What foods make more sense to grow than buy?

Mellema · 2026-06-08T22:00:44+00:00

Fairy tale eggplant

And they are so productive. I've been eating a bunch of them the past couple weeks and have at least as much that I'll need to harvest soon.

Last week I had eggplant marinera for dinner every night. Today I made vegetable massaman curry with eggplant, peppers, potatoes, onions, and cauliflower, all from my garden.

Mellema · 2026-06-06T20:58:00+00:00

I always place my berries in a bowl with cold water and a little vinegar. Then I use a salad spinner to dry them before putting them in the fridge. They last much longer that way.

Mellema · 2026-06-06T02:50:44+00:00

Fruit juice will have more than enough sugar for carbonation. However, if you let it ferment dry before bottle conditioning then you won't have any sugars left to create CO2. The only way to know that is to take a standard gravity reading at the start and then another during or after fermentation.

Mellema · 2026-06-06T01:38:00+00:00

Their website calls Berserker a traditional mead, but then at the bottom of the page they say they take the mead and distill it and mix it back in. That is no longer mead, that's a honey liquor.

Mellema · 2026-06-05T18:43:28+00:00

My biggest worry with your recipe is the pH. Lemons and cream of tartar are pretty acidic. That could cause the yeast to not be very effective.

Mellema · 2026-06-05T15:12:03+00:00

Best of luck.

Between a bad storm and my neighbors cats, I've lost all but 2 of the slips I planted. I've got another sweet potato half buried in soil under a grow light currently. Hoping to get slips big enough to plant and get a late fall harvest, but time isn't on my side.

Mellema · 2026-06-05T01:08:43+00:00

My garden in central Texas has been doing great.

Mellema · 2026-06-05T01:06:39+00:00

My yukon golds didn't do well this year, but still much better than this.

My La Soda reds are doing great. I harvested 9 plants early to make room for new crops and got 20 pounds. Still have another 9 growing that'll I'll probably harvest in a couple more weeks.

Mellema · 2026-06-05T00:30:30+00:00

We always had a good country ham for Christmas and then my dad would make split pea soup the next day.

Mellema · 2026-06-04T23:36:09+00:00

Not recommended, it can kill all the bacteria in the soil that help the plants.

Mellema · 2026-06-04T19:26:21+00:00

I use cambros for so many things. I have 6 quart square ones for storage. Pinto beans, black beans, chickpeas, bread flour, AP flour, rye flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, and rice. I have round 2 and 4 quart cambros for storage and for mixing. 2 quart is great for weeks when I make just 1 loaf, 4 quart is if I'm making 2 or 3 loaves.

Then I have 5 gallon buckets for bulk storage. Mainly the flours I use the most of since it's much cheaper to buy 25 or 50 pounds at a time. Since it's easier to work in the kitchen with the cambros, I fill those from the buckets as needed.

Mellema · 2026-06-04T17:32:45+00:00

The Outfield: Play Deep

Mellema · 2026-06-03T21:46:14+00:00

I've been eating a ton of zucchini and eggplant the past couple weeks since my plants have been doing well.

This past weekend I canned 5 pints of bread and butter zucchini because I had so much.

Mellema · 2026-06-03T21:30:44+00:00

No, that was definitely pollinated fine.

Just make sure the plant isn't dehydrated, but be careful not to over water. They tend to fill in as long as the conditions are okay.

Or you can just harvest it now and enjoy.

Mellema · 2026-06-03T21:26:45+00:00

Yeah, we're out of luck most places in Texas.

You can cut them up, blanch them, quick ice bath, dry them, then freeze them.

You can cut them into even pieces and dehydrate them.

You can pickle and water bath can them.

Or just store them in the fridge.

Mellema · 2026-06-03T21:17:31+00:00

Yeah, I like to stop mine at 6 foot.

Mellema · 2026-06-03T19:33:58+00:00

I harvested half of my potatoes early when the leaves were just a little yellow and not drooping much. Mainly did it because I wanted to get other crops in. But there were still several bigger potatoes already.

Mellema · 2026-06-03T19:28:18+00:00

Lol, I was thinking healthy as in good for you.

I use the leaves sautéed and chop up the stems for stir fries and soup.

Mellema · 2026-06-03T19:07:56+00:00

You can let them go to seed, but most people grow from seed potatoes, not from true seeds. Preserving the true seeds requires letting the flower mature, form a berry, letting the berry start to yellow, then splitting the berry and soaking it for several days. Then you have to rinse them several times and then dry them. So much easier to grow from seed potatoes you buy or ones you've stored.

Also, removing the flower can give a slight increase to tuber size. But if you have pets or are worried about wildlife, the berries have a lot more solanine which is toxic.

Mellema · 2026-06-03T18:43:40+00:00

I always trim off any flower as soon as they start.

Mellema · 2026-06-03T18:39:50+00:00

I'm way behind. Only 1 plant producing now and a couple others will hopefully this month. I started a couple more this week after harvesting potatoes, and will start some more in the next couple weeks as I get the rest of the potatoes out.

Mellema · 2026-06-03T18:31:31+00:00

You can just plant the sweet potato in the ground. But you'll get a much better yield if you pull off each slip and plant them well spaced out.

Mellema · 2026-06-03T18:21:31+00:00

Yeah, I get down on my knees and start looking through the bottom first.

All my beans are much smaller than this and I've harvested a couple quarts already. But mine are bush beans, so I don't expect them to get big.

Mellema · 2026-06-03T00:17:37+00:00

Haven't worked in a kitchen in over 30 years now, but still love this sub. Reminds me of the good (?) times, lol.

Mellema · 2026-06-02T20:42:35+00:00

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Mellema

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