2022 Greenhouse/Gardening Chronicles

[Mary Terry]

I have had only minimal success with tomatoes. The cherry ones tend to do better. I had a volunteer tomato that did amazingly well and somehow I neglected to save seeds or cuttings.

You could also try eggplant and hot peppers in the summer.

I no longer try to get any vegetable gardening done in summer months. There are some tropical vegetables that grow all year here, perennials.

I grow all kinds of peppers in pots, too. Summer vegetable gardening is not nearly as productive as winter vegetable gardening here. I'm still harvesting turnip, mustard and collard greens, two kinds of kale, Swiss Chard, and several kinds of lettuce and radishes that I planted in containers last fall! I have 3 big metal livestock watering tanks, about 2 1/2 feet tall, with a removable plug in the bottom for drainage, that I use to grow vegetables and herbs. I bought them at Tractor Supply for about $100 each and they work great.

I'll buy another one in May when I get some new baby chickens. I put the chicks in the tank with a heat lamp suspended above it to keep the correct temperature for the chicks to mature until they can go outside and no longer are vulnerable to cold. Then I'll move the tank to the backyard to join the rest of my gardening tanks.

I'm too old to do all the bending over, weeding and hard manual labor required by raising crops in the ground. Container gardening is so much easier!

 

[Mary Terry]

I've been busy. So far, I have grown, harvested, processed and preserved these vegetables from the garden:

7 quarts of green beans - pressure cooker canned
6 quarts of okra - sliced and froze raw
3 quarts of purple hull peas - blanched and froze
9 quarts of Top Pick peas - blanched and froze
6 quarts of corn - blanched, cut off cobs, and froze

I also have picked gallons of blueberries, strawberries, and wild blackberries and either froze them for later or already made jelly and jam with them.

We can afford to buy whatever we want to eat so why do I keep on doing this?! (Rhetorical question).

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Well, if it isn't tiring you out, your own vegetables and fruits should taste better and be healthier for you.

My mangoes are starting to ripen. It looks like I will have a pretty good harvest this year.

 

[Mary Terry]

It does taste great compared with store-bought food. I know it contains peak nutrition because I process it on the same day I pick it. But I'm 70 and I do get worn out somedays, doing all this.

How do you preserve mangos? Can you just freeze them? I'd like to try making mango chutney.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

You can freeze mangos but the unique flavors dissipate. Plus hurricane derived power outages can take out a year’s supply.

I mostly dehydrate them. I have a good quality dehydrator. I eat dried mangos as snacks.

I am going to try canning some this year, now that I am retired and have time for it.

Adding lime juice helps preserve the flavor.

I love mango chutney. There’s a great chutney recipe in Putting Food By. Just substitute mangos for the peaches.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

You can freeze mangos but the unique flavors dissipate. Plus hurricane derived power outages can take out a year’s supply.

I mostly dehydrate them. I have a good quality dehydrator. I eat dried mangos as snacks.

I am going to try canning some this year, now that I am retired and have time for it.

Adding lime juice helps preserve the flavor.

I love mango chutney. There’s a great chutney recipe in Putting Food By. Just substitute mangos for the peaches.

I've been thinking about getting a dehydrator to process my garlic into dried powder.

 

[Mary Terry]

You can freeze mangos but the unique flavors dissipate. Plus hurricane derived power outages can take out a year’s supply.

I mostly dehydrate them. I have a good quality dehydrator. I eat dried mangos as snacks.

I am going to try canning some this year, now that I am retired and have time for it.

Adding lime juice helps preserve the flavor.

I love mango chutney. There’s a great chutney recipe in Putting Food By. Just substitute mangos for the peaches.

Good point about freezing them. I've bought frozen mangos, and the taste was not very good.

We have a food dehydrator. I'm going to buy some good mangos and dehydrate them.

I wonder if the chutney can be canned to preserve it long term. I don't see why not.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I've been busy. So far, I have grown, harvested, processed and preserved these vegetables from the garden:

7 quarts of green beans - pressure cooker canned
6 quarts of okra - sliced and froze raw
3 quarts of purple hull peas - blanched and froze
9 quarts of Top Pick peas - blanched and froze
6 quarts of corn - blanched, cut off cobs, and froze

I also have picked gallons of blueberries, strawberries, and wild blackberries and either froze them for later or already made jelly and jam with them.

We can afford to buy whatever we want to eat so why do I keep on doing this?! (Rhetorical question).

I am waiting for the tart cherries to get to the farmer's market from the orchards. I love to make jam with them and the flavor surpasses commercial jams.

I like to top sweet cheese blitzes with the cherry jam.

Plus, I have four jalapeño plants that I will let get as ripe as I can to make a fermented hot sauce.

 

[Mary Terry]

I am waiting for the tart cherries to get to the farmer's market from the orchards. I love to make jam with them and the flavor surpasses commercial jams.

I like to top sweet cheese blitzes with the cherry jam.

That sounds delicious. Cherries don't grow well here. We have a wild cherry tree in the front yard with cherries the size of BBs, much loved by the cedar waxwing birds.

I've had trouble with the little bits of fruit floating to the top of the jam jars rather than staying evenly dispersed. Then I discovered that I can let the hot jam sit for 5 minutes after I take it off the heat, and stir it every minute or so, then put it in the sterilized jars, and the fruit bits are much more evenly distributed.

Jelly is easier to make than jam, but I like jam better.

Edit - Did you see the news story about all the glass jars of preserved cherries found under George Washington's house? 200+ year old cherries and still edible!

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Good point about freezing them. I've bought frozen mangos, and the taste was not very good.

We have a food dehydrator. I'm going to buy some good mangos and dehydrate them.

I wonder if the chutney can be canned to preserve it long term. I don't see why not.

Yes. Chutney can be canned. In fact, you can do it without the hot water bath the old fashioned way which is no longer recommended but boiling the chutney in a hw bath ruins the flavor and texture.

I just use sterilized canning jars (pint and half pint), sterilized lids and pour the boiling chutney in. Put the lids on and turn them upside down to seal.

If money is not a factor, buy the mangos from a U.S. producer who will ship them to you. All foreign mangos must go through a hot water bath to kill pathogens on the surface. Ask the producer what variety you want. Makes a big difference in flavor..

I've had trouble with the little bits of fruit floating to the top of the jam jars rather than staying evenly dispersed. Then I discovered that I can let the hot jam sit for 5 minutes after I take it off the heat, and stir it every minute or so, then put it in the sterilized jars, and the fruit bits are much more evenly distributed.

Jelly is easier to make than jam, but I like jam better.

Edit - Did you see the news story about all the glass jars of preserved cherries found under George Washington's house? 200+ year old cherries and still edible!

You can also pour the jars right away, set your timer for 10 minutes or so, and turn the jars upside down or right side up, the opposite of where you started.

I love sour cherries and they do not grow well here.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

That sounds delicious. Cherries don't grow well here. We have a wild cherry tree in the front yard with cherries the size of BBs, much loved by the cedar waxwing birds.

I've had trouble with the little bits of fruit floating to the top of the jam jars rather than staying evenly dispersed. Then I discovered that I can let the hot jam sit for 5 minutes after I take it off the heat, and stir it every minute or so, then put it in the sterilized jars, and the fruit bits are much more evenly distributed.

Jelly is easier to make than jam, but I like jam better.

Edit - Did you see the news story about all the glass jars of preserved cherries found under George Washington's house? 200+ year old cherries and still edible!

Yes, I saw that news. Plus I have a recipe for cherry bounce from his time.

The jelly I make is garlic jelly from the German, Red, Hard Necked Garlic I grow. It i great to use on roasted meats and I spread some over the top of meat loaf I make in my smoker grill.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Yes, I saw that news. Plus I have a recipe for cherry bounce from his time.

The jelly I make is garlic jelly from the German, Red, Hard Necked Garlic I grow. It i great to use on roasted meats and I spread some over the top of meat loaf I make in my smoker grill.

I’ve never heard of garlic jelly. Garlic with meat is good, but isn’t the jelly sweet?

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I’ve never heard of garlic jelly. Garlic with meat is good, but isn’t the jelly sweet?

It is slightly sweet, but th garlic comes on very strong.

 

[Mary Terry]

I'd love the garlic jelly! You can pickle garlic cloves, too.

I made some barbeque sauce the other day by mixing together some blackberry jelly, ketchup, grated fresh garlic, minced fresh onion, pickled jalapenos and the pickling vinegar liquid from the jalapenos. I slathered it on some baby back pork ribs I had roasted at 300 degrees in the oven for several hours until they were literally falling off the bone and let it all roast together for another hour or so. The blackberry taste was faint but definitely there. It made sense to me as pork and fruit go together so well. Most people use brown sugar or some other kind of simple sugar to make southern style BBQ sauce, but jelly is a good substitute.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

I'd love the garlic jelly! You can pickle garlic cloves, too.

I made some barbeque sauce the other day by mixing together some blackberry jelly, ketchup, grated fresh garlic, minced fresh onion, pickled jalapenos and the pickling vinegar liquid from the jalapenos. I slathered it on some baby back pork ribs I had roasted at 300 degrees in the oven for several hours until they were literally falling off the bone and let it all roast together for another hour or so. The blackberry taste was faint but definitely there. It made sense to me as pork and fruit go together so well. Most people use brown sugar or some other kind of simple sugar to make southern style BBQ sauce, but jelly is a good substitute.

Excellent. Mango jam also works great in bbq sauce. Guava too.

Mango sauces are great with pork. But for some reason, garlic and sweet does sit right. I trust you and Gerald that it is good.

Maybe that would be a good way to preserve garlic. Actually, I can’t hardly grow garlic here, so it is moot.

I’m glad to get your directions for pork ribs. I no longer have a bbq grill/cooker and have been afraid I’d ruin the last side of pork ribs in the freezer.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I'd love the garlic jelly! You can pickle garlic cloves, too.

I made some barbeque sauce the other day by mixing together some blackberry jelly, ketchup, grated fresh garlic, minced fresh onion, pickled jalapenos and the pickling vinegar liquid from the jalapenos. I slathered it on some baby back pork ribs I had roasted at 300 degrees in the oven for several hours until they were literally falling off the bone and let it all roast together for another hour or so. The blackberry taste was faint but definitely there. It made sense to me as pork and fruit go together so well. Most people use brown sugar or some other kind of simple sugar to make southern style BBQ sauce, but jelly is a good substitute.

That is really nice. I also use mustard. I am going to try that with my cherry jam. One can get a cherry BBQ sauce from the Cherry Republic. I do not sauce my ribs, preferring a rub, so I have the sauce on the side. Right now I will start making my Smoked Meat Loaf. Sirloin, Italian Sausage, Sauteed Onions and Sweet Peppers, Panko, an Egg, Chili Powder (Ancho) a little Chipotle, Cumin, and my garlic Jelly on top.

 

[Mary Terry]

That is really nice. I also use mustard. I am going to try that with my cherry jam. One can get a cherry BBQ sauce from the Cherry Republic. I do not sauce my ribs, preferring a rub, so I have the sauce on the side. Right now I will start making my Smoked Meat Loaf. Sirloin, Italian Sausage, Sauteed Onions and Sweet Peppers, Panko, an Egg, Chili Powder (Ancho) a little Chipotle, Cumin, and my garlic Jelly on top.

That makes me drool.

 

[Judge]

@Mary Terry - What do you use okra for? Just wondering. Outside of gumbo I seldom hear much about it, but then without my kin being here I'm quite removed from Southern cooking.

 

[Mary Terry]

@Judge - Okra is used in gumbos, soups, dusted with cornmeal and fried, oven roasted and sprinkled with Tajin (Mexican chili lime flavor), stewed, pickled, dehydrated and eaten like potato chips. I sound like Forest Gump's friend, Bubba, talking about shrimp.

Indian and Asian cuisines use a lot of okra, too. It originated in Africa and was brought to the Americas by slaves, long after other continents discovered it. It supposedly is healthful for digestion. The slime factor coats the lining of the intestines and is helpful for people with diverticulitis and is believed to help prevent harmful bacteria from attaching to the walls of the colon. Has a lot of fiber, too. I actually like the sliminess when I stew it with tomatoes and other vegetables but not everyone does!

 

[Judge]

@Judge - Okra is used in gumbos, soups, dusted with cornmeal and fried, oven roasted and sprinkled with Tajin (Mexican chili lime flavor), stewed, pickled, dehydrated and eaten like potato chips. I sound like Forest Gump's friend, Bubba, talking about shrimp.

Indian and Asian cuisines use a lot of okra, too. It originated in Africa and was brought to the Americas by slaves, long after other continents discovered it. It supposedly is healthful for digestion. The slime factor coats the lining of the intestines and is helpful for people with diverticulitis and is believed to help prevent harmful bacteria from attaching to the walls of the colon. Has a lot of fiber, too. I actually like the sliminess when I stew it with tomatoes and other vegetables but not everyone does!

I like it too, just don't encounter it all that often here.