gc

Praying here.

I hate to sound amorphous to you gc but with garlic it really depends on the average climate where you live as well as soil type and drainage. Garlic tends to like a fairly wide range of soils, however too sandy or too much clay or hard packed earth is not going to give good results. They prefer moderate watering on a daily basis but in soil with good drainage - too little drainage and the bulbs will rot under ground...this applies to pretty much all edible plants whose "fruit" grows underground. In CA where I live there is a type of snail or slug that like hanging onto the cloves...oddly enough they don't eat the garlic - but kids get the yukkies if they see them hanging off a freshly pulled garlic plant. Garlics, essentially being bulbs, can be planted at your last frost. I usually sprout them in the kitchen until the first bit of leaf growth shows and then plant them - takes about 2-3 weeks in the kitchen.

Hope that helps.

Rum, Thanks for the info. I think my soil/drainage is good. I've got them in a couple of places and both spots have clay soil mixed with top soil, bark and a multi purpose. I think the watering is fine since I'm in rainy England. "Gardener's World", one of the gardening experts here, said to plant the garlic toes in December, which I did. Southern Devon, where I live, is much milder than much of the UK since we are on the south west coast. I think I'll go ahead and plant out those six garlic plants I had in the house.

Thanks again.

Just clip the tops of the greens - that'll hold them. If you throw hay on them check for snails on occasions - about halfway up the sides

I never use a plant calendar - I'm too used to the soil and the plants to trust a calendar...sorry if that sounds arrogant

It sounds confident, not a bad place to be. So, since you are confident, maybe you can give me a bit of advice on something.

I'm growing garlic, and its my first attempt. I decided to grow some outside and some inside, don't ask me why. I have been know to do that with certain types of seeds to see what they can tolerate. But anyway, I'm going to move the garlic outside into one of my borders. Do you think I'll have problems with it and if so what type of. Thanks:)

gc

still praying

This is all so sad, I'm still praying

gc

rejoice, how is the herb garden coming along?

gc

WG I love planting from seed and when they start pushing through the soil, its just a delight! I've got a packet of beets, I've never grown them before.

gc

She made it through surgery! insert the sound of a "sigh of relief".

again, thanks so much for the prayers.

gc

Leafy, are those beautiful flowers (anemones?) from your garden? How about those baby leaves of radishes, cabbages, carrots and all? Come on let us know how they are doing.

WateredGarden, you are near the frozen tundra. So have you guys started things indoors?

gc, when you say washing line do you mean a clothes line? Or is it plumbing lines?

Hot dang girl, you tore up and removed concrete? That is some hard work. I won't ever challenge you to arm wrestle.

Kimberly, I meant clothes line. I'm picking up more saying than I realize. A "clothes line" is a "washing line" here. Before you know it I'll be calling "the bathroom" the toilet! :)

The concrete was easier than I thought and a lot less work than the shoveling and sifting of the soil is (ongoing job). Its coming along nicely though.

leafy, we've actually had a warm front. I had my shoes off while I was working in the yard yesterday. For 4 days in a row the sun has been bright and I've not needed my fleece for the last two. I couldn't even tolerate a long sleeve tee yesterday, it has been wonderful and today is looking much the same. :)

gc

I'm asking for prayer again as my sister is in surgery right now. She has septicemia and is on 10 different antibiotics and they are not beating back the infection. The doctor is doing exploratory surgery in an atempt see what is going on and to save her life. A possible minor problem, she is alergic to one of the antibiotics.

Thanks for your prayers.

gc

I have a myspace page and I've just signed up for facebook. I don't know which one is better, but I know some of the myspace pages are hard to read because of the wall paper people chose for their pages.

I live in England and my family lives in Louisiana. A few of them I talk to on the phone regularly, but I have a large family and the rest I only talk to when I go home for a visit. The day I joined myspace I got 4 or 5 hits from nieces and a great niece and 1 brother all wanting to connect with me. I like knowing what is going on in their lives and I also like them knowing what is going on in mine. Plus I can leave short comments or just a hello when ever I want to.

What is the difference between myspace and facebook besides the liberal and conservative angle?

gc :)

Sounds like you still have a sense of humor and that you are both safe, two good things! I'm still praying for you.

g

I'm praying too!

g

You have me smiling while reading your post. I love the "garden mama" name!

We are still working on the building of our raised beds. Yesterday is was SUNNY! so we were able to pull up the concrete slab for the old washing line and the pole for the old washing line yea! Its sunny again today, which is wonderful, thank you God (two actual sunny days in a row), so we will get the ground leveled in one section and a retaining wall up for the second tier.

Thursday I planted a number of young lettuce seedlings into a new pot for them to grow on in. Later on when the veggie beds are ready I can put the rest of them in there. My brussels sprouts are looking healthy too.

I counted up my sweet pea plants, 45 annuals and 6 perennials!

May in July sometime we will get weather warm enough for me to wear shorts <_<

G

Kimberly, I just planted some pea seeds yesterday. I only like early peas too.

gc

Thanks for the prayers everyone.

They put her on dialysis yesterday, no real changes yet.

gc

I'm praying also and replying also

gc

I don't know the first thing about baking but always interested in sugar free goodies.

I use 3 items regularly:

Canned fruit cocktail sweetened with splenda.

Tastycake Sugar Free Finger Cakes (100 calories per cake)

Jello Sugar Free Pudding (Dark Chocolate and Cinnamon Rice Pudding), 80 calories.

The above items are delicious.

If you know of more from the shelves please let me know.

Am interested in anything very low carb.

oldiesman, I've never on purpose bought low calorie, low sugar and low carb pre-packaged food for myself, I usually don't like the taste, except for the low sugar icecreams. But, I have bought sugar free chocolates before for someone else. I never buy the packaged type in grocery stores because of the nasty after taste. But, I do like the hand made chocolates that you get from a candy shop. If you don't bake, then my solution to low sugar, low carb, low fat, low calorie treats, the best I've ever tasted, is a ripe pear or fresh cherries. To me fruit is the best you can get for a sweet tooth treat if you can't bake a no sugar cheese cake! :)

If you have a blender and know how to use it, then what I have made for years as a healthy treat especially when my son was a child is a type of shake.

Ingredients I like to use:

icecream, low fat and low sugar, low anything they offer as long as it has a decent taste

2 bananas, and/or a handful of blueberries, strawberries or any fruit that you think will mix in a blender. I bet mango would work

milk

ice cubes, just a couple to make sure everything is good and cold

uncooked oatmeal, a handful or so

grape nut cereal (not the flake type), maybe about 1/2 a cup or

drop or two of vanilla or almond extract, but not necessary

yogurt, with live bacteria, single serving size

I'm guessing from memory on the amounts as I've never measured any of it or written measurements down, I've just made it up as I went along.

Into the blender: Crush the ice, then add icecream, chopped fruit, milk, yogurt, extract, oatmeal, grapenut cereal in this order mixing between each addition. Once it looks like a shake and everything is good and chopped and mixed, pour into a large glass.

You can change it around and add all kinds of things that are good for you and tasty.

The oatmeal is good for your heart and keeping your cholesteral level low

yogurt helps with digestion and helps you combat harmful bacteria

grape nut cereal gives a nutty flavor to it, uses glucose as sweetner instead of sucrose

Rum, if I ever had a thought of buying a Myoplex shake just to try it, its now gone! :)

gc

Thanks Rum, that was nice of you, I appreciate the info! I love making pizza, but have never made a wholewheat crust. Tell your sister that I will check the splenda site out, thanks!

gc

Twinky, normally my mother-in-law eats hers with lemon juice and my husband has marmalade, but he used to eat them with syrup.

gc

I got an update this afternoon about my sister. She finally regained consciousness , but the doctors are keeping her sedated for now. Seems she had leakage from her intestines and the muck has done damage to all of her internal organs. Her kidneys have stopped working and she can't yet breath on her own. She is still in ICU.

Thank you so much for praying

G

I got a call early this morning telling me that one of my sisters is on a breathing machine in intensive care. The doctors are unsure if she will make it through the night. ( Time difference here, my early morning is her night.) :(

Please keep her in your prayers. She is a very nice woman, very giving and loves God.

thanks so much, gc

I went for my interview. I think I did ok, not great, not awful. Got a call the other day telling me that another interviewee has more experience working with vulnerable people than I have (which didn't take a lot). Other words, thanks for applying, try again some other time, if you want feed back call us up, you can come visit us anytime, But you don't have the job! <_<

To be honest, its worked out well as it turns out. I wanted the job, I would have loved it, but I've had delays with my VISA and I wouldn't have been able to accept the job. I should have gotten it back by now, but its still being processed.

Thanks for the prayers and will ask again when I'm able; once the VISA is squared away.

gc

I'm a day late, honey girl, hum, probably close to two days now by your time.

I am pulling for you. Garden center.....sounds wonderful. I can see you there. You are smart in so many things.

Kimberly, My mamma always said "Better late than never!". Thanks for the prayers!

gc

I love baking goodies, I've done it for years. I'm now married to a man who had diabetes. I'm always looking for sweets that are low sugar or no sugar.

Anyway, about two weeks ago it was Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and here in England it was Pancake Day. They are celebrated for the same reason. Everyone here cooks pancakes at some time in the day. So, in the spirit of things, I cooked up some crepes and filled them with fruit. They tasted really good and only had a couple of teaspoons of sugar in them and looked pretty too.

Fruited Crepes

Ingredients:

8 crepes (crepe recipe to follow)

3 bananas sliced thinly

½ pint strawberries cleaned and sliced thinly

small pot of light yogurt with fruit, single size container (a little over a cup)

whipped cream (recipe to follow)

cinnamon

Make the crepes keeping the finished ones in a slightly warm oven. In a medium sized mixing bowl mix sliced bananas, strawberries and yogurt. There should be enough bananas and strawberries in the mix so that the yogurt just covers them. Lay a crepe on a plate open flat, browned side down. With a spoon spread some of the yogurt mix across the center of the crepe. Then, fold the top end of the crepe right past the center just covering some of the yogurt mix. Next, fold the bottom end of the crepe up past the center so that it over laps the top fold. Top with yogurt mix, then a dollop of fresh whipped cream, sprinkle with cinnamon.

Crepes:

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups milk

2 eggs

1 tablespoon salad oil

Salt

In a bowl, combine all ingredients and ¼ teaspoon salt; beat till smooth. Lightly grease a skillet or crepe pan; heat. Remove from heat; spoon in about 2 tablespoons of batter. Spread batter evenly. Return to heat; brown on one side only. To remove, invert pan over paper toweling. Repeat with remaining batter to make 16 crepes, greasing pan occasionally if necessary.

I made larger crepes than what they describe, and when removing them from the pan they slid right out onto a paper towel once I loosened them in the pan.

Fresh Whipped Cream:

½ pt of fresh double cream

½ tsp vanilla

2 teaspoons of sugar

In a small bowl, using an electric mixer and the whisk attachment, mix all ingredient until you have a stiff whipped topping. It gets hard pretty quickly. Now you are ready for your dollop of cream.

Easy Peasy, as the English say!

gc :)

What a great thread! I've just made bread for tomorrow's dinner of tomato veggy soup. Fresh butter would be wonderful. I have chives growing in the garden mmm mmm! Now to check on how much cream I have. Devon cream is supposed to be one of the best.

Thanks for the links and the new bread recipe

gc :)