Miscellany

[tamago23]

Sewing: If anyone wanted an amazing resource on how to draft 1940's fashions, here you goSleep: I am so tired. So very, very tired. Two hours of sleep the night before last, five hours of sleep last night... I'm done, stick a fork in me

Comments

[misslynx]

The key to having dandelion greens be tasty and not too bitter is picking them when they're young. Once they get big, no method of cooking will keep them from tasting nasty. But when they're little, they're yummy. I remember picking them when I was a kid and sauteeing them in butter (I was old enough to be trusted in the kitchen, obviously - maybe 10 or 11?), and being very pleased with the results.

[tamago23]

There's a good page here which discusses them - as you said, they're bitter no matter when you pick them but when young they're less bitter, and with reduced sunlight they're also less bitter. The key is in the cooking; the bitter compound is water-soluble, and either boiling them for five minutes or cooking them with a fat (as you did with the butter) reduces or eliminates the bitterness. :) Or they can be used young, as-is, when added to a mixed salad (the bitterness is far less noticeable as part of a mix).

[gentlemaitresse]

If only what is written on that shirt were true.

It's more like, regardless of what they *believe* in, they will give you busy work to keep you from making trouble, and you will be bored to tears and get cramps in your hands. You're not allowed to talk or chew gum, and when you don't get it right the first time they give you a bad grade and move on to the next thing, without giving you another chance ... unless you go to summer school.

[tinahenry4]

Ummm yeah, that shirt is a wee bit creepy /-:

[kimisutra]

I've had good luck with window boxes for baby carrots and lettuces. you might try them after your dandelion experiment.

[tamago23]

I've got three or four 36"-long windowboxes going with mesclun mixes right now, but not having a great deal of success with them; some lettuces come up much faster than others, so by the time some of them are ready to cut, there still aren't enough to make it worthwhile, and by the time others are ready to cut, the first ones have bypassed their best-by period... gah. Next year I'm just doing single varieties of lettuce. I've never had good results with mesclun mixes.

Baby carrots, now there's a thought. Are miniature carrots actually hybrid seeds or are they just regular carrots that you pick early? I've got some Purple Haze carrots going right now.

[kimisutra]

I honestly do not know if baby carrots are a hybrid or not. I just pick em when they look to good to wait for anymore, ha. as for lettuce I've just grown the green leaf and haven't really played with the varieties. maybe next year.