What did you do in the garden today?

[NewBoots]

My Mom gave me a pair of those boots a couple of years ago! Unfortunately they were a bit too small so I passed them on to my grandkids!

I love my boots, the shoes in the same size don't fit well though. And blackberry & watermelon jam sounds awesome!

I haven't even made a dent in what I put up last year.

I have a lot of sauce left but I've used all the canned tomatoes but one last jar. The cowboy candy got eaten a long time ago. Same for the canned salsa. I think I'll have all the sauce used up by the time the next harvest begins.

Even if the jam does NOT set, I volunteer to eat it. That sounds DELICIOUS.

Agreed!

 

[chickengr]

My native plum trees are supposed to ship in the next 1-3 weeks. That seems a bit early to me. We are definitely still getting freezing temps in March, especially at night. I cannot seem to find info on transplanting native plum. Any thoughts on planting them outside or sticking them in pots indoors until things warm up a bit?

if they are dormant they should be ok outside. put some mulch/straw/anything just in case.

 

[Sueby]

@BReeder! - sorry, somehow I missed your fig post! I actually got figs the 2nd year on mine & have every year after (it's about 12 years old maybe). I have no idea what variety it is though. Sometimes if I cut it back a lot (one year I broke the entire top half of it off including all the leaves & branches) it won't ripen the fruit, but it still produces them, just tiny & green.

I hear the chicago variety can do well outside here if it's planted out of the wind & up against a warm side of a wall but I feel like there are some winters that are just too bad & it would die. I have read about the italians burying them & they do well. Somehow they fold them over & lay them down & bury them & then dig them back up in the spring. I can't imagine how I'd fold mine over, it never made a whole lot of sense so me. I've also seen people surround them with chicken wire & fill it up with straw or leaf mulch & overwintering them outside that way. I'm too chicken to try.

Morning all! I let the littles out with the big girls yesterday, today is day 2 & it's going well. The usual chasing, pecking & feather pulling but the littles are learning to stay away & are actually making a game of it. So that's good. Supposed to be 50 today! Hoping to be able to at least SEE the garden soon.

Have a good one!

 

[Sueby]

Oh look @BReeder! - I found an article on burying them!
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesal...-curious-tradition-preserves-a-taste-of-italy

 

[Artichoke Lover]

if they are dormant they should be ok outside. put some mulch/straw/anything just in case.

This is what I was told to do with mine. Can’t say how it works as I just got my trees this week and they got a bit dried out from shipping so I’m a worried about them.

 

[Sally PB]

I made a couple batches of blackberry/strawberry Jelly. Hopefully they will set up They are still looking pretty runny at this point.

I tried to make cherry jam out of cherry juice I had on hand. It was an experiment to try making home made pectin. The first batch was runny, and I used it to make cranberry/cherry jam.

[I am still looking for my recipe on this. Someone asked for it.]

The second batch, I used more pectin and ended up with cherry syrup. While good, it was not my intention. I may make that into cranberry/cherry jam too, since I found a lot of cranberries when I cleaned out the freezer last week.

Still have GOBS of potatoes from last year. We need to eat more of them. And butternut squash. A few onions left, and a fair amount of garlic. When I can tomatoes, I do at least 55-60 quarts, as we use about a quart a week. And I have green beans in the freezer. I was parceling them out, but when I cleaned the freezer, I found quite a few bags.

 

[Fishychix]

I tried to make cherry jam out of cherry juice I had on hand. It was an experiment to try making home made pectin. The first batch was runny, and I used it to make cranberry/cherry jam.

[I am still looking for my recipe on this. Someone asked for it.]

The second batch, I used more pectin and ended up with cherry syrup. While good, it was not my intention. I may make that into cranberry/cherry jam too, since I found a lot of cranberries when I cleaned out the freezer last week.

Still have GOBS of potatoes from last year. We need to eat more of them. And butternut squash. A few onions left, and a fair amount of garlic. When I can tomatoes, I do at least 55-60 quarts, as we use about a quart a week. And I have green beans in the freezer. I was parceling them out, but when I cleaned the freezer, I found quite a few bags.

How do you store your potatoes and squash?

 

[Sueby]

I just love that if you screw up a jam, you can just make it again!

I still have quite a bit from last season too - lots green beans in the freezer, shredded yellow squash (to make bread), lots of green tomato salsa (because I don't really like it) a couple jars of sauce, some dilly beans & like a jar or 2 of pickles. I should be set till the garden is in full swing.

I think I need a new variety of green bean. I did the blue lake this past year & am not a huge fan. Does anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking of the purple ones so they're easier to pick.

 

[Sally PB]

How do you store your potatoes and squash?

Both are in large cardboard boxes in my basement. The basement is 55-60 degrees most of the time. I'm not sure about the humidity; but our main floor is really dry.

Some of the squash are getting soft spots that will mold and rot if left. I cut those out. I cook them in a pressure cooker (Instant Pot), or bake it in the oven.

 

[3bird]

We've made the switch to LEDs, and we're to plant our seedlings for this coming year!