so they will be visible from another road.

Not much effort went into this today but I intend to find a perfect location for a more extensive guerilla garden soon. Food in the woods & random flowers around town is my plan. Others might have the same thoughts so I thought it would be good to make a thread to show pix & discuss growing big hairy apes.

These pix are typical locations I used today. Sunny with support for climbing beans. Most are off trail just enough to not be noticed by hikers but still be easily accessible. One is along a long tree line that will be easily visible by anyone who happens to walk there but almost everyone will be more interested in fishing than walking along the tree line. The red arrow in the last pic shows the distance covered with that.

And so it begins!

I noticed the video added cayenne & paprika to the flour too. That is good but I was trying to describe the purist technique above. Tony Chacherie's or Slap Ya' Mamma cajun spice mixes are also good in the flour.

The video also used canola oil. I will never do that. Big globs of butter!!!

It's simple. Get a tenderized hunk of meat. Can be an actual steak or a lesser quality cut. Dip it in eggs. Dip it in salt & peppered flour. Another egg dip then another flour dip. Most restaurants then deep fry it. In my opinion that is just not the best way. Melt some butter in a cast iron skillet then fry the meat in that. Flip it once & only once when the bottom side is done. Remove the meat when it is golden brown on both sides.

Now for the gravy ... reduce the heat slightly ... scrape the pan to loosen the stuck bits ... add more butter ... gradually add some milk & the remaining seasoned flour ... add more salt & pepper ...keep stirring it almost like making a roux ... adjust milk & flour to get the desired consistency.  

My grandmother was an amazing cook from the deep south. This is how she taught me to make it. Trust her on this. I have made it about once a month for many years.

TN is where I started growing turnips. They struggled a bit in summer but still grew. If you're also trying to improve soil & loosen the clay TN Red Valencia peanuts will grow right along with the turnips. According to the university ag department no other type of peanut will grow there.

I have been growing them 6 or 8  years as a cover crop, for organic matter to leave in the soil, & as human food. If you have wild pigs be cautious about planting them in deer food plots. The pigs seem to like them more than the deer do. I had them destroy acres of beautiful deer plots overnight, for the turnips.

Mashed like potatoes is how I prefer to eat them but often add a few into soups too. The leaves are the bitter part to my taste buds. I don't like bitter so most of the leaves go to chickens or compost. I do like turnip greens cooked down with bacon & whatever else the good soul food cooks use. I think that is a fine art or magic or something. Every time I've tried to cook turnip greens it came out too bitter.  

When you buy a bag of 15 bean soup then throw the spice pack out because there's more than just spices in there. Put them in a pot of water to soak before tomorrow's hike. A few rainy days coming up. Guerilla gardening season starts tomorrow with a bag of assorted soup beans!!! Plus some flowers & whatever else I set aside a few weeks ago.

Yes, I can verify that cayenne definitely stops bleeding. It will sure get your attention though.

All peppers have the same active ingredient. The very first time I worked with chili petins I didn't wear gloves. Washed my hands several times. Then went to the bathroom. BIG mistake. The yayas were screaming no mas no mas for an hour or more. I will never ever underestimate the power of those tiny peppers again.

It sounds like they moved. Mother Nature know best!

Nearly a month later and the swarm is still there, although its size seems diminished.  

That sentence leads me to believe that the bees probably have no queen & will perish.

If a queen stops laying or dies & there are no very fresh eggs for the workers to make a new queen sometimes the bees leave & swarm as you describe. Unless they can be added to an existing colony with a queen they will gradually die off. When they swarm with a queen they usually find a new home quite fast.