Garden chat & photos for torts and people ♫ ♫

[Rick's Sullivan]

I'm interested in people saying they cook with the leaves probably because I have some Japanese in me. I was raised eating Goji leaves. All the food markets sell expensive dried Goji berries but I grew up throwing them out and eating the leaves.

 

[Jacqui]

Guess I am going to have to do a search on goji......

 

[Jacqui]

I think when it comes to what you can and can't feed your tortoises some things to look at is of course first the tortoise's body mass and then how quickly the animal processes it's food and would or could eliminate much of the "bad" things found in whatever the food was. The processing would also combine in with the how much does this animal eat and drink/soak, and how active it is.

 

[Prairie Mom]

I'm interested in people saying they cook with the leaves probably because I have some Japanese in me. I was raised eating Goji leaves. All the food markets sell expensive dried Goji berries but I grew up throwing them out and eating the leaves.

I LOVE THAT YOU MENTIONED GOJIS!!! I'm trying to nurse a cutting my dad gave me. I want more of these!!! I've used the leaves too (just in soup so far) and I've given some to Mavis. I've used my parents berries. They aren't sweet, more like a vegetable. Because they are red, I've mashed them and put them in spaghetti sauce and chicken magnifico which I cook with steamed tomatoes. You can't tell the difference between the goji berries and the tomatoes. Such a great way to get nutrition into my kids!!!

 

[Prairie Mom]

I think when it comes to what you can and can't feed your tortoises some things to look at is of course first the tortoise's body mass and then how quickly the animal processes it's food and would or could eliminate much of the "bad" things found in whatever the food was. The processing would also combine in with the how much does this animal eat and drink/soak, and how active it is.

Great points, Jacqui

 

[Prairie Mom]

That is really interesting. I guess I'm already on board because I just haven't had any problems with tomato leaves. I'd be interested in looking at the gardening blogs you mentioned where people are cooking with them.

I'm afraid I was a dork and didn't bookmark the tomato leaf blogs. I should have! argh. I've found one...
http://www.gardenbetty.com/2013/08/tomato-leaves-the-toxic-myth/
If I find others I'll email them to you.

 

[Rick's Sullivan]

thanks

 

[Prairie Mom]

I'm afraid I was a dork and didn't bookmark the tomato leaf blogs. I should have! argh. I've found one...
http://www.gardenbetty.com/2013/08/tomato-leaves-the-toxic-myth/
If I find others I'll email them to you.

@Rick's Sullivan it's interesting to me that you mention your Japanese ancestry, because the person that wrote this blog mentions the fact that she is Asian having an influence on her cooking. That's cool!

 

[Rick's Sullivan]

I was just reading htat. I should be working. This website is bad for me!

 

[Jacqui]

I was just reading htat. I should be working. This website is bad for me!

lol there are times one does seem to get caught up in the site at the cost of things in real life.

 

[Rick's Sullivan]

Yes for sure! I'm going to get in trouble one of these days!

 

[Rick's Sullivan]

Prairie Mom: I read that blog. I thought it was really GOOD!

 

[Jacqui]

Yes for sure! I'm going to get in trouble one of these days!

I hope not.

 

[Prairie Mom]

Ground Cherries

We've recently started growing Ground Cherries. We start them from seed indoors and they are dependable growers. They are small shrubs that are reminiscent of stocky tomato plants. These are a fun plant to grow because they are so different from a lot of other vegetables that we grow in our garden. The paper lantern husks begin green and change to papery gold.



You do not harvest the ground cherries until they have dropped from the plant. Sometimes people will lay towels or baskets under their plants and catch the fallen ground cherries that way. I never had a problem hunting them down, because my children loved searching for them and especially husking them. Ripe ground cherries have a papery yellow husk and the berry inside should be a dark orange gold color. Ground Cherries are an annual and you can harvest their fruit all summer long just like you would tomato plants.

What Do They Taste Like?
THEY'RE SO WEIRD! I first grew them, because I just had to TASTE THEM! They are definitely an acquired taste. However, my husband loved them right away, my kids never did, and I couldn't decide whether I liked them or not for a long time. They're small and their texture is a cross between a roma tomato and a blueberry. Their taste seems to be a few different flavors all competing with each other. Not fully ripened ground cherries taste terrible, but ripened Ground Cherries are sweeter with hints of pineapple and even tapioca pudding!

The seeds are cheap, easily purchased online or through garden catalogues, and they're easy to grow if you decide you want to try these out yourself. We'll continue to keep these fun weird little fruits in our garden every year.

 

[Prairie Mom]

I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!


https://www.ehow.com/community/whats-growing-in-your-garden/3862

A little boat raised garden that I happened across online. See the website above for details.

 

[Yvonne G]

I took a picture of my garden (tortoise food). I've used this plot for the past three years. It has lots of decomposed horse manure incorporated into the soil, gypsum and vegetable fertilizer. This year, so far, I've only planted some different varieties of lettuce seeds that I mixed all up.



I've shown the following pictures before, but since this is a 'garden' thread, I thought I'd put them up here too:



And a few individual shots of last spring's blooms:

 

[Prairie Mom]

I took a picture of my garden (tortoise food). I've used this plot for the past three years. It has lots of decomposed horse manure incorporated into the soil, gypsum and vegetable fertilizer. This year, so far, I've only planted some different varieties of lettuce seeds that I mixed all up.

View attachment 104438 View attachment 104439

I've shown the following pictures before, but since this is a 'garden' thread, I thought I'd put them up here too:

View attachment 104440 View attachment 104441

And a few individual shots of last spring's blooms:

View attachment 104442 View attachment 104443 View attachment 104444 View attachment 104445 View attachment 104446 View attachment 104447 View attachment 104448

Oh Yvonne! You posted some SERIOUS GARDEN EYE CANDY!!! You have a beautiful property and I love seeing what you are growing for your tortoises. Thanks for posting these here also. I hadn't seen them yet and just live for this stuff...Animals and Gardens...the world doesn't get much better than this!

 

[Jacqui]

Huh those ground cherries sound interesting (how you described their taste).

Yvonne, you know your cactus always get to me. I just find them unimaginable, even after seeing them in real life.

 

[Prairie Mom]

Huh those ground cherries sound interesting (how you described their taste).

Yvonne, you know your cactus always get to me. I just find them unimaginable, even after seeing them in real life.

Ground cherries are fun and weird. Their taste is so weird.--Did I mention they're weird!??
Her cacti are incredible. I don't see cacti often and her photos reminded me of how incredibly FLORAL they can be.

 

[Prairie Mom]

Hey tortoise forum,

I'm the kind of person that when I see something I love, I have to shout it from the rooftops! I've recently fallen head over heals for forum member @[email protected] 's "Frankie Tortoise Tails posts."


-photo by [email protected] and posted here with her permission

"Frankie Tortoise Tails: Pass the Grass"
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/frankie-tortoise-tails-pass-the-grass.92488/

I highly encourage everyone to check out this adorable thread, if they missed it when it was originally posted, and to re-read it again if you were lucky enough to already see it. It's wonderful! She has a great writing style, adorable tort, and I thought this would be appreciated by members that view this thread.

Thanks for letting me brag about you, Leann!