gene gapsis

I am definitely interested.  I was just wondering what to do with a bin of old jeans I saved for painting or grub use.

Chocolate lily

My bulk salsa recipe calls for 1/4 cup of lime juice for 32 large tomatoes, 6 large onions, 4 garlic flowers, 2 large cans of tomato paste, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1-2 cups of chopped jalapeño peppers, 1/4 cup cumin seeds, salt to taste, and large bunches of parsley and cilantro.  It is recommended one add freshly chopped cilantro and perhaps onion or garlic to liven it up, but I have not found it necessary.  I would think 2 tablespoons of lemon juice per jar would be excessive and definitely affect the taste.  With pressure canning, I suspect the quality of the initial ingredients will determine how well the flavours endure, but it is always possible to add fresh ingredients.  I have not, in  40 years, experienced salsa that went bad.  And the pressure canning is 5 pounds for 10 minutes, which I have at times wondered is enough, but have not experienced any problems.  I just love cracking open a jar and eating it with a spoon.  I feel like I'm eating my vitamins and enjoying it!  

Jamie Chevalier wrote:My understanding is that yams require a lot of heat, both day and night. Even here in northern California, I don't know anyone who can grow them outdoors without nighttime protection, except in the Central Valley, where moister air makes the nights warmer. (I have a 40 to 50-degree swing between summer days and summer nights, from 90-100 to 40-50.) I do know people who have grown them successfully in a greenhouse here.

I suspect that in your maritime climate, you might be able to do it if you could find a way of raising the temperature. say in a greenhouse or cold frame. Maybe the solution would be a hot bed, where you dig a pit and fill it with fresh manure, or other hot-composting materials. Put soil on top of that to grow in and a frame or tent over the top to hold the heat. I used to build these for winter greens in Southeast Alaska, with an old window and wood frame over a pit filled with seaweed and chicken bedding. I grew fresh spinach and Asian greens when it was 10 degrees outside.

Thank you so much for this.  Unfortunately, I am far enough from the seashore to not have the maritime climate of those that live closer.  I tent my tomatoes, and will try the same with yams.  Any suggestions on slips, or do you plant directly.  I tried one suggestion I found here last year of just piling leaves over top of the potatoes, which did sprout, but far too slowly to produce anything before frost.

I am on Vancouver Island off the west coast of British Columbia, Canada.  My 35 x 50 garden has produced food for 40 years, although since the kids have gone on with their lives, I have more flowers and blueberry bushes.    I don't grow anything exotic, and many people say carrots are so cheap, why grow them?  All I can say is for the taste, just as with tomatoes.  My carrots, leek, kale, parsley, and beets stay in the ground most of the year, but I do like to get the carrots and beets out when temperatures drop below freezing.  Those beets I miss provide nice greens in the spring, along with the Swiss chard and kale.  I get LOTS of raspberries and rhubarb, enough delicious strawberries for myself and the freezer, and the blueberries, well, I love those fresh.  I freeze the black currants for winter smoothies, to add tartness to raspberries or blueberries, but I'll perhaps make jelly this year.  I stopped eating jams and jellies after the kids were grown, but started again, because I make it for gifts. (I've been cycling out last year's frozen berries for jam.)  Potatoes, beans, and squash are must-haves, and sprouting broccoli planted last fall was a delicious treat this spring.  I have switched from growing bush beans to pole beans for space.



My question for everyone is how to successfully grow what we in Canada call yams, or the orange-fleshed sweet potatoes to those of you in the States.  I want to get away from potatoes (don't eat that many) but I LOVE sweet potatoes (yams.). I'm about 500' above sea level, so my climate is colder in winter, and much drier in summer.  I have so far not been successful, even in producing slips, having tried different ways I've read about here on Permies.  If anyone can help educate me on that, I would really appreciate it.  I do NOT have a greenhouse.  I love to tend my garden, but in summer, I want to be on the water in my kayak as much as possible. My life is greatly enhanced by growing my own food, not to mention the food security issues which Covid-19 has highlighted, and while I purchase organic veggies which come mostly from California, there are pretty poor substitutes for what I can grow.  

Hello Arcadia.  I am centrally located on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada.  I first learned a little about soil amendments as a very young child.  My brothers and I were a bit disgusted at how my Mom collected coffee grounds and kitchen waste, which she dug in around her roses.  Jumping ahead 30 years, I started my own garden on heavy, clay soil.  Years of compost, cow manure, seaweed, and working the soil has gradually produced a clay loam that grows a variety of veggies, especially particularly yummy root crops.  I learned some basic principles from a Belgian farmer, who used chemicals in his seed rows, and toxic sprays, which went against my convictions, so I concentrated on trying to provide better conditions for my plants to grow, so they would be less susceptible to pests.   Now, 40 years later, I am still trying to add sufficient organic matter to help retain moisture, as climate change has affected my summers significantly.  We can go 3 to 4 months without rain in the summer, which is difficult to mitigate with a shallow well.  I eventually hope to install a rain collection system, to augment the cistern I installed..  Rather than remove deadheads, seed stalks, and plant roots, I use them in my walkways, difficult as they are to compost, along with sometimes straw, and maple leaves I collect in the fall. Eventually, they breakdown and provide lots of organic matter.

I would love to better understand carbon gardening.  I do burn blowdowns, branches, and trimmings in my firepit, and then spread the ashes, but I have no idea how to produce char without oxygen.  In today's world, it feels more young people are taking an interest in gardening practices, which I have basically taken for granted for decades, along with canning and preserving the bounty.  This is something that is badly needed in a time when an addiction to convenience, and seasonal fruits and vegetables are in demand year round.  Talk about carbon footprint!  Thanks for adding your voice!

Hello to John, and all contributors.  I live on east central Vancouver Island, and grow raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and black currants. In the forests around me, I can pick salmonberry, thimbleberry, Oregan grape, huckleberry and more.  It is my understanding that most berries provide significant amounts of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals with fewer carbs than many fruits.  Since elderberries are native to the east, I was wondering how black currants, in your opinion, stand up to elderberries.  Numerous resources suggest that black currants exceed elderberries in many minerals, Vit. C, and are slightly less glycemic.  I am enjoying black currants more and more, usually eating them freshly picked or frozen.  I would appreciate your comments, and information on the suitability for growing in my region.  Thank you.