What did you do in the garden today?

[NewBoots]

Got 1 batch of tomatillo salsa made. Only made 2 pints.

I got a pound each of jalapenos and tomatillos, I want to make some salsa and pickled jalapenos. For tomato salsa, do i need to use fresh tomatoes or can I used some of my frozen stash?

Corn harvest is over! We brought in 48 more ears today!

I have got to drive to the valley and get some corn and any other produce I can get a deal on. 2 hour drive each way so it's hard to make effort.

I'd love to see a pic of your girls eggs, I want to see the color! They'll straighten out their process soon & get in the swing of it all.

Why, thank you for asking! Don't mind if I do:

The big brown one was Amelia's my BO and she's now my biggest hen and third in pecking order. Had another soft shell this morning on the poop board but that one was definitely from one of the sussex, only the sussex and the EEs roost there at night. I cooked that one and the hens lost their tiny minds for it.

I always use the pickle crisp, I think it helps a lot. It may be tough to get right now.

Just put it on order from Amazon.

I guess I'll be ordering my seeds early as well @Sueby.

You guys have me thinking I'll do the same.

The only garden shot I have is Lou taking a stretch and scanning the neighborhood the other day.

Sweet picture! Surveying his domain.

Good afternoon gardeners! Today will be a hot one for here but I have about half the mowing done and about half the watering done as well. Time to read the board, rehydrate, and see about some lunch. Critters have all been seen to, the ladies love the chicken candy mixed scratch I scattered in their run this morning, and the cooked egg had me counting my fingers once I got out of the run. They are putting on what appears to be a growth spurt now that they are either laying or getting close to it. Everyone's butt is clearly broader and they're filling out. They seem to like the pelleted layer food just fine.

Has anyone here heard of Mrs Neusihin's Pickles? They were a refrigerated fermented kosher type pickle made in Portland for years. They're gone now but I found a recipe on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BringBackMrsNeusihinsPickles/
and I think I'll try making some once the Pickle Crisp gets here.

And thanks @Sueby and @WthrLady, I was wondering about putting a banana in with my ripening tomatoes. There's one in there now. Oh and DP was busy while I was making the shopping run yesterday, she cleared a wall in the spare room for me to keep my dehydrator and work table on. There's enough room that I think I'll get another storage rack for dehydrated food. Oh and she made delicious bread that we had with some minestrone I found stashed in the old chest freezer. I think she's going to get into bread baking more, she's looking into making sourdough.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Putting up 2 more 50 ft rolls tall wire cover rest of the property but will use the rotel recipe no doubt

 

[igorsMistress]

Good afternoon all. Nothing done in the garden today except a walk thru. I was looking at the xeriscape garden and I'm amazed things grew at all in the heat. I'm off work tomorrow, yay! Planning to get things done outside. Here's a few pics from the garden today.

 

[Acre4Me]

A couple days ago I made Spicy Dilly Beans, and due to curiosity I opened one up tonight - YUMMY!! and spicy! The recipe has a garlic clove per jar, a 1/2tsp red pepper flakes and 1/2 tsp dill seed. Covered with a salt/vinegar/water solution and hot water bath canned. Such a yummy taste explosion!

Also, I purchased jalapeños and made something my neighbors from Louisiana have talked about - Pepper sauce. It is peppers in vinegar, no water bath canning. There is a touch of salt and a touch of sugar in the vinegar. Add a tiny bit of oil to make it hotter. Pour hot vinegar solution over the peppers and wait for them to seal. They did in fact seal! I did sterilize my jars before proceeding with the recipe. This is apparently put on rice or greens or really whatever, for a spicy/ vinegary hit.

Here are the two items. Spicy Dilly beans on left, and pepper sauce on right.

 

[NewBoots]

@igorsMistress, that looks great, I can't imagine how hard it must be to make a garden in such a hot dry place. Does the wind carry the straw away? It gives it a nice finished look and probably holds some moisture.

 

[igorsMistress]

@igorsMistress, that looks great, I can't imagine how hard it must be to make a garden in such a hot dry place. Does the wind carry the straw away? It gives it a nice finished look and probably holds some moisture.

No it actually doesn't to my surprise, it helps with dust devils quite a bit. Thanks, I like the way it looks. It also helps with flies and the chickens love to kick it around. Our soil is either sand or clay that is slippery when wet so I'm hoping the hay will help improve it in general.
It has definitely been a learning lesson gardening here.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Hmmmm the rotel sauce wonder maybe add tomatilla to it ?
I only have like 100 tomatillas

 

[igorsMistress]

Hmmmm the rotel sauce wonder maybe add tomatilla to it ?
I only have like 100 tomatillas

Eh, maybe. Try it and see what you think.

 

[karenerwin]

@NewBoots correct. We will not be eating them, the hens will. Pathogens can pass to the tomatoes. We will harvest what we want for them, and then I will tackle the whole compost area with the tractor at the end of the season.

You must have a huge compost area if you are going to be able to use a tractor on it!!

This year has been extremely unusual for us! The only real problem we've had so far have been aphids, they made our broccoli completely inedible! We are usually battling squash beetles almost from the get go, but we haven't seen any! This is the first time we've grown corn in many years, we previously had problems with corn worms & smut, but again not this year. My husband was getting prepared to deal with them, but no worms! I wish I had some advice to give, but we just got lucky...except for the aphids!

I am jealous of your corn!! I grew corn for the first time this year and all my ears were small like half the size (or smaller) than what you would buy in the store.

Karen I have this recipe bookmarked to try but haven't used it yet...no tomatoes for me this year.
https://www.food.com/recipe/home-canned-rotel-substitute-copycat-clone-homemade-125816

Thanks!! This sounds perfect! I'm going to try it tomorrow.

I got a pound each of jalapenos and tomatillos, I want to make some salsa and pickled jalapenos. For tomato salsa, do i need to use fresh tomatoes or can I used some of my frozen stash?

I am not sure, but I think the frozen ones would work. So far, I've always used fresh. Maybe someone else has experience.

 

[karenerwin]

We had rain pretty much all day so I did not make it out to the garden today. I did make another batch of zucchini muffins ( they needed to back a bit longer, but the toothpick came out clean so I thought they were done ). Then I made a batch of fudge. I'm going to take some to my Mom tomorrow. Don't know if she will eat any or not but it is one of her favorite things, so it is worth a try.
It was such a gloomy morning that we slept in until 11:00 and didn't even realize it was that late! I guess we needed the sleep but it sure cut into my "getting stuff done" time.
When I finish eating I am going to start either the zucchini relish or another batch of tomatillo salsa. I'm going to try using a chopper to see if that is any faster but I don't know if the size of the pieces will be uniform enough for good canning technique.