What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

Thank you! I would add citric acid, I don't wanna kill myself or DH.

 

[WthrLady]

Going to walk the garden and harvest some tomatoes. What a wild year. The ripening process seems to have screeched to halt. We were normal temps (hot humid and miserable) until last week and we had two days that were in the 70s during the day, and down to the 60s at night (Think one night was 57).
I'll pick anything showing color and bring it in to the house and cover it. We've been in the 90s for the past week and will be through the weekend, but then back to the high 70s all next week. Perfect for us, but confusing for tomatoes. LOL.
The vines are indeterminate so will keep going until the freeze. The ripening process now will be a trickle unless I force them in the house.

To be honest, I could stand the break before the apples start coming in.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. More rain overnight but the temps are rising up a bit. I picked a nice bunch of green beans, some blushing tomatoes, three jalapenos and an okra. I got my first batch of peach preserves canned yesterday. Total was 9 half pints. I'm so sick of flavorless grocery store (actually Welch's) grape jelly I opened a jar to have with breakfast. I need to go to the grocery store and pick up lime juice, onions and cilantro to make salsa. BTW @NewBoots, the salsa recipe in my Ball Canning Cookbook doesn't call for citric acid since you add a boatload of lime juice. And that is for water bath canning. I'm glad your back is feeling a bit better today @Sueby. Did you get much rain yesterday? It rained pretty much all day here. I let the big girls out while I was feeding and watering yesterday afternoon and they didn't seem to mind the rain at all. My poblanos are still growing and with the warmer temps should do better. I got a final count on my nearly mature butternut squash. I planted 3 plants and have 8 likely 3 to 4 pound squash. There are 3 babies that may still have time to mature. I am watching them closely because waiting for their stems to turn brown they are subject to "tastings" by my wild tenants. I suspect my bell pepper plants are done for the season and most of the potato plants have died down. I guess after I process some more tomatoes I can dig them up. Who knows what those little chipmunks might want to nibble on. Have a great day everyone and happy canning.

 

[WthrLady]

Good morning gardeners. More rain overnight but the temps are rising up a bit. I picked a nice bunch of green beans, some blushing tomatoes, three jalapenos and an okra. I got my first batch of peach preserves canned yesterday. Total was 9 half pints. I'm so sick of flavorless grocery store (actually Welch's) grape jelly I opened a jar to have with breakfast. I need to go to the grocery store and pick up lime juice, onions and cilantro to make salsa. BTW @NewBoots, the salsa recipe in my Ball Canning Cookbook doesn't call for citric acid since you add a boatload of lime juice. And that is for water bath canning. I'm glad your back is feeling a bit better today @Sueby. Did you get much rain yesterday? It rained pretty much all day here. I let the big girls out while I was feeding and watering yesterday afternoon and they didn't seem to mind the rain at all. My poblanos are still growing and with the warmer temps should do better. I got a final count on my nearly mature butternut squash. I planted 3 plants and have 8 likely 3 to 4 pound squash. There are 3 babies that may still have time to mature. I am watching them closely because waiting for their stems to turn brown they are subject to "tastings" by my wild tenants. I suspect my bell pepper plants are done for the season and most of the potato plants have died down. I guess after I process some more tomatoes I can dig them up. Who knows what those little chipmunks might want to nibble on. Have a great day everyone and happy canning.

The lime juice is citric acid.
But lime juice/lemon juice in tomato soup taste like ....weird. LOL.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

So let's get technical. Lime juice is not citric acid (powder).

citric acid
[ˌsitrik ˈasəd]

NOUN
chemistry

1. a sharp-tasting crystalline acid present in the juice of lemons and other sour fruits. It is made commercially by the fermentation of sugar and used as a flavoring and setting agent.

Citric acid is used in place of lemon juice or vinegar or lime juice to prevent the growth of botulism in your home canned goods. Flavor profiles vary depending which one you choose to use in your recipe.

 

[drstratton]

Good morning everyone! I really am happy that I found this thread! I love hearing about everyone's gardens & the creative way you all preserve your produce! I know I will/have learned some new things and I'm looking forward to getting to know you all better. I have nothing to report today as we're visiting our youngest son & his family! I will be back at it this weekend! Have a great day!

 

[Sueby]

I always use lemon juice, I have never used actual citric acid - does it have the taste of lemon juice? I have never minded lemon juice in my tomatoes, not sure how I'll feel about it in tomato soup though. Not sure I can even find citric acid at this point anyway...

Happy you found us too @drstratton! I've learned so much from everyone here.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

The citric acid I use doesn’t taste very acidic. I always use that in tomato based sauces. For salsas I use lime juice and for fruits such as peaches and apples I use lemon juice. You can use vinegar in tomato sauces. That flavor profile would better complement the tomatoes than the lemon juice. It really comes down to what flavor suits your taste more than anything. But honestly, I don’t really notice the taste of the citric acid in the sauce. But I add it per jar so as not to overdo it.

 

[Sueby]

I just ordered some from amazon.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I just ordered some from amazon.

Give it a try. I would only add lemon to tomatoes if I was making a Bloody Mary. LOL! The jar keeps fresh for like 2 years.