Punkins' world....SUNSHINE, seeds and no more drought!

[punkin]

I had a nice little chat with the FedEx driver today. As he was making his delivery, he commented on the nice weather. I said, yes, it's nice, but I sure could use some rain, pointing to the garden. One comment lead to another, and pretty soon we were walking through the garden gathering tomatoes. He said he hadn't gotten any ripe ones yet. He mentioned something about "ugly" tomaotes. I said I think I grow what you are talking about - brandywines. He is interested in heirloom tomatoes. He couldn't get over how big my stalks are and how the tomatoes are hanging in such bunches.

We also walked over to the chicken coops. He has chickens, too. He ask me why I have tomato cores in the runs. I told him they get most of the food scraps. He said he had only given his melon rinds and bread, not realizing they will eat most any table scrap. He couldn't believe they even eat chicken! I told him to srape his plate in the run and they will eat most everything. He ask me if I use sevin on my chickens. I said no, and told him about DE. I even gave him about a qt. jar full to try.

He probably stayed 25-30 minutes. Turns out, he and his FIL grow a big garden. I gave him my card and price list. I told him to call me long bout December if he wanted to place an order.

He seemed quite interested so maybe that will be another order next spring.

 

[Farmfresh]

I had a nice long chat like that LAST week ... with the guy from the city electric!

You just never know who is interested in our lifestyle!

 

[punkin]

DH and I finally got the shelves up for the canning closet. It's a good thing to, cause I've been canning up a storm over the past week.

This closet used to hold off season clothes. It still has a few coats hanging in the back. The clothes that I took out went into a huge plastic tote to store above the garage.

These are the top shelves on the left side. First shelf is potatoes, second is blackberries & peaches and the third is pickles. (I don't think I packed the peaches good enough.) The bottom shelf is pear & apple butter, applesauce and strawberry jam.

This is the bottom shelf on the left and in the back. I have coats hanging above the back bottom shelf. The top shelf is empty, the second shelf is salsa, mushrooms, strawberry/rhubarb pie filling and turnip greens. The bottom shelf is last years kraut. It's turning dark now, but we had a jar last week and it was still very good. On the left is asst. relishes in the middle is peach jam and blackberry and grape jelly.

I'm almost finished canning for the year. Today, I am going to start the tomato sauce. Some friends said we could have their grapes that will probably be ready next week. That will be jelly.

 

[Farmfresh]

Beautiful JOB! Both hubby on the closet and YOU for filling it!

What a nice comfortable feeling to have a closet full of good food!

 

[jenlyn9483]

Awesome closet! you have been busy. I have to pick greens today. I hate standing over the sink for hours picking throught them and washing them. Wish there was a better way. I don't have a pressure gauge for my Pressure canner yet so I just freeze mine.

 

[punkin]

Awesome closet! you have been busy. I have to pick greens today. I hate standing over the sink for hours picking throught them and washing them. Wish there was a better way. I don't have a pressure gauge for my Pressure canner yet so I just freeze mine.

When we wash greens, we fill 3 five gallon buckets half full of water. We wash greens in the first bucket till it's full, then they go to the second and so on to the third. We figure that if something is still on them after the third bucket, it's just extra protein.

 

[PamsPride]

Beautiful!!! How do you do your potatoes??

 

[Farmfresh]

I just fill the sink and splash in about a cup of vinegar then throw in the beans (or other veggie) and stir well. I let 'em soak for a good while then stir again vigorously and let the water settle. Then I carefully bale the cleaned beans out of the water (most of the grunge settles to the bottom of the sink) and let them drain. If they are especially dirty I might repeat this another time or two. The vinegar seems to help the dirt release. Then I rinse with clean water and presto they are done. I snap 'em in my rocker while watching a video.

I much prefer growing pole beans - they stay cleaner to start with!

 

[Farmfresh]

Beautiful!!! How do you do your potatoes??

For potatoes I start with a big old bucket and fill 'er up with water and taters!

I usually wash taters right after I dig them so I am usually HOT and dirty as well. I let the taters soak and rub and swish them around in the water for a while. Next I take them few at a time out of the bucket and using the strong shower feature on my garden hose I spray off me and any remaining mud. I have an old muck bucket (not used for muck) with a cracked bottom and after the individual spraying - when they are pretty clean - in they go. During this process I get me clean and pretty darned cool and wet! Finally I spray them a final time in the cracked bucket, which lets the dirty water out the bottom.

Any damaged potatoes are sorted out at this point, sliced with my mandolin and then dehydrated for potato dishes later. This way I don't have to worry about a bad potato ruining others.

When they are nice and clean I bring them upstairs and lay them out so they are not touching on an old plastic picnic table that is set up in my sewing room. They dry there for several days until they are nice and cured and dry. Then I sack them up in a mesh laundry bag biggest on the bottom and smallest on top. (The small ones won't keep as long so I use them first.) I hang the bag from the rafter in the darkest corner of my basement where the laundry room is. It is pretty cool and dry in there.

I can usually keep them all winter this way.

 

[jenlyn9483]

Does anybody have a method for freezing potatoes?