I got a black light flashlight and they do help in finding those accursed tomato hornworms.
The total is now 30, with parasitic wasps nailing four more of them, that I let be so they can hatch.
I think I literally saved my potato and tomato crop.
Fortunately, my tomatoes are determinate and once the crop is in and I’m done with the canning, they are all coming up and getting burned and I’m going to start preparing my beds for the garlic I have on order to get that in early.
I test dug some potatoes. One plant had NOTHING. Another had one decent size and four smaller ones. Beautiful Kennebunk potatoes.
Last weekend, I pulled up my zinnia garden - they were about ‘shot’ ... very few buds for future flowering. I cut off the flower heads and salvaged the seeds.
As of yesterday, my new ‘fall’ zinnia bed is planted. I waited until after Isaias passed through - was afraid heavy rains would move my seeds around because they aren’t planted very deep. It then took another couple of days because I wanted to get some Flower Tone to put down to help with the blooms. The weather called for T-storms last night, so I didn’t water - the garden soil was pretty damp from 1” of rain (storms!) the night before. No storms happened so I watered everything in this morning.
It looks like I’ll have to can some tomatoes today - we have a roasting pan full of ripe ones that there is no chance of eating before they spoil. I use a method of canning where I can put up 2-4 quarts or do a large batch. I make my own marinara/spaghetti sauce, so canned tomatoes come in handy (also use them for my dad’s favorite veggie soup). Below is the tomato canning video - no hot water bath needed. Also, I now sterilize all my jars (including jelly) in the oven, rather than messing with having to put them in boiling water. I have never had a jar fail to seal & I’m using canned tomatoes from 2 years ago (1 jar left that’s about to go into marinara).
How I Can Tomatoes Easily - NO Water Bath
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kmTH_q1usI&fbclid=IwAR1q3Xh_FT5Rj92yEFQqM_cWkX018t842nzhm_vF1MZgk1Hw3yaM5THM12s
Notes from Linda:
This is how I can 40-70 quarts of tomatoes every year, WITHOUT a WATER BATH. I have been canning this way for about 40 YEARS (including helping my mother when I was young). I also use this method for canning salsa (with fresh garlic, onions, & hot peppers), dill pickles & sweet lime pickles. My mother also canned tomatoes, salsa & high acid vegetables with this method for decades. Some varieties of tomatoes need citric acid added to be high acid for this method (or water bath method). Test strips can be used to check for proper acidity (4.6 or lower pH). Check out my video using test strips: https://youtu.be/BatLeYpDS_c
Always bring vegetables to a FULL BOIL for 20-30 MINUTES & keep boiling until ladling into the CLEAN HOT (215 degree) jar; Then cap with a hot lid & band (very near 212 degrees).
Please only use this method of canning for high acid fruits & vegetables OR Jams & Jellies. DO NOT use this method for foods with meat in them!
In the video I mentioned boiling for a minimum of 5 minutes, but in reality, it’s better to have it at a full boil for 20-30 minutes to not only soften the tomatoes, but to be sure all germs are killed.
I have a question I was hoping someone could answer. We live in SE Wisconsin, and this year we tried boxed garden beds. In the spring, we hauled in some top soil to fill them, added some garden soil and a little bit of manure. It’s doing pretty well, tomatoes and green peppers turning out good and plenty. With autumn coming soon, should we add fertilizer/manure or compost, let it sit over winter, or wait until spring again? Anyone have advice/opinion?
Greetings from southern New Hampshire!
After two tiring weeks, all but two of our garden raised beds are weeded, forked and leveled! I took a utility trailer load of weeds, garden debris and brush cuttings to the dump, this morning. The second load of this effort!
After I got home, I saw some brush that I had forgotten to load, and in the process of throwing it over the north electric fence, I started cleaning the dead wood out of our raspberries, which have been neglected for the past four years. It looks like I am going to need to back the utility trailer into a pocket by the north fence to load up the cuttings and the weeds I still need to pull in the two remaining raised beds.
Barb’s strawberry bed is really starting to produce! We have enough for strawberry shortcake.
Barb’s tomatoes have a promising crop. The late-planted summer squash are up and have true leaves.
We are planning on bringing in compost from the transfer station and really amending the soil this fall. It is friable, but the lack of earthworms is troubling.
This whole effort was because of benign neglect over the past two years. The body is not happy with me, but the place is looking a lot better!
Now, I am going to add a covered deck over the watering system manifold and provide a good place to hang tools, etc. I imagine that three walls will follow.
Earlier this week my dad and I dug a row of potatoes. Mostly Red Pontiac, but there were a few at one end labelled “Grocery”, which means they were eating potatoes that had gotten soft and wrinkly, so I planted them rather than throwing them out. They were fantastic! Big, solid, meaty potatoes under every plant!
That row took a little over 3 pounds of seed potatoes to plant. The harvest was more than 50 pounds!
And I still have 4 more rows to dig.
I also harvested my first ever patch of wheat. I’m counting it as “lessons learned”. Too many things went wrong. Including the fact that I was late harvesting. I’m not sure if any of the seeds I harvested are even viable. Hopefully next year will be better.
My squash plants are all doing well. I have lots of green squashes slowly getting fatter and fatter. I love watching them grow.
Omega 3 Fats from plants. Info found in:
https://www.sfgate.com/recipes/article/The-bullies-of-the-fat-world-The-food-industry-s-2664029.php
Snip..."Purslane, a relatively obscure leafy green vegetable, provides 400 mg of omega-3s if you eat about 3 ounces. Add it to salads or saute briefly. Chard and kale also have some ALA."...
Because I am naturally suspicious of information on the internet I did some further research and found this:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1354675/ Abstract
snip..."omega-3 fatty acids, alpha-tocopherol, ascorbic acid, beta-carotene and glutathione determined in leaves of purslane (Portulaca oleracea), grown in both a controlled growth chamber and in the wild, were compared in composition to spinach. Leaves from both samples of purslane contained higher amounts of alpha-linolenic acid (18:3w3) than did leaves of spinach. Chamber-grown purslane contained the highest amount of 18:3w3. Samples from the two kinds of purslane contained higher leaves of alpha-tocopherol, ascorbic acid and glutathione than did spinach. Chamber-grown purslane was richer in all three and the amount of alpha-tocopherol was seven times higher than that found in spinach, whereas spinach was slightly higher in beta-carotene. One hundred grams of fresh purslane leaves (one serving) contain about 300-400 mg of 18:3w3; 12.2 mg of alpha-tocopherol; 26.6 mg of ascorbic acid; 1.9 mg of beta-carotene; and 14.8 mg of glutathione. We confirm that purslane is a nutritious food rich in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants."
and here:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31398846/
snip..."Regarding the fatty acid content, stems contained mainly palmitic (20.2-21.8%) and linoleic acid (23.02-27.11%), while leaves were abundant in α-linolenic acid (35.4-54.92%). Oleracein A and C were the major oleracein derivatives in leaves, regardless of the harvesting stage (values were in the ranges of 8.2-103.0 mg and 21.2-143 mg/100 g dried weight (dw) for oleraceins A and C, respectively). Cytotoxicity assays showed no hepatotoxicity, with GI50 values being higher than 400 μg/mL for all the harvesting stages and plant parts. In conclusion, early harvesting and the separation of plant parts could increase the nutritional value of the final product through increasing the content of valuable compounds, such as omega-3 fatty acids, phenolic compounds and oleracein derivatives, while at the same time, the contents of anti-nutritional compounds such as oxalic acid are reduced."
Good deal! Omega 3s from a "Weed" in my garden! (Harvest young, do not allow to become old!)
Note that if anyone wants a milder tasting form of Purslane, you can purchase cultivated purslane seeds. (These were from Johnnys seeds!) 50 days to maturity, again, harvest early to reduce the Oxilic acid and increase nutrients!)
Goldberg Golden Purslane Specialty Greens
"Succulent golden-green leaves with orange stems. The 1 1/2" leaves are much larger than those of the wild form of purslane. Upright growth habit. Flavor is crisp and mild. Pick as needed to within 2" of the base; new stems and leaves regrow. Known as "verdolaga" in Latin America. Sensitive to frost. Avg. 67,900 seeds/oz. Packet: 500 seeds." (I Dont work for Johnny's...you can find other sources! Anyone who has problems with Kidney stones should avoid purslane (Oxalic acid)
Thanks for the ping. Just got back from a visit with my grand daughter and her brand new baby boy. While I was gone, hubby decided to go to the farmers market-he could not resist their beautiful tomatoes. Ha.
Then he went out and brought in a bunch of tomatoes from his garden. We have been picking them at first blush-so squirrels don’t get them-wash, let dry sometimes wrap in newspaper to ripen.
When ripe, I slice them in quarters and put in a ziplock bag and put into the freezer until I get enough to can. Well, the freezer is full. And I have 2 counters full of tomatoes, and cucumbers. So after I get a good night’s sleep, I’ll be CANNING tomorrow.
Plan to read the rest of the thread-with coffee tomorrow morning. Severe shortage of canning lids here. I have plenty of wide mouth, but getting low on the regular size.
Anyway, my dear dad (who loves flowers - his mother had quite the flower gardens outside her kitchen door & around their garden) picked up a bag of wildflower mix at the store. I did not want to plant it, having had poor results from such mixes previously. He begged and begged so I finally planted a raised bed with it. Guess what I got?? GRASS. What a pain in the patootie.
Yesterday, I finally tackled the bed, which also had a couple of "volunteer" zinnias in it from last year - 2 in particular are gorgeous and extra large for zinnias so I kept them & a couple of others I liked. After pulling grass, I had to stake the zinnias up - with shallow roots/loose dirt, they wouldn't stay upright on their own. I also weeded the walkway & hauled more mulch/chips to cover it more deeply, & planted zinnia seeds in the now-clean bed for a fall flower garden. Anyway, here are "before" & "after". I should have taken a 'before' pic before I pulled the first grass ... there's enough left that you can probably tell what a mess it was!
While I was working in the flower bed, the bees kept coming, the Hummingbirds were at the feeder (hanging on one corner of the garden fence), & this hummingbird moth showed up - really interesting.
'Summer Dance' cucumbers. Start with about 8 pounds. I didn't have quite 8 pounds, so I added two small zucchini.
Chop, chop! Whirl, whirl!
Mix with canning salt, cover with a towel and put in the fridge for 2 hours. Draws out some of the moisture.
While the relish is chilling, wash your canning jars and lids. When you're canning, everything should be scrupulously CLEAN. Food poisoning is NOT your friend!
Two hours later. This is my most favorite part! Put the relish in a clean flour sack towel and wring, wring, wring the extra moisture out. (Save the cucumber juice as a basis for your next batch of V8; it has no seasonings in it at this point.)
Wringing out the juice is a really good upper-arm exercise, LOL!
Get your cooking pot ready and start water to boil in your canning pot. (Rack is inside.)
Follow the mix direction. Add sugar and vinegar, bring to a boil. Add the spice mix and them your relish and simmer, uncovered for 10-15 minutes. Smells SO good!
After a hot water bath for 15 minutes, put jars on a pretty towel from your sister, Carrie, and let cool for 12-24 hours. Listen for the *PING* of the lids sealing themselves. Music to my ears!
And here we have the traditional, 'Missing Man Formation' in the art of canning, LOL! One jar ALWAYS breaks in the canner, without fail. :(
