Author Topic: Cohutt builds a garden, Chapter 2 (Read 207519 times)

joeinwv · « **Reply #420 on:** July 22, 2010, 09:22:14 PM »

Cohutt - the closest I have found to having a 'fresh' tomato canned, is to use wide mouth quart jars and cold pack large tomatoes whole. These usually get skinned before going in the jar. Still not a fresh tomato, but nothing is...

This year I have just been coring and cutting into chunks and freezing. Your whole romas look perfect for sauce / chili this winter. The height factor definitely hurt me this year - I had brandywines that were 8' - post-storm they fell over about 1/2 way. Definitely hurt production. My pole beans and snow peas also got waay taller than I ever thought. If I had better support / more room, could have produced a hell of a lot more.

Next year I need to improve on my mismatch post / jute cord and staple gun methodology. Cattle panels / trellis look promising.

cohutt · « **Reply #421 on:** July 22, 2010, 09:38:13 PM »

I haven't measured any of the mammoths yet as they are just now reaching maturity. I'd estimate some are going to be almost a foot across, but supposedly they can be much larger.

Roswell · « **Reply #422 on:** July 23, 2010, 07:22:20 AM »

That sunflower is awesome!

No wonder your garden is doing so good. That thing is so big it probably pulls every bee within a ten mile radius to your yard.

very cool. I am going to try that next year. I haven't seen any bees this year and I think it hurt me.

jawjaboy · « **Reply #423 on:** July 23, 2010, 02:40:19 PM »

Quote from: cohutt on July 22, 2010, 09:38:13 PM

I haven't measured any of the mammoths yet as they are just now reaching maturity. I'd estimate some are going to be almost a foot across, but supposedly they can be much larger.

They big as these Cohutt?

cohutt · « **Reply #424 on:** July 23, 2010, 07:21:50 PM »

bout as tall as telephone poles

for real

cohutt · « **Reply #425 on:** July 23, 2010, 07:30:28 PM »

Quote from: joeinwv on July 22, 2010, 09:22:14 PM

Cohutt - the closest I have found to having a 'fresh' tomato canned, is to use wide mouth quart jars and cold pack large tomatoes whole. These usually get skinned before going in the jar. Still not a fresh tomato, but nothing is...

I had read that cold packing is no longer considered safe- how do you do it?

jawjaboy · « **Reply #426 on:** July 23, 2010, 07:43:08 PM »

cohutt · « **Reply #427 on:** July 25, 2010, 12:03:25 PM »

Tomato count, excluding tommie toes which are running amuck right now, is 1700 after this mornings harvest of Brandywines #s 202-237.

Didn't count the one below though-

For the record I hate all the frass creating creatures I've personally met so far-

fritz_monroe · « **Reply #428 on:** July 25, 2010, 01:18:45 PM »

Quote from: cohutt on July 25, 2010, 12:03:25 PM

Tomato count, excluding tommie toes which are running amuck right now, is 1700 after this mornings harvest of Brandywines #s 202-237.

Wow. Impressive. I'm going to push for many more tomato plants next year. I doubt that I'll be doing the grape tomatoes. They are very prolific, but other than eating them on salads, what to do with them?

cohutt · « **Reply #429 on:** July 25, 2010, 03:12:29 PM »

Thanks fritz, it has been a good year.
Some thoughts:

A spring warm snap raised soil temperature significantly in the 3 weeks before my average last frost date. The plants I put in were huge and had been repotted 2 times prior to being planted. Big plants + warm soil = early growth and flowering (my theory anyway.)

Mid april is my average last frost date so the plants have been in for about 100 days.

It wasn't a damp june like last year when disease spread easily and the plants lagged due to few sunny days.

Every tomato plant was grown in soil mix that had never had a tomato (or potato) plant growing in it before. This gave me pretty much a disease free plot starting out. I did have one plant get swamped with a black fungus but I immediately pulled and destroyed and dodged a bullet.

Small = More. Roma VF was chosen due to fair disease resistance and a reputation for being prolific. It hasn't disappointed, with the 16 main plants putting out over 85 each on average, but remember these are 2-3 ounce paste & sauce tomatoes.

I can't keep up with the tommie toes at this point- I have two gargantuan plants that are now putting out dozens every day. They actually have a function in the garden I didn't expect though; ever since the birds figured out I was serious about netting up the bigger varieties, they gave up mostly and moved to the tommie toes. In this case, there are enough for all of us.

LvsChant · « **Reply #430 on:** July 25, 2010, 06:56:58 PM »

Quote from: cohutt on July 23, 2010, 07:30:28 PM

I had read that cold packing is no longer considered safe- how do you do it?

My Jackie Clay cookbook has a method for raw pack:

Fill jars with peeled, cored, raw tomatoes, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Add 1/2 tsp. salt, if desired and 1 T. lemon juice to each pint and 2 T. lemon juice to each quart. Ladle boiling tomato juice over tomatoes, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim of jar clean; place hot, previously-simmered lid on jar, and process pints for 40 minutes and quarts for 45 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.

TwoBluesMama · « **Reply #431 on:** July 26, 2010, 09:36:24 AM »

Quote from: LvsChant on July 25, 2010, 06:56:58 PM

My Jackie Clay cookbook has a method for raw pack:

Fill jars with peeled, cored, raw tomatoes, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Add 1/2 tsp. salt, if desired and 1 T. lemon juice to each pint and 2 T. lemon juice to each quart. Ladle boiling tomato juice over tomatoes, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim of jar clean; place hot, previously-simmered lid on jar, and process pints for 40 minutes and quarts for 45 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.

Because during harvest I'm overworked and definitely underpaid this is the method I've always used (or maybe I'm just lazy because I pretty much raw pack everything). The key is the lemon juice - it's what brings the acidity up and makes it safe. I sometimes find science annoying in all the "new" ways to do things - are they trying to scare people off canning their own food? Ah well - sorry to rant but you know how I am.

Ick on the tomato worms - too bad you can't find a use for them - grasshopper hor d'oeuvres?

Awesome sunflowers - I love love love sunflowers - my favorite flower. Send some my way as DH took over my sunflower bed for strawberries - food or pretty? Dang, food wins out every time - just haven't found a new place to grow some. Hope you are enjoying all your abundant harvest. Blessings TBM

Roswell · « **Reply #432 on:** July 26, 2010, 09:56:11 AM »

Is there an easy way to shell all those sunflower seeds? Like a sunflower gin or something. The other day I was at Cracker Barrel and saw shelled sunflower seeds that were chocolate covered. I thought it sounds very good, but man that would be SO tedious.

BTW, about how many seeds do you get from one of those big ones?

cohutt · « **Reply #433 on:** July 26, 2010, 06:33:04 PM »

Ros,

From what I have read, the commercial sunflower seed shellers are air/impact oriented, causing the shell to split open then the hull is blown or vacuumed away.

Haven't counted seeds yet, a few baseball park packs worth at least.

lvschant and tbm, thanks, my mother basically said the same. Lemon juice or absorbic acid takes the risk out.

I should learn from her more but I guess I'm just pigheaded. She is pretty talented at all this stuff, she wrinkled her nose when we were talking about making jelly/jam and I asked about pectin. She said she won't the grocery store stuff, that only home made stuff works the way she likes.

TwoBluesMama · « **Reply #434 on:** July 26, 2010, 09:33:39 PM »

Quote from: cohutt on July 26, 2010, 06:33:04 PM

I should learn from her more but I guess I'm just pigheaded. She is pretty talented at all this stuff, she wrinkled her nose when we were talking about making jelly/jam and I asked about pectin. She said she won't the grocery store stuff, that only home made stuff works the way she likes.

Dang Cohutt - I wish I had a mother who knew any of this stuff - my mother's idea of canning is to tell someone how to open a can of soup. I think you'd be wise to pull up a chair and listen as some of our older folk know tons of stuff we don't and it's becoming harder to find anyone who knows the old ways. And yeah I understand that it can be difficult as our parents get older (trust me I do know!) but maybe you'll learn something really useful especially if SHTF and there are no stores and no place to buy pectin - it would be great to know how to make your own. I know I've read about it years ago but never thought about it again until you brought it up. Please ask her how she makes her own and share with us. Thanks and blessings (okay I'm done giving you a hard time - although I hope you know it was done with love and good intentions).

Remman · « **Reply #435 on:** July 26, 2010, 10:43:38 PM »

WOW cohutt you are an inspiration.

LvsChant · « **Reply #436 on:** July 27, 2010, 06:21:59 AM »

Yes... we had a thread on making our own pectin somewhere... but I never tried using it after I made up a batch (got busy and it got too old in the frig). I'd love to hear about someone who really knows what she's doing...

cohutt · « **Reply #437 on:** July 27, 2010, 10:17:56 AM »

I'll ask her when i get back in town next week. She grew up in northern VA apple country and everyone there used apples or apple skin somehow.

Thank you Remman- I always remind folks I just started this project 13 months ago. If I can do it anyone can.

swoods · « **Reply #438 on:** July 27, 2010, 07:47:47 PM »

Quote from: cohutt on July 27, 2010, 10:17:56 AM

I'll ask her when i get back in town next week. She grew up in northern VA apple country and everyone there used apples or apple skin somehow.

Thank you Remman- I always remind folks I just started this project 13 months ago. If I can do it anyone can.

I just read about making your own pectin using apples. The book is called The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. Some great recipes in there for when you don't have a bushel of something to preserve.

cohutt · « **Reply #439 on:** July 28, 2010, 02:31:04 PM »

Thanks swoods- +1
That might be a good resource for me since I really want to try it "a little" before I invest in a lot of equipment (and time).

Roswell · « **Reply #440 on:** July 28, 2010, 02:33:46 PM »

Cohutt, you are always welcome to borrow my pressure cooker if you need it. Just let me know.

cohutt · « **Reply #441 on:** July 28, 2010, 02:46:23 PM »

Quote from: Roswell on July 28, 2010, 02:33:46 PM

Cohutt, you are always welcome to borrow my pressure cooker if you need it. Just let me know.

Now that's an interesting offer. THANKS. Will talk to you this weekend hopefully.

Roswell · « **Reply #442 on:** July 28, 2010, 06:24:59 PM »

Quote from: cohutt on July 28, 2010, 02:46:23 PM

Now that's an interesting offer. THANKS. Will talk to you this weekend hopefully.

PM sent

martomic · « **Reply #443 on:** July 29, 2010, 05:27:41 PM »

I know you posted the pic a little while ago, but how did you cook the sheepnose pimento?

cohutt · « **Reply #444 on:** July 30, 2010, 09:37:16 AM »

Really only freezing them so far and doing a little nibbling along the way. A good pimento cheese is the goal.

cohutt · « **Reply #445 on:** August 02, 2010, 08:08:53 PM »

Jack has nothing on me when it comes to succession planning- these pecans growing out of one of my potato beds will be dropping nuts in no time, maybe 10 years lol

The ground cherries that flopped earlier are fighting back, have escaped the bed and are trying to cover my dug out of the garden bottle collection.

The Goliath tommie toe plant just keeps on growing and producing

Artichokes don't look like they will be providing much (the fire ants let me know that it was time to move on.)

cohutt · « **Reply #446 on:** August 02, 2010, 08:44:43 PM »

The asparagus put out some serious growth in July after a little rain came and is now taller than me in several spots.

LvsChant · « **Reply #447 on:** August 03, 2010, 07:28:57 AM »

wonderful stuff! I am jealous of your ground cherries... I tried a couple at Jack's when I got the tour of his garden (really yummy!). I never got anywhere trying to get mine started from seed this year. I'll try again next year in GA. Your asparagus looks terrific, too.

TwoBluesMama · « **Reply #448 on:** August 03, 2010, 07:45:20 AM »

Once again I'm impressed with your garden - pretty amazing for someone who started gardening what - a little over a year ago? I quote you from an old post:

I started from zero last may-
zero gardening expertise
zero garden space
zero local mentors
zero idea where it would go

Shows everyone what hard work and planning can do and that everyone can grow your own food. Nice job Cohutt - you've definitely done an impressive job and Mama doesn't impress easily.

fritz_monroe · « **Reply #449 on:** August 03, 2010, 10:08:05 AM »

Welcome back and glad to see an update.

LvsChant, definitely give those ground cherries another try. I can't kill them, and believe me, I tried. Mine were out in the frost and all that was left was a 4" stick. They have come back and are producing like mad.

News:

Author Topic: Cohutt builds a garden, Chapter 2 (Read 207519 times)