Gardening 2022

[hoosierdaddy1976]

Last of the tomatoes were picked on Friday, made into sauce yesterday, will be lasagna on Wednesday.

Have a quart jar of mixed peppers (jalapeño, Anaheim, and banana) brined and sitting on the counter to ferment. Hope to have some hot sauce in a couple weeks.

 

[Leadeye]

Cider makers? We have pears and apples coming ready. Have recently become a huge fan of cider, HARD cider especially. Any experience? Love to hear what does and does not work from those that have tried.

I use Lalvin 1118 yeast and 2-3 pounds of sugar per gallon of fresh apple juice. A teaspoon of pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient. When fermentation stops you will have a lot of stuff on the bottom of your container, but just rack into another one as it will take time to clear.

 

[hoosierdaddy1976]

Pulled the last of things today. A few cherry tomatoes (though we did have quite a few green ones and even a few blooms), some peppers that were hiding, and a bunch of dill and cilantro seeds packed up for next year.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Pulled the last of things today. A few cherry tomatoes (though we did have quite a few green ones and even a few blooms), some peppers that were hiding, and a bunch of dill and cilantro seeds packed up for next year.

Same here.

Cleaned the front garden out and tilled in a load of manure.

 

[Cozy439]

I use Lalvin 1118 yeast and 2-3 pounds of sugar per gallon of fresh apple juice. A teaspoon of pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient. When fermentation stops you will have a lot of stuff on the bottom of your container, but just rack into another one as it will take time to clear.

Thanks. Brand new to this... You mention fresh apple juice. Does that mean store bought? Many apples on the trees this year, wanting to try to make cider. Does the use of raw apples change anything?

 

[Frosty]

Anyone have any tips on growing cantaloupe? I’m thinking of trying to do them in containers, I don’t really have room for a garden, might give sweet corn a try too.

 

[Mij]

Anyone have any tips on growing cantaloupe? I’m thinking of trying to do them in containers, I don’t really have room for a garden, might give sweet corn a try too.

Corn is hard in a container (hand pollination). Wind is your enemy.

Cantaloupe vines, so that’s the issue there.

Maybe try a raised bed. Two saw horses a sheet of plywood. Some 1x6’s. And Miracle Grow Potting Soil. Put it on the ground on some paver bricks. That is a 4x8 area. Or hydroponics. Just my two cents.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Anyone have any tips on growing cantaloupe? I’m thinking of trying to do them in containers, I don’t really have room for a garden, might give sweet corn a try too.

Find a bush type cantaloupe for in containers.they usually have smaller fruits, but the vines are only like 4-6' so they won't spill so far out of the container. You will really have to pay attention to the watering also.

We use a bush variety in our garden just because we don't have a huge garden, don't remember the name but we save the seeds every year.

 

[Mij]

Find a bush type cantaloupe for in containers.they usually have smaller fruits, but the vines are only like 4-6' so they won't spill so far out of the container. You will really have to pay attention to the watering also.

We use a bush variety in our garden just because we don't have a huge garden, don't remember the name but we save the seeds every year.

Huummm. Cantaloupe bushes, sounds interesting. Guess you don’t want to walk under,em.


(Seriously tho, never heard of them. Been gardening for a while). But we don’t raise cantaloupe.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Huummm. Cantaloupe bushes, sounds interesting. Guess you don’t want to walk under,em.


(Seriously tho, never heard of them. Been gardening for a while). But we don’t raise cantaloupe.

They call them bush variety, but they still vine out like normal just shorter vine length.

Think sugar baby watermelon

 

[Leadeye]

Thanks. Brand new to this... You mention fresh apple juice. Does that mean store bought? Many apples on the trees this year, wanting to try to make cider. Does the use of raw apples change anything?

By fresh I mean no sorbates or sulfites added for preservation. These stop fermentation before it starts. When apples aren't available, frozen concentrates or juice from orchards that use UV for sterilization work well. Tuttles Orchard, over by Mt Comfort Airport was a place I bought apple juice for years and made lots of hard cider with.

When you get your hard cider complete, a good cold weather treat is to mix it with cinnamon, cardamom, all spice, and brown sugar, then serve hot.

 

[MRockwell]

Wanted to share a bit of info I got about canning lids. @PhotoNinja used to be a Project Manager for Ball products(when they were owned by Jarden), so she had the inside scoop on all things Ball before they came to market. She is still part of a group on social media that used to work for Jarden.

So that brings us to the latest thing she told me: Ball has a new competitor that is making lids in the US, called Superb. Initial info from those in the group is that these are high quality lids on par with Ball.

I'm not saying everyone should run out and buy a bunch of Superb lids, but it is something to keep your eyes on. I am planning on getting some wide mouth to check out, I have some chicken I am going to put up in jars.

Here is a link: https://www.fillmorecontainer.com/superb-wide-mouth-canning-lids.html
Superb also has a facebook page, but I haven't checked it out.

 

[bwframe]

Wanted to share a bit of info I got about canning lids. @PhotoNinja used to be a Project Manager for Ball products(when they were owned by Jarden), so she had the inside scoop on all things Ball before they came to market. She is still part of a group on social media that used to work for Jarden.

So that brings us to the latest thing she told me: Ball has a new competitor that is making lids in the US, called Superb. Initial info from those in the group is that these are high quality lids on par with Ball.

I'm not saying everyone should run out and buy a bunch of Superb lids, but it is something to keep your eyes on. I am planning on getting some wide mouth to check out, I have some chicken I am going to put up in jars.

Here is a link: https://www.fillmorecontainer.com/superb-wide-mouth-canning-lids.html
Superb also has a facebook page, but I haven't checked it out.

Thank you for the tip!

A little note. I looked at the great pricing and set up an account with the company in the link. All was good until it came to shipping. Just short of twenty bucks (UPS) was the cheapest option. Ugh...

If you were to order more than the 180 lids I was going to, the shipping cost would better absorb into the total per lid. At my order level though, it totals out at $.41 a lid.


.

 

[MRockwell]

Thank you for the tip!

A little note. I looked at the great pricing and set up an account with the company in the link. All was good until it came to shipping. Just short of twenty bucks (UPS) was the cheapest option. Ugh...

If you were to order more than the 180 lids I was going to, the shipping cost would better absorb into the total per lid. At my order level though, it totals out at $.41 a lid.


.

Yeah, I did the same after I posted here, and shipping is a killer unless you get a case of 24 ($0.27 per lid).

I searched online, and Amazon has them titled as Lehman's lids but they are around $0.58 per lid. Lehman's and Dutchman's Store have them, but again, shipping is a killer.

Hopefully they will start showing up locally.

Also found this review: https://www.simplycanning.com/superb-canning-lid/

This site has free shipping on orders over $50: https://vkpbrands.com/store/superb-regular-mouth-canning-lids-box-of-60.html *edit: just saw that the wide-mouth are ~$30...ugh

 

[hooky]

Been a while since I've been involved in a group buy and then it was usually mags or ammo.

Group buy on canning lids?

 

[Mij]

Seems to me there was a thread about canning lids long before canning season. Suggesting folks stock up on them due to supply chain issues.

 

[bwframe]

Been a while since I've been involved in a group buy and then it was usually mags or ammo.

Group buy on canning lids?

I thought about that also. Decided to keep my mouth shut, because group buys often turn to .


.

 

[Shadow01]

Last of the tomatoes were picked on Friday, made into sauce yesterday, will be lasagna on Wednesday.

Have a quart jar of mixed peppers (jalapeño, Anaheim, and banana) brined and sitting on the counter to ferment. Hope to have some hot sauce in a couple weeks.

I’ve had my tomato plants tented for a week in hopes of getting all the green ones to start to turn. I planted a week early and have great plants and lots Of tomatoes, but they only ripened a few a week and now I have 4 plants full of green tomatoes.

 

[Mij]

I’ve had my tomato plants tented for a week in hopes of getting all the green ones to start to turn. I planted a week early and have great plants and lots Of tomatoes, but they only ripened a few a week and now I have 4 plants full of green tomatoes.

Hint # 1

Learn to like green fried tomatoes if you don’t already.

Hint # 2

Your kitchen window is your friend.

yada, yada, —————————-

 

[Shadow01]

Hint # 1

Learn to like green fried tomatoes if you don’t already.

Hint # 2

Your kitchen window is your friend.

yada, yada, —————————-

Sadly our kitchen has no windows, just a door. All the available windows for ripening are on the north side of the house. If I can get them to start turning, I will pick them and bring them inside.