I gave blood today. This is the first time the Phlebotomist had to "stick" me twice in the 40 years I have been giving blood.
The first one worked fine as long as the blood was flowing even though it seemed to take much longer than I am used to.
But the "hub" clotted up after I filled the bag and they had to do a second poke on my other arm to fill the vials for blood typing and all of the other mysterious things they need to do.
Waste
One of the advantages of a simple diet is that there is less waste than a diet that demands a great deal of variety.
When I clean my refrigerator I see that I never throw out milk or mustard, apples, shredded cheese or eggs. I do toss celery, green onions, weird sauces, chip-dip and other exotic items.
The point is that the high-runners in my diet have enough demand and turnover that very little gets wasted. The "Hey, I need to buy some of this for this one recipe I want to try" invariable results in 3/4 of it being tossed a few weeks later.
I have to keep reminding myself of that as I drool over the seed catalogs. The Baker Creek catalog came today and every page is a work of art.
If I was forced to engage in triage, my list of vegetables might look something like this. If I could only grow ONE vegetable, it would be tomatoes. If I could only grow TWO, it would be tomatoes and potatoes, and so-on...
- tomatoes
- potatoes
- zucchini
- Turnip/Kale/Daikon (cover-crop/late fall greens/roots)
- green beans
- sweet pepper
- cabbage
- Butternut squash
- cucumber
- field corn
- Romaine lettuce
- beets
- broccoli
On the other hand, if I only had a few square-feet of garden the list would look different:
- Hot peppers
- Garlic
- Cherry tomatoes
- Rosemary
- Mint
Some vegetables are notable for their absence. No onions, carrots or sweet corn on my list because they are grown commercially by local farmers. I can buy a 50 pound bag of carrots for $7...and I am not very good at growing carrots.
Adding more crops usually adds more complexity. There are exceptions. Turnip/kale/daikon seeds can be broadcast into the canopy of your squash/pumpkins/melons in early July (in Michigan) and will give you a second crop with no fuss or bother three or four months later. But those are the exceptions.
I admire the people like Leigh and Lucky who seem to be able to effortlessly grow a boundless cornucopia of delicious, garden edibles. Alas, I am living proof of Dirty Harry's opinion that "A man has to know his limitations".
All opinions will be much appreciated. Since choices of what you grow are very sensitive to climate, please consider listing what state or region (i.e. Intermountain West) you are in.
Added later:
For those of you who worry that my lack of success (so far) this hunting season will render us to a meat-free diet, rest assured that my friends who HAVE been successful cheerfully donated the hearts, livers, kidneys and tongues of their kills.
I have been pressure canning them. Zeus really likes a little bit of real meat added to his dried kibbles, and if push-comes-to-shove, it is plenty good enough for me to eat.
Is it OK if I characterize my deer hunting season as "Offal good so far"?
"if I only had a few square-feet of garden": herbs. By all means rosemary and mints: we used to grow four different mints in what we called our "mentharium".
ReplyDeleteBut my top choice would be tarragon. Chervil is lovely. The savouries we like. Chives we always have; borage grows like a weed, thank goodness, and so does lemon balm. Basil, sage, thyme, lemon thyme, coriander, marjoram. Parsley and coriander.
We also like lovage but you have to be careful: the first one we planted we put on the site of an old compost heap: it grew to over six foot tall. That would mean eating more omelettes than is ever likely.
DearieMe, yes, Chervil and Tarragon are lovely in eggs.
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in the countryside of Jackson county the dogs practically demanded both Sungold, and Sweet Million cherry tomatoes. Those are their humans’ favorites as well. The dogs also wiped us out of our first year’s crop of Brandywine tomatoes. The few that they “saved” for us were spectacular tasting but finicky to grow. I never had luck growing them again due to what I think was fusarium wilt. A bugger to get rid of. A variety of “small slicer” tomatoes that was excellent year after year is Martina. Highly recommend those for your area.
It is interesting you mention Leigh, and how we all end up reading the same blogs. Leigh’s peanut butter granola recipe, on her blog, is delicious with nothing but clean, healthy ingredients. If you try it, there is nothing wrong with adding some butter to the recipe. Takes it over the top…
https://www.5acresandadream.com/2021/05/pecan-granola.html
Did I miss where you said you were averse to taking a doe?
ReplyDeleteThey seem to be everywhere.
When I am sharing a stand with a younger hunter, I let them take the shot and I let them use their tag. I carry a tag because I cannot be in the woods with a deer rifle without it.
DeleteIn a perfect world, hunters would take two does for every buck to bring the herd back into balance with the carrying capacity and to reduce the spread of CWD.
Hmmm, I guess my first two choices would be green beans and potatoes.
ReplyDeleteHere in northern Indiana, a half mile from the Michigan State line, we relocated here from northern Cali 4 years ago. Each year we have added more veggies to the garden with good results. Mostly several types of tomatoes & hot and sweet peppers. Several types of summer & winter squash. Pole beans, snap peas, radishes, green onions & lettuce. Next year will add potatoes.
ReplyDeleteRife season ends Sunday & I have not got a buck yet. If I don't get a buck in the next few days I'll settle for a couple of big does that are plentiful at the back of my property.
Life is good.
ERJ, your small list looks a lot like what I am growing on my balcony - minus the cherry tomatoes and with some grains and sage.
ReplyDeleteGiven that The Ravishing Mrs. TB would also like to sit out on the balcony, I may have to be a little more creative with the space. I am about maxed out.
Can you train your crop upward?
DeleteThere is a lot of "hydroponics" technology that allows you to shrink the foot-print demanded by the roots. A lattice/trellis can have branches woven through it and provide some shade or privacy...and cherry tomatoes or Asian cucumbers or pole-beans. There are many great vegetables that are vines or that want to "scramble".
I’m in the Copper Basin Alaska so potatoes, cole crops, beets, carrots, turnips and rutabagas have always been my mainstays plus onions. With the hoop houses and green house I added beans, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers an summer squash. I also grew peas until the moose got them all two years in a row and I can’t afford a moose proof fence. Five weeks in the hospital with a stroke in spring of 2024 left me unable to do anything but help in the green house that summer and family tried but mostly ran out of time so we lost the potatoes an had a little stuff from hoop house and green house. Did better this summer but I can’t work the open garden with the wheeled walker so I concentrated on two hoop houses and the green house with stool and walker seat. Great onion crop, cabbage,, broccoli, cauliflower and summer squats did well. Carrots, beets, turnips and enough beans for fresh eating and the usual green house suspects.
ReplyDeleteIt’s inspiring to hear of someone persevering through difficulties. Good for you!
DeleteSNH
The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one!
ReplyDeleteI succumbed to the disease, I ordered some bean and tomatoe seeds this week. Its a sickness, I swear!
As a former printer, Baker Creek does an amazing job with their catalog. Hats off to the team that produces it!
In EastTN I can get 2-3 potatoe crops, and beans all season long, so we plant a lot of that. I do love some tomatoes too, but fear I have contracted the wilt this year, so we shall see. Would hate to have to take a few years off... dunno what I'd plant with all that space!
This is a wonderfully insightful post.
ReplyDeleteWe focus on tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, hot and sweet peppers, beets and sweet corn as top shelf preferred.
Have started a "what I want more of" and "what I want less of" plan. The "what I want to do better at" list includes garlic, onions and carrots. Boy, oh boy do I need help with those.
Joe, why do you prefer field corn over sweet corn? That baffled me.
Milton in northeast Indiana
We now grow pole beans(Kentucky wonder), dwarf snow peas, butternut squash, bell peppers, summer and zucchini squash, and some potatoes. Harvesting rows of potatoes is too hard, and two years ago the voles ate every single row potato I planted. I use several large planter pots instead. Neither one of us can eat tomatoes or cukes.
ReplyDeleteWe used to grow more vegs, but either pests were a problem, or like tomatoes, we can’t eat them. So, smaller garden. I still have tons of seed, as most everything was heirloom.
I get corn at the farm stand. Grown right there, and picked every day.
Southern NH
Oh, your pun made me chuckle and groan. Good one!
ReplyDeleteSNH
I’m just north of the US border in coastal British Columbia. Living on the Wet Coast I can struggle with diseases. Crop rotation has been a big help. Even if my spuds follow the tomatoes two years later, the spud crop will be stunted. So my rotations are in blocks of grouped vegetables.
ReplyDeleteThree tall blocks are: beans / corn - squash / tomatoes - melons.
Three short blocks are: carrots - onions / cabbage family / potatoes. The tall always follow the tall so the potatoes never cross paths with the tomatoes.
With reduced space my priorities would become potatoes, beans, carrots, onions, tomatoes.
Growing tomatoes. I live in Riverside County, CA. Almost a desert like environment. We had one good crop of tomatoes from our garden 20 or so years ago, since that time every plant will produce less than 10 tomatoes. Have planted 100 or more plants in that time frame, not from seeds. Was told to not grow in same gardern again, try growing in pots, no luck. Would love to again have a bumper crop of tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteJim
Jim
I have family in neighboring San Diego county. I would suggest some shade for vegetable gardening. Even for tomatoes. Also, consider two gardens — a spring one and a fall one. But the timing would require trials. Or protect the tomatoes in mid summer with shade cloth. Perhaps research varieties that can handle the heat. Check out what times and kinds are grown in El Centro.
DeleteGave up on donating blood. The Red Cross gave my contact information to several different volunteer phone bank groups. They'd start calling two weeks before I was eligible to donate again. BEGGED them to quit calling 16 hours day even after I'd already signing up for the next eligible blood drive. After about a year of pleading I finally said no more. Told them I had half a dozen disqualifying diseases. In a few months the phone calls stopped.
ReplyDelete