From before 2nd winter and brutally hot summer of 2024, saving plant to overwinter indoors?
Anatomy of my Quad
This is a Portulaca/Purslane seeding that I am going to reproduce from stem cuttings.
The base (#1), buried in the sand to keep it from tipping over, is made of 2 black containers sewn together.
On top of the base is a white container (#2) which collects excess water. It can be lifted out and the water emptied.
On top of the white container is a black container (#3) with holes punched in the bottom for drainage.
The seedling is planted in #3 in cocoa noir/potting soil/etc., partial covered with clay pellets.
A pole secures the "Tulip" (#4) which has drainage holes in the bottom. The Tulip is made from an upside-down milk carton with holes punched in the lid, one large hole for the stake to go through and smaller holes for drainage.
Tulip Addition to my Quad System
My quad growing system addresses the need to grow flowers and vegetables in an inexpensive modular system that works where it is impractical or prohibited to grow conventially.
It consists of sets of 4 containers of the same size and shape stacked and nested so that they are portable and have good drainage.
Here in the high desert I have to bury them in the sand to keep the wind from knocking them over.
The white "tulip" shaped irrigation feeds simplify hand watering as I can fill them by hose.
This lily opened today, but birds ate some of the petals before I was able to take a picture. Right of the lily is a Swamp Rose Mallow that I planted last fall and expect to bloom shortly.
Hibiscus Moscheutos
This is a perfect plant for showcasing my quad growing system.
Commonly called Swamp Rose Mallow, this hardy hibiscus thrives in my high desert garden and laughs at triple digit weather.
The leaves and flowers are edible and can be used fresh or dried to make tea.
The flowers only last a day, but this young plant has opened one or two spectacular blooms every day for a week with more on the way.
Three Ways I Cook Sous Vide and Why I Love Them All
People seem to either love or hate cooking sous vide. What caused me to side with those who love it, was learning that vacuum bags are not a necessary part of the process.
I do use vacuum bags on occasion, particularly if the food comes frozen in sous vide safe packaging.
The most affordable sous vide cooker is an immersion stick precision cooker. I acquired one for about $40 USD to use for poaching eggs in buttered mason jars. This was life-changing for me because I am terribly fussy about my eggs. They really do need to be uniformly consistent and exactly the right temperature. I now can poach them 8 at a time and eat 2 the first day, reheat 2 more the second day and make eggnog out of the remaining 4.
Another way to cook sous vide is by using a dedicated one piece precision cooker or a multi-cooker that includes sous vide as an option, such as this Housnat 10-in-One.
I like this for cooking bacon overnite Using it lets me cook bacon and eggs at the same time, and it keeps water hot for a long time afterward.
My high-end kitchen helper is the amazing Neovide 100 bagless waterless sous vide cooker, which is the only tool I will ever again use for steaks, pot roast, chicken, etc. More to come on this brilliant product which changed me overnight from an I-hate-to-cook frustrated would rather eat out type person to a don't want to eat out because I can make it better at home without exerting myself happy food prepper. Of course, since my favorite meat recipes take up to 36 hours to become fork-tender in the Neovide, I am glad to have the other devices to use in the meantime.