Gardeners: how's it looking?

[San Joaquin]

Definitely on the list.  Have blender, will paste!  :-)

Pickling some lovely cukes, peppers & carrots the lazy overnight way.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Definitely on the list.  Have blender, will paste!  :-)

Pickling some lovely cukes, peppers & carrots the lazy overnight way.

Best way to do it. I made a micro batch (in a jam jar) of refrigerator pickled cucumbers and jalapeno today.

[Puget]

Definitely on the list.  Have blender, will paste!  :-)

Pickling some lovely cukes, peppers & carrots the lazy overnight way.

Best way to do it. I made a micro batch (in a jam jar) of refrigerator pickled cucumbers and jalapeno today.

I do like doing quick fridge pickles-- I have a big jar of spicy pickled green beans currently in the fridge-- but this weekend I for real canned 4 pints of home grown pickles. Hadn't canned since I used to do it with my mom, so I was pretty pleased that I didn't mess anything up and all four jars sealed right away when I took them out of the pot.

[mamselle]

Sounds like someone is craving Indian food...I'd go with you!

I'm gardening vicariously this season via farm boxes, and have been enjoying the variety and unexpectedness of the offerings.  Except the two massive bunches of cilantro.  I like cilantro.  But really, TWO massive bunches?  I shall have to wedge some into the freezer...

Or, dry it on some gauze racks/paper towels/whatever you have and then pulverize it.

Also a good curry spice....yeah, I just finished a batch of curried chicken, but am already thinking masala next....

M.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Definitely on the list.  Have blender, will paste!  :-)

Pickling some lovely cukes, peppers & carrots the lazy overnight way.

Best way to do it. I made a micro batch (in a jam jar) of refrigerator pickled cucumbers and jalapeno today.

I do like doing quick fridge pickles-- I have a big jar of spicy pickled green beans currently in the fridge-- but this weekend I for real canned 4 pints of home grown pickles. Hadn't canned since I used to do it with my mom, so I was pretty pleased that I didn't mess anything up and all four jars sealed right away when I took them out of the pot.

I've been putting off learning how to can (just basic stuff, like pickles and acidic/sweet things). Maybe I ought to try it out if I can get some produce from the farmer's market.

[Harlow2]

I have a tiny 9x12 patio with containers. Tomatoes are producing like mad—unexpected because I thought the record July heat would slow pollination, but I've frozen a couple hundred large cherries.
Also a hundred delicious hot peppers, probably overdid that series of plants. Some pickles made and more to come  Though the cucumbers are slowing down And beans!  Lettuce indoors as it has been too hot outdoors.

[AmLitHist]

The Mighty Wind from Monday evening got the stand of sunflowers in one of my raised beds.  Several stalks were snapped off, and one huge clump on the corner was uprooted, so yesterday we got out some galvanized pipe and twine and tied up what we could salvage.  All of the stand were over 6' tall, with some as tall as 8-9'.  They laid over the row of 4' zinnias right to the south of the sunflowers.

It's cloudy and humid today, so hopefully things will start to stand back up and straighten out.

(And of course, I'm glad that's the worst damage we got, especially seeing the damage around ALHS's hometown of Cedar Rapids.)

[Puget]

I've been putting off learning how to can (just basic stuff, like pickles and acidic/sweet things). Maybe I ought to try it out if I can get some produce from the farmer's market.

It's really not that hard, but it is a bit more like chemistry than cooking (or at least the way I usually cook)-- you really, really have to follow the recipe to the letter, because the acid or sugar has to be the right concentration for it to be safe, and everything has to be boiled before and after, following the directions for the exact length of time. But as long as you do that, high acid or sugar things like pickles, tomatoes (with addition of some acid), fruit in syrup and jams are very safe, and it's very clear if a lid hasn't sealed (in which case put the jar in the fridge for eating soon).

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I've been putting off learning how to can (just basic stuff, like pickles and acidic/sweet things). Maybe I ought to try it out if I can get some produce from the farmer's market.

It's really not that hard, but it is a bit more like chemistry than cooking (or at least the way I usually cook)-- you really, really have to follow the recipe to the letter, because the acid or sugar has to be the right concentration for it to be safe, and everything has to be boiled before and after, following the directions for the exact length of time. But as long as you do that, high acid or sugar things like pickles, tomatoes (with addition of some acid), fruit in syrup and jams are very safe, and it's very clear if a lid hasn't sealed (in which case put the jar in the fridge for eating soon).

Right. I have done a little research, but I suppose I just need to jump into it (Maybe I need a kick in the ass?). Thanks Puget!

[namazu]

I have a tiny 9x12 patio with containers. Tomatoes are producing like mad—unexpected because I thought the record July heat would slow pollination, but I've frozen a couple hundred large cherries.

I've oven-dried excess tomatoes, but wouldn't have thought to freeze them.  Do they reconstitute well, or do you then use them for sauces, etc. where the texture's unimportant?  What's your freezing process?

Enjoy your tomatoes!

[Harlow2]

Namazu, once frozen they can be thawed and used in gazpacho (where, as you suggest, texture doesn't matter) or any cooked dish (chili, pasta).  They don't return to an approximation of their fresh state the way peppers do.  I Just vacuum seal fresh ones with no prep other than washing.

[Puget]

How's the end of the season going for everyone?

Things are beginning to wind down a bit here, but I still have one kind of tomato (called Chef's choice) which had given me a slow trickle for a while but is now ripening TONS of large yellow tomatoes -- the plant is a beast, pushing up against the 6 ft. top of the critter-proof enclosure, and so weighed down with tomatoes I'm amazed it is still standing. Most are palm sized, but I picked a monster today that weighed in at 1 lb. 3 oz. It will definitely be the plant that produced the most total weight in tomatoes for me. I sort of accidentally ended up with varieties that spanned the season well-- I've continuously had tomatoes since the end of June.

Other than that I still have lots of basil (need to make and freeze more pesto) and other herbs, and kale, plus the volunteer squash that grew from the compost and appears to be an acorn squash, and some potatoes I stuck in the ground on a whim far to late and may or may not have produced much. Oh, and the ever-bearing strawberries are living up to their name and still producing a few at a time.

[Harlow2]

The heat finally shut tomato production down; some scattered blooms so maybe I will get a few more. Beans and hot peppers did really well.  Time to plant some micro tomatoes indoors (plants are micro; cherries are about regular size)--nothing like reaching over to a plant in the dining room and grabbing a fresh cherry in January with snow on the ground!

[Parasaurolophus]

Trying to determine when to harvest the monstrous squashes.

[mamselle]

Time to plant some micro tomatoes indoors (plants are micro; cherries are about regular size)--nothing like reaching over to a plant in the dining room and grabbing a fresh cherry in January with snow on the ground!

Love that image!

M.