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Post by tripleo on Aug 12, 2011 13:13:28 GMT -8
I wish diane was here from THC - she would have jumped right in. Anyone know where she went/ Anyway, here's what I've put by so far this year: cauliflower- frozen: 11 quarts brocolli - frozen: 13 quarts dill weed - frozen: 2 1/2 quarts regular salsa: 6 pints peas - frozen: 5 quarts (fall crop to come) green beans - frozen: 6 pints (more to come) onions - frozen: 5 quarts pickled beets: 5 pints Polish dills: 5 pints cabbage - frozen: 13 quarts sweet and spicy relish: 8 pints peach bbq sauce: 12 pints pickled peaches: 5 pints apple jelly: 8 pints apple alsace jelly: 6 pints pickles: 10 pints Bread and Butter pickles: 8 pints raspberry lemon grass jelly: 6 pints strawberry mint jelly: 5 pints regular strawberry jelly: 5 pints sweet and sour cherry jam: 6 pints sour cherry jelly: 5 pints apple sauce: 12 quarts tomato sauce: 6 quarts Scottish catsup: 7 pints peach chutney: 8 pints canned peaches: 8 quarts apple juice: 2 gallons peach salsa: 12 pints raspberry peach cardamon jam: 7 pints hot dog relish: 6 pints cinnamon pickles: 15 pints sweet pickles: 8 pints kosher dills: 12 pints It doesn't look like I'll starve this winter ;D Of course, there is a lot more to come because the gardening season isn't over yet. And a lot of this will end up as Christmas gifts to friends and family. Gee, ain't life great!!  |
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Post by 101ABN on Aug 12, 2011 13:51:05 GMT -8
Man! That's one AWESOME pantry!!!
If the SHTF and society collapses, I'm headed your way
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Post by Merceditas on Aug 12, 2011 15:20:28 GMT -8
I wish diane was here from THC - she would have jumped right in. Anyone know where she went/ Anyway, here's what I've put by so far this year: cauliflower- frozen: 11 quarts brocolli - frozen: 13 quarts dill weed - frozen: 2 1/2 quarts regular salsa: 6 pints peas - frozen: 5 quarts (fall crop to come) green beans - frozen: 6 pints (more to come) onions - frozen: 5 quarts pickled beets: 5 pints Polish dills: 5 pints cabbage - frozen: 13 quarts sweet and spicy relish: 8 pints peach bbq sauce: 12 pints pickled peaches: 5 pints apple jelly: 8 pints apple alsace jelly: 6 pints pickles: 10 pints Bread and Butter pickles: 8 pints raspberry lemon grass jelly: 6 pints strawberry mint jelly: 5 pints regular strawberry jelly: 5 pints sweet and sour cherry jam: 6 pints sour cherry jelly: 5 pints apple sauce: 12 quarts tomato sauce: 6 quarts Scottish catsup: 7 pints peach chutney: 8 pints canned peaches: 8 quarts apple juice: 2 gallons peach salsa: 12 pints raspberry peach cardamon jam: 7 pints hot dog relish: 6 pints cinnamon pickles: 15 pints sweet pickles: 8 pints kosher dills: 12 pints It doesn't look like I'll starve this winter ;D Of course, there is a lot more to come because the gardening season isn't over yet. And a lot of this will end up as Christmas gifts to friends and family. Gee, ain't life great!! wow! That's amazing! So glad to know others are having great success with their garden. Between the bugs and the heat, my garden is lucky it's still alive, the produce has been only enough to give us veggies for dinners. |
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Post by tripleo on Aug 13, 2011 4:52:58 GMT -8
Merc, i know some folks back in Oakley that had their garden wiped out by hail for the second year in a row. I'm going to can a bunch of pickles for them - cinammon, kosher dill and polish dill - and take it all back to them one of these days. I figure that I have plenty to go around, so why not.
Grasshoppers were the real problem here this year. I thought I might lose the whole works, but managed to beat them off in time for the garden to make an almost complete recovery. Peppers, both hot and sweet, are really starting to take off so I should have plenty to freeze plus make a bunch of sauces and salsas. Eggplants are still a bit "iffy", though, and it looks like I will have quite a few canteloupe and watermelon plus pumpkins for Halloween.
All in all, not a bad year.
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Post by Sailor on Aug 13, 2011 11:07:22 GMT -8
That's one thing I miss since I live in town, I don't have room for even a small garden.
When I was growing up Dad put in a fair sized garden each year, large enough he had to use a full size tractor for plow and harrow work, an acre or more I think. Sweet corn, peas, green beans, asparagus, raspberrys, potatos, you name it plus the take we got from the apple and plum trees.
I couldn't do anything that large but I'd like to take advantage of the longer growing season here vs Michigan. My better half would love some fresh tomatos for example.
Sounds like you won't starve if everything goes to hell in a handbasket Trip. Good on ya.
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Post by tripleo on Aug 13, 2011 16:34:00 GMT -8
Hey, Old Salt, this old boy isn't going to starve to death, that's for sure. Today I went over to help out the neighbor. Went over some fallow ground for him - he fired one of his hired hands. And he kind of hinted that he could sure use my help going over the rest of the ground......and do his wheat drilling......and swath his proso and german millet. Anyway, I put in 10 hours today. Now, the upshot of all of this is that (if you followed any of my posts from several months ago on THC) I am officially retired. Sold all my holdings except for about 950 acres here around the old homestead. So, in retirement I'm back to being a hired peon with an hourly wage. Actually, I kind of enjoyed climbing back on board a tractor. Anyway, to get to the point at hand, while I was gone today, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed put up 54 jelly jars (1 cup size) of peach salsa, one batch (6 pints) of Earl Grey Peach preserves and has started a batch of vineyard peach jam macerating. mmmmm mmmm good A lot of the peach salsa will be given away as Christmas gifts. |
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Post by tripleo on Aug 22, 2011 17:40:02 GMT -8
Update on the ol' winter stockpile:
40 quarts of sweet corn. (She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed picked up the corn seed this year - Su type variety, which is not my favorite. But it turned out pretty darned good).
7 more jars of regular peach jam, 7 jars of Earl Grey peach jam and 5 jars of Pinot Noir peach jam. Plus I've been adding about 3 pnts of green beans to the freezer every day.
By the way, if anyone sees something that looks interesting, let me know - I'll be more than happy to pass the recipe your way.
This coming weekend is cherry week. I'm busy going over the recipes in my spare time. I've got about 30 pounds to work with, so I should be able to come up with some goooood eating stuff.
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jaxson
Full Member
Brakes? Who needs them?
Posts: 90
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Post by jaxson on Aug 22, 2011 17:49:34 GMT -8
I have some chips!!!!
Diane can be found at - civil war talk
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diane
Junior Member
Posts: 14
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Post by diane on Sept 12, 2011 15:42:03 GMT -8
Oooh! TripleO you're embarrassing me!
I've got hot, very hot, hazmat hot and inedible hot salsa and sauce. The kids went kind of crazy with the peppers this year. Peach, apple, cherry, fig, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry and apricot jams and jellies - plus a bunch of them frozen. Made a good batch of juices - planning some cider soon. Put up zucchini bread n butter pickles, dill pickles, sweet gherkins, pickled watermelon rind. Got 50lbs of black walnuts picked out and frozen - that was not easy but boy, are they good! Almonds didn't do well this year but still got a few. String beans, peas, corn, all things tomato and green got put up one way or another - soup, frozen, canned. I've got catsup, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce and some bbq sauce in three varieties. Also got the beef, lamb and pork into the freezers with about 8 chickens and two turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Got some bacon and hams out of the hogs. Even laid in a big supply of wood - for once we won't have to go chopping in the snow!
You had a plague of grasshoppers? It was cut worms and mealy bugs here - I think the spring was too damp as my tomatoes had a lot of mushy ones. There was a mold, too, which was hard to contain - probably from the wet spring.
It was a cool summer, too, just now getting in the tail end of things. Plan to make some green tomato relish tomorrow! Got to move some cows on the weekend and then I'm over to the other side of the state to tend to my horses. My ranch is split - one half is down river, the other half by Nevada!
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Post by tripleo on Sept 12, 2011 18:20:04 GMT -8
Diane, maybe we should just combine our resources and lay around and eat all winter. Nothing on TV worth watching so we just as well climb in our easy chairs with a good book and take turns stirring the pot. ;D
I made some b&b pickles out of zukes for the first time this year, but I don't know how they turned out yet. I'll have to give them a shot one of these days.
The bell peppers and eggplant really started coming on strong. So I made a bunch of stuffed peppers and froze them individually so I can just heat the suckers up when I want one. I also made various eggplant dishes and froze them, also. So I can just pop them in the oven for awhile and have a good meal.
Still getting plenty of ripe tomatoes, so I'm going to hold off on the green tomato stuff for awhile. Cukes and melons are slowing down. Still getting plenty of cukes for fresh eating and giving to the neighbors, but I think I have all the pickles and cucumber relishes that I'll be able to use or give away this year.
Unfortunately, the hoppers got to my Brockton beans so I won't have any for use, but I will be able to salvage enough for seed for next year. It's not a major catastrophe, but I sure do like to use those things - they really soak up the flavor whatever dish they are in. Much better than pinto, navy and the like to my way of thinking. It does look like I will get a pretty good bunch of Soldier beans though.
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diane
Junior Member
Posts: 14
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Post by diane on Sept 12, 2011 19:19:36 GMT -8
I'm really proud of my blackberries this year! They're right along the creek and usually do well but they were as big as your thumb - full of juice!
You'll like the zucchini pickles but they do tend to be softer than you might be expecting. Right good with tuna sandwiches!
I do put up a lot of pre-made entrees and quick lunch packs, stuff the family can nuke if Mom gets sick or her horse stomps her other knee! Shredded beef burritos, things like that. (They can also stick them on the wood stove if the power goes off - which it does regularly in the winter.)
Melons usually don't do well here - too short a season. I've been wanting to try sweet potatoes, but they may need more time than we've got around here. Maybe under some black plastic to start. What do you think about Nancy Hall variety? Kind of think they may take too long but they are the old-fashioned kind with lots of sugar - and that comes from proper curing. Got to think of the altitude, too - we're about 4,000 ft here. Hmmm... I love sweet potatoes - may as well give a few a shot. Never know, might be surprised!
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Post by tripleo on Sept 13, 2011 6:58:23 GMT -8
Now you have aroused my curiosity. I figured that you lived in an area with a relatively long season. www.letsgrowveggies.com/colorado/80720/frost_dates/ is pretty much on the money for around here, I think. And the old house here sets right at 5100 feet if I am right in remembering what the topo map says. Trouble out here is the constant winds which make it extremely hard to get many of the fruit bearing plants started and up and running. Grapes, apples, plums and most of the berries can only be grown in protected areas - if a guy can find any protected areas, that is. In fact, many deciduous trees that are rated for this zone still will falter and die. I do have some berry plants that I'm trying to get established, but I may be pushing up daisies before they ever get to producing a viable crop. Very sweet soil around here (ph around 7.5) so things like cranberries or blueberries are entirely out of the question, even with soil additives. Strawberries, however, are some of the finest you will ever see. They grow extremely flavorful and sweet regardless of what type they are. From alpine to modern hybrids they do extremely good. I've never grown sweet potatoes, other than the ornamental type, but I think they would really do good here. Maybe I'll give them a shot next year, since you've broached that subject. Could be an interesting experiment. I've never eaten them much - got burned out on that disgusting dish of sweet potatoes and marshmallows that my Mom always used to make. But I have had some really good sweet potato pie and some really good soups where sweet potato was substituted for squash in a recipe. Don't grow regular potatoes either because I can get them so cheap around here. But I have decided to put a bed of them in next year just to try and grow some of those wonderful newer varieties that are coming down the pike. Yukon Gold, etc., just to see how they do. Problem is, I don't think a lot of those types of potatoes are good keepers, are they? Of course, when you can serve up a dish of fresh creamed peas and spring potatoes, you know that winter is finally gone for good. |
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diane
Junior Member
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Post by diane on Sept 13, 2011 8:21:35 GMT -8
We grow a lot of potatoes and onions out in the Klamath Basin - and horseradish! I've gotten fond of one variety - can't think of the name - that looks like a Russet but has the soft meat of a red potato. They make the creamiest mashed potatoes! They fry well and in creamed peas and potatoes they are excellent. Better than the reds but not grainy like the Russet. I like the blue potatoes, too, just for a surprise. Out on the other half of the ranch was where I was thinking about the sweet potatoes - in the Klamath Basin. Much different growing conditions! (Those canned 'taters are an abomination! You must try sweet potato cake - it's basically gingerbread with pineapple and mashed sweet potatoes and a pecan topping - very good with coffee! Maybe I'll put the recipe up.)
On the main ranch downriver, the growing season is fairly short - between June and early September. The canyons don't allow a lot of sunlight, which has been a problem for things like strawberries, and the storms tend to be concentrated more since there are walls around! Flooding is always a problem. Usually we wait to plant until the snow is off Goosenest - most runoff is over on the creeks then. We get two crops of alfalfa but that's all we're doing right now.
Peas are something wonderful when you pick them just as dinner is ready and quickly give them a light cook. They lose flavor if you let them set even fifteen minutes! I can see why Thomas Jefferson was particular about his peas and kept strict records of them...
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Post by tripleo on Sept 14, 2011 15:22:16 GMT -8
There was a time when price of red potatoes at the store was about half the price of the "bakers". Now it seems that it's the other way around. Who knows why - I don't follow potato futures, ya know. ;D
Was visiting my sister in Nebraska and came back with two more five gallon buckets of apples. I thought I was done with apples for the year, but I guess I was wrong. Looks like I'll have to make sure I have plenty of mulling spices for the coming winter to go with the cider.
Cold and wet here today. Only got up to about 52 and it's been foggy and drizzling all day, although I don't think the moisture count will be very high. I wish it would just unload an inch or two of the wet stuff and be done with it.
By the way, a lot of the old abandoned farmsteads around here have horseradish, garlic and asparagus growing all over the place. Also an occassional patch of garden huckleberries and currants. I imagine it was planted by the original homesteaders during the first part of the 1900's. Anyway, I take full advantage of harvesting that stuff and saves me the time and effort of growing it.
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diane
Junior Member
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Post by diane on Sept 14, 2011 17:24:55 GMT -8
Oh, I go round the old homesteads as much as possible! I mostly prefer the old seed but some of the new is quite good. Not everything old is good, y'know!
It's still hot here - in the 90s - and dry but too many fires and too much smoke from them. It always squelches the season!
Mmmm! Tomorrow I'm fixing peach waffles with maple syrup and our own sausage. Got some REAL buttermilk, too, from uncle!
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