Today's harvest

[blissful]

Larry, I'm glad you are growing the mushrooms. Every year we say we want to do that and every year we have our hands full and never get to it. They look great, what fun! I hope they are very prolific.

 

[taxlady]

<snip>

It's already very humid here, cooking down apples and tomatoes makes it more humid, canning in the waterbath adds to the delight.

Would pressure canning or steam canning (now that it's a tested and approved canning method) put less moisture into your air? They both take a lot less water, so at least the pots aren't as heavy.

When I got a pressure canner, I started canning everything in it, jams, chutneys, ketchup, ... all stuff that can be water bath canned. It was just more convenient and all the lids snapped, every time. I can't promise that, but it was my experience.

 

[blissful]

Would pressure canning or steam canning (now that it's a tested and approved canning method) put less moisture into your air? They both take a lot less water, so at least the pots aren't as heavy.

When I got a pressure canner, I started canning everything in it, jams, chutneys, ketchup, ... all stuff that can be water bath canned. It was just more convenient and all the lids snapped, every time. I can't promise that, but it was my experience.

It's something to think about. I have a pressure canner, and I use it for gr. beans, corn, legumes of all colors. For me it takes about the same amount of time to heat up, then 10 minutes of venting, then pressure canning, the about 40 minutes to cool down and naturally have no pressure. It has never struck me as faster but it may be less humid.



I can fit 12 qts in my 33 qt waterbath canner, and more than 12 pints at a time, which is what I usually do instead of smaller batches of jars in the regular sized water bath canner. Yesterday 12 wide mouth pints of white-yellow tomato salsa.



I have heard other canners use their pressure canners for everything.

 

[GinnyPNW]

It won't be today, but maybe in a couple of days! I expect to harvest my first batch of microgreens. They are 3 days old now, but getting tall! It is a mix of Daikon and Purple Radish, Green and Red Mustard, Arugula and Cabbage. Fingers crossed!

 

[blissful]

Something every day, sometimes more than one thing.
Apples 12 qts of apple sauce.
Tomatoes 10 qts and 1 pint and one spilled on the floor.
10 pints of sweet sour pickles.
smoked red peppers dehydrated x2
4 quarts of diced frozen red peppers.

And tomorrow 12 quarts of apple sauce again.
We just keep working away at it. The weather is better now, nothing in the 80's or 90's.

 

[bethzaring]

Well, I harvested the onions yesterday, but canned them as caramelized this morning. This may or may not be my last load of caramelized onions this year.

 

[skilletlicker]

It won't be today, but maybe in a couple of days! I expect to harvest my first batch of microgreens. ...

Ginny, Please post more, perhaps in a separate thread. God Bless the big backyard gardeners, but there are a lot of neglected possibilities for folks limited to small indoor spaces.

 

[GinnyPNW]

Ginny, Please post more, perhaps in a separate thread. God Bless the big backyard gardeners, but there are a lot of neglected possibilities for folks limited to small indoor spaces.

Uh, oh! Be careful what you ask for...ha, ha. I don't have much going in my hydroponic gardens (AeroGardens) right now, as I've ended most of them for the summer. We like to take camping trips during the summertime. Right now, all I have is my first attempt at microgreens and a few basil plants that I'll be gifting soon...living with a curly parsley, just because there was room and it is so much better than store-bought parsley!

I used to have a Home Office, now I have a room that houses my gardens and shelves for my cookbooks. And a couple of gardens in the kitchen too. Next house, I hope to have a larger "office"...ha, ha!

 

[Bitser]

I've got an avalanche of tomatoes. One plant, a Siberian called Sasha's Altai, bore most of the large fruit. The cherries are Sakura, an F1 hybrid that bears dense clusters.

They're so pretty, I hate to puree them, but we can't keep up.

 

[GinnyPNW]

<<They're so pretty, I hate to puree them, but we can't keep up.>>

The pictures will keep!

 

[larry_stewart]

Great looking tomatoes. Mine are winding down. Picked a few half ripe ones today to let ripen indoors ( so the birds dont get them).

Walked by the mushroom log. Saw another 10 shiitake growing. Likely will be picked tomorrow or Thursday .

 

[blissful]

Well, I harvested the onions yesterday, but canned them as caramelized this morning. This may or may not be my last load of caramelized onions this year.

Those look lovely! I can see them in a stir fry, soup, stew, casserole. We're so overwhelmed with apples and pears right now we have all our keeper onions in the basement. I've told them, "no sprouting now"...but you know how onions listen.


We have over 50 qts of applesauce and now some pear sauce, and today we are canning another 12 qts of apple sauce, tomorrow more pear sauce. We just don't want to waste this gift from God and mother nature. It's just a very busy time of year for us.


The dehydrator is running, fruit leather, dill pickles and sweet pickles (the fridge was too full, and later some okara from making soy milk. Never a dull moment here.

 

[bethzaring]

Those look lovely! I can see them in a stir fry, soup, stew, casserole. We're so overwhelmed with apples and pears right now we have all our keeper onions in the basement. I've told them, "no sprouting now"...but you know how onions listen.

Thanks blissful. My latest passion is buying frozen puff pastry and making tomato, caramelized onion, and Jarlsberg cheese tarts. Oh my.

 

[larry_stewart]

Another round of Shiitakes
Did a quick boil to make a shiitake infused broth, then tossed the shrooms into a stir fry. Not sure what im going to do with the broth yet, but Ill figure something out.

 

[blissful]

There's 50 lbs of pears/apples for my dearest friend. Another 50 lbs of apples for applesauce we'll probably make tomorrow. My son and I picked 85 lbs of pears and apples today, for, whatever we want. We're kind of getting to the end of all of our patience with processing them. They are though an amazing windfall from God, so we are thankful.


We have an expandable pole, with fruit picker on the end. We both used it and learned not to pick up apples or be below, because some may fall, but neither of us were hit or injured. lol We also learned that picking close to noon, is not ideal if you are looking UP into the sun. It would have been better to pick later in the day but the temperature is going up to 90 deg F today. We'll probably pick another day again.

 

[larry_stewart]

Cranberries and apples.
Some of the cranberries were starting to rot, so I picked everything.
Went apple picking to supplement the crappy apples from my tree.
( Bet you cant guess which apples are mine )
Made 16 quarts of apple cider.
Can see on the table some of the squash we picked also from the garden.

 

[blissful]

Awesome apple cider!

 

[larry_stewart]

Love apple cider. To men cider resembles Autumn just as much as pumpkins and the changing color of leaves. My parents got this cider press when we were kids. We all made cider as a family. Then they did the same with the grand kids. I have now inherited it and made it with my kids ( until they moved to Maryland and China). We now make it ourselves, but look forward to making it with the next generation ( as long as they live semi local or at least visit this time of year).

 

[pepperhead212]

You're so lucky to have all that! How do you save the cider - freeze it?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

...Some of the cranberries were starting to rot, so I picked everything...

You grow cranberries? That is WAY cool!