What did you do in the garden today?

[BReeder!]

I'm so far behind... I need to check on the Jerusalem artichokes. The are loaded with yellow flowers. I'm guessing they have showed down root/tuber production now with the flowers in full bloom. I imagine they are ready to dig up. I also need to plant garlic and walking onions, courtesy of @Sally PB, harvest the last of the potatoes, check on the kale, brussel sprouts and parsnips, figure out how to winterize the rhubarb and pick the last of the peppers and tomatoes and clear those plants.

 

[BReeder!]

The pot of tomatoes on the stove now is destined to be bbq sauce. The whole house smells like bbq

I make homemade bbq sauce. I've never canned it though. Mine is ACV based with tomato paste, molasses, brown sugar and honey and various seasonings/spices. I imagine its sufficiently acidic to can. I could even pressure can it I guess. Perhaps I'll make some and try.

 

[Elyrian1]

Put in an order with stark bros for some berry bushes and two fruit trees. I'm hopeful that we'll have success. Fingers crossed.

... have seen no fleas.

 

[Sueby]

I make homemade bbq sauce. I've never canned it though. Mine is ACV based with tomato paste, molasses, brown sugar and honey and various seasonings/spices. I imagine its sufficiently acidic to can. I could even pressure can it I guess. Perhaps I'll make some and try.

You should get a PH tester! They're cheap & a good peace of mind that you're safe to water bath can. I think it's technically anything under 4.6 is safe, but I use the 4.0 rule.

I have this one for $12:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M5IASHD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Sueby]

Morning all. Raining here. Got another gallon of green beans blanched & frozen. Tons of sungolds picked. The peppers are ripening quicker than I thought after topping the plants & pulling the flowers. Back to work after my week off.

 

[TippsiRabbit]

Good Morning the To-do-list is endless.I sit and drink a Coffee .

 

[BReeder!]

You should get a PH tester! They're cheap & a good peace of mind that you're safe to water bath can. I think it's technically anything under 4.6 is safe, but I use the 4.0 rule.

I have this one for $12:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M5IASHD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've added this to my Amazon cart. Thanks! I was wondering how to test the ph of canning goods. I am familiar with aquarium test kits and seen soil testers, but neither seemed like a good fit for testing food products. This probe looks like it will work well.

 

[BReeder!]

Anybody in the Chicago West/South suburbs? I recall there being some fellow Illinois members here. I have a number crop of habaneros and some scorpion peppers that I cannot use. Happy to give them away. PM me if interested.

 

[MTKitty]

Digging potatoes. Hard, rocky soil. Seeded with last year’s potatoes that sprouted so much that I tossed them into the garden mid-winter when we had a spell warm enough to dig a hole. Ran out of soil to side dress after one app.

I didn’t weigh, but I’d estimate I got 15 or so lbs. I’m pretty pleased with my “take what comes up” crop.

 

[Sally PB]

Tomorrow and Wednesday are supposed to be dry. Today is a big tease: almost sunny, then it rains again. So I'm doing inside stuff. (And reading BYC.)

I did peel, core, and make small bits out of what was left of the wild apples we picked. DH loves them in his morning pancake. That got some stuff out of the mudroom, yay!