|
Bloody Cat Farm posted:Does anyone have any experience with the more fungal resistant hybrids? I’m thinking of trying plum perfect and Iron Lady next year. I've historically planted a "safe bet" stretch of resistant hybrids and then a few different heirlooms that will either taste great or die horribly. Better Boy is my usual go-to, it rarely cracks and is very resilient to the damp environment here.
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2021 13:36
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 30, 2024 22:56 |
|
|
mischief posted:I've historically planted a "safe bet" stretch of resistant hybrids and then a few different heirlooms that will either taste great or die horribly. Better Boy is my usual go-to, it rarely cracks and is very resilient to the damp environment here. For fantastic flavor/texture, I haven't found much that beats a Cherokee Purple, but they aren't the highest yielding or easiest to grow.
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2021 14:12
|
|
|
I might try and go the hybrid and canning route with my tomatoes next year. I usually just plant a few Cherokee Purples and nurse them along. My favorite tasting tomato by far. I just harvested and dried all my hops, will hope to brew with them soon. Harvesting and drying peppers is next. Then I need to finally try and save my dried lettuce seeds for next year. After that I might try and do a fall planting of greens again before wrapping up gardening season here in MN. I hope next year I can invest more time and money into the garden. It ran wild this year with weeds and I didnt keep up with pruning things as I should have.
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2021 14:16
|
|
|
Pasatta - stew, crush, and strain, cook down by about 1/3, freeze in bags. It's also a nice method because you can cook any amount of tomato like that at a time as they ripen.
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2021 14:20
|
|
|
Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Even in my swamp I've had really good luck before with 'Brandy Boy.' It's a cross between a Better Boy and Brandywine. Really nice middle ground between 'tough as poo poo but not incredible flavor' Better Boy and the much better texture/thin skin/flavor of an heirloom like Brandywine. By far the easiest way of dealing with a tomato rush is buying a Victorio strainer or equivalent, pureeing them, and freezing the puree without cooking. (Huh. My googling can't find any Victorio-brand strainers; maybe they've gone out of business? Anyway, "or equivalent" will work.) Then, when you cook, you get fresher-tasting sauces. This style of strainer is awesome because, unlike with a food mill, you don't have to stop and scrape the debris out before adding fruit. With this style of strainer, the pulp and seeds spit out the side, while the pureed thingy spits out the spout.
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2021 19:21
|
|
|
Arsenic Lupin posted:Yes, I love Cherokee Purples. Always buy them when I see them at a farmer's market, then rush to eat them before they rot. I've moved to a cool coastal climate (annual high 85.7, August traditionally cool and foggy) so once I put a deer fence in, it's going to be Russian hybrids and prayer. I'd probably do this more if I had a second freezer, but it would take a lot of space to freeze all my excess. Learned this quickly this year. The beauty of canning is you can store them at room temperature in a basement or pantry.
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2021 19:58
|
|
|
I can’t WAIT to get a separate freezer
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2021 02:02
|
|
|
It fills up with frozen poo poo food like overnight though, even after I clean it out. It's a mystery - I don't even eat frozen pizza.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2021 02:18
|
|
|
Arsenic Lupin posted:Yes, I love Cherokee Purples. Always buy them when I see them at a farmer's market, then rush to eat them before they rot. I've moved to a cool coastal climate (annual high 85.7, August traditionally cool and foggy) so once I put a deer fence in, it's going to be Russian hybrids and prayer. i'd always hated raw tomato since i was a kid. then i had a cherokee purple in my mid 20s and it was very much a eureka moment.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2021 02:24
|
|
|
I'm getting a late start at some raised beds. Been wanting to take a crack at gardening a bit of edible plants. Finally getting a chance to go at it with some raised beds. The first one went up in a less-than-ideal spot and currently has a hodgepodge of purchased plants in it & some fall-winter herbs I sprouted from seed. Not expecting much of it to turn out well, but I have big plans for next year. I'm re-using older pressured treated decking material so I'm using plastic barriers in between the soil and the plants to be sure as little leaching occurs as possible. Bed 1 - Partial shade    Compost piles  Construction of a double raised bed section   I'll need to source a decent bit of wood as filler for the bottom of the beds, but I think they'll mostly be set up by the end of next week. Debating on planting anything in them or letting them lay dormant until next season. Any thoughts? Anyhow the general goal is to grow herbs and other difficult to find in store veggies. Gardening in general is pretty cathartic so if I can get stuff to eat out of it too I'll be super happy. onemanlan fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Sep 10, 2021 |
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2021 04:30
|
|
|
onemanlan posted:
https://www.groworganic.com/products/cold-zone-soil-builder-mix-raw-lb?_pos=3&_sid=870440494&_ss=r That's the cheapest cover crop i've found. They have different mixes based on your region and help build your soil. I'm in zone 5 and have freezing next month so i'm planting it over the weekend. Alternatively, you can leave some organic debris in there to decompose over winter. some leafy greens are good for end of season like kale or spinach
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2021 04:47
|
|
|
Pumpkin report Got 7 or 8 little guys growing and it's still flowering everyday.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2021 20:28
|
|
|
Jhet posted:No. Seedless watermelons are always lacking something. Most of the fruits that are seedless are less good than their regular counterpart. I stopped by my local independent produce guy this week. He had something like five different types of watermelons, so I asked what his recommendation was. He sold me on a dark‐skinned seedless watermelon. This melon had a brand, “Sweet Gem”. I picked out a ripe specimen with a deep yellow field spot. It is without question the best seedless watermelon I can recall eating, but I’m damning it with faint praise here. I don’t have any real doubt that I could have done better picking out a melon with seeds. If every place that exclusively served seedless watermelon had fruits this good, that would be a vast improvement, but I’m not going to buy another Sweet Gem when I have heritage options.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2021 20:31
|
|
|
Platystemon posted:I stopped by my local independent produce guy this week. He had something like five different types of watermelons, so I asked what his recommendation was. Seedless watermelons are definitely crossed for size, disease, and lack of seeds. While I no doubt that there will be decent tasting seedless watermelons out there, they're still nothing like some of the super flavor filled seeded crosses. It's like a lot of the strawberries out there. They're crossed for quantity and length of production season, not for great flavor. I can understand why they do it and having some strawberries in February is nice, but drat is it just not as great to eat.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2021 21:08
|
|
|
I cut my sunflowers today. According to the seed packet, to harvest the seeds I'm supposed to hang the heads upside down and let them dry out. All well and good, but as I found out, I don't have any string in the house strong enough to support the weight of a 12" diameter sunflower head. Will kitchen twine do the trick, or will I need something stronger still? I mean, I've got some 7mm cordelette, but not enough, and I'm not sure I could get it tight enough around the flower stems anyway.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2021 21:28
|
|
|
People told me "nine tomato plants for one person? You'll have so many you'll have to give them away!" I scoffed at them and I was right to, because there is essentially no limit to how many good tomatoes I can eat. However,  this is too many habaneros. Prior to picking these today I had already made a cup of habanero paste, which would easily last me until next year, and I LIKE spicy food. Next year I am definitely doing more varieties of less-spicy spicy peppers.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 00:17
|
|
|
showbiz_liz posted:this is too many habaneros. Prior to picking these today I had already made a cup of habanero paste, which would easily last me until next year, and I LIKE spicy food. Next year I am definitely doing more varieties of less-spicy spicy peppers. We found that a dehydrator was a solution for too many ghost peppers. This makes them easier to store and easier to use in cooking. Slice them thin, then dry. Then stop your spouse from putting them in every drat dish.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 00:26
|
|
|
I've had way too many cayennes, habaneros and ghosts. I cut many in half and dried in the oven before turning them into powder in a coffee grinder. Others I've dried and saved whole. And now I have several batches fermenting in my basement for hot sauce. Got a jar with beets, red onion, ghosts and garlic ready tomorrow. Purple sauce cometh tomorrow.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 00:36
|
|
|
showbiz_liz posted:People told me "nine tomato plants for one person? You'll have so many you'll have to give them away!" I scoffed at them and I was right to, because there is essentially no limit to how many good tomatoes I can eat. Infuse all this into oil
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 03:03
|
|
|
showbiz_liz posted:People told me "nine tomato plants for one person? You'll have so many you'll have to give them away!" I scoffed at them and I was right to, because there is essentially no limit to how many good tomatoes I can eat. hab jam bb
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 03:18
|
|
|
Those are beautiful habaneros. Not my favorite pepper but well done. That's a crazy prolific plant with the right environment. I'll echo the drying idea - I've always done it with sunlight but I'm sure a dehydrator would make it a lot faster with less loss. I've always dried my odds and ends at the end of a season and then made a powder out of them.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 05:47
|
|
|
Meaty Ore posted:I cut my sunflowers today. According to the seed packet, to harvest the seeds I'm supposed to hang the heads upside down and let them dry out. All well and good, but as I found out, I don't have any string in the house strong enough to support the weight of a 12" diameter sunflower head. Will kitchen twine do the trick, or will I need something stronger still? You can always loop the string down multiple times - if there's not too much friction on whatever you're hanging it off the different runs should take up the tension evenly enough.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 09:46
|
|
|
Motronic posted:So I've been canning tomatoes for sauce my entire life. But never paste. We use the UGA recipe - basically chop them up, simmer them down, run them through a food mill, then add flavour and citric acid and simmer down to the final consistency. The key is a lot of stirring or using a thick bottomed pan to prevent scorching. It's demoralizing to turn a big basket of tomatoes into a small pot of something that tastes like tomato flavoured forest fire. We use one of the clad bottom ss stock pots from Costco because we're cheap and lazy. Really cuts down on the stirring once you find the magic setting for the burner but you still need to pay attention towards the end.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 15:57
|
|
|
Hexigrammus posted:We use the UGA recipe - basically chop them up, simmer them down, run them through a food mill, then add flavour and citric acid and simmer down to the final consistency. Nice, thanks. And yeah, I figured there would be a deal of heat control and stirring - I've lots a batch of crushed over poor heat control before so I know cooking them down that far makes disaster even easier. I'm going to have to keep this in mind for next year.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 16:03
|
|
|
Meaty Ore posted:I cut my sunflowers today. According to the seed packet, to harvest the seeds I'm supposed to hang the heads upside down and let them dry out. All well and good, but as I found out, I don't have any string in the house strong enough to support the weight of a 12" diameter sunflower head. Will kitchen twine do the trick, or will I need something stronger still? You can double/triple up on the string if you need to. You also don't actually need to hang sunflower heads to dry them - they will dry fine on a counter as long as there is space between them. I've done this when we've had a period of damp, cool weather immediately after harvest - at those times the sunflower heads will mildew if they're hanging in a shed outside.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 16:11
|
|
|
A dehydrator is a one-purpose gadget, but once you have one you'll discover that dried fruits and vegetables are really useful. Furthermore, you can make jerky easily. A dehydrator makes most sense if you've got a very productive garden, a local farmers' market, or access to Costco. Things that are unexpectedly wonderful dried: tomatoes, leeks, and ghost peppers. Dried tomatoes are pretty much candy.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 17:38
|
|
|
mischief posted:Those are beautiful habaneros. Not my favorite pepper but well done. That's a crazy prolific plant with the right environment. I'll echo the drying idea - I've always done it with sunlight but I'm sure a dehydrator would make it a lot faster with less loss. I've always dried my odds and ends at the end of a season and then made a powder out of them. Too humid here to reliably sun-dry anything sadly. But today I'm gonna go look for a dehydrator and some pectin, to make some of these into jelly and some into flakes.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 18:18
|
|
|
Arsenic Lupin posted:A dehydrator is a one-purpose gadget, but once you have one you'll discover that dried fruits and vegetables are really useful. Furthermore, you can make jerky easily. A dehydrator makes most sense if you've got a very productive garden, a local farmers' market, or access to Costco. Things that are unexpectedly wonderful dried: tomatoes, leeks, and ghost peppers. Dried tomatoes are pretty much candy. While a dehydrator is clearly meant to dehydrate things, if you have one that has good and broad temperature adjustment, it can be surprisingly useful for other tasks. I've got an Excalibur that I love and in addition to dehydration, it's been used to proof dough in cold apartments, has made yogurt, and it makes the best drat meringue cookies. I also used it to dry (freshly washed) socks once when my clothes dryer crapped out the night before I had a flight.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 18:31
|
|
|
If you use a dehydrator for hot peppers, will that flavor show up in the next thing you dehydrate?
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 20:13
|
|
|
showbiz_liz posted:If you use a dehydrator for hot peppers, will that flavor show up in the next thing you dehydrate? Assuming you wash everything well enough, no. I have personally found it very helpful to add a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol to my normal "scrub with warm water and dish washing liquid because these trays are too big to fit in the dishwasher" routine, and that's been enough to keep spiciness away from even delicate flavors like apples. Do be aware that if you're dehydrating peppers with seeds, the seeds often fall out as the pepper dries, so you'll likely need to clean that out of the bottom of your dehydrator, in addition to the screens. Also, dehydrating onions isn't worth it if you have to do it in your living space. It's like tear gassing your home.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 20:42
|
|
|
A roommate once tried to caramelize habanero peppers and it definitely turned into a chemical weapon
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2021 23:49
|
|
|
I refer to my husband's standard stir-fry technique as "Szechuan napalm". God, I miss our vent; our new-to-us house makes it pretty much impossible to install an external vent over the stove. e: If you're just starting out dehydrating and aren't sure you won't want to keep it up, I would recommend starting with a plastic Nesco, which'll run you about $80. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Sep 13, 2021 |
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2021 00:22
|
|
|
My little nesco dehydrator is fabulous and I really recommend it. I'm always drying mushrooms in it or if I find good deals on fruits or my neighbors have extra fruit, etc, just dry it in to bags to throw into stews or just eat the chips, etc.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2021 00:30
|
|
|
I have a desiccant dehumidifier that I mostly use for dehumidification, but it doubles as a really good dehydrator when I stick a box I crafted for the purpose over the output.
Platystemon fucked around with this message at 00:54 on Sep 13, 2021 |
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2021 00:49
|
|
|
Platystemon posted:I have a desiccant humidifier that I mostly use for dehumidification, but it doubles as a really good dehydrator when I stick a box I crafted for the purpose over the output.  wut
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2021 00:52
|
|
|
 Warm, dry air comes out the vent. Route that over fruits/vegetables/whatever and they’ll dry out fast.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2021 00:56
|
|
|
i definitely get the concept, but some wires are getting crossed somewhere because "a desiccant humidifier that I mostly use for dehumidification" is some kinda weird double-negative, right? e: u ninja
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2021 01:06
|
|
|
Arsenic Lupin posted:Dried tomatoes are pretty much candy.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2021 05:05
|
|
|
i have so so many tomatillos. i've already made green salsa (and frozen some) and i'm gonna make chili soon, what else can use these things up?
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2021 05:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 30, 2024 22:56 |
|
|
Chard posted:i have so so many tomatillos. i've already made green salsa (and frozen some) and i'm gonna make chili soon, what else can use these things up? Oh I ran into this a few years back. You can freeze them, you can can them......that way you can just do whatever you want with them later. You don't have ato actually make them into anything right now, other than preserve them.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2021 05:33
|
|