For the love of Produce...

acpgee wrote: »

Does anyone do their own sprouts? If so, tips welcome.

Mung bean sprouts are so perishable and I am tired of throwing them away two days after buying them. Hoping that sprouting my own will allow me control quantities for recipes that call for them. I have peas on the counter in a bamboo steamer in a dark corner of the kitchen now. Must remember to buy some mung beans.

Did you give it a go? Tasty?

I started a new batch of mung bean sprouts today, and I'm soaking some garbanzo beans (cici; chick peas; whatever) and am deciding whether or not to sprout them or just cook them tomorrow.

MinTheKitCat wrote: »

Hi guys! I’m going to try to grow some veggies this year in my tiny space 🙂 I’ve got a full balcony for containers as well as a small (4 x 8, but there is a crepe mertle (sp) tree in the middle) plot that is in shade until about 1pm each day. I’ve also got a fence and a wall of ivy in the back that are in partial shade - what would folks recommend growing where?

I recommend burning some calories and getting rid of the ivy. Don't worry; you won't be able to very easily, and it will be good exercise for a long time.

Does your balcony get full sun? I'm thinking you might get away with squash in the less-than-full sun. Or beans/peas. Grow herbs on the balcony, and if it gets plenty of sun, you can grow containers of other delicious things.

I’m sort of amazed pad Thai is considered an easy street food recipe when my cookbook recommends having everything prepped and measured on hand before starting to stir fry. Here is the array of ingredients before stir frying.

If you had a food truck, you'd have all the prep done and then just measure and cook.

Now I want pad Thai. I have some rice noodles. I'd have to wing the rest. I could make a nut butter from some hazelnuts. I've got garlic. I've got bean sprouts.... well, not yet, but in a few days.

Next adventure might be lentil soup or split pea. I can't decide.

If I had a leek, I'd do potato leek.

First I have to eat all these garbanzos and this big huge pot of soup.

MinTheKitCat wrote: »

@mtaratoot thanks! We hadn’t considered doing squash, but that’s a great idea! I’m strangely attached to the ivy wall and cut it back about three times a year and clean it out about every six weeks. It’s a full coverage growth over a retaining wall made of railway ties so it’s super pretty, but I know if I got rid of the ivy could hang planters there 🧐 also, that soup is making me HUNGRY!!
@acpgee those bowls are amazing!!

I am thinking of trying a "three sisters" planting this year. Corn to provide a place for beans to climb, and squash underneath to shade the soil and keep weeds down. I don't really have room for corn, but going this style it could work.

I'm not a fan of English ivy. It's an invasive weed, and birds carry the berries so it gets established in wild places. Where I live we also have Armenian blackberry that can take over. Several years ago, a quarter acre of Kudzu was discovered and eradicated. Thank goodness. If kudzu got established here, we wouldn't any longer have any issues with blackberries. It's really hard to eradicate ivy, though.

I had allowed some poison oak to grow for a while as a landscape plant. It is really pretty, but.... It's gone now. That also took a while to get rid of. It sprouts pretty often. Birds.

Even now, well before planting time, my garden is almost full. I have a bed full of artichokes. I now have a bed of raspberries. I wanted them in a different place, but they started leafing out last year and had to go in the ground. They were gifts from the yard of a friend before she moved, and then she died a few months later. I have another 1.5 beds full of wonderful garlic; I can maybe plant a winter garden there in August. I also have a bed of beets I planted late last summer. I just have one bed left, and it's kind of a waterlogged one that will now be in the shade of the raspberries unless/until I move them. Not a good place for tomatoes. I'll probably plant spring greens.

Insanely delicious grapefruit from the clearance produce area at my neighborhood store, topped with honey because it’s the best way to have grapefruit imo.

I love grapefruit and pomelo as well. It was so hard when last August Dr put me on statin (you can't eat grapefruit when you take statin).
Last month I restarted eating them...I surely made up for the lost time 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I have used grapefruit slices in salad in lieu of tomatoes because out-of-season tomatoes are not too far from tasting like the cardboard boxes they are packed in. Grapefruit still gives a nice texture and acidity.

Grapefruit season is about now, and so it's a good time to get 'em. I've been pretty fond of the sweeter varieties like Rio Star. Just slice off the ends, slice into wedges, and eat. Or, if I'm feeling old school, get out that grapefruit knife and just slice in half and dig on in.

@AnnPT77 sometimes I even eat the peel. My mom started me by teaching me to eat lemons with the peel when I was a kid. Now I like eating the peel of grapefruits or oranges.
Dang if I'm in the mood I eat also kiwis with the peel 😂😂😂😂

MinTheKitCat wrote: »

I’m loving this citrus love ❤️ 💕 I peel and eat all my citrus in segments like a clementine or tangerine unless I’m cooking with it. Also love candying citrus peel- especially lemon, lime, and grapefruit - SUCH a treat!!!!

Care to share your secret technique to make candied peel?

Safari_Gal_ wrote: »

MinTheKitCat wrote: »

I’m loving this citrus love ❤️ 💕 I peel and eat all my citrus in segments like a clementine or tangerine unless I’m cooking with it. Also love candying citrus peel- especially lemon, lime, and grapefruit - SUCH a treat!!!!

@MinTheKitCat - you just reminded me of a wonderful memory! - Walking next to the Château Royal d’Amboise- came across a little pâtisserie with the most beautiful citrus confections! I wanted to dive right into this bowl of candied clementines! I took this 2 years ago....

Those are so pretty!