2023 gardens

Do peppers always get hotter as you harvest them later in the season?
The jalapeno’s recently picked are twice as hot as they were a month ago.

I think they do get hotter as they mature, right up until they turn the color they get when they’re fully ripe, like red for jalapenos. That color change usually adds a little sweetness but the heat level is still the same. Some say that a hotter and drier growing season makes them spicier, too. I can tell that tomatoes taste a little “watered down” if I pick within a day or two after I water or it rains, so I’m thinking additional moisture in the peppers may do the same.

Not to beat a dead horse but HOLY $%@&* TOMATOES! I am bound and determined not to waste any tomatoes so tonight is another forced canning session. Going to double my salsa recipe for the first time and be done with it. Ill have enough to last us a year and give some away. Should be a great batch as every tomato Im using is very ripe. After that and another batch of stewed tomatoes then I am done.

It may be time to harvest some spuds.

Despite the weeds taking over my garden this year, I’d say it’s still been a successful harvest! I’m still getting tomatoes and more broccoli has popped up so I’ll be picking more tonight!

11 pints of salsa last night for a total of 17. That will hold us a year with a few extra for gifting. Ill probably can tomatoes one more time. So far I have 10 quarts. Also 10 quarts of pickled peppers. Not bad for my tiny garden and I can still squeak a few more out.

suzuki wrote:

I am bound and determined not to waste any tomatoes so tonight is another forced canning session.

I’m right there with ya, only it’s potatoes with me. Last year my rough estimation was that I had about 200 pounds of them, probably similar this year. My dad grows potatoes too so I don’t really have family that needs them and I’m not going to bring a bunch of bags of potatoes into work every day, so I dig some up about once a week and do something with them. I refuse to go through all the planting, weeding, watering, and spraying for potato bugs and yet have some go to waste.

I’ve mostly been making mashed potatoes and freezing them, but I also slice some up and freeze for future french fries. And we typically end up having some form of potato with supper at least 3 nights a week.

Dan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>
I am bound and determined not to waste any tomatoes so tonight is another forced canning session.

I’m right there with ya, only it’s potatoes with me. Last year my rough estimation was that I had about 200 pounds of them, probably similar this year. My dad grows potatoes too so I don’t really have family that needs them and I’m not going to bring a bunch of bags of potatoes into work every day, so I dig some up about once a week and do something with them. I refuse to go through all the planting, weeding, watering, and spraying for potato bugs and yet have some go to waste.

I’ve mostly been making mashed potatoes and freezing them, but I also slice some up and freeze for future french fries. And we typically end up having some form of potato with supper at least 3 nights a week.

Sounds like a good problem to have. I am envious. I eat potatoes waaaaay more than tomatoes. Actually they are a super staple at my house. I should grow them. We have gotten local Yukon golds from the farmers market a couple times recently and they were great.

I’ve been gardening 3-4 years now and those potatoes are some of the easiest things I’ve grown. Get some spuds with eyes growing out in the spring. Should have instructions on the packet, but you basically cut them in chunks or cut individual eyes out, then plant them. Once they start growing a little you can “hill” them. Normal watering and some weeding throughout the summer and pretty soon you’ve got a ton to dig up. I’d say it’s fairly easy and well worth it. I also eat a ton when I have them: mashed potatoes, cut them up for fries, potato skins with bacon/cheese/sour cream, lately I’ve even been shredding them with a cheese grater and making hash browns.

I keep saying I’m going to grow taters but then I don’t. It takes the wife and I a good 3-4wks to use up a #10 bag. I keep them in the fridge to keep them from going bad. Mash and put out in the big freezer sounds like a good idea.

Here’s the tomato powder I made. I had 5 trays in my 10 tray Cabela’s dehydrator. If I do it again, I’ll definitely cut the pieces smaller and use all the trays. It took about 60hrs to get them brittle/crispy enough to grind into powder. I cut them in wedges. I saw that standing the wedges skin side down retained more flavor because they wouldn’t ooze through the tray. I’d say this was from about #5-6. Ended up with almost a pint of powder. Added a heaping teaspoon to a hot cup of chicken stock for lunch and it was pretty good.

This concludes the 2023 canning season. 14 qts pickled green tomatoes. Shelves are full for the winter.

7 mater plants left, lucky tigers and campori’s!

Anyone interested in starting or expanding a winter onion patch??? I don’t need anymore this year and I got plenty to share. Let me know!!

31 jars of pure nummy horseradish.

glenn57 wrote:

Anyone interested in starting or expanding a winter onion patch??? I don’t need anymore this year and I got plenty to share. Let me know!!

I wish. Even with the new laws I dont have room to add a single pot plant!

Is it not to early to dig horseradish? Maybe I just wait to long.

This might sound stupid but we could do some kind of canning swap? Even through PM’ing?
I have a couple spare items that are top notch and I wouldn’t mind trading for something I haven’t had that someone is proud of. As an example I pickled more banana peppers than we can eat while they are still in good shape and they are delicious. My salsa may be a little harder to part with… Just a thought.

JEREMY wrote:

Is it not to early to dig horseradish? Maybe I just wait to long.

you can dig it within any month with an R in it. I do it either September or October.

What do you all do at the end of the season here when its all over? Tear out the plants and toss them or compost them? I only have cucumbers and tomato plants in my garden and this is the first year I’ve had it. I assume pretty soon here we’re going to start having regular over night frost.

gimruis wrote:

What do you all do at the end of the season here when its all over? Tear out the plants and toss them or compost them? I only have cucumbers and tomato plants in my garden and this is the first year I’ve had it. I assume pretty soon here we’re going to start having regular over night frost.

our garbage company provides a yard waste bin. That’s where mine go. Before that I hauled them up north and tossed them in the woods… On our property of course. Check with your city they may have a compost program or start your own compost pile.

Ok thanks Glenn. I’ll just dispose of them properly after I remove them.

I was watching a video on FB done by Dan Fitzgerald (famous hunter). He said that after canning, he lets his jars sit for 24 hours and then takes the band off. His theory is that if a seal fails and the band is on, you may not know your lid failed and possibly eat spoiled food. Anyone do this?
DT

Nope. If the seal failed you can tell by the lid. If it’s sealed you can’t pop the lid. If it’s not sealed the lid will pop up and down if you push the center. It’s pretty easy to see .

I’ve experienced 1 failure in all my years of canning tomatoes. Unfortunately I didn’t notice until after I poured in the pan and destroyed an entire dish of venison chili.

deertracker wrote:

I was watching a video on FB done by Dan Fitzgerald (famous hunter). He said that after canning, he lets his jars sit for 24 hours and then takes the band off. His theory is that if a seal fails and the band is on, you may not know your lid failed and possibly eat spoiled food. Anyone do this?
DT

That’s exactly what I do and have done for years.

If you plan to plant tomatoes in the same location every year it is probably best to remove every leaf, stem, and dropped tomato from the ground. I have always understood that many of diseases tomato plants face can be carried in the soil.

Our yard waste bin is an expense that I do not mind paying.

Brittman, i dont plant them in the same spot every year……but i still try and clean up all the old branches and leaves. our garbage provider supplies us with a yard waste barrel, but i’m sure there is a fee for it!!!!!

another thing i do during the growing season is snip off all the dying branches. it also helped this year as they started to get bigger is snip the real low branches close to the ground!!!

deertracker wrote:

I was watching a video on FB done by Dan Fitzgerald (famous hunter). He said that after canning, he lets his jars sit for 24 hours and then takes the band off. His theory is that if a seal fails and the band is on, you may not know your lid failed and possibly eat spoiled food. Anyone do this?
DT

I find leaving them on the counter overnight to be sufficient. Failed jars (very few) get used immediately or go into the refrigerator for near term use.

ALL my canning that’s meant to be sealed doesnt get touched until the next day. if there sealed the likely hood of them becoming unsealed after that is pretty slim from my experience.

and like Brad……if they dont seal it gets put in the frig to get used first!!!!!

i havent had a jar not seal in at least 3 years!!!!! and if i did it was my own dumb arse fault for filling the jar to full!!!

Glenn – I do the same thing with wilted, yellow, spotted, and brown tomato leaves and stems. Try remove them once a week.

NEEM oil is supposed to help too. I have sprayed my plants once in a while with that.

All my excess garden plant material, yard waste, kitchen scrapes, some wood ash and hardwood biochar from the wood stove, small game remains, as well as fish remains go into my compost. I save about 50 bags of fall leaves from the neighborhood to mix in throughout the year for my carbon source, which is an absolutely essential element. Moisture is another important element to consider, which required vigilance and some inputs from the hose this past dry summer.

I manage my compost piles to be large and hot using the Berkeley method. I measure the process using a compost thermometer. It is routine that my piles reach internal temperatures of 140-160f. I turn them once every four to five days until it is not heating up anymore and the final product is a rich loam sweet smelling soil. It takes a on average 4 weeks to finish mine.

With the internal temperatures I am getting the fish remains become nothing but bones and scales after a week, with no offensive odor.

I liken the process to garden alchemy, and results are outstanding.