next crop

[daveb]

How long do you hang the basil out for? Or do you leave it hanging until used?

it will vary depend on how warm and the humid the air is, right now because thats the room is where the wood stove is so 3 days max 4

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Oh my, that's very fast! I've tried drying herbs here but it takes many weeks, or even months. Usually there's some dust on them by then

It's very warm, but also very humid here after all, in the sub-tropics.

 

[daveb]

Oh my, that's very fast! I've tried drying herbs here but it takes many weeks, or even months. Usually there's some dust on them by then

It's very warm, but also very humid here after all, in the sub-tropics.

you can dry in oven if you dont have dehydrator ive set over on low and checked my temps and it varies slightly on position top to bottom of 150 to 170 degrees this will take abot 30 to 45 minutes . if i do dry in oven i lat a piece of muslin i have on the baking sheet , you could also use heavy parchment paper ( not wax paper )

 

[daveb]

popped off a handfull ot tiny tim for my salad this evening and cutting so romaine and red romaine lettuce a bit of hebs to go in it also. not a huge number of salad tomaotes but over powering sweet and flavorfull but what i get ever few days consistantly

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

They look amazing, not a single blemish in sight!
I think my main issue with tomatoes is the acidity, and I find that taste especially strong in cherry tomatoes

 

[daveb]

They look amazing, not a single blemish in sight!
I think my main issue with tomatoes is the acidity, and I find that taste especially strong in cherry tomatoes

look for these in heirloom seeds its an old variety " tiny tim " a nice sweetness and not as acidic most. A neighbor has diverticulosis and most tomatoes bother her terrible but these don't they are a dwarf variety and at most the plats will get may 15 to 18 inches max perfect to pation planter and hanging basket. and as yet i've never had a single one with a blemish

as one revue wrote about them:

Tiny Tim tomatoes are juicy and plump and have a perfect balance of tart sweetness.
The flavor is subtle and not as sweet as other varieties. The tomatoes have thin skins,
allowing you to enjoy a nice pop when you bite into them.
This variety is known for producing one of the tastiest tomatoes on a dwarf plant.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Thank you!

 

[daveb]

so as i mentioned i have a dwarf eggplant going i boved the couple of plants to a 5 gallon deep water pail , although the leaves are getting massive i have a feeling the seeds reverted to one of the original stocks plants



the basil is making a mad come back this is a photo from yesterday morning



thyme oregano and marajoram have slowed down but still steady growth evn though i did miss a few days this last week with additional appointments and water dropped a little low

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Hope you're doing alright @daveb

Looks like the plants will come back with a vengeance, haha. They look awesome. Love the eggplant in a bucket.

 

[daveb]

Hope you're doing alright @daveb

Looks like the plants will come back with a vengeance, haha. They look awesome. Love the eggplant in a bucket.

the bucket is a regualr food safe 5 gallon plastic pail with i let pot style lid so the leafs are already 14 to 16 inch spread on them, the egg plant is Burpee patio baby height is supposed to be 16 - 20 inches tall and spread of only 18 with fruit of 2 to 3 inches in size
here is the

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Oh! That's very interesting. Smaller than I'm used to seeing too. I wonder if they might be quite cute kid-sized eggplant omelettes.

 

[daveb]

Oh! That's very interesting. Smaller than I'm used to seeing too. I wonder if they might be quite cute kid-sized eggplant omelettes.

I have seen mixed reviews of them being nice cute small egg plant 3 to 5 inchs max, and other that they are full size fruit so we shall see ,

 

[daveb]

so cut back basil once again and once agai smell in huose is amazing strong


here is a little better view of the egg plant

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Oh my

 

[daveb]

Oh my

found a few snap shots online of various fruit off the patio baby eggplant, i first tried these at a friends i did not see how big theirs were , they cut them in half and scooped the flesh out of skin with spoon, sliced the inside like fries , breaded then deep fried. the flesh was very mild and acreamier smoother texture that large eggplant

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Ooh, that sounds quite yummy. I might try and get a hold of seeds then one day. Though not now, the weather is a mess, haha.

 

[daveb]

the herbs are a bit slow to bush out but i also been using sprigs off them regular when cooking

the thyme and oregano


marajoram i moved it to corner


and if you look back to post on jan 1st you can see one tub at far end just starting some lettuce to transfer to nft system it got a little crazy
these are actually the gree vial sitting on top that had not sprouted at the time or were just breaking to seed open and surface

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

I really want to pinch off some lettuce and eat it, haha. It's too bloody hot here for me to grow it. Even indoors it's 34C

 

[daveb]

I really want to pinch off some lettuce and eat it, haha. It's too bloody hot here for me to grow it. Even indoors it's 34C

those are under the new corn cob lights i bought to test, no special hood just a contractors light socket like you see dangling on wires in construction.

two one at right end and one center , working on a switchable hood that will have multiple spectrum of theses that i can control off a circuit they look promising for output versus power consumption , they will drop my power draw in half versus current set up

 

[daveb]

the last two bulbs i got were a 2 pack for $23.00 usd
146pcs 2835 SMD CRI 95 lamp beads,
3000Lm, daylight white 6500K,
30 Watt claimed power draw
actual meter reading at 11 inches 2915 Lm 6500K power draw 28.6Watt draw



tossed two into set up, laced wires back up between other lights and removed one light strip out of system
And i have cut the basil back 4 times now since christmas