beginnig of my Fall garden.

[hoodat]

I took out the remains of my Winter squash vines a couple of weeks ago and then followed up by taking out my yellow beans. When I turned over the bean patch I added in some dry dog food my dog refused to eat as a combination humus/ fertilizer. (I don't blame her. It smelled terrible) Now that the soil critters and worms have hopefully broken the dog food down I planted the first of my Fall veggies. Kailaan, a Chinese green with edible stalks. Now if I can just keep the cabbage worms off it I should be off and running. Next stop, red mustard.

 

[ducks4you]

, Hoping for a great 2nd harvest!

 

[lesa]

Lucky you!! I so envy your being able to garden year round! Although, lately I have been so tired from working till dark in the garden....I have begun thinking fondly of winter! Looking forward to your progress report! Enjoy!

 

[VVolfpack]

I added in some dry dog food my dog refused to eat

About this dog food fertilizer, this is the first time I've heard of this... My cat likes to leave lots of crumbs in his bowl and refuses to eat the small stuff, Should I be throwing this into my Compost pile?? How long does it need to compost before it's safe to use? I'm assuming it may attract bugs otherwise
Thanks

 

[bills]

Wow! Your winter squash are already finished? Mine are still in flower, although I do have several immature fruits on the vines. Amazing what a difference 17 degrees of latitude can do. I'm at 49*n19 min. You are at 32n43 min.

Dog food fertilizer is a new one on me..lol Lots of protein..

I guess you don't have coons, or chances are it would have been dug up and eaten..around here, a black bear could be another unwanted guest we could expect..

 

[hoodat]

I had to do something with the stuff. I could put it into the compost but I'm afraid if I used much of it, it would heat up and damage the redworms I'm so carefully cultivating there. I doubt it will attract critters. I scattered it on top and then spaded it in so there isn't too much of it in one place and it's pretty well buried. I figured protein means nitrogen and that's what I want for the greens I'll be planting there.

 

[bills]

Chances are pretty good it would break down quickly. If it's like most dry dog foods, it will have a mixture of meat, or fish meal, which would add nitrogen for sure. The other ingredients are usually grains, and vegetables, so that wouldn't hurt.

Be interesting to see how the greens grow in the area that you spread it, vs an area there was none. You may have discovered, a "new" miracle grow..

Kailaan is one of my all time favorite greens.

It is also known under the following names for those not familiar with it. Most seed companys will name it under one of these

Chinese broccoli, Kai Lan, Kailan, Gai Lan, Guy Lon, Whiter Flowering Broccoli, Gaai Laan, Jie Lan, Kai Lan Tsoi, Gelancai, Chair Lan, Kairan, Gailon

It is one of the first seeds sewn direct in my garden in spring, as it is very cold tolerant. I am still harvesting a meal or two a week from my April seedings. It keeps sending up new shoots in an effort to seed, so I just keep trimming them. If you don't keep up with the trimming in the hotter weather the small broccoli like heads rapidly turn to flower. I allow some to go to seed for the next years crop. Just let the mini-pods mature, dry them and strip the seeds out. No doubt it's a good veggie to grow in a fall garden.

My favorite way to eat it is by steaming it, and adding a drizzle of oyster sauce. The good premium oyster sauce, not the runny kind. Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand Oyster Sauce is a good one. A little goes a long way. I eat many of my greens with this sauce, chards, spinach, turnip greens, and even asparagus..try it sometime!

 

[hoodat]

It's great for stir fry and I often steam it. That keeps in more nutrients than boiling. If you remove the leaves (use them like bak choy for stir fry) and steam just the stalks you can use any asparagus casserole recipe with them. I also like to steam them, cool them in the refrigerator and then toss them in sour cream. Just enough of it to lightly coat them. Chinese would never do that since most Chinese and other Orientals are lactose intollerant.

 

[digitS']

Despite all the bok choy I grow, I have had problems with kailaan.

Actually, I'm a little surprised that someone from San Diego has good luck with it since I attributed my problems to an arid climate. Maybe not . . .

The kailaan that I grew was stringy and tough. I know that it can be sweet and tender because I've bought it that way before .

If you have problems with kailaan, you can probably grow it in a plastic tunnel which is what I have to do with Chinese cabbage. Or, I found yu choy to be somewhat the same. And, bok choy when it flowers isn't much different . . . that is, it's real good!

The bok choy sown on the former spud bed is coming up. Radish is planted . . . may have gotten a little too early with that.

Steve

 

[hoodat]

San Diego isn't as arid as you may think. It's true we go the entire early Spring to late Autumn without rain but we get quite a bit of moisture in the air due to the proximity of the ocean. There are very few nights that we don't have some dew and light early AM fogs are frequent. Only during Santa Anas does the humidity get really low.