The Garden Thread - June, 2024

June 1, 2024 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The MONTHLY Gardening Thread is a gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.

If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.

This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.

It is impossible to hijack the Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to/removed from our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a MONTH Ping List, but we DO post to the thread all throughout the month. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[Qiviut]

Need some input from people who ‘can’ .... I think I know what I’m going to try, but more knowledge is always better, so here’s the situation:

I found cranberries on sale for 50 cents a bag last year, after the holidays. I bought 6 bags, used 3 for the Cranberry Apple Preserves (12 oz bags ... if you need a pound or 2 pounds, you have to open more bags ... wish they’d just be 16 oz.). Anyway, I canned the Preserves earlier this week & when I got to the old house, I did a freezer cranberry inventory - I still have 5 bags ... it seems I had bought 2 bags before the sale bags & tucked them away (out of sight, out of mind).

With plenty of cranberries, I want to make the “Spiced Christmas Jam” on Mavis Butterfield’s site. It should smell heavenly & would make nice Christmas presents. I will put the ingredients below, but the recipe site is:
https://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/spiced-christmas-jam/

Ingredients:
40 ounces frozen unsweetened strawberries or 2–1/2 quarts fresh strawberries, hulled
1 pound fresh or frozen cranberries
5 pounds sugar
2 {3 ounce each} liquid fruit pectin packets
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

I have 2 problems with the recipe ... the 5 POUNDS of sugar (confirmed by Mavis to be correct, in the comments) and the liquid fruit pectin packets.

Someone in the comments said 5 cups of sugar was fine. The Blackberry Merlot recipe is 4.5 cups, the Jalapeno pepper jelly is 6 cups. Using Sure-Jell, I use the pink (low sugar) for the Blackberry Merlot & the yellow (regular) for the Jalapeno pepper jelly.

Potential recipe modifications:
Sugar - use 5-6 cups
Sure-Jell - use 2 ‘low sugar’ pink or 2 regular yellow (leaning ‘pink’ - sugar to berry mix is probably on the ‘low’ side)

The recipe makes 12 jars .... the Blackberry Merlot yields 5 jars & the Jalapeno Pepper yields 6 jars, thus I think I need to double the Sure-Jell for 12 jars, just as Mavis doubles the liquid fruit pectin.

Think my ‘modifications’ will work? If they don’t, I’ll have some spicy syrup or could even freeze whatever I get if I don’t think it’s worth canning. I’ll still have 3 bags of cranberries left, too ... will have to look up some recipes that use them (other than for canning).

Jelly Jars - used 9 for the Cranberry Apple Preserves & will need 12 for the Spiced Christmas Jam ... I hate to use so many jars for “cranberry” items, so maybe I can find some jelly jars on sale somewhere. I have some ‘specialty’ jars I could use for the Christmas Jam since that will likely end up being used for gifts.

My nieces’ gardens are taking off! One niece is freezing blackberries for me (Blackberry Merlot Jelly). I can buy blackberries in the store, but they don’t seem to have much flavor - hoping her homegrown ones will be tastier. The other niece has tomatoes & squash. She’s pretty good at using her produce or freezing it ... she also did some pickling this year.

No produce, just herbs at the old house. This is probably a good thing because the juvenile marauding bear would be eating my garden if I had anything in it. This bear stole a watermelon the neighbor had sitting by the garage door (going to take it to the river for a picnic) & got into his trash. My brother found trash dragged into the back field - the bear has become a PROBLEM! We are keeping our trash locked up until the morning it gets picked up.

Crows - the resident crows have babies that are out of the nest & following the parents around. They are constantly begging the parents for food - it’s a certain, very annoying semi-cawing sound they make. I have started chasing them off after 10-20 minutes .... can’t stand the constant begging sounds!

[Albion Wilde]

I do love my gas cooktop & I also have cast iron grates. The grates are heavy, but easy to lift off for cleaning.

I was on a bacon binge all winter and spring. Even though I wipe the stove every time, the build-up of heat-hardened grease on the burner grates was daunting. After scraping the grates with a razor blade and scouring with a wire brush and Brillo a couple of times, I hit on the idea of putting the burners—and the drip pans—in the dishwasher every time I run it.

Et voilà! The repeated hot washes have softened the burned-on bits and they come out very clean! There has been no visible wear on the paint.

It helps to spray the drip pans LIGHTLY with degreaser (I use Simple Green) and rinse under the tap before putting them in the dishwasher. They come out 99% spotless.

[Qiviut]

Since you mentioned ‘vanilla pudding’, it reminded me of this great tip: if you want to stabilize whipped cream (the real stuff you make yourself), add some vanilla pudding. I did it for a cranberry salad I made for a Christmas lunch - the salad had to travel about 2 hours & was then sitting out on a buffet table .... the whipped cream held up just great! Here are some links:

Stabilized Whipped Cream
https://therecipecritic.com/stabilized-whipped-cream/

Cranberry Salad
https://thecaglediaries.com/cranberry-salad/

[Liz]

Will save in holiday file.

[Qiviut]

Thank you for a valuable tip! I have some frozen hamburgers I make & although I keep the pan covered as soon as the burgers are in, grease splatters no matter how carefully I partially lift the lid for turning. I have started washing the grates every time I make burgers, so no buildup - yet! The jelly that splattered took a bit of scrubbing, but did eventually come off. We don’t really use the dishwasher so doing the grates would be a good way to run the dishwasher now & again & it sure would be easier than scrubbing in the sink!

I recently got a gas grill & would like to make the burgers outside on that grill instead of in a pan on the cooktop. Never had a gas grill before (just charcoal) ... getting a lesson from the brother this evening grilling some brats :-)

[Albion Wilde]

Not sure if a once-in-awhile machine washing would do the job on the grates— l had scrubbed off a lot of build-up before beginning to put them in every time run it, which is 3 to 4 times a week. It does work like a charm on the burner pans. But hey, give it a try on the burners!

[Albion Wilde]

Friends, I saw this alarming article in the DailyMail this past week about organized South American burglary rings preying on California homeowners who have shrubs and other bushy plantings in view of their doorways. They are hiding digital devices disguised as vegetation in the shrubbery to learn when the owner is out so they can break in and steal.

Camera is in the leafy wad. See the USB plug on the other end?

See the camera lens in the center? This one was shoved into a thick hedge shrub:

Many of you have big rural spreads; but it's not hard to imagine that this crime method might migrate to suburban areas beyond California. Thought I'd share the link so you can be on the lookout.

Cops issue urgent warning to homeowners who find strange item outside their home

[FamiliarFace]

Thanks. I’m watching them, and they’re watching me.

We don’t have much compared to our neighbors, but I’m not taking many chances. It’s not a matter of if it happens, as to when it happens. We all know it’s coming down the pike. Obama and Biden have seen to that.

[Qiviut]

I would wash the grates whenever they get grease splatter on them or some other sort of spill, but the once-in-a-while applies more to the dishwasher since it would not be running every day.

I guess I am fortunate the previous owner left the cooktop in good shape & the grates didn’t have any buildup on them & I intend to keep them that way.

[FamiliarFace]

I haven’t canned since I was a teenager helping mom when she did most all of the work, and I don’t think she ever made jellies. Mostly tomatoes and pepper relish. I did mostly chopping, and just tagged along when things were in the canning process. Did I mention we lived in Florida and had no air conditioning in there? We did have fans but those don’t take out the humidity in the air.

[FamiliarFace]

Gas grills are faster, but we still prefer charcoal for the taste. Can’t beat it!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Great idea on the broccoli stem. I see they do that when I buy a mix called ‘Broccoli Slaw.’ Efficient use of the WhOLE vegetable.

This season it has been slugs and earwigs. I’m usually pretty bug-free, too. A Good ecosystem to keep the Good bugs eating the Bad bugs helps a LOT! :)

We’ve had a lot of butterflies, though. Both the Yellow and Black Swallowtail - my faves!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Having a garden makes it hard to leave, for sure! You’ve got a LONG growing season though, so there’s that! :)

[MomwithHope]

That sounds like a nice recipe. I never use pectin and cut back on the sugar, with a heavy double wall pan or I use a big nonstick skillet for small batches, it thickens just fine you just have to stir a lot.

[MomwithHope]

I’ve bought bags of that broccoli slaw for a salad I make.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks for sharing that! Better to be safe than sorry. We are buried a mile in at the end of a dead end road that is marked as such. It looks like our land belongs to the neighboring Horse Ranch, so that helps. It may as well; the local kids have permission to ride/train horses on our trails and they take full advantage of it.

At my house, it’s hard to get past the dogs making a ruckus. They recognize and LOVE the Fed Ex Man, though. ;)

At first glance I thought, ‘Oh, No! Another NEW plant disease I have to learn about,’ LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I have found that if I’m cutting back on the sugar in a ‘gel’ recipe, I need to cook it longer and thicken it up some before I can it.

I had that FLOP Wine Jelly batch and we are still eating that over waffles and vanilla ice cream and/or yogurt or cottage cheese. My mistake had me think up ways to use it. A little goes a long way, so I’m not worried about the sugar content.

[FamiliarFace]

We are headed out for a garden tour. The town just south of us has 6 gardens to go to today and tomorrow. It’s still raining here but should be ending soon. Probably won’t see all 6 today, but tomorrow’s weather looks a little better. There were a few with English cottage gardens mentioned, so we’re looking forward to seeing those.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

How fun! I love the English Garden style - so messy and lots of flowers. :)

[Qiviut]

Thanks!

The Cranberry Apple Preserves had no pectin & I stirred ‘til I thought my hand would fall off, but it definitely thickened up.

I will let you know how the Christmas Jam turns out - might have an opportunity to can towards the end of the coming week. I do know it’s going to smell great while cooking!