Saregama, glad you found that bulb before it went liquid! About half of the finocchio seedlings died from the heat, since they’re started in July to mature as days get short and cold. Lost all my first sowing of collards for the same reason.
Green fennel seeds are amazing!** I candied some with sugar. The dried, frozen green fennel seed goes into sausage, tomato sauce…yum! Well, unless you don’t like that anise-like flavor. Licorice root doesn’t have any of that anise flavor. “Licorice” candy used the root for a sweetener when sugar was scarce or very expensive; anise is the main flavor in licorice candies. Licorice root can be a handy way to quell a cough; just chew on a thin piece and swallow the juice, not the woody root. It’s crazy sweet.
**But, it’s REALLY important you know it’s fennel and not one of the many deadly relatives. You know, the ones with telling names: Poison Hemlock, Fool’s Parsley, etc. Generally, if it has those feathery, fennel/dill-like leaves and has a strong anise-like smell/taste, it’s OK. Best to confirm it if unsure. I used to collect fennel pollen, as well.
We eat the fresh green seeds right off the stalk in season. The rest of the year the seeds are available in all those other forms, mainly as a digestive and mouth freshener, and occasionally in cooking.
Yes, the toxic members all have similar umbel flowers with seeds forming atop as the flowers fade. Many have seeds that are more flat than fennel, or the seeds have a different shape; I don’t know their flavor!!
Bronze Fennel, which is more perennial than most, makes great tasting green seeds and pollen. Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars love them, too.
3rd attempt at peas this year for the delicious leaves, really.
I sprouted then indoors (actually, I sprouted white peas to cook, and took some out to attempt another grow), transplanted very gently today - there are about 1” shoots on them, and roots.
I’ve planted two rows (furrows) with the intent to put stakes and mesh down the middle.
Have to cover them later so the darn cabbage worms and birds and whatever else don’t get at them before they can flourish.
My tomatoes took August off (maybe they’re therapists or something) and then came roaring back at the end of September. The bloody butcher and the sungold have been and continue to be extremely productive, and the black krim is a lazy princess, as is the custom for my black krims.
I’ve tried preserving tomato seeds once a few years ago. The preservation went well, except the plants came out next year became dwarf plants and the fruits were much smaller and were no good in taste. I don’t know if they were trying to adapt to my environment or I didn’t preserve the best seeds. (N.B. I’m growing in pots and not in a particularly sunny and warm region.)
I’m reading on grafted tomato, I want to try that next year. One of my purchased grafted plant is 10 times more productive. Incredible.
Naf, if you haven’t explored Johnny’s Library, they have a lot of information on tomato grafting. I grafted a lot of tomatoes in 2017 & 2018 and they were amazing. When grafting, it’s very useful to have a plant light, humidity dome and those silicone clips. I also use a magnifying lamp so it’s easier to see what is going on.
Saregama-Regarding the “baby” kale, it could be many things:
•As Naf mentions, uneven fertilizer
•Old seed or weak seed
•Nematodes or insects on the root system - Ants can “farm” root aphids, root mealybugs, etc. Beetle grubs are possible in some areas.
•Fungus attacking the root system
•Root damage on transplanting
•Genetic variation within the seed, especially if it of mixed parentage-outcrossed
Frost may have arrived; it’s too early to tell if anything got whacked by ice. A bunch of plants got covered yesterday and fortunately…
Most of the shiitake were ready to pick before the cold. This variety “Night Velvet”, makes dense, very pretty mushrooms. The cute fuzzy ornamentation is easily rubbed off.
A couple dozen were left outside because they were not mature, Time will tell if they survived. They’re covered with a plastic tent and in a bamboo grove, so may be fine.
Since we got a surprise pre-Halloween mini snow burst, I guess it’s cold enough to do the fall bulbs finally. Of course it started raining on me as soon as I went out, but got my garlic bulbs planted for next year! Fresh new bulbs - none of the mini ones from what I grew myself. Looking to improve on bulb size this next season.
With the snow and frost, I had to save a few plants that I left outside (no thanks to the local weather teams who all predicted snow would miss us). Waiting to harvest the last of the shishito peppers for the season before they get composted (RIP, shishito pepper plants…you have been good to me). I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that the lemongrass, the ginger and the lime tree make it through their indoor transition. My scallions and chives got covered with snow, but since the snow melted within 2 days, it seems like they didn’t really freeze that badly and are usable.
My landscaper buried most of my crazy, wild-growing Chinese chive plants. I have a few old ones that were flowering and staring to wither so I’m saving the seeds and will now replant them in a little patch elsewhere. Hope they come back strong.
If you can dig up some root balls to put in another spot, they would still be good next year! It’s a much bigger challenge to grow them from seeds (at least from my experience), and the first-year leaves are so skinny - all they are good for is prepping for next year. I harvest my Chinese chive and left the flowering stems and seeds in the ground; hopefully the root will make it to next year.
I have a few old ones that were flowering and staring to wither so I’m saving the seeds and will now replant them in a little patch elsewhere. Hope they come back strong.
