What did you do in the garden today?

[Stuffedcritter]

Only thing I buy plant wise from home depot is half dead knock out roses (soak them trim dead off). Winter sow/ grow lights most of my own plants temptation gets best of me great road side stand that sells plants cheap big hangers are only $15.00 greenhouse their $28.00. I love the fact that their open twenty-four hours

Hey it wasnt lowes it was home depot.

 

[hosspak]

From the Crazy H-Bar Ranch: Not so much in the garden, but what came out of the garden.
Wow, what a chore. But we love it... The Bread and Butter pickles are done and canned.

Step 1) Gather fresh vegetables from the garden. We had to get a few extra pickling and reg cucumbers from the store because....well more is always better!

Step 2) After slicing all the cukes about 1/4 inch thick, soak them in water and canning salt and toss them in the frig overnight. In the morning, take them out and rinse them very well to get all that salt out.

Step 3) Start boiling lots of water... For 2 reasons, one to sanitize your jars and to process the filled pickle jars. This is when the kitchen starts to warm up.

And don't forget to boil the lids and rings...

Step 4) Start your pickle brine. Add all the good junk to the ACV and sugar. We cut back on the sugar because they really come out pretty sweet and sometimes it will overpower all the other spices and seasoning that gets put in there. At this point your kitchen should start smelling incredible.

Step 5) Tammy, got a new toy from Pampered Chef that makes stuff into shoe strings so she tore it up in the kitchen.

Step 6) Now that all ingredients are ready, the kitchen temp hits somewhere in the 80's, and the humidity is the same. It's time to get busy...

Step 7) This recipe calls for boiling the veggies in the brine but I only toss them in for a couple minutes so the pickles will still be a little crunchy. I want to try it w/o boiling them but I'm afraid they will be to raw. I forgot to mention, Do a quick taste test of the brine before dropping in the pickles so you can adjust the taste if needed.

Step 8) Start ladling all that good stuff into the heated jars. Oh, I forgot to mention, at this point the whole house smells of pickle brine and some pickle slices may start disappearing before they make it into the jars. Anyway, you want to leave 1/2 head space in the jars but make sure you pack as many pickles in there as you can.

Step 9) Once the jars are filled, wipe off the jar rims to clean everything off, because anything left on there will keep the jars from sealing and will allow bacteria into the jars and spoil all your hard work. Now drop the jars back into the boiling water for a 10 minute process. Make sure you have at least 1 inch of water covering the tops of the jars..... I don't know why either... Just do it! lol

Step 10) Remove the jars from the boiler and allow to cool down. DON"T touch them, I know you will be tempted to pick them up and look at the miracle that you created, but fight it.... First they are really really hot, second because they still need to cool down and get a good seal. At this point, make sure things are quiet, because the jars will actually tell you when they are done... Ping, Ping, and more Pinging. When you hear the pings, they are done and properly sealed. If there are any lid buttons that remain up, don't worry you still have 2 options: you can process it back into the boiling water to see if it will seal or just but the jar into the frig, these are still perfect pickles and you will want to eat them first, they will still last for 3 or 4 months in the frig. Oh yeah, there be habaneros in some of those jars.


We were able to can 20 jars of B&B pickles and this is what's left of the brine... But don't throw it away, if you get a few more pickles and cucumbers from the garden you can still slice them and soak them overnight, then reheat the brine and add that to the slices and back into the frig. Now here's the down side... If you can hold out for as long as possible to open these up. The longer you wait the better they will taste, We TRY to wait at least 3 weeks.... It ain't easy!


Lastly, gather up all your little minions so they can clean up the mess you made.... well because you have done good work here and deserve a break...

 

[3goodeggs]

Hurray! You even washed up!
I I avoided the garden. I have to can beans and do pickles and... sigh. I am just so worn out.
I need a clone.

 

[Blooie]

Um, I stayed out of the garden today.

 

[Dawna]

Let our dogs and chickens out. Cleaned out the overnite chicken poop and carried it out to a place in the garden. I pruned 6 small citrus trees that had frozen back this past winter. I thought I had lost them all, but they all are sprouting. Watered everything. Prepared a large "strawberry" jar for planting. Planted 2 Hyacinth Vines out by our new fence. Pruned a Peggy Martin Rose back. It is trying to take over my lavender garden on one end. Watered more plants. Pulled a lot of weeds. Planted some red sunflowers. We don't have anything producing. We kept having freezing temps earlier this year, so I have not planted a lot. Checked the peach trees. A few have managed to keep their blooms and are producing some nice size peaches.

 

[jerryse]

Squash and cucumber seeds are sprouting . Checked some of my fruit and nut grafts . More are growing .

 

[3goodeggs]

Um, I stayed out of the garden today.

Yea. good idea. great excuse. So, did you all fair alright? I'd still be tossing my cookies.

 

[Blooie]

Yea. good idea. great excuse. So, did you all fair alright? I'd still be tossing my cookies.

It was a little close, that's for sure. But no damage, no one hurt. That garage is across the street and south about a block from us. I'm looking at it as I type. My son's place is on the same side of the street as the garage. This photo was taken looking right toward Kenny's house. The Tyvek has looked like that for about 3 years. However, I decided discretion w.as the better part of valor and hid!

 

[3goodeggs]

The sky looks like there are two clouds that are eyes and it's using a straw to sip out of the house.

 

[Blooie]