What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

What a nice surprise! I've been ripening everything inside too, I find the romas (actually marzanos) are packed so tightly that as soon as they ripen they bruise & start to mold or rot so I pick them when they're pink.

I'm sooo sick of this hot humid weather, bring on fall please.

Martha made corn fritters on tv last night that had me wanting a corn dog!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

What a nice surprise! I've been ripening everything inside too, I find the romas (actually marzanos) are packed so tightly that as soon as they ripen they bruise & start to mold or rot so I pick them when they're pink.

I'm sooo sick of this hot humid weather, bring on fall please.

Martha made corn fritters on tv last night that had me wanting a corn dog!

I'm sick of the heat and humidity as well. I tried growing San Marzanos a few years back and most of them got bottom end rot. They were a bit sweeter than regular Romas. But I'm sticking with the Romas, the sauce gets sweet enough when I oven roast it before canning.

 

[Sueby]

I'm sick of the heat and humidity as well. I tried growing San Marzanos a few years back and most of them got bottom end rot. They were a bit sweeter than regular Romas. But I'm sticking with the Romas, the sauce gets sweet enough when I oven roast it before canning.

I have both roma & marzano - the romas aren't quite ripening yet. I did have a couple marzanos with end rot that I had to throw out & I was wondering if it was me since even the persnickety Brandywines are fine!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I have both roma & marzano - the romas aren't quite ripening yet. I did have a couple marzanos with end rot that I had to throw out & I was wondering if it was me since even the persnickety Brandywines are fine!

I think it's the tomato itself. I suspect they need something more in the soil that they can't find in New England gardens.

 

[Acre4Me]

Melons have been ripening. We planted 3 varieties of orange musk melons (aka cantaloupes).

The smaller ones tasted very good, and two plants produced 4 melons. All ripened earliest.

Next ones have been amazing!!! These are more regular size, but so good. The kid says they taste like candy. The adults say they are so juicy and flavorful (and aromatic). Two plants produced 4 melons.

Next ones are still green in the garden, and there are only 3 melons from 2 plants. These don’t have the typical netting on the outside rind, so will be interesting to see how they ripen and look when picked.

Rain last night, so the garden is happy this morning.

Chickens: the straight run batch now has several males (16 weeks old) that are all testing out vocals. They will be auctioned in 2.5 weeks, which is good bc there are two of them that are more aggressive within the flock. We have a head rooster (18 months old) keeping them in line, along with older hens also helping them learn a thing or two. But, we finally decided which one male to keep from that batch, and he has been pretty calm with the flock, and his brother has been calm with the neighbor’s flock. We thought about keeping one of the males that has turned out to be aggressive to the flock, but then realized he was aggressive, so his leg will get a neon zip tie indicating he’s going for sale.

 

[cavemanrich]

I now have a gallon of puree. I WANT to can it, but I can't stand the lemon/citric acid they tell you to add now. CAN"T STAND IT.

So I think I'll just small batch freeze it to make it into sauces later.

I'm more in line of MASTER MECHANIC,,,,,,, than MASTER CANER, but when we did do tomato sauce, we (spouse and I joint venture) never added any lemon juice or citric acid of any kind.

Hint, or Idea,,,,, that many of you here may already be using, when freezing. We use gallon size zip-lock bags, and the smaller sandwich size as well. (depending what we are freezing) and lay them flat in freezer to solidify. They stack nicely then

 

[karenerwin]

Afternoon all.
I took the tomatoes from the last three days and ran them through the kitchenaid puree thingy. I now have a gallon of puree. I WANT to can it, but I can't stand the lemon/citric acid they tell you to add now. CAN"T STAND IT.

So I think I'll just small batch freeze it to make it into sauces later.

I have another batch on the counter that will be ripe enough to do the same in a couple of days. If I don't grab them just before they are fully ripe, they crack and explode for all the rain.

Next few days we'll be over 100 with the humidity. The tomatoes will love that.

Could you use lime juice instead? It has a different flavor but I believe it still has the needed citric acid.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Could you use lime juice instead? It has a different flavor but I believe it still has the needed citric acid.

I use the citric acid just to be safe. Since I only make an unseasoned sauce, when I use the canned sauce I sweeten the sauce with a sautéed mirepoix. Lime juice may not be acidic enough. I don’t have enough freezer space for tomatoes so I can.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

If you really don’t want to use the lemon juice / citric acid @WthrLady you could safely pressure can the purée. Just a thought.

 

[pennyJo1960]

garden needs water on the tomato but we are no water here just now broke a line in town
said it is taking a bit to fix