WR's 2014 Spring Garden

[ErnieCopp]

I will put the watermelons on the trellis, too, and use a Bra if necessary. The drip system keeps the spot at the emitter moist when the foliage gets too dense, and if a melon sits in a wet spot, the moisture can cause a problem. If the Honeydew vines can carry the weight, the Persians should be able to. The Cants are ripening faster now than we can use them.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

Picked more okra, jalapenos, cucumbers, spaghetti squash & some of the smaller green peppers (to be roasted with onions so we can finish the GTO sauce).

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Now that the GTO sauce is done, the next canning project will be the stewed tomatoes & okra.

 

[w_r_ranch]

We were hoping to get a few days off, however I had no choice but to pick more tomatoes & okra, which I roasted for stewed tomatoes & okra.

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Also picked a couple more cucumbers, one of which is huge!!! It is 13" long & the 'little' one is 11" long, LOL!!! We can seem to eat them fast enough!

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While taking our before supper stroll through the garden, we spotted these!!!

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[w_r_ranch]

Spent the afternoon canning the stewed tomatoes & okra. Almost done with canning for the year & will finally be able to put the canning pot away!!!

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We still have plenty of food to process & meals to prepare, like stuffed peppers & the 'sweet hots', so we'll still be busy for a while yet.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Picked japs for supper tonight (stuffed) & more okra.

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Oh, I also did a lil' baking... Made a pear/fig cake for dessert (from our fruit trees)... something different!

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[w_r_ranch]

Picked okra, cucumbers & jalapenos (a lot of them, ~ 10 lbs). Now some of you may probably be wonder what that crazy man is going to do with that many peppers. Well, we're going to make relish, specifically sweet-hots & hot-hots (aka Holy Jalapeno Relish).

I cleaned/seeded all of them & got all the fine dicing done, which took the better part of the day... I'll finish both batches tomorrow as Mrs. Ranch needs to run to town for more lids & sugar. Needless to say my hands are on fire, I can actually feel my cuticles/fingernails & my arthritis is totally gone for the moment, LOL!!!

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[Mr_Yan]

I did some great pickled jalapenos one year. Get into those often?

 

[w_r_ranch]

Oh heck yeah, we made 8 pints of pickled slices last week!!! Our favorite way has/will always be 'stuffed' with cheese & venison w/a piece of bacon on top... We been eating them that way every 3rd day for weeks now!!! The japs are really producing with our 95 degree days here.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Got both batches of jalapeno relish canned up today (14 half-pint jars of each variety). My hands are getting better too, now I only feel the heat when they get wet, LOL!!!

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[45 ACP]

Very nice WR!

Are you canning the relish and stewed tomato/okra in a boiling water bath?

Could you post the stewed tomato/okra recipe?

 

[w_r_ranch]

Yes to both. Relish is in half-pint jars & were in for 7 minutes. The stewed tomatoes & okra are in pint jars & were in for 20 minutes.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Sprayed Malathion on all the melons & the okra (after picking) as the aphids appeared with a vengeance in the last 48 hrs.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Picked some jalapenos & green peppers per Mrs. Ranch's request, as she is going to make stuffed peppers tomorrow (both kinds).

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Also picked a heaping tub of tomatoes as they couldn't wait any longer. I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but I did know that I wasn't going to let them go to waste after the effort that went into growing them... Then it dawned on me - Tomato Soup!!! So I was off & running, washed & cut them in half, then got out the KitchenAid mixer & setup the strainer attachment. About 2 hrs later, everything was cleaned up & put away. Now the 'soup' has to simmer while it condenses down. We'll can it up tomorrow.

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Then it was time to think about supper... I had already made the bread dough for today so I figured what the heck, we're going to have something simple, yet tasty!!! Yeah, it's one of those days when things just seem to fall into place!!!

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[whistech]

Mr. Ranch, everything sure looks good. I like that strainer attachment for the Kitchen Aid. I have never seen one of those.

 

[Mr_Yan]

...got out the KitchenAid mixer & setup the strainer attachment...

I've almost bought this attachment a few times but the strainer cone has me a bit confused. I know the old school hand-crank versions (like this one)have interchangeable sizes of strainer cone but I have not found different size cones for the KA mixer attachment. Have you found different sizes for this one?

 

[w_r_ranch]

No Mr. Yan, but I never felt a need for another one to be honest with you. The 'size' we have works perfectly & I do not have any reservations recommending it.

Whistech, I bought this KitchenAid unit for Mrs. Ranch as a wedding gift, as well as every attachment available at that time. She's bought everything that came out since then. Heck it has served us so well for 30 yrs, that every appliance in the house (with the exception of the Maytag washer & dryer) is KitchenAid, LOL!!!

 

[Mr_Yan]

Heck it has served us so well for 30 yrs, that every appliance in the house (with the exception of the Maytag washer & dryer) is KitchenAid, LOL!!!

Whirlpool owns both brands - KitchenAid and Maytag

 

[Rahab222]

For burning hands from peppers, cut a lemon in half and smooth the juice all over the area that's been exposed to the peppers. If I don't have a lemon, I just wash them well in lemon juice and don't wash my hands. It really works!

 

[w_r_ranch]

It was late last night before we just finished canning the soup... it took a while to reduce it down to the proper consistency... We got 24 pints total. Still need to do the labels.

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[ErnieCopp]

Sam, Update om when to pick the Green Persians. I have been paying attention, and what i have found so far, is that if the yellow reaches all the way to the stem end, the blossom end will be a little overripe. So i am picking with half to three quarters yellow with some green still showing and having good results.

On the crossbreeding, the Persians crossed with the Hale's Best Cantaloupe, producing a smooth yellow skinned cantaloupe that is good, but not better than Hales, so will probably not replant those seeds.. The Nutmegs that were mostly bi-colored last year seem to be either all orange meat or all green meat, and i am saving seed from both of them. I like the green meated ones best.

None of the Persians have shown signs of being cross bred. Water melons are especially good and sweet, so saving seeds from them.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

It hit 105 yesterday afternoon... Even the eggplant & the watermelon look wilted in spite of the deep watering the previous night. I'm going to pick the rest of the spaghetti squash, cucumbers & tomatoes in this morning & pull up the plants so the vines can finish dying. We are heading into the 2 weeks of summer that are referred to as 'Hotter than Hell Week'. The air in the afternoon is starting to take on a brassy hue & even smells hot/burnt.

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[ErnieCopp]

Sam,
If your watermelons are not ready yet, then my garden is about two weeks ahead of yours, as my watermelons were ripe about the same time my first persians were. I do not keep records, but i remember i planted my melons about 3 weeks before you planted yours. So the persians just need more time, as probably some of your watermelons will.

I remember that hot brassy summer weather from Kansas in the early thirties, but that was before Air Conditionong and what i remember most were sleeping on damp sheets from the hot sweaty humid nights.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

Picked tomatoes, okra & the rest of the spaghetti squash & cucumbers, then removed all the spaghetti squash & cucumber vines from the vertical bull panel trellis'.

Vacuum packed the stuffed green/red sweet peppers that Mrs. Ranch made & froze yesterday.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Picked jalapenos, green peppers, okra & a few tomatoes. Found 3 more watermelons that split (that's 15 in the last 2 days)... the hot sun is taking it's toll...

 

[ErnieCopp]

I am having some sunburn problems with my melons, as well as more splits than i had last year. The Persians are ripening real fast. One had a little bit of yellow on it yesterday and i was shocked at how much moreso today, so i picked it. We have picked all of our watermelons and nutmegs now, but still have a lot of cantaloupe and Persians in all sizes. Sunburn turns white and then brown, but seems to affect the outside only as i sliced it off of one and inside was okay.
The green Persian that got knocked off the vine early is turning yellow now on the kitchen counter, so will cut it in a day or so and see if the flavor developed okay.

I like the Okra, and it seems to taste a bit like Sea Scallops to me. I am going to save some seed, but what is in the large pods now is white, and seeds you gave me were black. Do i need to wait until the plant is dying to save some seeds or do the seeds turn black while drying?

Ernie