The General Chat Thread

igCorcaigh

Muahahaha wrote: »

quick Q on parmasan reggiano - the end bit of the wedge thats a different colour to the rest- is this usable or even desirable to use?

Absolutely! I always keep the rind. Put it in to your Bolognese sauce and it makes it delicious.

It might fully melt down, but check, and if not, fetch it out before serving.

New Home

It's perfectly edible, and very tasty, too. It's best if you scrape off a bit the outside of it, it's easier if you leave a soaked paper towel over it for a few hours. You can then add it as is to soups (or to stuff that has to boil for a while, or you can leave it to soak overnight in milk you want to use for a bechamel base) until it softens, it'll give them a lovely flavour. Then you can either either take it out and chop it in little chunks to add to the soup later, or you can use a hand held blender to blend it with the rest of the soup.

You can also make some sort of crunchy "croutons" with it, but whenever I tried it they turned out too chewy.

Dizzyblonde

I usually throw it out - I won't be doing that any more

Dial Hard

I freeze them and throw into soups and sauces for extra flavour if I'm batch cooking.

BaZmO*

I'm so disappointed. Our chilli plant has died after being attacked by greenfly.

Mrs. B bought a plant at the beginning of the summer and we kept it on the windowsill in the kitchen. It went to flower and then to fruit and it looked great. Then I noticed lots of little greenfly all over it. Did a quick Google and it turns out that they're quite a common pest for indoor chilli plants. You can treat them by spraying the plant with soapy water, which I did, and it did kill them, but the irreversible damage had been done.

What's really depressing is that the chillies were green for ages but over the last couple of days they have started to ripen and they're turning bright red. All this at the same time the the plant is withering and dying. It looks like a prop from a Tim Burton movie.

I was also growing cucumbers, from seed, from those little grow packs Lidl were giving out, and it would seem that the greenfly have destroyed that too. That one hurts even more than the chilli plant dying.

B0jangles

Greenfly are so annoying and hard to control on food plants I have two pots of thai basil growing on a sunny windowsill and I check them about twice every bloody day to catch and kill any greenfly or aphids manually. I really don't want to have to spray with anything, even soapy water because we're going to be eating those leaves ourselves at some point.

To anyone watching I probably look like King Kong going on a duck hunt - all staring fiercely among the branches looking for unwary prey :P

Whispered

I have a tomato plant and it's my pride and joy. It's just beautiful, to look at and eat. Greenfly are a worry! I noticed a tiny spider in a web today among the leaves. Will he keep the greenfly away?

BaZmO*

Whispered wrote: »

I have a tomato plant and it's my pride and joy. It's just beautiful, to look at and eat. Greenfly are a worry! I noticed a tiny spider in a web today among the leaves. Will he keep the greenfly away?

The best predator for greenfly/aphids is apparently the lovely ladybird. In fact you can actually buy ladybird nests for this purpose.

Gloomtastic!

Can green fly kill a plant? When I grew chillis that died a few years ago, I believe it was overwatering that killed them.

B0jangles

A couple of years ago, whenever it was that we had that swarm of ladybirds, I caught a bunch of them to put among my basil - almost as soon as I put them in place, they all took off, flew into the upper corners of the windows and got nabbed by the resident spiders.

I felt terrible.

BaZmO*

B0jangles wrote: »

A couple of years ago, whenever it was that we had that swarm of ladybirds, I caught a bunch of them to put among my basil - almost as soon as I put them in place, they all took off, flew into the upper corners of the windows and got nabbed by the resident spiders.

I felt terrible.

Oh God that's awful! ......but also quite funny!

the beer revolu

I stopped growing chillies because of this.

I've never had a problem with greenfly on tomatoes.

A market gardener told me that ladybirds are useless - they only eat about one greenfly a day!:pac:

BaZmO*

the beer revolu wrote: »

I stopped growing chillies because of this.

I've never had a problem with greenfly on tomatoes.

A market gardener told me that ladybirds are useless - they only eat about one greenfly a day!:pac:

He's probably right......but he also has a vested interest in telling you that.

the beer revolu

BaZmO* wrote: »

He's probably right......but he also has a vested interest in telling you that.

To be fair, he was an organic producer (or at least chemical free).
I think he was using some sort of spider for pest control.

Markcheese

Muahahaha wrote: »

quick Q on parmasan reggiano - the end bit of the wedge thats a different colour to the rest- is this usable or even desirable to use?

You can grate all the way down to very outside rind... But it does become a chore, and you end up with more knuckle than cheese... 😀
Put the rinds into a little jar with some oil (not olive unless you're okay with it being gloopy)
Then as above use it in soups and sauces... And you have parmesan oil too... (stops the rinds going mouldy)

New Home

the beer revolu wrote: »

I stopped growing chillies because of this.

I've never had a problem with greenfly on tomatoes.

A market gardener told me that ladybirds are useless - they only eat about one greenfly a day!:pac:

Ladybirds (provided they're humgry) do go through loads of greenfly, aphids, etc, but it's their larvae who really go for them.

New Home

BaZmO* wrote: »

I'm so disappointed. Our chilli plant has died after being attacked by greenfly.

Mrs. B bought a plant at the beginning of the summer and we kept it on the windowsill in the kitchen. It went to flower and then to fruit and it looked great. Then I noticed lots of little greenfly all over it. Did a quick Google and it turns out that they're quite a common pest for indoor chilli plants. You can treat them by spraying the plant with soapy water, which I did, and it did kill them, but the irreversible damage had been done.

What's really depressing is that the chillies were green for ages but over the last couple of days they have started to ripen and they're turning bright red. All this at the same time the the plant is withering and dying. It looks like a prop from a Tim Burton movie.

I was also growing cucumbers, from seed, from those little grow packs Lidl were giving out, and it would seem that the greenfly have destroyed that too. That one hurts even more than the chilli plant dying.

When you use the ripe chillies, check if the seeds have developed enough - you can sow them and "resurrect" your chilli plant, in a way.

Markcheese

BaZmO* wrote: »

He's probably right......but he also has a vested interest in telling you that.

Ladybird nymphs however are voracious... Best Of all are hover fly nymhs... And the hoverflies go for flowers, marigolds Ect... My Fennel plant was surrounded by hoverflies all summer

Dizzyblonde

I put my chilli plants outdoors this year because the weather was so good and they're doing well. They always get little black flies when I grow them indoors. It's a great year for the tomatoes too.

Gloomtastic!

We did Red Onions and Carrots in the raised bed this year. It was freezing for the first month so very few seedlings then one of the bloody dogs trampled all over what was there. Then the drought came along so we've had a total of five carrots and the onions look so small they could just about qualify as pickled onions.

What I have started doing this year is planting out the roots of potted parsley and coriander after they've been used. I've got two or three crops from them so far.

Dial Hard

New Home wrote: »

When you use the ripe chillies, check if the seeds have developed enough - you can sow them and "resurrect" your chilli plant, in a way.

If you dry the chillies for a few weeks first the seeds'll be even more likely to germinate. It's a great way to recycle any chillies that are gone a bit past their best.

igCorcaigh

I have chilli seeds, but haven't used them in ages.

Can I plant them indoors anytime or should I wait till spring?

New Home

I'd say you should be ok even indoors, just give them plenty of light - I had a tomato plant that lived three years by the patio door.

igCorcaigh

New Home wrote: »

I'd say you should be ok even indoors, just give them plenty of light - I had a tomato plant that lived three years by the patio door.

Great. I have a South facing window sill that my plants love. Now just have to make room.

TY.

New Home

TFR.

Muahahaha

Thanks to yall for the tips with the parmesan rind, I wont be throwing that out again

igCorcaigh

Muahahaha wrote: »

Thanks to yall for the tips with the parmesan rind, I wont be throwing that out again

Thriftiness and deliciousness go together, I'm sure all the old Italian mamas weren't throwing out their Parmesan rinds.

Gloomtastic!

igCorcaigh wrote: »

I have chilli seeds, but haven't used them in ages.

Can I plant them indoors anytime or should I wait till spring?

I would wait to germinate them in February.

Here’s one of two I grew a couple of years ago, they were taking over the conservatory. Tried to give them away but no takers. Oh for a half an acre out the back and a polytunnel.

BaZmO*

Serious chilli envy!

Graces7

Sometimes I need Long Life milk to keep in reserve. Cannot shop often from the island.. LIDL seems to be the only shop I can get it. Last week they only had it in lactose free so I bought it.

Is it always so sweet? Not sure what to make of it..