Posted on 07/22/2011 5:42:39 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning gardeners. I canned all the tomatoes I had picked the previous week this past Wednesday. Sadly it did not take very long to do the canning. I also roasted (chared and peeled) about half of the Jalapenos I had picked and froze the other half. I also cut up and froze some green Bell Peppers and zucchini squash.
On Wednesday I had a pop up T-storm visit the garden and then yesterday it was cloudy all morning and around 11 am a very nice, lazy, soaking rain started falling and it lasted for about two and a half hours. It dropped the temps down into the high 70s for a few hours and then the sun came out and the temps went to the low 90s, not a bad day at all!
If you are a gardener or you are just starting out and are in need of advice or just encouragement please feel free to join in and enjoy the friendly discussion. Our Freeper community is full of gardeners, each with varying interests and skill levels from Master Gardener to novice.
I hope all your gardens are flourishing.
One more thing, I should have mentioned is altitude. If you are above 1000 feet, you will need to process a bit longer in the water bath. I am not sure exactly how long, but the ball book should have it, or some of the University Extension sites.
This is why we have sons!
If it rains hard, the compost would wash right through the mulch, but if not, you'd probably want to put it under.
Well okay! Thank you. I have some algoflash from last year.
thanks greeneyes - one last question,instead of a vacuum sealer, how about some glad freezer bags and just get out as much air as possible before sealing, would that work?
Rain? What is this rain you speak of? I suppose I could just water it in.
I hear it falls from the sky.
I pay for county water, so I hesitate to use it unless it’s essential.
You are good to go!
Those are barrel pickles. I've been researching those but haven't made any yet. I did pick up a large glass jar, about 12" diameter and 18" tall to use as the pickling barrel. Here are some recipes I've found.
Recipe from "the joy of pickling", like NYC deli barrel pickles.
1 1/2 Tbs salt to 3 cups water
bay leaf
garlic
mustard seed
corriander seed
dill
black peppercorns
1 bunch grape leaves(for firmness)
1 quart pickling cukes
Combine in pickling crock or large non-reactive jar (glass, etc). Let sit for 7-10 days. The brine will get cloudy then clear when done.
Scrape off any mold as it appears. Make sure the cukes are completely submerged, you can use a plastic bag full of brine put on top.
Also, make sure the entire blossom end is removed or they will get soft.
Half-Sour Pickles
"If you are looking for a crispy deli pickle, this is the one to make - mildly sour, richly flavored with dill and garlic."
8 c. water
1/4 c. pickling salt
1 gallon small pickling cucumbers
6 garlic cloves
6 dill heads or sprigs of fresh dill
2 Tbsp. dill seeds
2 small fresh or dried hot peppers
2 Tbsp. mixed pickling spices
* Combine water and pickling salt in a pickle crock. Stir well to dissolve the salt.
* Wash cukes and remove blossom ends. Drain well. Add the cukes to the salted water, mixing in the garlic, dill, hot peppers, and pickling spices with the cukes. stir gently to distribute the spices evenly.
* Cover with a weight to keep the cukes submerged in the brine. Cover the crock.
* Store the crock at 68 degrees F. Check the crock every day. Remove any scum that forms on the top. The pickles should be "half-sour" in about 3 days.
Taste the pickles. If the results are pleasing, prepare the pickles for long-term or refrigerator storage.
* Pack the pickles in sterilized quart jars. Pour the brine into a nonaluminum pan and bring to a boil.
* Boil for 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
* Pour the cooled brine over the pickles, seal the jars and store in the refrigerator.
Because of the relatively low salt concentration in the brine, the pickles spoil easily if they aren't refrigerated after a week. Don't use this recipe if you are looking for a very sour pickle.
Super-Simple Refrigerator Pickles - from DianaInWisconsin
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 cups white sugar
• 6 cups coin-sliced cucumbers (peeled or not, your choice)
• 1 cup sliced onions
• 1 cup sliced green or red bell peppers
• As much chopped garlic or peeled cloves as you like!
• 2-3 Tbsp. of pre-mixed pickling spices, to taste.
Bring vinegar, salt, sugar and pickling spices to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pan on the stove. Stir and boil until the sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes.
Place the cucumbers, onions, peppers and garlic in a large plastic or glass bowl. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the vegetables. Transfer to sterile containers (mason jars or Tupperware containers are fine, too) and store in the refrigerator.
When you eat up all the slices, you can add fresh cucumber slices to the liquid and make some more! This lasts about 3 cycles, IMHO. Then, I mix up a fresh batch. You can always use the leftover juices as a marinade for inexpensive steak; it tenderizes the meat and adds a great flavor.
Early potatoes are dying off, ready to dig. The first ones have been disappointing-—small and few this year.
The sudden switch from a few days in the 80s back to 60s/70s for a week or so; then suddenly jumping to 100+ heat hasn’t done anything any good.
In late june. when the 80s hit, I planted the paper-pot okra seedings, just in time for the cool snap. They’ve been struggling ever since.
Naturally, the peas are on their last legs; the beans are finally starting to flower; just have to keep them watered.
We have been getting pattypan squash; by next week, the food bank should be getting the surplus.
Tomatoes are not ripening what set; and the heat is preventing any more from setting. I’ve also only seen one immature pepper, a Cubanelle, so far.
The volunteer spinach (now gone to seed for next year) onions, soup peas, barley, and rhubarb are the successes so far, though we should get a good dried bean crop.
Very disappointing year overall.
BTW, before I got a pressure canner, I just used a wide, deep lobster style pot as a hot water canner. You just need something deep enough to fully submerge the canning jar.
I used blossom set when we still lived in SoCal, some 30+ years ago, so this MAY be out of date.
It did work as advertised, giving us lots of ‘extra’ tomatoes during hot spells.
The caveat is that they were almost entirely seedless, so lost a lot of slicing appeal.
I use a misting system and an oscillating fan in my greenhouse for cooling. It drops the temps below 90 degrees. Thai and tobasco peppers, fennel, papaya, banana, and mustard greens love it. Tomato’s will grow long and leggy with it. They like the heat, but you need to deep water them at least once a week.
You can use a Ball or Mrs Wages mix packet and its very easy. They all use canning instructions, which is really not as difficult as people think it is. I was almost scared to try canning for the first time last summer, but as long as you have a large enough pot, its easy!!
Yes, you should use new lids, but I’m reusing some. In fact, I’m using jars and lids from some store bought pickles for my pickles this year. Only one of the 8 or so did not seal, and they went right into the fridge and will be eaten quickly. I like the size and shape of those jars.
Zukes, cukes, and Julienne tomato's are still coming in. I've given a ton to the neighbors. No luck with okra this year though.
Curriculum vitae — a fancy, Latin word for resume. Professors and attorneys often use that word, instead of the more mundane “resume” which is what engineers and the rest of us use. LOL
The dogs were the stars of that little video!
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Looks like they've got a big selection. So there you go!
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