What did you do in the garden today?

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Picked the usual cucumber and a few cherry tomatoes this morning. One of my pole bean towers is loading up on blooms. I have 4 little bell peppers forming and should have some more summer squash to pick either tomorrow or the next day. Getting back to the topic of canners @Sueby. Depending on the type of glass top range you have will determine whether or not you can use a canner on it. My glass top range that came with the house has the power boil rings on it. The canner I purchased last year can be used safely on glass top ranges because the bottom fits the diameter of the power boil ring. I honestly prefer gas but this stove is still fairly new and even though there are gas lines on my street I can't justify the expense of purchasing a new stove and spending the money on the hook up. That's over $2K. And on a side note, I don't understand how anyone can use a 4 quart pot to can anything other than a couple of tiny 4 ounce jars. Back to gardening sort of, I picked up everything I need to make and can pickles finally. I plan on doing that tomorrow. Also need to check with the local orchard and determine if I should do peach preserves this weekend or next. Hope to be using my own peaches next year. It's nice to be in the harvesting mode and starting to prep for winter. Have a great day everyone.

 

[Sueby]

I just want gas to cook with! I don't want a pressure canner, my canner is 21 quarts and is perfect for me. I just love gas for cooking, instant on, instant off & steady heat. I miss having it.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

It wasn't today, but a few days ago I weeded my hole GARDEN. It was a bit of a pain, but I guess thats what I get for not weeding everyday or so.

 

[Sueby]

My back hurts for you.

I decided to mulch with straw this year - worked great keeping weeds down & moisture in.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I’ve mulched with wood chips. The other day I was out in the strawberries pulling some mulch aside so a couple of runners have a place to root! (I planted bare root berries and over half didn’t make it.)

Otherwise, the soil stays damp, and occasionally I wish for a few weeds so I would have something to do out there!

Not often, though.

 

[IamRainey]

Yay for you, cluckmecoop! It always feel great to have that done.

Sounds like you really rely on your canning, Wee Farmer Sarah. I don't. I just like making some jam if the fruit is especially good. In that case, I do a few 4oz jars as we -- just my husband and I -- don't eat a lot of jam and once a jar's open I want it to get used up in the same calendar quarter. I do some savoy things too like an onion jam but, again, we don't use it often so a few small jars will do me.

I used to do things for gifts but there's not a whole lot of canning going on in Los Angeles. It's become a bit trendy but it's still not something people are used to so I'm never sure if people trust something I've canned and I very rarely get any jars back so I've given up on that.

When it comes to tomatoes I do quart jars of whole tomatoes and 8 oz jars of roasted and stewed tomatoes. We could probably use all the tomatoes I could can but I usually do just a flat of them. So a small canning kettle a few times a year works for me.

Beautiful stuff growing out there, karenerwin! Nice photography too!

I was delighted to see that almost all the corn sprouted and is visible in its rows and columns -- all 4 of them. Something got to one. I can see the seedling laying on the ground and a little hole where it was planted. I'll reseed next weekend. I had planned a second planting of 2 or 3 more rows. And that's all the space I've got.

And I had my first zucchini blossom this morning. Almost missed it until I started taking stock of the flowers. Thankfully, a male blossom appeared the same morning so I did my bumble bee duty and I guess I could be picking it in 4 or 5 days. I can see other smaller ones on the mound (it's not a vine yet).

Other than that I'm getting some color in my garden. My first dahlia is ready to bloom and the nasturtiums which were barely hanging on when I started my clean-out last month are perking up and starting to bloom now that things get watered regularly. My whole back garden and the area around my coop are usually covered with them. But it's been dry and hot and I guess I won't see the majority of them until it cools down again.

Happy Friday, ladies! I hope everything is thriving in your gardens.

 

[perchie.girl]

I hear people say its too hot to grow tomatoes....

Mom grew Tomatoes in Vegas.... Got six feet high without support and took over a fence line .... She planted them in the shade of the fence.

deb

 

[TropicalBabies]

Good morning gardeners. Picked the usual cucumber and a few cherry tomatoes this morning. One of my pole bean towers is loading up on blooms. I have 4 little bell peppers forming and should have some more summer squash to pick either tomorrow or the next day. Getting back to the topic of canners @Sueby. Depending on the type of glass top range you have will determine whether or not you can use a canner on it. My glass top range that came with the house has the power boil rings on it. The canner I purchased last year can be used safely on glass top ranges because the bottom fits the diameter of the power boil ring. I honestly prefer gas but this stove is still fairly new and even though there are gas lines on my street I can't justify the expense of purchasing a new stove and spending the money on the hook up. That's over $2K. And on a side note, I don't understand how anyone can use a 4 quart pot to can anything other than a couple of tiny 4 ounce jars. Back to gardening sort of, I picked up everything I need to make and can pickles finally. I plan on doing that tomorrow. Also need to check with the local orchard and determine if I should do peach preserves this weekend or next. Hope to be using my own peaches next year. It's nice to be in the harvesting mode and starting to prep for winter. Have a great day everyone.
View attachment 1872421

Oh yum. Peach preserves
I have little to no experience with canning, though I did make a Mango jam a few years back. I don't think I did a good job but people got them as part of their X-mas gifts just the same (used a nice ribbon ). I had a few big beautiful pots and proceeded to make my small home a hot mess. Only bright side was I attempted this in our winter from the mangoes I pealed and froze from summer. Ruined a perfectly cool day, I'd like to try again... outside. Then I can ask you all about gelatin/sugar ratios. Pretty sure that is where I failed not wanting to use much of either. Think my son still has mangoes on his trees too... hmm.

My auntie has an electric stove and PV. The electric company pays her... $12 a month lol. We have propane tanks strapped under our house here- no public lines, and we converted our gas stove to propane (more stable) with a kit that came w/ stove. I go through 2- 9.4 gallon tanks a year on average (about $180.). I'm sure I would go through twice as much if I lived in a cooler climate (or my DH liked stews, soups or curry's...) I would enjoy cooking more and warming my home too. Now... not so much salad and BBQ, turkey Chili and occasionally a spaghetti is what we mostly do.

My DH pointed out that summer is 1/3 through. I hope to start my garden in a month or two. Please keep up the inspiration folks. Your gardens look and sound LOVELY!!!

 

[IamRainey]

The way I understand it, tomatoes and peppers love hot and sunny. Too much direct sun can cause sun scald, of course, so I never prune mine or pinch anything out. And when it gets really hot they need extra water.

When we didn't have a yard big enough for a garden I used to plant them in pots. They'd do great. ...until we went out for a day and couldn't give them rescue water midday. I can remember many times coming home to fried vines after just hours. Heat radiating back up from a concrete deck doesn't help much either... But, as long as they get the water they need, heat shouldn't be a problem.

 

[TropicalBabies]

@perchie.girl -For me, after many years and trials of varieties that I wanted to grow or that were available, I now only grow Sweet 100's, Healani and Kewalo tomatoes. These grow very well and save me time and grief. I am a zone 10 with high humidity and a beef steak, roma and many other good varieties no matter the season just don't do well. maybe if i was higher up with cooler weather i could. Fusarium and verticillium wilt along with serious nematodes can be a big problem for me. I like to go with UH varieties as opposed to chemical warfare. My best harvest can be in early summer and even late summer but no good comes out of prime time summer. I rather rest my skin and build my soils up at this time of year. I also rotate planter boxes. Seems to help.