What did you do in the garden today?

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Again, I must agree that making squash fritters is a great way to preserve the summer squash. Still hot here. Fortunately the rain has slacked off. Then we had a tornado or two yesterday afternoon not too far north of me. It got really windy here at the time the tornado was "striking." But no damage here. The green bean harvest is slowing down. The tomato plants are getting loaded up with green tomatoes and the female and male flowers on the butternut squash have got their blooming synchronized finally. I counted 7 developing squashes this morning. I'm almost finished putting up the frame for the bird netting on the corn patch. DD is coming over early tomorrow morning to help drape and secure the netting. There is a much welcomed cool down coming next week. I'm so looking forward to it. I have so much outdoor work to get caught up on but I can't do a whole lot in the heat. Today is expected to be 87F and tomorrow just 82F. Of course it's still tropical humidity. As for the green beans, I think I will end up with 4 pounds in the freezer. There's 2 right now and 2 more pounds waiting to be frozen. I'm hoping to get a few pounds from the pole beans in the three sisters bed when they're ready. The summer squash plants in there are looking really good so I'm hoping for a nice little harvest of that. I haven't been able to get any type of squash harvest for the past 2 years. That and cucumbers. Fingers crossed, this will be a better year. The Lima beans are full of flowers and there are tiny bean pods developing. The eggplants in the nightshade garden are getting big and could start producing soon, and I got my first okra flower. Lastly, Bambi visited the nightshade garden the night before last. I'm guessing he really likes the green Sweet 100's tomatoes. LOL! I reinforced the holes he chewed in the bird netting to discourage another tasting.

 

[CedarLane]

Amazing!

I put up as much (or a "cushion" more) as we will need for the year. I can't remember the last time I bought a can of green beans.

 

[CedarLane]

Discovered last night my 4 year old got into the tomatoes... shes picked many of them. All green. My bad because I didnt latch the gate properly. At least today is going to be a mellow day, not as hot as the last week... the 100+ week of doom.

Tomatoes were my dad's favorite in the summer. His tomato plants were always treated like his "babies." One day my brother & his little stepson were visiting. Brother wasn't watching him very close...then realized little stepson had picked every. single. one. of. the. little. green. balls! My dad actually took it a lot better than we thought he might. He always had a soft spot for little ones.

 

[CedarLane]

Hi! Very long time lurker, first time poster. I absolutely love reading this forum & learning so many gardening tips from you guys! I have decided to finally take the leap & join in on the fun because I have a question I can't find the answer to!

Last night I canned my first ever batch of tomato sauce. I left 1/4 in headspace as my recipe told me to, but it appears a tiny bit of sauce creeped out at some point. I took off my rings this AM & they were a little stuck. You can see the sauce on the lids & rings. All of the lids did seal though. I also cleaned each rim & top of jar before putting tops on. I did not over or undertighten either (I think). Is this ok?

Thanks!!

Welcome!
I think they'll be ok as long as they sealed.

Welcome!

It's called siphoning & is generally normal. Many reasons it can happen - improper headspace, bands too loose, you didn't remove air bubble, jars cooled too quickly, etc. They are completely fine to store & eat though.

ETA: 1/4 in seems a little small for tomatoes, I think I usually leave 1/2 in.

To prevent my jars from cooling too quickly, I turn off the heat and let them sit for 5-10 min. before removing from water bath canner (especially with fruit). In pressure canner I wait 10 min before removing my jiggler and then wait another 10 min after I take of the lid. This has really helped prevent my jars from bubbling over after I remove from the canner.

I often get this with canned tomatoes. As long as the lid seals, it should be fine.

After the jars cool, I wipe them down thoroughly remove any residue, and then wipe down again with a paper towel dampened with distilled vinegar.

I used to wipe with vinegar every time after washing the jars....should start doing it again.

I usually leave a bit more headspace, like 1/2". I also include a tsp of lemon juice per quart, to make sure my sauce is acidic enough to be safe in storage.
Sauce creeping out within the canner isn't a big deal though - you are safe as long as nothing is creeping in! Since your jars all sealed, good job and enjoy your sauce!

I agree with the others and recommend more head space for tomatoes. I use citric acid rather than lemon juice. It's not supposed to change the taste.

Been a great year for pickling cukes! I'm loving my GreenStalk gardens

Bought one of these to try this year. My husband and daughter to most of the picking in the big garden. Unfortunately, my back limits what I can do out there if I want to be able to keep working until it's all in jars and canned.

 

[Sequel]

My family doesn’t like green peppers

Mine doesn’t like sweet green bell peppers. They do however adore green Chile peppers, the hotter the better!

 

[Sally PB]

I can handle a little heat. DH likes habaneros. Too hot for me.

Sweet peppers? Nom, nom, nom!

 

[MotherofOrpies]

Salsa?

Dehydrate them, they take up way less space and you can then put them in oil with herbs ( and garlic) make tomato butter, eat it on bread with cheese, put it in tomato sauce, bake tomato bread …

 

[Sammster]

Bought one of these to try this year. My husband and daughter to most of the picking in the big garden. Unfortunately, my back limits what I can get do out there if I want to be able to keep working until it's all in jars and canned.

Re: GreenStalk

How is it working out for you? What do you have in yours? I have 3. I will definitely always plant lettuces, bush beans and pickling cucumbers, going forward. Might like to plant one with strawberries next year. I keep them up on my back deck. No critters and very few insect pests. And the harvest stays nice and clean

 

[nao57]

I'm going to be doing a little experiment tomorrow or Friday. I'm getting a bottle of rooting hormone from Amazon, which I've wanted to have for years. Just been too cheap to buy it.

But I found a native red huckleberry plant at the edge of my woods and decided to try to root some cuttings from the plant. I read that this is the time of year to do that, so the timing is right.

I asked my daughter in law if she wanted some of the red huckleberry starts and she seemed pretty excited about getting some. If they root, I'll plant several more along the lawn/woods border. Maybe they'll start producing in 10 years. LOL

The berries are pretty small, about half the size of a pea. But they have a nice sweet-tart flavor. And the wild birds like them too, so I doubt there will be many for me to eat. And that's ok!

Pics of the red huckleberry....

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Hi. I hoped to trade some information with you... I have a question I need answered...

hope you might have some comments or a different video talking only about allowable temperatures for cuttings to survive and grow in?

...

Also when people use rooting hormone, if you have the cuttings in a bottle of water or glass, is that just washing the rooting hormone off? Or will you still get some gains from that?

...

In return, have you tried root propagation instead of cutting propagation with your berry plants? Its easier and higher success rate to do root propagation techniques on berry plants. This should hold true for the type of berry plants you are trying to propagate, promote.

I haven't done huckleberries but I have done this with raspberry plants and others. Berry plants have similar root and growing structures, so it should work. I've found this easier than the cutting/slip methods.

Thanks.

 

[nao57]

When I put my suckers in water, a lot of them don't make it. I think the harder or older suckers has better chance of survival.

This lady has 100% success rate with cloning using rooting hormone and rock wool cubes. Key take away is cover for 3 days, keep water on bottom, take cover off after 3 days.

Will this technique and others still work when the heat is above 90 degrees ? I would think if the temperature were milder the success rates on batches might be different?