Our “pumpkin patch” did not turn over very big nor many pumpkins. However, we did get a small one to carve nonetheless. Today, we help our homegrown pumpkin fulfill its destiny.
8:01 Pumpkin carving tool review for:
Warren Cutlery Pro Pumpkin Carving Set (http://amzn.to/2e30TTp)
With peanuts, Chinese kale, and Chesnok Red garlic from the garden we make a common yet lesser known Asian dish– taro rice.
Makes about 8 servings of taro rice
-2 cups rice
-2 cups taro, cubed
-1 cup pork, cubed
-1 tsp soy sauce
-1/2 cup shiitake mushroom
Shrimp & Gai Lan topping
-8 cups of gai lan
-16 jumbo shrimp (16-20 count/lb) or 1/2 cup
-2 clove garlic
-2 tsp oyster sauce
-2 tsp soy sauce or season to taste
-some roasted peanuts
Round 1: Sowing the seeds of the ‘Tokyo Long White’ and ‘Ishikura Long Winter’ green onion.
Green onions / spring onions / scallions / bunching onions are either in delicious dishes or make dishes delicious. The two varieties mentioned will be grown in a side by side contest to observe how they grow.
My favorite scallions have been the Japanese heirloom varieties. Very easy to grow and can be grown year round in the southern California – Los Angeles area. Though an inexpensive produce it is the convenience of walking to the garden to find some that makes this plant worth it to grow. Moreover, fresh harvested scallion has more spring in its texture and is more aromatic.
Traditional American breakfast components like scrambled eggs, hash, and bacon can be packaged in burrito form and enjoyed. Today, we make a breakfast burrito with purple potatoes from the garden.
Watermelon is one of those crops that seem like they ought to be easy to grow. Well, to a certain extent, they are. It is getting them sizable is where it is tricky. We did not get back large watermelons this year but instead one the size of a small dinosaur’s egg.
With success, semi-success, failure, and everything in between, we always have points of data to work from. Next year when we make our attempt, we will keep in mind the following:
1. Well draining soil
2. Rich soil
3. Sunny and warm location for the plant
4. The actual fruit prefers shade
Today, we prune our dragon fruit plant back in hopes of increasing fruit yield.
(Apologies about audio issues. I hope to smooth those out soon.)
Growth is still very limited. However, with the weather cooling off there is optimism that growth will pick up.
October is generally when most plant garlic. Even in warmer climates like southern California. Today, we will plant our favorite hardneck garlic– the Chesnok Red garlic. Before we do that, we will talk a little bit about compost and get compost for our garlic planting.
Basic info on garlic: https://youtu.be/9k-VgeIIS14
Short on time this morning, we took the opportunity to knock off some gardening to-do’s. Mainly, to move plants from their pots and into the ground. One of those plants is the sugar apple tree. It was sprouted from seed a little over a year ago, lived through our Southern California winter, and now planted into the ground.
The purple potatoes are sharing a container with a watermelon plant. With the watermelon finally ready to go, we can dig for our purple potatoes.
The watermelon harvested is a ‘Mountain Yellow Sweet’ watermelon.
