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Post by JR on Jul 2, 2012 21:01:54 GMT -6
Well I've been busy canning different sorts of things from kosher dill pickles to tomatoes to a few green beans. But the relentless heat is taking it's toll. It doesn't matter that I'm putting lots of water to things when you have 100F+ temps for days and days it just slowly burns things up. Some of my tomato plants are wilting and will not make it much longer, green beans are finished period, cucumbers are losing ground plus I don't know if I'll make a decent crop of pumpkins, watermelons and cantaloupe. Also MC's favorite veggie is about to quit on me too plus my zucchini are suffering too. I've got grapes starting to come off a few clusters at a time and may get some purple grape jelly soon. Will pick peaches again by next week and maybe a few apples too, they are nice but smaller due to the heat. Made a nice batch of pickles today and man are they pretty! Now don't worry MC I'll save you a jar!  These are my famous Bread and Butter SQUASH pickles! JR |
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Post by madcollie on Jul 3, 2012 18:53:55 GMT -6
Also MC's favorite veggie is about to quit on me too plus my zucchini are suffering too. JR Vial, evil, nasty! That crap should burn in H***! 
;D ;D ;D Not that I would EVER wish bad crops on any gentleman farmer but ;D ;D ;D the world could do without more S*****Made a nice batch of pickles today and man are they pretty! Now don't worry MC I'll save you a jar! These are my famous Bread and Butter SQUASH pickles! JR JR, those aren't pickels you silly reble. If you do send them then when Scooterran & I do our raid next year I swear I'll bring a blow torch,  You keep that nasty southern poison where it belongs, in H***! And if you keep it up, I won't let you see the pretties scooter you'll ever lay eyes on.  Mustang SallyM/C |
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Post by JR on Jul 3, 2012 20:00:42 GMT -6
Ok you're working your way out of the new purple grape jelly that is coming up!  My wife opened a jar of the pickles this morning and even though she is a dill pickle  lover she said for bread and butter pickles that these were very good! Face it MC the squash is a very versatile plant, pies, fried, stir fried, steamed, pickled and hey some folks even bar-b-que them! I'm telling you you're missing out!  JR |
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Post by tankrider on Jul 5, 2012 15:27:47 GMT -6
My raspberries are finally on good. Have put up 20 half pints of jam so far. Not bad for a row that is only about 15 ft long. Been averaging 4 cups every other day. Tomatoes and peppers up here are just starting to set on.
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Post by JR on Jul 6, 2012 14:04:30 GMT -6
Hey tankrider! any tip on growing raspberries? I've got out 8 of different variaties and I'm thinking I may need to move them into a better location. The soil in that spot is poor even though I do use organic material and mulch. My blackberries do well there but my raspberries are not doing so good.
I also have my blueberries there and this fall when it cools and starts raining again I'm goiung to move them to a lot better spot that is better soil and gives them a evening shade. Already preparing the spot now by plowing and putting up a fence to keep out the bunnies.
I love raspberries especailly the yellow ones.
JR
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Post by madcollie on Jul 8, 2012 10:07:08 GMT -6
This ones for you JR. Enjoy it while it last!  M/C |
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Post by JR on Jul 8, 2012 10:54:24 GMT -6
Well MC it rained for a whopping 10 minutes! Now the blowtorch is back out but there are clouds in the west, hoping for any or some more.
Right now it's 98F and the steam is coming off of my driveway from the little rain we got. Didn't even puddle in my rain gauge!
JR
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Post by scootaway on Jul 8, 2012 11:24:19 GMT -6
JR you do have a nice piece of land there. I will make a point to come visit you when I move to the states.
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Post by JR on Jul 9, 2012 18:06:21 GMT -6
Alright! I'll save you and MC a jar of the yellow pickles!
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Post by madcollie on Jul 9, 2012 18:41:41 GMT -6
Scooter Ran and I will let you know when the raid is to take place Scootaway. I'll be the one with a target on my arse (according to Randy anyway) and he'll be the one hiding in the shadows at the FAR end of the field. you can run distraction for me. We'll synchronize watches and attack in force! ;D JR. your gonna pay for that! M/C |
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Post by scooterran on Jul 14, 2012 19:47:43 GMT -6
Ok guys, yesterday I pulled all my onions and all the weeds that were in the 5 rows. Why did I pull them you asked ? Because it's dry, plain and simple. I have never seen it this dry. Wabash river is very low, never seen it as low as it is. We haven't had 1 inch of rain since March 3rd. Anyway, I pulled the weeds and onions and after that I thought I'd go ahead and till . With the tiller running as hard as it would go, I raised one heck of a dust storm. As long as I water the plants I'm going to have some veggies but if I stop, I'm going to loose everything. Now I'm going to give everyone a little hint. The corn crop is taking a beating with this heat. So , that means that the yield will be very low. Anything that is made out of corn will be higher at the grocery store. Cereal , Beef , corn syrup , milk etc. Look on the lable to see if your food products are made of corn in some way or other because it's going to go up in price. Some of these products you can stock up on now so you don't have to pay a high price later. Just trying to give a little heads up , Scooterran
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Post by JR on Jul 14, 2012 20:58:07 GMT -6
You're not kidding Scooteran and there are a lot of products that has corn or corn by-products in it. Also add to the fact that farmers want to grow it for that crappy ethanol adds to the misery. Until we got some rain the other day it hadn't rained a drop at my house in 62 days! Even now mother nature doesn't seem to like me, left to go to Morrilton this afternoon and got 5 miles from the house and it was raining like cow peeing on a flat rock!  Didn't get a drop at my house. I plowed today too to start getting my ground ready in areas for this fall and about 2" down it was as dry as chalk! I bought 4 tomatoes that the Co-op had left that looked good and planted them in a spot that has morning sun and evening shade and I'll keep them watered until this fall when it cools and they will then bloom and I'll get some late tomatoes. I've had fresh tomatoes as late as Thanksgiving and when I know we are going to get the first killer frost I pick them and let them finish ripening in the house, beats store bought tomatoes any day! Also since you mentioned corn , my corn is looking good and will start coming off in 4 to 5 days but this morning I found a problem that I've never had here before. Raccoons! They broke off about 10 stalks last night and had a good time. My main garden is fenced in but a coon can climb over a fence. Always at night they hit and they love corn and know when it's ripe! Too late this year but I'll have a top electric wire waiting for them next year but in the mean time meet coon prevention!  It's Mr. Browning and my 3 Yorkies! Yep they are in the garden pen tonight and as soon as they let out the first bark Mr. Browning and I will come a calling! They may not look tough but let me tell you they can be pretty mean when it comes to varmints. About a month ago I heard the loudest growling and snarling going on outside and I looked out the window and they all 3 were shaking the snot out of a huge cotton mouth! They are very poisonous but it didn't matter to them, they killed him before I could get out there. So let the coons crawl over that fence tonight! JR |
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Post by scooterran on Jul 19, 2012 15:15:35 GMT -6
I's still too hot here and still no rain. Come on J.R. Do that rain dance you did a couple of years ago. I need at least 10 inches of rain just to keep up. Yes, we're that far behind on rainfall. All the rain in my area has been North or South of us. We haven't had a drop of rain . My garden has had it even though I have watered it . The only thing I'm going to get is some tomatoes and that's it ....
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Post by JR on Jul 19, 2012 22:18:26 GMT -6
Well Scooterran my garden is winding down and when I say I'm tired I really mean I'm tired! here is a picture took yesterday and you'll see some things I've been canning;  There is 12 jars of purple grape jelly, a jar of picante suace and a jar of spaghetti sauce. Here is the picante sauce recipe; .ehow.com/how_4806811_own-pace-picante-sauce.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> .ehow.com/how_4806811_own-pace-picante-sauce.htmlYep it can be done at home. But since I've got a large table covered with ripe fresh garden tomatoes I use them instead of tomato puree. I just chop the tomatoes in the blender to a smooth but chunky texture. Also I'll warn you 3 jalapenos makes this hot!  Pace comes in 3 flavors, mild, medium and hot so 1 pepper mild, 2 peppers medium, 3 peppers = HOT! The only thing I do different is add a teaspoon of sugar and no kidding guys you can't tell it apart from Pace. Now you say what is in that 5 gallon bucket JR?  Here's a better picture and it along with the other gallon buckets are full of white and purple grapes from my vinyard. On that day we picked over 10 gallons and just today we finished them up and all told I've picked over 25 gallons of them. The kids have been pulling them off the clusters for two days, my outside two refrigerators are full! Put up 20 jars ofd the purple grape jelly and today I made this; .eatingwell.com/recipes/peach_jam.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">.eatingwell.com/recipes/peach_jam.htmlI have more white grapes than purple and I just picked the rest of the Georgia Belle white peaches off of a small tree and was wondering if there was a combination of white grape and peach jelly I could make and I found this recipe. I converted it to a canning recipe because I hate freezer jelly. All I can say is wow! The added lemon peel adds a tartness to it and it's not going to last long here. Now I'm going to cook the rest of them down sqeeze out the juice and freeze it for a future day of jelly making and maybe a little wine! Picked two pretty bushels of corn and put all of the pretty ears up as corn on the cob today also about 40 ears in all, should have about 3 more bushels to pick left. Getting okra and my peanuts are looking good along with the butterbeans and sweet potatoes. Watermelons canteloupes and pumpkins all hanging in there but I'm watering them again. Got a fence covered up with a variety of gourds for fall decorations along with ornamental corn too. Popcorn is looking good too. In the next two to three days I'll be picking the last peach tree or at least start an Elberta peach tree and it's loaded. The rain along with my waterhose has helped them get to a nice size and I'll probably can them because an elberta cans better than it freezes. Got a yellow delicious and a granny smith apple tree that will need to be picked soon, hot weather is making them come off early. I see apple butter and jelly in the near future. I spent over 5 hours watering this morning before hitting the kitchen and I just got it all cleaned up about an hour ago. Mama worked today so it was just myself and the kids doing the work today. Will have tomatoes to can again by Saturday glad they are winding down. I'm ready for fall, cooler weather and harvest time for the fall crops and I'll plant a few fall items this fall but not many. Thinking about a batch of this? .pickyourown.org/pepper_jelly.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">.pickyourown.org/pepper_jelly.htmDown in the instructions it says you can substitute the vinegar with white grape jucie. Like I said I'M TIRED!  JR |
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Post by JR on Jul 27, 2012 9:19:39 GMT -6
Garden season is winding down to the hot weather, got some much needed rain last night but for some of my stuff it's too little too late. No matter how much you water some things with the torching heat and winds some things just buckle under.
Squash, zuchinni, cucumbers all gone, tomatoes are about to give up and I'm watering them and going to prune some of the hardy ones back. If you can keep them alive sometimes pruning them will make them sprout back out to a new bush and bloom again the late fall. You relly don't have anything to lose?
Sweet potatoes, peanuts, all still looking good and as long as I water them they'll be alright until this fall when they are harvested.
Okra and butter beans look good. Peppers still looking good along with the eggplant. Corn is done and I'm starting to pick the popcorn too.
I'm putting up the rest of the grape juice I squeezed from my grapes today and have one apple tree and one peach tree that is getting close to being ripe and they get picked soon.
Later on it'll be pick the pears and muscadines and then all the fruit will be gone for this year. Picked 5 ripe watermelons yesterday, nice and sweet along with 4 canteloupe but they were half the normal size due to the heat. They'll be gone soon as the vines are burning up to the heat.
Overall it's been a good year but a difficult one, never dragged so many feet of water hoses in my life!
JR
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