Do you do normal water bath canning? My wife and I have a new canner coming that you can use for water bath or steam canning. We are anxious to try the steam canning. Steam canning is faster because you only heat up a few quarts of water vs gallons. Our old canner was one of those enamel coated pots and it came with a warning about using it on a glass cooktop stove (which is what we have). Supposedly it can cause a glass top stove to crack. The new one that is coming is stainless steel so I can stop worrying about cracking our stove top.
Gardeners, Post your Delicious Harvests!
- Thread starter Slash McCoy
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- #22
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Water bath. I also have a big pressure cooker and so I can pressure can at up to 15psi. Tomatoes or any other acidic produce can be safely canned without pressure. I have never done steam canning so no input there but lots of water bath canning.
Yeah we had the same concerns regarding heavy pots on our glass top. I bought an triple outdoor propane burner so we do water and pressure canning there unless it is a small amount and use the electric one. Keeps the heat outside as well.
However, we can less now since we got the freeze drier. We freeze dried most of our 150lb tomato harvest last year and powdered it. It fit in 9 quart jars that we vacuum sealed. It was a great success. Just reconstitute what you need at the time.
Harvesting chard, kale, several varieties of lettuce, zucchini and peas. Waiting on beets, beans, cucumber, potatoes, tomatoes and spinach.
My wife really wants a freeze dryer but those babies cost a couple of grand plus if you buy an oil free vacuum there’s another $1000+. I know they are nice but justifying the cost is difficult for me. I suppose if gets heavy use over time it will pay for itself though. If I were a prepper then I would probably consider it a must.
Yeah it is definitely an investment. We joined in with our neighbor, so at least that cut the cost in half. I have heard mixed reviews regarding the oil free pumps. We got the primer pump and I only have to change oil maybe every 20 runs. Not a big deal and you sava a bunch of money.
For us we do not have root cellar and we live in a hurricane area that gets hit every few years with longer term power outages as an effect. If we lose cooling in the house with a lot of cans we are afraid that the heat will cause many cans to lose seal and be ruined. By freeze drying we do not have that issue.
Last edited:
kelbro
Alfred Spatchcock
Picked our first tomatoes. A hail storm came through a couple of weeks ago and knocked hundreds of flowers off the plants.
Over in NJ, green beans have been slow but 2nd growth is coming , getting more flowers, cukes are going nuts, made 2 jars dill chips, 1 bread and butter chips, 1 old bay pickle chips, 4 dill halves. tomatoes are still green here, had to cage mine because the tree rats went nuts on my plants. Basil is amazing, lots of pesto and drying. Dill is a bit slow but coming along. Eggplant will be crazy, each plant has 4 to 5 flowers and I have 8 plants, I might be pickling eggplant. Hope to get more out of my garden at the end of the month.
Larry
Larry
- Thread starter
- #30
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
So here's my midsummer report. Nothing much to show, nothing camera worthy.
The summer heat, borers, and stink bugs have played havoc with the tomatoes the last few weeks in particular. The good news is the hornworms were strangely absent. I saw two, the whole year, and some little black caterpillars. A few stumps of broccoli survive and if we don't pull them and throw them on the compost, they might survive until September and throw a few more side shoots. Wife likes to try to keep them alive. I am more like yank them out of the ground when they have thrown a big head and a round of side shoots. The okra is starting to get productive, like it usually does in mid summer, and the jalapeños are doing well, at least the plants that were already well established. Seedlings aren't doing well at all. I will get some tobacco transplanted hopefully around the end of next month, and a month later, maybe some carrots and radishes, maybe some late broccoli and cabbage, and a few bok choi in October. They really thrive here in November and December.
Lessons learned this year, start early early. Get the brassicas in the ground before last frost date, have some extra seedlings standing by in case of a hard freeze killing the early transplants. Sow radishes and carrots heavily in well prepared soil. Have big, hearty tomato and tobacco plants ready to put in the ground early on, for a quick start and April harvest. Start okra nice and early, to help shade everything else when the summer heat is on. Start spraying spinosad and BT before any infestation, not after. Use Diatomaceous Earth in the seedling trays. Forget about Boxcar Willie tomatoes. Even the Creole Tomatoes let me down. Next year it will be Better Boy or Floridade, maybe some Roma.
Time and time again I have tried other breeds of okra, and the Clemson Spineless always beats them in yield and quality.
No bell peppers or any sort next year. They just don't do well here and I like Jalapeños best, anyway. The biggest letdown was the fabled Quadrato di Asti Rosso, which never gave me a single pepper worth showing. The Castle Dome broccoli was awesome and I will plant that again. HUGE main head, some over a foot across and over 3 lbs. Cabbage made a poor showing but if I had been spraying maybe I would have had a few nice heads. Next year, only two breeds of Tobacco, the Piloto Cubano for cigar filler and the Moldovan 456 for binder and wrapper. MAYBE some Monte Calme Yellow, too. There is a lot of sucker growth on the old stems that I neglected to pull, but only the Monte Calme is throwing nice big two foot leaves. Everything else is typical sucker trash. The Romaine lettuce did well early on but even when I kept it cut back, it got very bitter as summer came around, but it might have lasted a few more weeks if I had planted a shade crop early. I did plant some sunflowers and the gray stripe mammoth got very tall with nice wide heads for the most part. I was going to start some chickens this year but stuff happened. This winter I will build a nice chicken tractor for 4 or 5 hens, probably White Leghorns. The neighbor has them and Rhode Island Reds, and the Whites were much more productive, especially in the heat, and seemed right at home. The Reds, not so much, though they laid about as well as the Whites did during the winter, which was not very much. He doesn't use lights and most breeds don't lay much when the days get too short. Anyway he convinced me to go with Whites, only,
I may experiment with row cover and drip irrigation. The soaker hose worked well at first, but eventually it springs leaks.
The summer heat, borers, and stink bugs have played havoc with the tomatoes the last few weeks in particular. The good news is the hornworms were strangely absent. I saw two, the whole year, and some little black caterpillars. A few stumps of broccoli survive and if we don't pull them and throw them on the compost, they might survive until September and throw a few more side shoots. Wife likes to try to keep them alive. I am more like yank them out of the ground when they have thrown a big head and a round of side shoots. The okra is starting to get productive, like it usually does in mid summer, and the jalapeños are doing well, at least the plants that were already well established. Seedlings aren't doing well at all. I will get some tobacco transplanted hopefully around the end of next month, and a month later, maybe some carrots and radishes, maybe some late broccoli and cabbage, and a few bok choi in October. They really thrive here in November and December.
Lessons learned this year, start early early. Get the brassicas in the ground before last frost date, have some extra seedlings standing by in case of a hard freeze killing the early transplants. Sow radishes and carrots heavily in well prepared soil. Have big, hearty tomato and tobacco plants ready to put in the ground early on, for a quick start and April harvest. Start okra nice and early, to help shade everything else when the summer heat is on. Start spraying spinosad and BT before any infestation, not after. Use Diatomaceous Earth in the seedling trays. Forget about Boxcar Willie tomatoes. Even the Creole Tomatoes let me down. Next year it will be Better Boy or Floridade, maybe some Roma.
Time and time again I have tried other breeds of okra, and the Clemson Spineless always beats them in yield and quality.
No bell peppers or any sort next year. They just don't do well here and I like Jalapeños best, anyway. The biggest letdown was the fabled Quadrato di Asti Rosso, which never gave me a single pepper worth showing. The Castle Dome broccoli was awesome and I will plant that again. HUGE main head, some over a foot across and over 3 lbs. Cabbage made a poor showing but if I had been spraying maybe I would have had a few nice heads. Next year, only two breeds of Tobacco, the Piloto Cubano for cigar filler and the Moldovan 456 for binder and wrapper. MAYBE some Monte Calme Yellow, too. There is a lot of sucker growth on the old stems that I neglected to pull, but only the Monte Calme is throwing nice big two foot leaves. Everything else is typical sucker trash. The Romaine lettuce did well early on but even when I kept it cut back, it got very bitter as summer came around, but it might have lasted a few more weeks if I had planted a shade crop early. I did plant some sunflowers and the gray stripe mammoth got very tall with nice wide heads for the most part. I was going to start some chickens this year but stuff happened. This winter I will build a nice chicken tractor for 4 or 5 hens, probably White Leghorns. The neighbor has them and Rhode Island Reds, and the Whites were much more productive, especially in the heat, and seemed right at home. The Reds, not so much, though they laid about as well as the Whites did during the winter, which was not very much. He doesn't use lights and most breeds don't lay much when the days get too short. Anyway he convinced me to go with Whites, only,
I may experiment with row cover and drip irrigation. The soaker hose worked well at first, but eventually it springs leaks.
All we who grow things have to learn from year to year what works and does not. Gardening is to some extent a YMMV field as well. What may grow well for you may or may not grow well for me. We moved 5 hours south 6-7 years ago and I had to change what worked because things I grew further north did not work here. Pest varies from location to location as well. Sometimes it may get frustrating, but the taste of fresh from the garden produce is well worth the hassle.
Not a harvest (for now) but my out-of-control garden this year.
![IMG_1683[1].JPG](https://xfdata.badgerandblade.com/attachments/1426/1426235-8834325ccc2499bdc6630357d5f22761.jpg "IMG_1683[1].JPG")
I get some plants from the garden center around the corner from where I live. I usually get everything during the first week of May and keep the plants indoors until June 1st so they don't freeze. I do that so they are not sold out in June.
This year, my cat decided to roll into the dill and nearly killed it so I planted everything outside a week earlier than usual. It froze outside (of course) and everything was about to die.
I went back to the garden center, bought pretty much the same thing, and planted it next to the dying plants in June (do it right, you know!).
By some kind of miracle, everything survived. So... I got a lot of things this year!
2-3 years ago, I made two planter boxes using plain 2x6 - 8' long (x5). It doesn't show but there's supposed to be a path in the middle so that I can access everything on both sides.
I didn't buy the peppermint, it came back from last year and it uses a fair bit of space but I like peppermint.
So far, I got a lot of yellow zucchini and yellow summer squash. I have a few chillis but they are not quite ready. My eggplants are getting there. No tomatoes yet (all green). I was able to have a few Lebanese cucumbers. The English cucumbers are coming. The rest are herbs (mainly, peppermint, dill, basil, and coriander).
I get some plants from the garden center around the corner from where I live. I usually get everything during the first week of May and keep the plants indoors until June 1st so they don't freeze. I do that so they are not sold out in June.
This year, my cat decided to roll into the dill and nearly killed it so I planted everything outside a week earlier than usual. It froze outside (of course) and everything was about to die.
I went back to the garden center, bought pretty much the same thing, and planted it next to the dying plants in June (do it right, you know!).
By some kind of miracle, everything survived. So... I got a lot of things this year!
2-3 years ago, I made two planter boxes using plain 2x6 - 8' long (x5). It doesn't show but there's supposed to be a path in the middle so that I can access everything on both sides.
I didn't buy the peppermint, it came back from last year and it uses a fair bit of space but I like peppermint.
So far, I got a lot of yellow zucchini and yellow summer squash. I have a few chillis but they are not quite ready. My eggplants are getting there. No tomatoes yet (all green). I was able to have a few Lebanese cucumbers. The English cucumbers are coming. The rest are herbs (mainly, peppermint, dill, basil, and coriander).
- Thread starter
- #33
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Okra likes the heat and is starting to produce all we can eat. Jalapeños, likewise. Here is a batch I pickled a few days ago.
My pickle recipe is about a cup of white vinegar, about a cup of water, about a tbsp kosher salt, about two tbsp turbinado sugar, a double pinch of alum, about a tsp ground rosemary, a couple of bay leaves, about a half tsp dill. I sometimes add a clove of garlic, a few okra pods, whatevah.
I found a few stragglers in the onion bed that were worth saving. Supposed to be all 1015 but somehow a couple of reds slipped in there.
Extra okra get cut up and frozen. We have a vacuum sealer and we buy vacuum bag by the roll and cut to desired length. I don't bother blanching. Not necessary if you vacuum seal. I usually put about 12oz in each bag, about right for a small pot of gumbo for just the two of us for one meal.
All my tobacco seedlings for the fall crop mysteriously died. I call it an omen. No fall tobacco crop this year. I will set tobacco seeds again in January, and get the seedlings in the ground around the end of Feb, along with our spring broc and cabbage. I might do some winter carrots and a fall/winter broc crop. The Castle Dome broccoli came along nicely this spring, and the excess froze well, after blanching.
My pickle recipe is about a cup of white vinegar, about a cup of water, about a tbsp kosher salt, about two tbsp turbinado sugar, a double pinch of alum, about a tsp ground rosemary, a couple of bay leaves, about a half tsp dill. I sometimes add a clove of garlic, a few okra pods, whatevah.
I found a few stragglers in the onion bed that were worth saving. Supposed to be all 1015 but somehow a couple of reds slipped in there.
Extra okra get cut up and frozen. We have a vacuum sealer and we buy vacuum bag by the roll and cut to desired length. I don't bother blanching. Not necessary if you vacuum seal. I usually put about 12oz in each bag, about right for a small pot of gumbo for just the two of us for one meal.
All my tobacco seedlings for the fall crop mysteriously died. I call it an omen. No fall tobacco crop this year. I will set tobacco seeds again in January, and get the seedlings in the ground around the end of Feb, along with our spring broc and cabbage. I might do some winter carrots and a fall/winter broc crop. The Castle Dome broccoli came along nicely this spring, and the excess froze well, after blanching.
We have been doing pretty good in some specialty tomatoes for canning (not canning yet lol), cucumbers, jalapenos, zucchini, eggplant etc. Picked up what is supposed to be a great book or the best for canning. Picking up a few more on salting etc if anyone has a recommendation.
The first Italian horn sweet pepper started showing some color. I could have waited to pick it but I decided to add it to a salad. The plants are loaded this year!
- Thread starter
- #37
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
nice looking pepper!
I picked a large colander full of poblano peppers yesterday. I’m planning on making a chili relleno casserole tonight.
bellyfull.net
Easy Chile Relleno Casserole
A cheater version of classic Chile Relleno, this Chile Relleno Casserole is so much easier without any frying. It has layers of gooey cheese and peppers, with puffy clouds of baked eggs on top!
bellyfull.net
Final pepper harvest. Purple Ghost, Trinidad Scorpion, Jalapeno and Serrano.
