Good one Robert!! For my flower boxes under my windows I go to the dollar store. :-) 

Hi Robert,

My sister has a little garden in a city neighborhood. It's amazing how much she grows. Currently, she is growing poblano, jalapeno, and serrano peppers. She smokes some of them in her little grill using mesquite chips.  She also dries some and pickles the others. My sister is also growing potatoes for the first time this year, and they are actually doing fine! In addition, she grows a variety of flowers, all of which her landlord encourages.

My daughter and granddaughter came up this past week and planted the watermelons she didn't have room in her garden to grow plus a sweet pepper plant and a tomato plant. I did manage to dig two small beds before surgery, so she was able to put those plants in one of the beds. I think I have enough time to plant some green beans in the other bed. While my daughter was here, she found some volunteer potatoes in the overgrown part of our garden, so she did some major weeding for me, while I was able to pull up the smaller weeds around each plant. So there is hope for some veggies yet!

Stella

Hi there Stella . It sounds like your sister has quite a garden going . She must be in a different climate than I am in haha . If you know where this is I am in the Palm Springs area of Southern California .This time of year here I don't have a lot of luck growing things except for maybe chili's . I have also grown Serrano's , Jalapeno's , Red Habanero's and Pequin Peppers . I currently have a Habanero growing . I normally air dry mine and crush them up my wife doesn't like hot stuff Haha so this way I can still enjoy them . I was growing potatoes but they didn't make it I'll try them again when it cools down . I also have a Meyer Lemon tree that I have gotten over 1100 lemons from in one season . And I also have a Midnight Valencia Orange Tree and 1 Blood Orange Tree . Sounds like you also have a nice garden growing I would like to try watermelon too but would have to do some rearranging for that .

Robert

Hi Robert,

My sister lives in southern NY - quite close to NYC.  I live in northern VT - a couple of hours from Montreal. Our growing season in VT is very short, but productive. We usually have to grow crops specific to this area. Most veggies do well here - particularly the root varieties and lettuces.  Tomatoes are a little "iffy" as well as pepper plants. Many people grow those inside old tires, but I like to grow things organically. 

I love the fact that you grow citrus in your garden. That's something we certainly can't grow here and depend on California and Florida for ours. My in-laws had a banana tree and an orange tree at their home in Florida, plus their neighbor had a grapefruit tree and told them they could have as much as they liked. 

Stella 

Hey there Stella . We almost can't be any farther apart in in climates and opposite sides of the country . Veggies grow well here there is a lot of agriculture here even though we are in the middle of the desert . Also quite a bit of citrus and here where I live in Indio we are known world wide for Dates . Funny thing is with all that around here I don't like Dates and only eat a couple veggies . Haha . Our citrus trees are growing in our backyard I juice them and freeze it for later and give a lot of them away . I sometimes get grapefruit from friends or here we can drive by some of the country clubs where they have them growing just for looks and we can pick those . This year I  grafted from the Meyer Lemon to the Midnight Valencia Orange so we'll see what happens there . I did have a Musa Banana once but didn't get much fruit .

Robert

Robert...that is amazing. I always wanted to pick my own orange, lemon or lime.  Smell them fresh off the tree.  Dates, I just love them, natures candy.  I will have to google them to see what they look like growing on the tree.   You should be zesting your citrus and selling it to the cooking shows on TV.  Valerie Bertonelli keeps saying on her show that she is waiting for the day they sell just the zest of citrus.  It seems the big thing is to use the whole fruit and skins of vegies.  There is a business in the zest thing and I want shares.  I think there is a reason our vegies have coats.  I love eating the skin of the orange, but in small quantities.  Washed thoroughly tho.  I love to garden also. I have just made a new flower bed out front and spent two hours weeding it today...lets just say my guts got the better of me.  Last year in my garden I made the error of planting two zucchini plants.  It was the gift that kept on giving right into October.  They say you know you live in a small town when the neighbors lock there car doors when there at the mall so you can not dump another zucchini on them.  I love to make my own zucchini sticks.  So easy.  Stella, root vegies are my favorite.  I love beets especially.  Roasted is best and then of course pickled. I actually want to put them in a batch of chili next time I make one,  just to try it. I think they would go well in there.   My dream is to see and pick my own pineapple someday.  We were in Hawaii as a gift when my hubby had his cancer diagnoses, but he was really not up to going too far from the hotel.  I guess I lost my Chance there.  I love to do canning and make my own jams especially.  I am going to try freezing  peaches this summer as well as other  stone fruits.   I planted the garden as a challenge to live thru it.  To accomplish it and enjoy it.  I never had time when the kids were younger, my son was a sick kiddo.  We have fruit trees galore here and grape vines a plenty.  If you ever come to Canada in the Okanagan let me know.  This part is Canadas  only desert.  We have cactus growing wildly in some areas.  I have two in my back yard.  Rattlesnakes, back widow spiders...anyone for camping?

When I lived in Fl. I had lemon and lime trees.  Gosh!!  Did they grow fruits!!  Lemon aid all the time,. and the limes? perfect for bloody Mary's etc.  Got other fruits kike grapefruit and oranges from near by farms..  Cant get any better!! Miss that. Now I can get nice cold snow cones her in Ct. for a good 4-5 months :- )

Hi, Robert, Linda, and Marcie,

 Did you know that beets and carrots are high in anti-cancer/inflammatory properties? Also, citrus is anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial. I purchased The Cancer Fighting Kitchen by Rebecca Katz before my cancer/stoma surgery and have using some of the recipes and adapting others. For people who are undergoing chemo and radiation, this book is a goldmine of info. The list of anti-inflammatory/anti-cancer foods is a mile long. She uses organic ingredients and many of the recipes are "power packed". I would think this book would be helpful to those with Crohn's disease, Ulcerative Colitis, and IBD as well.

Yesterday, I planted green beans in my prepared, but empty garden bed, and I plan on canning the beans when they come in. I love fresh beans, but enjoy the flavor of my own canned beans, too. 

Thanks for sharing all your gardening experiences!

Stella

Hey Linda . I mentioned to my wife what you said about selling the zest thought it sounded like a good idea cause we could get plenty of it from the Meyer Lemons alone . If we ever figure out a way to do it don't worry I will cut you in !! Lol . And if you wanna drop by in a few weeks I would be glad to let you pick a 100 or so Lemons ! Haha . I don't eat the skin off of them but I have seen people eat oranges like an apple . They smell really good when in bloom . I bet your neighbors are hoping you only plant one Zucchini . Haha . My wife and I planted 60 Portulaca last weekend in various spots and I also had dried some Anaheim chilies for the seeds and planted those . So we will see what happens . I didn't realize you guys had desert areas up there . I have a couple aloe vera growing and snakes oh yes we have those scorpions black widows etc. etc . Was bitten once by a baby side winder not fun at all !!!

Hang in there with the pineapple you never know could still happen ........

Hey Stella . The carrots I could do but other than that I'm not big on the veggies . But the green beans sound like they would be really good ! Don't know how to can myself but both my Grandmas always had a cellar full and one would make the best pickles ......

Hi Robert,

When my garden is in full swing, I can pickles as well as green beans. The rest we store in our root cellar that my husband built and freeze. Sometimes I ferment cukes and also make kimchi - both of which I love. We also have 11 blueberry bushes, which I did manage to fertilize before my surgery. 

Stella

Good morning all...Robert, we also grow the peppers here, tomatoes also  (Last year I grew a mega load of them)  along with orchards full of cherries, plums, apricots, peaches, tons of tomatoes and strawberries and others. I froze several pounds of them this year to use in my fruit smoothies.  Grapes...everywhere including my back yard.  I love driving around and seeing the fruit growing on the trees. It is some kind of magic.  Naked trees all winter, minus cold, cold temperatures and boom spring hits with flooding and fires and the trees sprout their  leaves and then the fruit appears...I just love it.  I enjoy seeing the people working in the orchards and gardens.  We are very blessed to be able to grow so much of our own food.  I have not been able to this year. The guts, you know.  Aside from that, have you ever zested?  There is a way to do it.  Do not get  the pith as it makes the zest bitter.  You could most likely sell it to restaurants in your area. I imagine they would promote it especially during fruit season.  I would think it could be frozen as well. Make your own candied peel. I am not sure what a Portulaca is, but I will look it up after.  60 Is a lot. I think it is important to harvest our seeds from fruit and vegies.  One year I had successfully grown an Avocado tree. It got to three feet tall, and then I had to have emergency surgery for a nasty blockage.  I was in for three weeks and had told everyone to make sure they kept that tree alive. Turned out it would have been better looked after if I had taken it to hospital with me.  It was drier than a rock when I got home.  I actually cried.  I spent a lot of time babying that tree.  I can only imagine the scent of citrus growing. In spring here, we get on the breeze, the smell of Lilacs and the fruit trees. It is a sweet scent and visitors are always amazed how wonderful the air is.  I am allergic to cherries, and even picking the fruit gives me a rash. But oddly enough I can eat the cooked! Never picked the others tho.  I thought I would try picking a few pounds of peaches this year to freeze for pies and of course I have to make the apricot pineapple jam I make.  It makes awesome gifts at Christmas.  Does your lovely wife crochet at all?  I am making a large king size afghan for my son and his wife.  Daniel is 6'3" and built huge.  Knees like I have never seen and  this big broad chest on the boy. Well okay, he is 34. I love his hugs.  I also enjoy crocheting doilies and baby things.  This afghan pattern is called Larks Foot.  They have only three toes. The center stitch is a drop stitch.  I could call it a Dougs foot as my hubby had a long middle toe! I am not sure what a portulaca is but I will look it up.  Are dates in a shell on the trees?  I guess I have to look them up also. 

Stella, yes I new knew that about beets being an anti-carcinogen  and I usually ate them twice a week. Kimchi huh?  I would like to try that one day. I learned about it winter watching a cooking show on the tube.  Looks good, I  am a real pickle fanatic.  Thanks all for sharing.

We enjoy growing herbs...….. :-)

Hey Linda sounds like you have quite a variety in your garden sounds great ! Yes it is amazing how the fruit just starts to appear . The citrus are evergreen but then all of a sudden they start to bloom and they smell nice . I juice a lot of the Lemons and some oranges and freeze it for juice later . I know when you juice you also want to stay away from the pith as it will make the juice bitter . I have never used the zest but my sister in Law makes cookies etc . and sells them on line or for different occasions and I always give her more than she can use haha . I have tried to sell my Lemons to a local produce company here but he said there were health reasons that kept him from selling them . That is to bad about your Avocado tree I know how it is to put all that time into something just to lose it . I have never tried growing Cherries but they do grow them about 40 miles from here where you can even pick them yourself . No my wife doesn't crochet but my daughter does some baby beanies and a few small things . She was even showing some of the young girls (kids) that she works with how to do it to give them something to do to pass their time they enjoyed it . Look up the Portulaca they have a variety of colors and the Dates if you get a chance the Dates are quite a process . If you have ever heard of Shields Date Garden in Indio Ca . they are actually known world wide they are right around the corner from our house and they  ship all over the world . Bad part is I don't even like Dates Haha . Oh ya I forgot to mention a friend of mine is bringing me a Carolina Reaper Pepper plant that's already started I can't wait to get some of those chili's !!!!

Hey Stella the pickles and canned green beans sound good . But I have to ask . What are cukes ? I will look it up . But now 11 blueberry bushes that sounds really GOOD ! I do like Blueberries !!!! Wish I could grow them here .

Robert..are you being funny?  You know what cukes are right?  there cucumbers man!  The bag of dates I have  are from Iran of all places.  I like to buy close to home usually, or as close as  I can get. I guess I failed on that one.  However, they are packed in Canada eh! Close, but not quite.  That Carolina Reaper Pepper sounds dangerous.  I hope it produces well for you.  I enjoy a little food heat, but not a lot. I think that is great that your daughter teaches others to crochet.  I taught a young East Indian girl back when I worked in the credit union.  She was expecting her first baby and had said that not one person had been able to teach her how to crochet.  That afternoon, she watched me making  a sweater for my up and coming baby girl.  I had noticed earlier in the day that she was left handed.  I too am a south paw, so when she sat watching me, I asked if she was still interested to learn.  She had tears in her eyes when I said I would teach her. She caught on really well and did an amazing job. The set had almost every stitch she would need to know for what she panned on making and the rest would fall into place.  I was so proud of her.  If you re-read the last email I sent you, you will see that I have not planted a garden this year, too much gut pain this year, and the malabsorption is tiring me out ridiculously, but these are a fair idea of fruits and vegies that do grow here in the Okanagan. There is so much more. Garlic and   Figs...are another example. We are very lucky to grow so much of own foods when we do though. I love how things grow on the plants. I love photography also so I spent  fair bit of time last year taking pictures of the fruit and vegies in there various stages of growth.  Egg plant posed really well for the shots.  I love the citrus we are able to purchase.  I just paid 79 cents for one  lime today.  I have never used the zest in foods as I get eczema badly from citrus. I appreciate you sharing your garden with us.  I love hearing what others grow.  Someday I will pick my own orange off a tree and maybe eventually   a pineapple.  Do you know hot hot you reaper is supposed to be? I have not heard of that one. Is it a new variety?

Posted by: Robert

Oh ya I forgot to mention a friend of mine is bringing me a Carolina Reaper Pepper plant that's already started I can't wait to get some of those chili's !!!!

Woah, those are probably the hottest peppers in the world right now! You are a brave man - but I'd totally try some if I had them available ;) I think there's a local place that sells hot pepper plants and the hottest I believe they have are Scotch Bonnets, which are like 1/8 the heat of a Carolina Reaper! LOL

Well, I am glad I started the Lounge of quotes...…….. :-)  I think this is great that everyone is getting to know each other in planting their veg's. and your ideas show who we are.  Guess I was off track with the quotes thing huh? But that is O.K. as long as I got you all off our stomas of illness for a bit. Even tho this is the blog to do that and get to know each other that way..  but it is nice I think, to get to know each other of different interests. 

My husband plowed 30 feet X 40 feet of part of our back yard into a garden.  BIG MISTAKE !  He over planted his favorate of egg plants = 20 of them.  (couldn't give them away fast enough and I hate egg plant) Tomatoes (that didn't make it through  heavy winds and rain)   and the rabbits, dear, etc. ate the rest. And he leaves for South Korea for business all the time and wants me to weed!! Needless to say that garden lasted for only 2 years.  Now he has pot plants on the deck and buys his egg plants when needed at the farm. I like the herbs myself..  So much easier.  I am not a farmer.. And I hate weeding.. 

Anyone Pot Plants on their decks?  Easy to tend to and if u have the room it is nice. NO WEEDING!!   :-) 

Hi everyone,

I am getting away from the gardening topic.  My husband suggested that I write a book about my experiences prior to and after surgery. He said I ought to title it The Ileus and the Ostomy. (Any groans out there yet?) My husband is a first class punster who enjoys hearing me groan! But I have to say, he is really good with writing witty and funny lyrics or poems.

Stella

Check out the members stories...……… just go to members, and click on and read about me..  Enjoy--- Not very funny...but we do live on...…………. :-) 

As far as your husband goes,he first to be connected to a machine to feel it..  If only there was one huh?  Then the Dr. and him will understand huh? THen we can al laugh...… Him too?? don't think so----------- Enjoy ! M.