What did you do in the garden today?

[igorsMistress]

@igorsMistress I can't wait to hear what you think about the texture! Both of us thought we wouldn't like it, but loved it! When are you making it?

I'm going to marinate Friday and dry that night. The texture was my concern as well, but I was thinking the burger might make it less tough and stringy so thought I'd give it a try.

 

[WthrLady]

I use medium grind beef for jerky and before I used the squeezy gun, rolled it between two sheets of parchment.
Then I toss the parchment on a pan and toss into the freezer for an hour or two. Pull it out. and the top parchment pulls off easily. I let it thaw just enough to cut with a pizza cutter then toss back in freezer for 30 min. Then peel off strips and into dehydrator.

I can't gag down regular gatorade, but I like the gatorade zero sugar, warm or cold. Just not all day everyday for days on end.

2.64 inches of rain last night. I need to weed today. should say MUST weed today. LOL. Temps aren't as horrific as they have been so I should take advantage.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. The rain slacked off a bit yesterday, but we're supposed to get another 1.5 inches today. That would get us on top of the drought. The backyard is greening up nicely, however the front yard still has a way to go. At least the vegetable plants are responding. I've never made jerky, not really a fan, but I was thinking about the texture issue @Sueby and @igorsMistress. Are you using a regular mince like the packaged ground beef or perhaps a finer mince? I know some meatball recipes I've used called for a finer mince. Just a thought. I have a potato question @Acre4Me. I've "hilled" my potatoes a bit but they just keep growing taller. How deep were the new potatoes you showed us? I have more dirt I could put on them, but it seems like an awful lot of work. So sorry about the ordeal with the movers @karenerwin. Just what you need, more stress on top of an already stressful situation. I hope you are able to find some time to take care of yourself. I have something munching on the cabbage. I suspect it might be a chipmunk or maybe a toad? I usually put onions around them but there's been so much rain I didn't think it would work. No pictures today, maybe tomorrow. Have a great day everyone.

 

[karenerwin]

Good morning gardeners. The rain slacked off a bit yesterday, but we're supposed to get another 1.5 inches today. That would get us on top of the drought. The backyard is greening up nicely, however the front yard still has a way to go. At least the vegetable plants are responding. I've never made jerky, not really a fan, but I was thinking about the texture issue @Sueby and @igorsMistress. Are you using a regular mince like the packaged ground beef or perhaps a finer mince? I know some meatball recipes I've used called for a finer mince. Just a thought. I have a potato question @Acre4Me. I've "hilled" my potatoes a bit but they just keep growing taller. How deep were the new potatoes you showed us? I have more dirt I could put on them, but it seems like an awful lot of work. So sorry about the ordeal with the movers @karenerwin. Just what you need, more stress on top of an already stressful situation. I hope you are able to find some time to take care of yourself. I have something munching on the cabbage. I suspect it might be a chipmunk or maybe a toad? I usually put onions around them but there's been so much rain I didn't think it would work. No pictures today, maybe tomorrow. Have a great day everyone.

Thanks @Wee Farmer Sarah !
I don’t think toads eat plants. Just bugs but I guess I could be wrong.
Today I go over to my friend’s house to help take down the rest of her greenhouse. Just waiting for the phone call that her 5 and 6 year olds are awake.
My brothers and I already agreed not to tell Mom about all the problems with the move. Her “things” have always been really important to her and there is no sense getting her upset. Today is the day my Queen cell(s) are supposed to hatch ( in the bee hive). I hope all goes well with that and the mating flight( in a few days or a week?). Anyway I hope my bee hive gets a great Queen!

 

[Acre4Me]

I have a potato question @Acre4Me. I've "hilled" my potatoes a bit but they just keep growing taller. How deep were the new potatoes you showed us?

My raised beds are 12" high. I made 2 deep furrows down the length, then buried the seed potato in the furrows (but alternating a bit so not a straight row). Maybe they were planted 8" deep or so. Then as they started to grow I pushed soil over them...and kept doing this until I had no more soil to push over them. The soil was the raised bed soil (it was completely full bed of soil), I did not add any further soil. But, my raised bed now has these mounds of soil around my potatoes. Maybe the seed potato is 12-16" deep? I know that in theory the potato will produce more potatoes if they are deeper, but each plant does have a limit, I suppose. When I dug up the plant to retrieve the potatoes, there were some very tiny potatoes too. Since the plant had already flowered and was beginning to die back, I don't think those tiny ones would have turned into edible sized potatoes anyway. My pic of the red potatoes was from one plant, plus one extra from a neighboring plant.

 

[Sueby]

Great idea on the freezing @WthrLady, I bet the would have made it soooo much easier! Not sure on the grind, I used the meat from my cow, it seems like a finer grind that what I'd get in the store.

 

[igorsMistress]

Good morning gardeners. The rain slacked off a bit yesterday, but we're supposed to get another 1.5 inches today. That would get us on top of the drought. The backyard is greening up nicely, however the front yard still has a way to go. At least the vegetable plants are responding. I've never made jerky, not really a fan, but I was thinking about the texture issue @Sueby and @igorsMistress. Are you using a regular mince like the packaged ground beef or perhaps a finer mince? I know some meatball recipes I've used called for a finer mince. Just a thought. I have a potato question @Acre4Me. I've "hilled" my potatoes a bit but they just keep growing taller. How deep were the new potatoes you showed us? I have more dirt I could put on them, but it seems like an awful lot of work. So sorry about the ordeal with the movers @karenerwin. Just what you need, more stress on top of an already stressful situation. I hope you are able to find some time to take care of yourself. I have something munching on the cabbage. I suspect it might be a chipmunk or maybe a toad? I usually put onions around them but there's been so much rain I didn't think it would work. No pictures today, maybe tomorrow. Have a great day everyone.

I just bought some extra lean ground beef to use.

 

[karenerwin]

This seems to be all the bigger my zucchini gets before it starts to rot. Not sure what is up with that. Maybe too much rain?

 

[Sueby]

@karenerwin Have they been pollinated for sure? They look pretty big, but I had a yellow squash that was over 3 inches that I know never got pollinated because I didn't have any male flowers & that's what happened to it, it rotted from the flower end up. I hand pollinate ALL of mine just to be sure.

 

[adirondak5]

Just fed the tomatoes , squash , cucumbers , melons , and potatoes . Wax Beans are about a week and a half away from harvest . The reinforcement wire tomato cages are working out well , lots of green tomatoes . The Super Sauce tomatoes seem more vigorous and have almost double the flowers/fruit than the Amish Paste at this point , time will tell.