Radishrain
Things pertaining to life: plants and animals, gardening, cooking, food, botany, zoology, farming, ranching, wildlife, genetics, plant breeding, software, media, etc.
We've been getting a lot of cucumbers, this year (they're all Spacemaster, unless you count West India burr gherkins as cucumbers). Anyway, we decided to dehydrate a batch of them (six 15" x 13" trays)! They smell just like the dehydrated watermelon.
They're resting on silicone mesh dehydrator mats on the stainless steel trays (so, hopefully those allow sufficient airflow). This is the first time we've used the mats.
I'm dehydrating them on 140° F. Hopefully that works out.
I abandoned putting foil on the bottom tray, since it seemed to slow down the process. Cleaning the bottom of the dehydrator and underneath it shouldn't be so hard to make me want to make the dehydration not work well.
They're resting on silicone mesh dehydrator mats on the stainless steel trays (so, hopefully those allow sufficient airflow). This is the first time we've used the mats.
I'm dehydrating them on 140° F. Hopefully that works out.
I abandoned putting foil on the bottom tray, since it seemed to slow down the process. Cleaning the bottom of the dehydrator and underneath it shouldn't be so hard to make me want to make the dehydration not work well.
West India burr gherkins are easy to grow. They fruit fairly early, prolifically, often, and all season. They're refreshing to eat. They can have an excellent shelf life. They have edible seeds within.
I'm thinking they're a good candidate for a crop to use to help supplement minerals in people. Just give them whatever minerals you want in your diet, and there should be more of that in the fruit.
Wonderberries might be just as good. They're even easier to grow, and fruit even more often. Whatever the case, I've already tried it with West India burr gherkins, this year, and I felt like I was nourished well. I should give them even more kinds of nutrients, and do the same with a wonderberry plant.
I did this with watermelons in 2018, again, with desirable results.
Minerals of interest especially include magnesium, but also zinc, potassium, copper, phosphorus, sulfur, iron, silica, and calcium.
wonderberry_
mineral_
nutrition_
watermelon_
I'm thinking they're a good candidate for a crop to use to help supplement minerals in people. Just give them whatever minerals you want in your diet, and there should be more of that in the fruit.
Wonderberries might be just as good. They're even easier to grow, and fruit even more often. Whatever the case, I've already tried it with West India burr gherkins, this year, and I felt like I was nourished well. I should give them even more kinds of nutrients, and do the same with a wonderberry plant.
I did this with watermelons in 2018, again, with desirable results.
Minerals of interest especially include magnesium, but also zinc, potassium, copper, phosphorus, sulfur, iron, silica, and calcium.
wonderberry_
mineral_
nutrition_
watermelon_
Wonderberries go excellently with ham. They add a nice zesty flavor. If I eat a few right before I bite into some ham, it also enhances the flavor of that ham.
Wonderberries go well with tomatoes. Combined with tomatoes, they're great cooked in frittatas, and on pizza; they're less remarkable without tomatoes in these regards.
Wonderberries are excellent salad berries. They add visual appeal and nutrition without significantly changing the taste or texture of the salad (and without making it wet). So, they're appropriate in savory vegetable-only (other than them) salads, too. No need to keep them with fruit only.
Wonderberries blended up with blackberries taste neither like wonderberries, nor like blackberries. They do taste good, however, and they thicken remarkably if they sit for a little while (after blending them up in a blender). I think this combination would be excellent in pies, as it has a quality that reminds me somewhat of sour cherry pie filling (but yes, they taste different than that). As to why or how they thicken, I have no idea (no heat is required to thicken them), bit I did blend them on the highest setting to blend up most of the seeds, too. I have yet to hear how another taster (who doesn't think wonderberries have much taste) feels about the combination (but it's in the refrigerator, awaiting the test, and this was her idea). I'm also uncertain how those who think they taste like tomatoes would feel.
Wonderberries go well with tomatoes. Combined with tomatoes, they're great cooked in frittatas, and on pizza; they're less remarkable without tomatoes in these regards.
Wonderberries are excellent salad berries. They add visual appeal and nutrition without significantly changing the taste or texture of the salad (and without making it wet). So, they're appropriate in savory vegetable-only (other than them) salads, too. No need to keep them with fruit only.
Wonderberries blended up with blackberries taste neither like wonderberries, nor like blackberries. They do taste good, however, and they thicken remarkably if they sit for a little while (after blending them up in a blender). I think this combination would be excellent in pies, as it has a quality that reminds me somewhat of sour cherry pie filling (but yes, they taste different than that). As to why or how they thicken, I have no idea (no heat is required to thicken them), bit I did blend them on the highest setting to blend up most of the seeds, too. I have yet to hear how another taster (who doesn't think wonderberries have much taste) feels about the combination (but it's in the refrigerator, awaiting the test, and this was her idea). I'm also uncertain how those who think they taste like tomatoes would feel.
We're growing Spacemaster cucumbers, this year. They're doing phenomenally well, especially considering that they're in soil that is probably kind of salty (due to being right next to a driveway that is salted in the winter). I don't know if they just like the year, or if it's an especially good variety for our garden (or maybe that soil is more ideal for cucumbers than I thought).
The fruits have been bitter from the start, but if you peel them first, that takes away all the bitterness.
The fruits have been bitter from the start, but if you peel them first, that takes away all the bitterness.
So, I thought garden strawberries just multiplied by runners, or seed. But my plants (which were initially just one plant in each spot) now look like clumps of many plants. I wonder if they'll produce if I split them up. I wonder if they'll all stop producing at the same time, or if splitting them up renews their fruiting cycle.
Stick tomato
Offsite articles:
• Tatiana's TOMATObase
• Dave's Garden
Offsite forum search results:
• Google: Dave's Garden
• Google: Gardenweb
• Google: proboards.com
• Google: Tomatoville
heirloom_tomato
We got our first ripe tomatoes, today. There were three altogether: one from the Galapagos Island plant from a seed from a fruit with 5 locules, and the other two were from the Galapagos Island tomato from seeds from fruits that had withstood several hard freezes.
I gave the fruits to someone, who ate them, and said they were good, and described them as tart.
The fruits started to color a day or two ago.
I think the one from the 5-chamber plant is on the right, but I could be wrong:
As you can see the one from the 5-chamber plant doesn't appear to have five chambers, by the fruit size and shape. Nevertheless, I am pleased with the fruits. They're a nice color.
I gave the fruits to someone, who ate them, and said they were good, and described them as tart.
The fruits started to color a day or two ago.
I think the one from the 5-chamber plant is on the right, but I could be wrong:
As you can see the one from the 5-chamber plant doesn't appear to have five chambers, by the fruit size and shape. Nevertheless, I am pleased with the fruits. They're a nice color.
We were gifted a seedless watermelon recently (probably about 20lbs in weight). I cut it open and we ate about a slice of it altogether. Then I cut up the rest and started dehydrating it. Yes, the dehydrator fits about a whole store-bought seedless watermelon, although with thinner slices, maybe not. I was surprised six 15"x13" trays were enough! It was pretty heavy. I'm also dehydrating an apple, too, since there was a little room left over. I set it to 145° F. after I put all the trays in, but it was on 135° F. for a time (with already-loaded trays) while I was cutting up the watermelon and loading the other trays. I may have stuck with 135° F., but I heard it's pretty good with a temperature that isn't particularly low. So, we'll see.
Our Red-seeded Citron watermelons that we harvested last year aren't getting any younger. So, I decided to cut the two largest ones up, season them like I do for citron watermelon crisp, and dehydrate them! :)
Yes, seeding those watermelons took a nice duration to do.
I figure they can probably take a pretty high temperature, since they taste good fully cooked with those seasonings (brown sugar, citric acid, nutmeg, and cinnamon). So, I'll probably keep them on at least 145° F. as I dehydrate them (it's on 166 right now). The seasonings (probably the brown sugar) caused them to release juices (so, that should help the dehydration process).
I'm dehydrating a few grocery store Roma-type tomatoes, in thick slices, since there was some room left over after I cut up the watermelons. I filled about six 13" x 15" trays. The dehydrator can take six more trays, but the slices can be thicker with only six (and I only have six trays).
The tomatoes are on the top tray so that they don't get the watermelon seasonings dripping on them.
tomato_
dehydrating_
Yes, seeding those watermelons took a nice duration to do.
I figure they can probably take a pretty high temperature, since they taste good fully cooked with those seasonings (brown sugar, citric acid, nutmeg, and cinnamon). So, I'll probably keep them on at least 145° F. as I dehydrate them (it's on 166 right now). The seasonings (probably the brown sugar) caused them to release juices (so, that should help the dehydration process).
I'm dehydrating a few grocery store Roma-type tomatoes, in thick slices, since there was some room left over after I cut up the watermelons. I filled about six 13" x 15" trays. The dehydrator can take six more trays, but the slices can be thicker with only six (and I only have six trays).
The tomatoes are on the top tray so that they don't get the watermelon seasonings dripping on them.
tomato_
dehydrating_
| Free forum by Nabble | Edit this page |