[toth boer goats]

👍

 

[Mike at Capra Vista]

Swallowtail caterpillars on my parsley.
Our spring was so late, but early on we ate a lot of greens from pots, while we were waiting for the weather to warm up. Now that we eat from the garden, the caterpillars took over the pots. 💕 🐛 🪴
View attachment 234864

I still enjoy seeing all the swallowtails here on the island, and we have lots of them. I have not found any caterpillars yet. Are those eating your parsley?

 

[MadHouse]

I still enjoy seeing all the swallowtails here on the island, and we have lots of them. I have not found any caterpillars yet. Are those eating your parsley?

Yes. They are often on the dill and sometimes on carrot leaves. But this year I had lots of parsley, and they found it.

 

[Mike at Capra Vista]

Do you guys do anything with these?

 

[ksalvagno]

You can use the scapes just like you would garlic in dishes.

 

[MadHouse]

Do you guys do anything with these?

View attachment 234931

Are they garlic that came to flower?

 

[DDFN]

You can make garlic salt and powder out of the scapes.

 

[NigerianNewbie]

Are they garlic that came to flower?

Yep, you're absolutely correct and scape is basically the "seed pod" after flowering, that can also be eaten.

 

[DDFN]

Does anyone have a suggested use for the very small crab apples? They are so tiny and I don't really feel like deseeding for jams and jelly etc. Any use? Squeeze for juice? This tree produces so many and helps pollinate my other fruit trees.

 

[ksalvagno]

I give you credit for doing anything with them. I would think juice would work. Or leave for the birds.

 

[DDFN]

Thanks. I normally just leave them for birds and squirrels but having to cut a few limbs for clearance for the New barn. I didn't want to cut the whole tree. Thanks. If they were bigger I would make jelly.

 

[MadHouse]

Does anyone have a suggested use for the very small crab apples? They are so tiny and I don't really feel like deseeding for jams and jelly etc. Any use? Squeeze for juice? This tree produces so many and helps pollinate my other fruit trees. View attachment 234979

Absolutely! I dry the tiny ones in the greenhouse on a screen, and use them with the goats all winter as treats or lures to get them where I want them.
The bigger ones we half or quarter and dry them in the dehydrator. Right now the goats 💕 love 💕 those crab apples fresh! Great for lures.

 

[MadHouse]

Yep, you're absolutely correct and scape is basically the "seed pod" after flowering, that can also be eaten.

I had never seen them. We always snip off the flower stalks before they bloom, so the energy goes into the bulbs. Neat to see! Are there teeny tiny garlic cloves in there?

 

[NigerianNewbie]

I had never seen them. We always snip off the flower stalks before they bloom, so the energy goes into the bulbs. Neat to see! Are there teeny tiny garlic cloves in there?

Looks more like a tiny seeding onion bulb, and they are kind of tough textured. Once, I dug up some lily plants from an old abandoned homesite (double blossomed orange speckled day lily) as I have a passion for the older and sometimes forgotten plant species from older time periods. Included with this transplantation conquest were 3 (three) plants come the spring/summer season looked like garlic to me. Well, with the season continuing forward, yep, it was garlic and my only guess is over time the bulbs mingled themselves together in the same area. Like you, I try to keep flower heads from developing for larger bulbs. Slowly but surely when dividing lily clumps, the garlic is gone except for a straggler here and there. I have waited until the scape of the unintentional plants has that ripe appearance and feel, planted the little bulbs, and new little garlic plants have sprouted. The germination isn't noteworthy and runs about 5 (five) little bulbs producing 1 (one) garlic plant. Then again, it's probably not the fault of the garlic because I have no knowledge about repropagating garlic and just stuck some in the ground for the past few years to see what would happen.

 

[MadHouse]

Looks more like a tiny seeding onion bulb, and they are kind of tough textured. Once, I dug up some lily plants from an old abandoned homesite (double blossomed orange speckled day lily) as I have a passion for the older and sometimes forgotten plant species from older time periods. Included with this transplantation conquest were 3 (three) plants come the spring/summer season looked like garlic to me. Well, with the season continuing forward, yep, it was garlic and my only guess is over time the bulbs mingled themselves together in the same area. Like you, I try to keep flower heads from developing for larger bulbs. Slowly but surely when dividing lily clumps, the garlic is gone except for a straggler here and there. I have waited until the scape of the unintentional plants has that ripe appearance and feel, planted the little bulbs, and new little garlic plants have sprouted. The germination isn't noteworthy and runs about 5 (five) little bulbs producing 1 (one) garlic plant. Then again, it's probably not the fault of the garlic because I have no knowledge about repropagating garlic and just stuck some in the ground for the past few years to see what would happen.

Very interesting!!

 

[Mike at Capra Vista]

I made crab apple wine a couple of times.

 

[DDFN]

Goat apple chips and crab apple wine. I have never made wine but have a friend that has before. Maybe they will like then to try. The dehydrating I can try and pluck the seeds out before feeding. Thanks!

 

[Mike at Capra Vista]

Word of caution: I said I made crab apple wine, I did not say it was a good idea.

 

[luvmyherd]

Again I had to look that up. I don't see how a mandolin will help. Do you push it through the strings? Seems like an expensive way to slice zucchini. Good ones are $1000s.

OMG my first thought. Just shove it through the strings.

 

[luvmyherd]

Our 1st pumpkins coming on. We planted July 4 for Jack-o-lanterns.

My son had harvested the sunflowers and I asked him why he had not cut down the stalks for the goats. Seems that green beans and peas had vined up them.
We don't need no stinking poles!!