Gardening: the beets must go on

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Gardening: the beets must go on

imaginaryfriend: Sep 5, 2008

I'm just popping in to say I love this thread! It's good to know there are so many others out there gardening.

My friends and I (8 of us live together, most of us goons) have started a garden on the side of our house, a bunch of containers, and (soon) a front yard garden.
Here are some pics:

Side garden with tomatoes and peppers, basil, oregano, cilantro, and marigolds:

Microgreens (YUM):

Our container garden with stevia, catnip, lettuce, chard, 5 types of mint, parsley and cilantro:

And the front garden to be (hasn't been planted yet but will be beans, cukes, lettuce, and brussel sprouts):

For much more on our whole gardening experience: http://communev01.blogspot.com/

# ¿ Apr 14, 2009 23:58

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# ¿ May 4, 2024 09:11

imaginaryfriend: Sep 5, 2008

I love stevia and was excited when I saw it at one of the gardening centers. This is my first time growing it, so I don't have a lot of info to give.

I've been eating the leaves fresh and have also boiled them into iced tea. I wonder if they would be good in sun tea.

I love to pick a leaf of stevia and a leaf of mint and eat them together as a sweet little treat.

But you can also dry the leaves and grind them to use as a powder. We don't really have enough plants yet to mess with stuff like that yet. I'm hoping our plant will take off and get really big... but it hasn't yet. Here's a close up:

Also, you can definitely grow tea at home if you like herbal tea. (I've never tried to grow a tea plant.) We have catnip and 5 kinds of mint that I make tea out of. I used to have lavender too which made lovely tea.

And finally, anyone interested in growing microgreens should really give it a try. It's fast, easy, cheap and they are delicious and amazingly nutritious. Basically it's all the goodness of the fully grown plant but in tiny baby form. So the nutrients and taste are multiplied. Yum!!!!

# ¿ Apr 15, 2009 16:53

imaginaryfriend: Sep 5, 2008

Zeta Taskforce posted:

I had to look up microgreens too. I�ve never heard of it before until now, but was reading about them. Are they really 30% protein? That�s amazing! I�m going to try it out. Do you eat them straight or add them to stuff?

They really are! And they are so good. The arugula are deliciously nutty, cilantro and basil are crazy strong (amazing on top of tomato soup), and radish are a great spicy addition to just about anything.
I eat them straight a lot (can't help myself when I'm picking them) but also add them to salads and use them as garnish. I've even mixed enough of them together to make a salad in its own right!

Okay... now I'm going to have to go research tea and convince the commune that we need to grow it!

# ¿ Apr 15, 2009 22:21

imaginaryfriend: Sep 5, 2008

madlilnerd posted:

I think we need a subforum called Goons in Communes were we can talk about gardening and tie dye and running your car off chip fat.

I'm down for the Goons in Communes idea.

We're quite proud of ourselves! (Well, I am... I notice the rest of them are keeping their heads down. Lurkers!)
And yes, there is talk of a biodiesel factory in our future. How'd you know?!

krushgroove posted:

Okay, microgreens sound pretty drat good, and they're easy and quick to grow...I have a simple question though, how do you 'harvest' them? Just pull them out, wash and eat? And they're just sown on a seed tray, right?

You just cut them about an inch above the dirt with sharp scissors.

It's super simple. I often just grab a bunch with my hands and rip them out though... I'm lazy.

I intend to get a new batch going this weekend (maybe sooner). I'll post a quick lesson in microgreen gardening when I do.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2009 23:26

imaginaryfriend: Sep 5, 2008

krushgroove posted:

With the cost of a packet of seeds about �1 and all the other stuff already available this is really a no-brainer - the only problem will be remembering to harvest it and eat it.

You can either grab regular bags of seeds at your local garden store or you can find some online retailers that will sell you bags by the lb! It's a little cheaper that way and you can find some of the less common greens too.

Almost anything that you'd eat the leaves of can be turned into microgreens. I like to sow a lot of lettuce into a regular sized container (something that full grown lettuce could grow in, that is). Then when it's at microgreen stage, I pull up about half of it, which serves the purpose of making me a nice little nutrient dense salad (which I add more flavorful microgreens to, like arugula, celery, and radish) and I still get to have fully grown lettuce a few weeks later.

It really is a no-brainer though! Soooooo good.

# ¿ Apr 16, 2009 00:53

imaginaryfriend: Sep 5, 2008

GBK posted:

It looks like Stevia. Crush a leaf and put it to your tongue and see if it's sweet.

Not to say that there couldn't be several kinds of Stevia... nor do I know what the plant is... but it doesn't look anything like my Stevia:

# ¿ Apr 28, 2009 20:11

imaginaryfriend: Sep 5, 2008

So way back on pg :blrgcough:, I said I'd post some more info about how to do microgreens.

OMG did I: http://communev01.blogspot.com/2009/04/lesson-in-microgreens.html

I'm linking it because I don't want to bother everyone here with such a ridiculous long post.

But here's a taste:
1. Buy seeds:

2. Prepare a tray:

3. Water and cover:

4. Wait:

5. Harvest:

6. Eat and/or be impressed with yourself:

# ¿ Apr 28, 2009 21:13

imaginaryfriend: Sep 5, 2008

HeatherChandler posted:

They look pretty, but I just dont *get* microgreens. I'd have to plant a ridiculous area of microgreens to really put a dent in the greens I eat. Are they meant to make up a whole salad? Are you growing any other lettuces?

We eat a crap load of greens; the microgreens are about a third of what we eat. We have 3 lettuce patches, chard, etc, planted elsewhere. But microgreens add potent flavor in small amounts, are ridiculously nutritious (much better than the full plant which has more water), and take little effort and little money.

They can grow inside or outside in any season. You can grow many different flavors and the payoff is nearly immediate. (Takes less than two weeks before harvest.)

Sometimes we use them to add a extra flavor to something (a sandwich, a bowl of soup, ramen, or a salad made from fully grown lettuce or whatever) or to make a salad themselves (as shown in the picture above with the grapefruit and chicken) or as a snack whenever we walk by (very common around here).

There are 8 of us living at my house and we are looking for sustainability and frugality. The most nutrition for the cheapest price that we can do ourselves. Microgreens are a great addition to that.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2009 00:05

imaginaryfriend: Sep 5, 2008

HeatherChandler posted:

Ok, I can see the microgreens being a cheap source of nutrition--are they cut and come again?

No, but there are rear end tons of them on a tray. Seriously a tray makes way more than you think, especially of the stronger flavors. If you ate a fourth of a tray, you'd have a rather large salad.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2009 15:26