Quote:
Originally Posted by AlittleSalt
Lisa,
I missed this thread until now. I had to look up what capers are. I've seen them used in gourmet cooking shows. I found this link http://www.growitalian.com/how-to-grow-capers/ I don't know if they would grow in my part of Texas?
Part of the fun of gardening is growing some things that are not easy to grow. That's why I started 4 Elephant Garlic cloves in 2015. I was told that they can't be grown in-ground here. They produced 28 cloves this year. I planted all 28 of them and they all came up. They look really healthy. I guess when I dig them up in mid-2017, we will have to try eating some for the first time.
We do things to challenge ourselves. |
I grew Elephant garlic for years and years. It really doesn't taste much like garlic but it is great for some things like cooking in a pot roast. It makes the gravy taste wonderful. They keep okay but the bulbs can be huge and need to be kept in a dry place each year. They actually kept better than true garlic in our humid climate so I would think they would keep fine in Texas. Now that I see how much seed companies are charging for them I wish I had kept growing them.
One thing that really helps when growing them is to mulch them well and keep the weeds out. They don't do well if there is a lot of competition for nutrients. I always added compost and manure to the soil before planting them in the fall and would pull them up when the tops were dying in the early summer or late spring. I would then let them lay on the ground for a day or so then pick them up and spread them somewhere in the cool shade to dry under a shed or in a shed. Once they were dry I would cut off the roots and excess stalk and put them on shelves spread on news paper. Sometimes one or two would start rotting and that is why it is better to spread them instead of putting them in mesh bags and hanging them. I did hang them sometimes when I just had too many to spread but I would check them occasionally to make sure none of them were rotting.
Bill