What did you do in the garden today?

[TJAnonymous]

You could always try to sell anything you don't have room for.

Yes... Or maybe I'll just try to give away the extras? Surely someone around here might want them.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

According to the Farmers Almanac, the last frost date for my area is April 15th. These last 10 days are just killing me. The weather seems soooo nice and I am so tempted to start putting things out early but I know the minute I do...bam! We'll get a killing frost. That is just my luck.... It is so. hard. to. wait.

Same! Squash and nasturtium were getting super big so went ahead and transplanted them to huge grow bags and now dogwood winter is upon us!

 

[vall]

Pulled more weeds and emptied the compost bin that I'm taking with me to Florida. Need to till that compost into the lower garden. The pride of Madeira is blooming. Everything loves it, bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. It's supposed to be 94 degrees Thursday and Friday. In any given July we might not hit 94! Such weird weather. Stone fruit is starting to set. I thinned the peaches but have just a few apricots this year - this tree has bloomed but not set fruit in the two years I've had it - but I won't be around to taste them.

 

[WthrLady]

@WthrLady I would like to try canning some ground beef & some chicken breasts (or maybe thighs). I just want to do a little so I can see if I like it or not. Do you have any guesses on how much fresh burger it takes to fill a pint or a quart jar? Just a rough guess? Chicken I don't think shrinks so much when you cook it, lol. Burger I have no idea how much to fry up to fill a couple jars.

ETA: I found this - does it sound about right? 'Yield: I've found that it takes roughly 3/4 lb raw beef to fill a pint jar, and around 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds beef per quart jar. This is true regardless of canning method, though I only recommend hot pack. The meat is weighed while raw, either from the store or from your own home processed fresh beef.'

As a matter of fact, yes. LOL.
I can get a decent sized breast, shredded or cubed, into a pint.(not one of those GIANT tyson meat bird breasts - and by breast I mean half from one bird)
And 3/4 of a pound of raw, cooked, drained, rinsed ground beef per pint.

 

[WthrLady]

@WthrLady I would like to try canning some ground beef & some chicken breasts (or maybe thighs). I just want to do a little so I can see if I like it or not. Do you have any guesses on how much fresh burger it takes to fill a pint or a quart jar? Just a rough guess? Chicken I don't think shrinks so much when you cook it, lol. Burger I have no idea how much to fry up to fill a couple jars.

ETA: I found this - does it sound about right? 'Yield: I've found that it takes roughly 3/4 lb raw beef to fill a pint jar, and around 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds beef per quart jar. This is true regardless of canning method, though I only recommend hot pack. The meat is weighed while raw, either from the store or from your own home processed fresh beef.'

I keep records of each batch, raw what goes in my cooker, cooked what goes in the jars, how it's processed, for how long, size of jars, any spices, headspace, which canner, number of jars used. And label per batch as well as with date. Comes in handy for rotation and in case anything goes wonky.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Pulled more weeds and emptied the compost bin that I'm taking with me to Florida. Need to till that compost into the lower garden. The pride of Madeira is blooming. Everything loves it, bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. It's supposed to be 94 degrees Thursday and Friday. In any given July we might not hit 94! Such weird weather. Stone fruit is starting to set. I thinned the peaches but have just a few apricots this year - this tree has bloomed but not set fruit in the two years I've had it - but I won't be around to taste them.View attachment 3051029View attachment 3051028

I forget why won't you be around to taste them?

 

[vall]

I forget why won't you be around to taste them?

The stone fruit won't ripen till June/July. I'm selling this house and moving to Florida in a few weeks. I'm upgrading from half an acre to almost 5 acres!

 

[TJAnonymous]

Did I mention how much I HATE fire ants? They seem to have taken up residence in just about every single raised bed I have....

 

[WthrLady]

Did I mention how much I HATE fire ants? They seem to have taken up residence in just about every single raised bed I have....

I get a sick joy mixing fire ant nests and setting them on each other. GREAT JOY.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I get a sick joy mixing fire ant nests and setting them on each other. GREAT JOY.

How do you accomplish this twisted fun? The nests are quite a distance apart