Posted on 06/01/2012 8:06:36 AM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde
I’m heavily into cucumbers now, since “JustaDumbBlonde” mailed me a jar of her B&B pickles and then the recipe.
I give them away to fellow church members, keeping a generous amount for myself. Last year, I gave away about 60 quarts. They are a big hit!
When I give them away, I always ask for my jars back, most bring them back, some don’t. It’s the jars that are expensive.
You're not kidding there! Since I started ordering my turmeric and mustard seeds in bulk from Penzey's, the cost of making pickles has dropped considerably. If you haven't tried them with some spicy brown mustard seeds, you ought to ... they are great!
Last year I sliced the cucumbers with the crinkle cut blade on my mandoline, and the pickles were even better than usual.
I got most of my canning jars at auctions (or hub did) and also at thrift stores. Also made friends a few years ago with an old lady (really old!) and she wound up giving me a bunch of jars. Many are quite old, much thicker glass.
Now I need pickling cukes, just found a jar I’d made 3 years ago and still perfectly good. I use brine only, no vinegar, with fresh dill and a garlic clove and brown mustard seeds.
Wouldn’t diatomaceous earth work with any kind of worms?
Good tip.
Brine alone will do the job.
We’ve planted some hard neck garlic and are now harvesting a few of these.
Most parts of the country only have one or two generations of SVBs per year. So, sometimes you can get around SVBs with timing. For example, you could try growing squash really early (start seed indoors and plant them out as soon as the weather allows) to get a few weeks’ harvest in before the SVBs get bad. Or, you can try setting out transplants late in the season to sneak in some squash before frost. Your county agricultural extension agent can tell you if there are some good planting times to avoid SVBs in your area.
Or you could try weekly applications of Bt. I don’t use any insecticide, even organic ones, because I am trying to encourage beneficial insects and butterflies (even if that means a few plants get chewed on). That means I have to leave a few pests for the beneficials to prey on. Most of my pests are being kept in balance so far by natural predators, plus some hand-picking. But the SVBs give me fits because they get inside the plants where neither I nor the predators can reach them.
Yup,they do. Thats all I plant. It might take extra work,putting up the fence. But in the end when they are ready to pick you can stand up and pick verses crawling around on your hands and knees to pick them.
This year I planted nothing but Chinese Mozaic long beans. They are a pinkish red bean that grow from 12 to 18 inches long. I think they taste better than Blue Lake pole beans. When they get going I'll post pictures of them here.
We've been harvesting betwwen a peck and a bushel of cucumber, zuchhini, beans, yellow squash, acorn squash, tabasco, thai pepper, corn, and green peppers every other day. Mrs.S has canned around 20 quarts worth so far, and the tomato's are still green.
Mrs S and the Black Krim tomato plant. It was 6 inches tall 4 weeks ago. Now, it's trying to grow through the top of the hoophouse. That is a single plant!
The rampicantes sound terrific! Thanks for the tips about peeling them, and about watching the sugar in recipes. I had heard that they can be very sweet as a winter squash, but I hadn’t heard about the bitter skin before.
One of the reasons I am not going to try growing it until next year is because I need to build a strong trellis. I’ve seen pictures of the vines, and rampant is a very good description!
Hub hates vinegar so I went that way, it was a new thing to try. Some of the jars sort of bubbled over as the brine “worked” and I had to put old towels under them. I think 2 jars went “funny”. I’m going to have to search for the recipe because I want to make them again. I did not water bath them or anything; just scrubbed the cukes very well, cut off blossom end, packed in sterilized (hot water etc) jars, put salt, water, dill, mustard seeds in and capped ‘em up. Let them sit for a couple of weeks I think, most of them sealed up.
Figures...get over fifty tomato plants in Earth Boxes Thursday night, and along comes a ‘wrath of God’ level northeaster with driving rain and howling winds to flatten all of them...only one broke, but they are all wondering why we set them out to face this...maybe NH will finally get that message about reprobate behavior, but somehow I doubt it. I really need to get out of here...
They taste the same. I grow them because it takes up less room and is easier on the back to pick;)
Ok, I need the recipe!
Garden expansion ... I love it! Be sure and post some photos when you can. :)
This afternoon, I planted 6-25' rows of the Serendipity corn you sent me. I wasn't familiar with it, so Googled it: it sounds perfect!
After dinner --a fresh, home-grown chicken-- I managed to get a 25' row of the Clemson Spineless okra seed from last year planted.
Just as I put the garden tractor into the garage, with all the seeds & tools in the trailer behind it, the thunderstorm I'd been watching come in arrived.
Thanks again for the seeds.
So far, the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, Jumbo Pink Banana Squash, and pattypans have been added to the cool season stuff already planted.
Hah! The weather warning just went off. The TS is "severe" from about a mile north of us, all the way along a 30 mile N-S line, to Custer. We got just enough rain to wet down the new plantings.
Double sunset rainbow AND a lightening bolt.
AWESOME PHOTO!!!
Thanks for the ping JaDB.
Hi everyone.
My tomatoes are not doing well this year. (They are in a raised bed filled with the SFG mix.) The leaves are going yellow on some, and getting light green on others. Also, something is eating whole stems off, leaves and all.
Am I missing something in the soil there?
Are you willing to share the recipe for your pickles? I have six plants in the garden and I know I will have too many to eat fresh!
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