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smitty55

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Everything posted by smitty55

  1. John I'm a big believer in fall planting, but I never plant until at least mid November. Springtime bulbs would be far inferior for planting purposes I think. I want the roots to start developing but I don't want green shoots to start growing up towards the surface, which is what can happen if planted in Sept/Oct. I also make sure to mulch with a good 4"-6" of leaves, which slows down the freezing of the soil and also prevents any freeze/thaw cycle during winter warm spells, which you certainly don't have to worry about up there until spring gets closer.. I really don't know what the difference would be with your much colder winters. I mean, frozen is frozen right? We do get some pretty cold winters here, but I've never had winter kill,even with 3 ft. of frost in the ground. Russia is well known for their garlic, Siberian and Russian Red, and it's damn cold there as well. A quick google search showed folks fall planting in Alaska. Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to try fall planting if I were up there. Make sure you have good drainage, preferably in raised beds, and mulch real heavy. I would even pile the snow real thick on top of that to further insulate. The other main most important thing would be to find the northern most supplier of quality garlic you can find, and plant northern type varieties like the Russians or Music, which grows real well around here. Plus it will give you good garlic for the winter eating. Don't plant store bought as it was probably grown in warm climates or even worse, China. One last thing you may already be aware of. Generally. the bigger the clove planted, the bigger the bulb will be, but it's actually the size of the base of the clove which is the determining factor. And don't plant damaged or inferior looking cloves, save them for eating first. Cheers
  2. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well in this case it's all the same word, mmmmmm, a thousand times, every time I get to savour the wonderful taste of home grown garlic, and not that china crap from the grocers. For any of you who who don't grow your own, you really should try it. It's quite simple, and very rewarding. Cheers
  3. I don't find them strong at all, but compared to the white ones they have much more flavour and a more dense, meatier texture. They are after all, just a larger, more mature cremini. Cheers
  4. Guys, here's something to try with nice firm portebella caps on the Bar-B. Alternate pieces of cold butter and blue cheese around it. Fresh garlic is a bonus... Spice as desired and 15-20 minutes over indirect heat. So long as you like blue cheese these are great with a steak or seafood. Cheers
  5. Tks for sharing. That's certainly not news to me. It's common knowledge in the small engine industry. Not so mainstream I guess. Funny how it took so long for CR to publish this, but at least they did. I own 3 outboards. A '71 1.5hp, a '72 6hp and a '80 20hp. So I've always had to stay clear of ethanol fuel. I've always used high test in them and I use premium in all my small engines. Plus I never buy more than I need. The best advice I can offer anyone is to use Sea Foam in all your small engine fuel. I swear by that stuff after using it for the last 7+ years. It really can be a tune up in a can, and is a great maintenance additive to keep your machine running clean. Great for all engines actually. Cheers
  6. Hey, no problem John. Happy to help out. Our normal planting date here is May 24 so a lot of folks got nailed this year. Even some who covered their plants lost them as it hit -2° in some areas. I should have remembered about your long days as I worked for First Air for 13 years, so yea, you should be OK so long as the temps stay up enough, cause these Greeks sure do like the heat. Even here, the cooler Sept. temps slow them down enough. Cheers
  7. I originally tried these tomatoes from an old Greek guy that was the night cleaner in our building back in the eighties. When I moved out to the country I wanted to grow my own and got some seedlings from his brother in law. Since then I have only used my own seeds. Then one year I decided to grow some Brandywine as well for a couple of years. That was a mistake. Though they still looked the same for the most part they seemed to have lost some of their best attributes, Not quite as sweet or tasty. John had since passed on, so I tried some that I bought at the Parkdale farmers market. Those didn't even come close, as I'm sure the genetics were quite diluted as farmers grow many types. Then in 2012 I found an address and phone number in an old wallet and a flag went up. It was the original family I had bought my seedlings from 15 years before. So I phoned up and explained who I was and they were happy to supply me with some seeds. Those seeds were from 2011 and still 22 of 24 germinated great this year. I will be saving lots of seeds this year as the blight seems to be holding off here for a change as I mulched my bed with red plastic after not growing any last year. John, I doubt you will have a long enough growing season in Yellowknife for these Greeks, but assuming things go well I could mail you some seeds over the winter if you'd like. You would have to start them indoors as early as you can and hope for a warm spring so you can plant early and hope for no frost. We had frost here in the Ottawa area on June 8 I believe and many folks lost all their plants and had to replant. If anyone else is interested we could probably work something out as well, but again, the one downside is that if you grow any other tomato you will dilute the strain for sure, not that they still won't be good for many years. Even with diluted genetics, these are still an excellent tomato for fresh eating or processing into salsa or sauce. Cheers
  8. You got me going now lol. I exclusively grow a Greek potato leaf, indeterminate type tomato that is incredible. By far the best tomato I've ever eaten. No offense Brian, but these put beefsteak to shame IMO. Unfortunately they can be somewhat susceptible to blight. If I had a long enough growing season they would reach 15ft plus I'm sure. In the middle of August I top them at about 7 ft. As it is I use 8ft stakes with grooves cut into them or screws to hold the ties in place or they would slide down from the weight of the tomatoes. The largest one I know of was over 2lb. 1-1.5lb is common. These Greeks are huge, super sweet and tasty, all meat with few seeds. I refuse to grow any others so I can keep the genetics as pure as possible, although I would like to have some cherries. The salsa and sauce from these is to die for with the flavour. Every sucker gets removed so that the flowers are only on the main stem. Even the flower stems keep growing and produce suckers lol. I also prune the flower clusters, specially the first ones to about 4, otherwise the stems will break from too much weight. My understanding is that for indeterminates in general, pruning the first cluster to 4 or 5 flowers will provide more even sized fruits in the successive ones. I'm so spoiled with these. Nothing like homegrown off the vine. I can hardly take store bought anymore. They may look like a tomato, but that's where the resemblance ends. I can hardly wait, but I have to until at least the middle of August, as these Greeks are late to ripen. Cheers
  9. Check out Cedar Cove resort. New owners did some good renos and spruced the place up a lot. Adam has also started a small guiding/outfitter business the last couple of years. They have all you want and are in a protected bay for those real windy days. Not too far to the deepest part of the lake. Plus a good restaurant. Like Mike said the lake is heavy with those clones but there are big bass there along with tons of pike and a decent Walleye population. Also known for having good sized Perch but mostly targeted in the winter. It's a nice lake. Cheers
  10. FYI here is an interesting study done by Carleton University on soft plastic lures. http://www.fecpl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Raison-et-al-2014_Water-A-S-Poll.pdf Then I read this on page 9 from that CU report. "Interestingly,the Berkley Gulp! ALIVE! worm, which is advertised as a biodegradable bait (http://www.berkley-fishing.com/products/soft-bait/gulp), only reduced slightly in size during the experiments" I think the operative word there is advertised. Are they really as biodegradable as they say? I'm not sure of the time frame in the CU study, but some of them were two years long. Cheers
  11. Great report. Very well done. Gotta love the gramps tour, and that small river is amazing looking. Tks for sharing that. Cheers
  12. Good report. Nice pics too. That sure looks like one sweet spot. Gotta love it. Tks for sharing. I really like that bucktail. Were you tipping it? Cheers
  13. I was in there this past season. By far the best pancakes (huge) and custom made sausages of any place. And lots of syrup on the tables. Best of all they're open all year long. I finally talked my whole family into visiting this year and everyone was impressed. The main lodge is impressive too. They rent it out for events as well. http://www.wheelersmaple.com/ Cheers
  14. One last question lol. I'm not familiar with jalapeno garlic. An on line search comes up with sauces for the most part. Could you clarify that for me? Tks. Cheers
  15. Tks manitoubass2. Do you have a favorite among those three. How hot are those recipes anyway? I don't have a problem with heat but don't want it to overpower the dish. I've also been googling marinated spiced olives. Lots of variations out there. Most of them call for refrigeration while marinating or at most a few days at room temp. I'm still a bit leery of using fresh garlic in oil at room temp for long periods but obviously you've done it before with no probs so I'll give it a shot. I'm really looking forward to trying these but I don't know how long I'll be able to wait lol. Tks again for the idea. Cheers
  16. Welcome Jimmy. For some reason I don't think it will take very long to get your numbers up. Cheers
  17. That whole idea sounds great. I'd like to try that. Image saved. Versatile too. So at what point do you refrigerate? 2 months? The only possible issue I can think of is fresh garlic in oil at room temps for long periods. I also tend to double or triple garlic in many recipes. All olives are not created equal. Does anyone have recommendations as to types and/or brands. I take it they don't need to be stuffed. Also, is sunflower oil the best, or are there alternatives? TIA Cheers
  18. First time I checked this thread. I'll be back for some of those vids for sure, like the Bonamassa ones. He is excellent. I just finished listening to Abraxas in flac. Wow, I'd kinda forgotten how good it really was. Now listening to a best of Tull. Cheers
  19. Joey I love that idea. Easy to modify too. For me that means onion and garlic hehe. Tks for that. I take it you went to a butcher for that tenderized and sliced pork. Cheers
  20. Lol, I know exactly what you mean. Sounds like the basswood around here. Heavy as hell when green, super wet. Not much use for me. I burn wood to heat my home, and I've found that it's more productive to put the energy into my red oak logs, which is mostly what I burn. For kindling I get slabs. On my property the basswood are all at the end of their lifespan, some going rotten and dropping branches. Had a huge one split and fall late last fall. It would have hit the house easily. I've had to remove a few that were too close to the house and leaning the wrong way. I had some beautiful white blocks that I offered to the woodcarving society. No takers. So I put it out at the road for free and eventually someone took it. They were destined for an outdoor furnace but they would still have been wet for quite a while. Have fun with that willow. Make sure it's totally dry before you burn it. Cheers
  21. Totally agree. Bunk, that was hilarious... Cheers
  22. Once you get it running a can of seafoam is a great investment. Cleans fuel system and carbon deposits. Use a strong mix for more cleaning and a weaker one as a maintenance mix. Well worth it IMO. Many times that's all that is needed for a rough running engine instead of a carb kit or a trip to the shop. Good luck with it. Cheers
  23. Actual hogweed is much rarer. Way bigger than the tons of wild parsnip out this way now. I think they may get mixed up. Regardless, be damn careful. http://www.healthunit.org/hazards/dangerousweeds.html Cheers
  24. For sure the most pleasure I get from my garden all year long is my Garlic. I love garlic. I'm still eating my own almost daily. The difference between mine and that crap from China is like night and day. IMO it enhances anything it's used in big time. When I get sausages made I supply my own garlic and the difference is significant. I have about 25 bulbs left and about half of them are still in pretty good shape. The softer ones I slice and dehydrate and then grind for my own garlic powder. I grow 150 bulbs each year, usually planted in November. It's a good amount for me. That takes up only a 4x12 bed. Very low maintenance on my scale. Garlic gives back a 4-5 to 1 return on your initial investment so after that it's free every year. But I will buy different varieties at the garlic fest to try new ones. I can't remember the last time I bought garlic at a store. Cheers
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