Gardens anyone?

[rgfixit]

That's the problem Dom. How long can we hold out.

Wish you were around to test them over a frosty cold one and some shoes.

Rg

[drowndin dots]

That's the problem Dom. How long can we hold out.

Wish you were around to test them over a frosty cold one and some shoes.

Rg

That sounds terrible.....

[drowndin dots]

  Hey Loser, when are you and the other losers hitting the port?

[Raquettedacker]

Not sure yet. Was just talking about it the other day.. Not gonna be any salmon this year..

[SKUNK-MASTER]

just getting started with the whole canning thing........canned some applesauce and some peaches......want to do some pickles.....any suggestions on recipes or hints for spices etc. will be greatly appreciated......also salsa and sauce......I have made a few batches of sauce myself, but would like to know how people vary it?  Thanks in advance, SKUNK-MASTER

[SKUNK-MASTER]

oh yeah.....its kinda the horse b4 the cart thing, but going to build some raised beds for our first year garden in the spring......ideas/suggestions please

[Raquettedacker]

Raised beds use 3 , 2x10x8's to make 4x8 raised beds..
For pickles I just use Mrs. Wages comes in a bag just add water and vinegar and follow the recipe..

[Fishermantim]

Not directly related to gardening, although there is a garden nearby....

I had been putting out hummingbird feeders for a few years now, and this year they finally started showing up.

Here's an interesting observation..

Because of what the food consist of, I started having hornets, wasps and yellow jackets feeding from them.
No problem, as there was enough for everyone, birds and bees, to feed.

This week, however, I have been inundated by daily swarms of honeybees. They swarm the feeders from dawn to dusk.
They have pretty much shut out the hummingbirds because of their sheer numbers.

I did set out a wasp trap (device that traps and eventually drown the offending pests), but stopped using it because of all the bees that are around.

When I say sheer numbers, I'm talking from the hundreds to possible thousands, depending on the weather.

I figure that because of the drought conditions, these guys are hurting for reliable food source. No water means little or no flowers, which means little or no pollen. I figure that the bees have a hard enough time as it is, so a little food could go a long way to helping the little guys survive.

The best thing is that unlike hornets, wasps and yellow jackets, bees are generally non-aggressive and are only concerned with food.
I had them landing on me while I refilled the feeders and small bowls for them to feed from.

I might shoot for a video of me with a "swarm" of them on me (lured by sweet stuff) but I'll see how they are before I try.

[wallyworld]

That must be something to see. Not a fan of the yellow jackets, wasps  & hornets, but honey bees are kinda cool 

[rgfixit]

My home made yellow jacket trap seems to work pretty well.



Rg

[drowndin dots]

just getting started with the whole canning thing........canned some applesauce and some peaches......want to do some pickles.....any suggestions on recipes or hints for spices etc. will be greatly appreciated......also salsa and sauce......I have made a few batches of sauce myself, but would like to know how people vary it?  Thanks in advance, SKUNK-MASTER

I will pass on some advice I received from a most wist Fix It guy..... Use Mrs. Wages. That is all 

[rgfixit]

I like Mrs Wages, but , I've been experimenting a bit with my own as well. That yellow dye they use is a bugger to clean.

3 cups water ( distilled is better)
6 cups vinegar (5% acidity)
1/3 c canning salt
1-3 cups sugar depending on how mild you want them
2 tbsp mustard seed
2 tbsp dill seed
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp celery seed

Bring to almost a boil ( open the windows) and steep the spices in the brine. Use a non reactive pan. I have a stainless steel pot I picked up at Goodwill for a few bucks that's the designated brine pan. Although a good Teflon or ceramic pan will work, it'll take weeks to get the taste out of it. Pasta with a hint of brine ain't so good.

Pack the jars with chopped onion, a good teaspoon of chopped garlic, and a sprig of fresh dill. I also add some pieces of jalapeņo, cowhorn and some nasty little green peppers for some heat.

You can process them in a hot wat bath for 10 minutes or just do refrigerator pickles. Refrigerator pickles come out with a little less intense flavor and heat and should be consumed within 60 days.......like that's a problem.

For hot water processing, follow good canning procedures using clean sterilized jars pouring hot brine into hot jars. Those will keep for a year and just get better, hotter, better, hotter..........

To vary the flavor  a bit, I've used apple cider vinegar too. We like it, but it seems to soften the pickles a bit more than white vinegar.

As a side note, that same brine mixture makes dynamite pickled perch.

Chunk up some fillets and soak them in the fridge for 4 hours in a mixture of canning salt and distilled water. Use enough salt to float an egg. You'll have to warm the water a bit to dissolve the salt.

Drain and rinse the perch.

Same ratio of water to vinegar for the brine.

Cut the salt back to 1/4c

2 cups sugar

1 cup good semi sweet white wine

Add a couple tablespoons of pickling spices and bring the brine to a slow boil for a few minutes. Let the brine cool completely and  strain it before using it to fill the jars.

Pack the jars with layers of perch and onions, skip the hot pepper and peppers ( although I've never tried them with peppers Hmmmmm!) .
Stick a big jar of those in the back of the fridge for a couple weeks if you can stand to wait that long.

Remember to use only thoroughly frozen fillets. There's a possibility of parasites in any raw fresh water fish. Freezing completely eliminates any threat. At least a week in the deep freeze is good.

Rg

[fishnmachine]

It was Tomato Day for us.  We've put 14 trays of sliced plum tomatoes in the dehydrator, a 3 x 12 x 16 roasting pan full of chunked Italian style (roasted garlic olive oil, garlic, and sweet basil) tomatoes in the oven, and another equal sized pan of Mexican (garlic, cumin, cilantro, and chili powder) tomatoes in the oven. We also set up the kitchen-aide juicer and processed close to 8 gallons of sauce.  The roasted tomatoes will stay in the oven for a couple more hours (8 or so total) and will go into the freezer in the pan until they're set up.  Then we'll vacuum seal them into portions.  Once frozen the vacuum doesn't suck juice. The dried tomatoes will go into a gallon zip-lock. The sauce will probably simmer a couple more days, frozen in square plastic containers, then vacuum sealed. They stack like bricks on the freezer when done.  
   I took pictures  of each step throughout the day to share, but unfortunately my SD card decided to mess the bed today.  I lost around 190 pictures in all.  
Oh yeah, I almost forgot the absolutely freshest Bloody Marys you could ever have! 

[rgfixit]

That's  a full day in the kitchen for sure. I made pasta sauce yesterday and canned it up today. Probably the last 10 pints I'll do. It's just my Bride and I. How much pasta can we eat

I'm definitely gonna pickle some jalapeņo peppers and maybe some of my other hot peppers. We'll do a good batch of apple sauce over the next few weekends and maybe freeze up some beans if the crop I planted produces. I may buy some from the farmers market anyway.

I like knowing where my food comes from. I have a deal working for half a pig hat should fill the freezer with meat. My good friend "The Old Man" will provide me a deer as well. All I need to do is add some perch and we'll be happy for the winter. And, Wegmans is right down the road

I haven't starved yet.....and it shows

Rg

[fishnmachine]

We like knowing, too. That's why we do it.  It's just the two of us now, too. 
I asked my brother one spring if he was ready to plant his garden and he boldly stated that he could go to Price Chopper and buy frozen vegetables for a lot less effort than a garden took, but still asks me for stuff every year.