Made a bit of salsa today. Not a bunch, but 4 pints. About to make a few hot and sweet pickles. Prolly be about 4 pints as well. I haven't found a dill recipe that keeps all that great. Rocky, does that recipe keep well(9-12 months)?
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Easily, as long as jar prep and temps are good. I boil my lids and rings while my brine is boiling, and wipe the rims of the jars to make sure I get a good seal. I have less failure with regular lids than wide mouth.Originally posted by eradicator View PostComment
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If you’re pickling whole cucumbers, you’ll need to water bath them. Whole cucumbers cool a lot faster than slices and don’t seal well unless.Comment
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After pickling 24 quarts of jalapeño dill pickle yesterday, I picked. Yesterday’s pick yielded another 14 quarts of pickled. I picked my jalapeños halfway up the plant for about a half row today, and pickled 15 quarts of peppers. My garden is out of control this year. We’re at 56 quarts of dill pickles, 8 pints of squash pickles, and 15 quarts of pickled jalapeños.Comment
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Tomorrow, I have to make salsa verde. Tomatillos are coming on along with the jalapeños. Probably get 6-8 pints.Comment
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Wife declared today, June 4th, "Best dinner of summer day"... A bit early IMO but i'll take it! Waygu beef burgers with grilled onions; pickles, tomatoes and jalapenos from the garden, and Charlie's fried squash suggestion. Nolan requested "chick-fil-a sauce" so I did my best to imitate, having no clue what it is, just the color lol. I did about a cup of mayo, a 1/4 of ketchup, another 1/4 of mustard, coarse ground black pepper, and Cajun Blake's all purpose seasoning... It worked out alright!!!Comment
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Picked our first pepperocini's we ever grew today. Have 6 plants and they are producing very nicely. The plan is to can them all... one of my favorite eating pickled peppers. Got more squash and bell peppers and another dish pan full of berries.
Actually picked a few purple hull peas today... They're just starting to turn color... by next week to 10 days they'll be ready for some serious picking.
On the left side of this pic is a couple of Hidalgo Poblanos that I picked just to try their flavor... Don't have a clue how much bigger they'll get but I have a bunch of them along with another variety whose name escapes me right now... I love Chili Rellinos so I want to try to grow them as big as possible for stuffing...
Oh and had our first berry cobbler made from freeze dried blackberries... Could not tell any difference between this cobbler and one made with fresh-picked berries! This was actually an experiment to compare what my wife usually does when making a cobbler from blackberries and using whole freeze dried berries... The intent was to find out how much powdered berries it will take to make a cobbler... She used the whole freeze-dried berries volumetrically just like she would if they'd been fresh picked. I then measured that volume and put the same volume of dried berries in a blender and powdered them. Measured the powder. Determined that she will need one cup of berry powder to make a 13 X 9" casserole pan cobbler... This one was a little half size one and we ate half of the sucker (strictly for science of course) and accompanied it with a couple scoops of homemade ice cream!!
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No. Around sliced cucumbers, the boiling brine stays plenty hot enough to seal well. Not so with whole cucumbers.Originally posted by eradicator View PostComment
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10-4, prolly why mine weren't keeping that well. I mean, they sealed fine and all that but turned to mush after several months(likely due to the water bathing)Originally posted by rocky View PostComment
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We've had ups and downs this year. Onions and taters didn't do worth a flip. Planted broccoli too late, so it went to bloom before it got any size. We got 5" of rain a couple days after the purple hulls came up, and soil washed on top and choked them out. Replanted a few weeks later and they're doing good. Planted the okra a little early, but about half of them made it and are starting to produce. Plan on replanting some, as well as, some cream peas. Got squash, zucchini, cucumbers, maters, and peppers mulched pretty good with pine straw. Starting to get a few squash, zucchini, okra, maters,and cucumbers. Our Kentucky wonder green beans are doing... half of the 3 rows are looking pretty good. The other end of the 3 rows held too much water from the 5" mentioned earlier. Gotta get after the weeds and grass. Got a decent rain over the past couple days, so I'm sure they're about to take over.Attached FilesComment
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Hey Shane, do you use pine needles routinely in your garden? I've thought about using them, but was afraid of them messin' up the ph in my soil as they decompose... Those suckers are some of the most efficient weed controllers there are! Pine straw will choke out bermuda grass!!
Your veggies are looking good!Comment
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This only my 2nd year gardening. I used the pine straw on the squash and zucs last year and didn't have to water near as much, or pull weeds. I raked up and burned most of it at the end of the season last year, to help get rid of any pests or disease that might have been there. Not sure if that was necessary. Google and the YouTube videos I've watched said it should not adjust the ph enough to make a difference. Figured we'd try it on the rest of the plants this year. Going to see if we can get the tree service to dump us a truckload of the chipped wood from clearing powerlines. Plan to put it down in between the rows for a weed free walkway. I hate pulling weeds. Mom says it's relaxing, but she doesn't get up and down like she used to.Originally posted by SaltwaterSlick View PostComment
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Weeds is the worst thing about gardening on the planet.
I have learned a lot about weed control from watching Hoss Tools videos and taking most of their advice on reducing the "weed bank" in the garden plots... That's basically terminating the weed seeds that are in your plots, then taking steps to keep introduction of new seeds to the area... I mow with a bagging mower around the garden and I try to keep weeds to a minimum in the grass that borders the garden... In my pastures, I try to stay ahead of the flowering weeds that put out lots of seeds... The BIG DEAL is how to terminate the seeds that are already in your food plots... The best way for us was to do all the tilling of the plots, then rake them to remove as much grass and other plant debris from the plots and do any amendments that I intend to do to the plots, get 'em smooth and level and cover the plot completely with a silage tarp... That's a heavy plastic sheet that is black and allows zero light passage. The black tarp keeps the ground warm and moist, but allows no light... In theory what happens is the seeds germinate normally, then because there's no light, they die. We did this last Fall to both our in-ground plots and it was amazing what happened when we uncovered them... EVERYTHING was stone cold dead and rotting. I tilled again, made rows and started planting... We have had practically zero weeds in either plot this whole season. Now there's some grass, mostly nutgrass, but it's minimal and easily removed. NOTHING broad-leafed is growing in the plots that we did not plant!!
We put the tarps down in early October last Fall. left them on the plots until late February/early March. I am about to cover one of the plots now just until late August when we will start our Fall garden. When we are done with the other plot (mostly peas and a little okra, I will clean it up put down compost and some chicken manure and cover it for next Spring. We have spent almost no time weeding this year!!Comment
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Thank you! I remember you talking about covering with a tarp, and was impressed with the pictures you posted, a few days ago, of your crew planting in a weedless garden.Comment
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