Gardening, canning, pickling and everything related
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johnsbrewhouse Does the raised beds help or just keep the baby rabbits off?
GWG8541 2 small plots eh?
Even Johns is probably larger than mine!@dennyo The raised beds help to keep the temperature warmer here in the NW, the rabbits seem to find their way into anything. Thought the wire would stop them, they are just like rats, if their heads fit through, they can get in. The netting keeps them out and the new pellet pistol will bring them to the table if I find them in the garden. My biggest problem right now are the moles (yard rats) Iâll get them too with the Max bug be gone and get rid of the grubs, their main feed and with the trap s as well. The horse troughs are going to be my replacements for the raised beds in the coming years. Gets rid of the mole and rabbit problems, warms the soil quicker and I donât have to bend over to work.
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RON PARRISH yes you can start from seed, but I do not on that particular plant. In Ohio you would really need to start them pretty early. There is an Amish/Mennonite community with a great greenhouse on a farm not to far away from me. If I buy plants its ussualy from them. I got onions, cabbage and the celery from him this year. It is not hard, just needs to be watered well. They get tough if left to long before cutting.
GWG8541 Thanks for the info! I see by your profile you are in dayton.I work in beavercreek so we are not far apart.Where is that amish comunity?
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In the past, I start mine from last years seeds that I saved after a harvest of maders.
This was from a few years ago.I would end up with vines like these.
And produce maders like these.
@dennyo Those are really nice. I need to try & get a photo or two of our Cherokee Purples or German Queens before they get all et up. The beefsteaks we have are nice, but the other two just really taste good & look good too. But, for photos, I will have to work quickly.
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I canât get the pic of vines to load and now I canât find it in my phone.
Anyway they will grow over the top of my cage which is over 6 feet tall and then hang all the way back down to the ground. one even crawled over to the next cage one year.In the pic above with the 3 maders the three of them weighed a tad over 5.3 pounds together. The 2 pics were from last years crop.
@dennyo I only planted one Early Girl last year and it did the same thing. Not quite back to the ground but was over my head and Iâm 6â2". It was also my best producer last year. I had two old German maders that got about 6 ft also. Im hoping this year is as good. Those pics are awesome. They are tomato trees. What are you fertilizing with?
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GWG8541 Thanks for the info! I see by your profile you are in dayton.I work in beavercreek so we are not far apart.Where is that amish comunity?
RON PARRISH Heck we are neighbors. They are actually horse and buggy Mennonite. Its just off 41 near Bainbridge. I deer hunt very close to there. There is a great Mennonite bakery and general store near there also. There is an Amish one in Shelby County just north of us. Ill have to get a better location from my father-in-law on that one.
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In the past, I start mine from last years seeds that I saved after a harvest of maders.
This was from a few years ago.I would end up with vines like these.
And produce maders like these.
@dennyo This was my best Parks Whopper last year.
I had alot of various reds and turned some into this.
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That is definitely a WHOPPER! I think it gets too hot & humid for us to get those down here unless I really baby them. As I mentioned earlier, that is why we have great success with the German Queen & Cherokee Purple that are big enough for some great BLTs, look good, & taste great. I wish I could grow some like that. We have the beef steaks too, but the other two out do them in the end as far as production & taste. That is one fine job you have done on the sauce to, no not the sauce in your hands, but will take that too. We try to use the San Marzianos for that, but I cannot even come close to competing with you most years.
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That is definitely a WHOPPER! I think it gets too hot & humid for us to get those down here unless I really baby them. As I mentioned earlier, that is why we have great success with the German Queen & Cherokee Purple that are big enough for some great BLTs, look good, & taste great. I wish I could grow some like that. We have the beef steaks too, but the other two out do them in the end as far as production & taste. That is one fine job you have done on the sauce to, no not the sauce in your hands, but will take that too. We try to use the San Marzianos for that, but I cannot even come close to competing with you most years.
calldoctoday Iâm actually doing Cherokee purple for the first time this year. The sauce is my Momâs old recipe that I did for the first time after she passed last year. Thats really why the glass was in my hand. I sent that pic to all my siblings when I finished and they all got a jar of Moms sauce for Christmas.
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@dennyo Those are really nice. I need to try & get a photo or two of our Cherokee Purples or German Queens before they get all et up. The beefsteaks we have are nice, but the other two just really taste good & look good too. But, for photos, I will have to work quickly.
calldoctoday said in Gardening, canning, pickling and everything related:
@dennyo Those are really nice. I need to try & get a photo or two of our Cherokee Purples or German Queens before they get all et up. The beefsteaks we have are nice, but the other two just really taste good & look good too. But, for photos, I will have to work quickly.
I love to see the pictures of maders!
calldoctoday said in Gardening, canning, pickling and everything related:
That is definitely a WHOPPER! I think it gets too hot & humid for us to get those down here unless I really baby them. As I mentioned earlier, that is why we have great success with the German Queen & Cherokee Purple that are big enough for some great BLTs, look good, & taste great. I wish I could grow some like that. We have the beef steaks too, but the other two out do them in the end as far as production & taste. That is one fine job you have done on the sauce to, no not the sauce in your hands, but will take that too. We try to use the San Marzianos for that, but I cannot even come close to competing with you most years.
I do multiple varieties here in the âHawkeyeâ State, and Iâm blessed with the most black fertile soil that is as deep as I can till.
And still mother nature will hand my arse to me! as she is this year!! -
Iâm just thinking here we should have posted a"Mader" thread!
Actually I think we should, under which heading should it lay?? -
@dennyo This was my best Parks Whopper last year.
I had alot of various reds and turned some into this.
GWG8541 Great looking sauce and I loved the story thanks for sharing. Nice mater too. Hereâs a couple of mine from last year.
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@dennyo Nice plants
I had some last year that made it back to the ground. -
@dennyo Those are really nice. I need to try & get a photo or two of our Cherokee Purples or German Queens before they get all et up. The beefsteaks we have are nice, but the other two just really taste good & look good too. But, for photos, I will have to work quickly.
calldoctoday I did some digging today for some side dishes
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GWG8541. Man you have 2 nice sized gardens. I like the idea of having vine plants in a separate garden. That would be nice. I might have to till me another spot. My wife loves spaghetti squash but they try to take over my whole garden.
This is mine about a month and a half ago. -
RON PARRISH See if you can find a crock made for fermenting the kraut. They are a good width, and they have a lip you can fill with water for an airlock. I have a 5 liter one that holds around 3 large to huge heads of cabbage, shredded and pounded in with salt. That gets me around 6-7 quarts of finished sauerkraut, and thatâs plenty to hold me for a while.
When I started making sauerkraut, I originally used a large rolling pin (without handles) for pounding and shredded just with a knife, but I realized I was making enough of it to justify getting a real stomper and shredder. That made life a good deal better.
I use 2% salt. After coring and shredding the heads, I weigh in grams and just multiply that by 0.02. Thatâs how much salt to use. Easy peasy. Use salt that is NOT iodized (kosher works just fine).
Just put in a handful or two of the shredded cabbage, a healthy sprinkle of the salt (and seedsâsee below) and give it a bit of a pounding. Repeat. After just a little while, the salt will draw out liquid from the cabbage. Before you know it, youâre mixing as much as âpounding.â Just keep that up, tamping the cabbage down, until you only have about 1-2 inches of head space. You need room for the weights. No matter how well you weigh it down, the cabbage will come up some as it ferments and liquid will bubble up. I also find it useful to cover the top of the shredded cabbage with a large leaf or two from the outside of the head. That keeps the small shreds from getting out of hand.
If you get it too full, youâre liable to have a bit of a mess, so put the crock somewhere you donât mind getting some funky salt water. I actually find it useful to gently tamp it back down every day or two for the first week or so. It tends to calm down after that.
Let it ferment as long as you like. Some like it as little as 2 weeks. Others (like me) like it to ferment for 6 or 7 weeks. You can taste it along the way to find out. When itâs done, I pack it in quart mason jars or large Fido jars. Rather than canning, I prefer to refrigerate it (but I have a lot of refrigerator space from years of brewing).
I do like adding some sort of seed. My favorite is straight caraway, but Iâve also mixed in some dill and even a little fennel to really mix things up. A healthy pinch (or few) of red pepper flakes also is fun. Play around as you like or not at all.
TexLaw I make about 40-50 lbs at a time, I check it at 6 weeks but usually leave it for 7.I have two 20 L crocks with stones and lip for water, they work great. Used to make it in 5 gallon buckets. I use 2 TBSP of salt per 5 lbs of cabbage, for me personally 3 TBSP was too much. Cut a lot of salt out of my diet so donât use much when I use it. I can it in pint jars and about a third of them I put a sliced (sliced long way) jalapeno in the jar and let those sit another two to three weeks. Wouldnât have to make so much for just me and my wife but made the mistake of giving some to family and friends!
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@dennyo I have two small plots tilled. The first has my maders, about 30 plants of different varieties. Peppers various tpyes, onions, okra, green beans, cabbage, celery, and a variety of herbs, garlic, parsley, dill, basil, cilantro, horse radish, and mint.
The second plot is anything that vines. Cucumber, zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, and a variety of pumpkins and gourds my lovely wife wants for decorating each year.
I try to start most of mine from seed and save seed every year. Our weather in Ohio was a challenge this year we went from frost to hot in one week. I planted onion sets in early May and spread things out as I think they can tolerate a late frost. The tomatoes and peppers went in about the third week of May. I just planted pumpkin and gourds this week from seed. Now it gets busy.GWG8541 Great Idea! We used to do something like that too a long, long time ago when I would also grow Pumpkins, Watermelons, & Candylopes. Every now & then these days I make a second little small patch, but mostly anymore, it is just the one.
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@dennyo I have two small plots tilled. The first has my maders, about 30 plants of different varieties. Peppers various tpyes, onions, okra, green beans, cabbage, celery, and a variety of herbs, garlic, parsley, dill, basil, cilantro, horse radish, and mint.
The second plot is anything that vines. Cucumber, zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, and a variety of pumpkins and gourds my lovely wife wants for decorating each year.
I try to start most of mine from seed and save seed every year. Our weather in Ohio was a challenge this year we went from frost to hot in one week. I planted onion sets in early May and spread things out as I think they can tolerate a late frost. The tomatoes and peppers went in about the third week of May. I just planted pumpkin and gourds this week from seed. Now it gets busy.GWG8541 I harvested my garlic yesterday, 6/16. Itâs been really hot here in Colorado and the bottom 1/3 of the leaves were turning brown. I plant it in late September and usually harvest it around Fatherâs Day but it was starting to lay down from the heat. This year we only planted 9 varieties, in years past we have planted as many as 20+ varieties.
Improvise, Adapt and Overcome! Semper Fi
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GWG8541 I harvested my garlic yesterday, 6/16. Itâs been really hot here in Colorado and the bottom 1/3 of the leaves were turning brown. I plant it in late September and usually harvest it around Fatherâs Day but it was starting to lay down from the heat. This year we only planted 9 varieties, in years past we have planted as many as 20+ varieties.
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GWG8541 I harvested my garlic yesterday, 6/16. Itâs been really hot here in Colorado and the bottom 1/3 of the leaves were turning brown. I plant it in late September and usually harvest it around Fatherâs Day but it was starting to lay down from the heat. This year we only planted 9 varieties, in years past we have planted as many as 20+ varieties.
Bob Stehlik Wow, that is amazing, nine varieties! They all look great. We were happy to just have elephant garlic. We had to harvest the very last of ours several weeks ago as it is just getting too hot & humid for a lot of things.
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