Gardening to Excess Anyone?

[rhodielady_47]

I suppose I should be embarrassed to say this but I planted SIX packets of chive seeds this week. I really do love using chives in my cooking and planting to excess seems to be the only way I know to make sure that I grow enough of them.
Does anyone else plant excessive amounts of certain plants?

Comments

[loveshercoffee]

I do canning, freezing and dehydrating. So long as I get one year's crop used up by the time the next harvest begins, I figure I haven't planted enough! Apparently I need more garden space.

[rhodielady_47]

I knew of people who trained their cucumber and pumpkin vines to climb up trellises.
Some people also use their front yards as veggie gardens. Most lettuce and kale varieties are extremely beautiful plants. Carrots look a lot like ferns to me.
Have you ever tried the German style of gardening called "Hugelbeet"?
It might provide you with a way of growing a lot more veggies.
:)

[loveshercoffee]

I have heard of "Hugelculture" which seems to be the same thing as "Hugelbeet". I haven't tried it myself, but it looks like a really clever idea.

I do trellis my vining plants but using my front yard is out of the question for gardening as it's completely shaded by oaks and is the only space where our dogs can run around. As we have chicken in our back yard as well, it's quite a struggle to find enough room for gardening without running the risk of the poultry tearing everything up.

[dickgloucester]

I'm going to try trellising some squash plants this year.

[rhodielady_47]

The year my cucumbers got into my corn and climbed it was a bumper crop year for cucumber pickles.
Heaven help me, they made lots and lots of cukes.
I dearly love me some lime bread and butter pickles.
Do you ever add a piece of candied ginger to yours?
Or a dried red pepper?
Either way is delicious.
:)

[rhodielady_47]

BTW: Have you ever done dried tomatoes?
I'd love to learn how!
:)

[loveshercoffee]

I use an electric food dehydrator, so there really isn't much to it. I slice them about 1/4" thick or a little less and space them evenly on the trays. My machine is a pretty inexpensive one with just a single setting and it does a full load in about 15 hours.

They're really nice to soak in olive oil for a dressing or to add to Alfredo sauce. I also crush them into powder to either add a dab of tomato flavor to taco seasoning, to strengthen the taste of soup or stew and I sometimes add it to homemade tortillas so we can have those fancy wraps without having to pay the crazy price for them.

[rhodielady_47]

I can only hope I'll get lucky and someone will donate a food dehydrator to the Goodwill--just before I get there.
:)

[dickgloucester]

Do you have a freezer? I slowly cooked my tomatoes with fresh herbs in the oven until they'd lost a lot, but not all, of their water, then blended the resulting mush and froze it in ice cube trays. I'm still using them to add depth and intensity to tomato sauces.

[rhodielady_47]

Now that's a good use for a freezer!
:)