Wow, the weather we've been having!

[CHecker]

Here's a pic of the beauties before I put them in the pantry. I should have yesterday but I'm bushed. 

[MzT]

So I already know I want to visit Cheryl and Grumpy when I make my cross country trips to meet the friends around North America. Such beautiful gardens...I wish I had focused a bit more and put in my mini garden too.

[CHecker]

Then spend time now preparing for next year. I'm always planning in the summer on what I will do early spring. The more I can get done in the dry summer means the less I have to do in my boots up to my knees in mud! This garden is always in flux. I found I want to grow more spuds and squashes, but they need room. So my little space has grown again. I bought 6- 2x6x10's so I can put up a secondary wall all around the garden, I need to widen 3 sides by nearly 3 feet. Tomorrow after service I"ll be putting up the walls, getting grass clippings from the pile at the Hall and shoveling in beautiful barn soil with extra worms. One side will be squash, one whole row at 26 feet will be spuds and the third new side will be cucumbers. Then in the exisitng garden will be green beans, I want to plant at least 25 plants. I don't want to buy beans to can next year.

 

THEN......you have to keep in mind the weather! We're having a beautiful summer this year, I haven't closed my doors at night since end of May! BUT next year may be rainy and I may get a drowned garden. So I have to adjust my plan. But I do not want it to take up so much time it gets in the way of service and meetings. Canning is time consuming enough, have to keep the garden in it's place. I find 45 minutes in the evening is all I need to do to keep it healthy. And that's usually talking to it and ooohhh-ing and awww-ing at it most of the time.

 

Let me know what you plan for next year and what you're doing to prepare for it.  

 

I'm going to leave this but I sound like such a know-it-all. PLEASE do not think I am. I'm a simple humble appreciative woman who has plants growing in her back yard!! It's Jehovah who makes it grow, HUH?

Edited August 3, 2014 by bagwell1987

[MzT]

Lol...you don't sound like a know it all, at all. Actually you've given excellent advice. I bought my plants for my garden this year with the idea to plant but I hadn't thought of enough time to do the work. As a result, I lost my little crop before I planted them. :-(

The suburbs leave little space for larger gardens but I really enjoyed the fruits of my labor in my mini garden last year. I hope that I can get a jump on my time so that next spring I can take a mini vacation to plant a garden. I will definitely ask more questions as I need all the help I can get.

Do you grow organic produce?

[CHecker]

I grow all organic. I use seaweed and epsom salt as fertilizer as well as using good barn soil from Tillamook, Oregon- a well known town for making wonderful cheeses, yogurt, sour cream and milk. Organic is easy- don't use anything in it you wouldn't eat! And I encourage birds to frequent it by throwing out bird seed and then they go in the garden and eat the snails and slugs too. I find empty snail shells all the time.

But if you plant a simple garden in the spring plan now. Get the fertilizer in and turn your soil. I'd see about finding a farmer who has a pile from the barn out back and ask him. I do that whenever I can. But if that's not available there are bags of it at garden stores that are just fine, chicken fertilizer seems to be really good as it doesn't have the grass seeds and it's really potent. I'd put chicken fertilizer in now and turn the soil. Then sit back and make your plan. 

 

I'm excited for you. I hope you'll continue to let me know how you do. This is a talent we can use in the New System so I don't hold back from learning or doing. My pantry is kinda bare but here's what it looks like now. This could be yours too.

 

Wow, I got a double image, moderators can you fix this for me??? Sheesh!

Edited August 4, 2014 by bagwell1987

[CHecker]

The garden is able to grow 3 different plantings of lettuces, aren't they beautiful? And this is my second crop of potatoes. They are growing like crazy. I've had to rebury them 3 times now and by Sunday I'll have to do it again!

AND Brigette, here is my bitty girl helping me with canning, she has all the rings separated by large rings and small rings, I got so tired of looking for small ones I just had her separate them all. And she peeled pears, got jars and soaked them in hot soapy water, got the lids ready in a cup of boiling water, and was my go to girl all day. She's a trooper!

AND here's what we got canned today, pears. I'm so thankful only 1/2 were ripe enough to can. It's exhausting. 

 

[shali]

Cheryl, do you realize the work ahead of you when Jehovah BLESSES the earth?!!!!!

[shali]

Cheryl, your grand daughter and I are kindred spirits too - I love that kind of repetitive, boring work! LOL I hope you give that girl lots of love! She deserves it for working so hard! You giver her a purpose in life! haha!

[MzT]

Checking Google Maps for directions to Cheryl's house now.

[CHecker]

She really is my "girl" and she knows it! We work in the garden together and I make sure she gets dirty! She needs to know that soil is not dirt. Soil is soil. Fit for growing! Next year I'm going to introduce her to the rototiller. She can run it but her main job will be to clean the tines. Learning to maintain the equipment must be done young.

 

Thanks for your interest Brigette, not many people like the things I do. I appreciate how Jehovah lets the earth work for us. Really appreciate it, and in the new system......I'm here. Sign me up! 

[CHecker]

Checking Google Maps for directions to Cheryl's house now.

Tammi, you're only in NJ, I can direct you......................

[MzT]

I'm coming over to can with you.  Love that you do it.  Definitely want to do so preplanning for next year with you as I want to set up a canned supply of food as well.

[CHecker]

Any way that I can help just ask. I have 2 pantry's filling up. I was raised this way and can't help myself. BUT I have to say when someone wants something good to eat they come here! It's either from the garden or from the pantry or both. 

[MzT]

Forgot to tell you that a local cooking store had classes about canning this month.  They were $95.   I stopped by the store the day they were teaching this class and saw jars of canned corn only.

[CHecker]

Tammi, I think classes could be good for some people, but it's so repetitious that you'd get the hang of it fast. Schools could complicate it to create a class for money but it's really not necessary when you have me!! HA!  

 

I think I could Skype you and teach you everything you'd need to know. Canning has basic uncomplicated rules. Acid/nonacid foods, canning protein foods, proper treatment of jars and rings, food handling and where you get your food. That's about it. Maybe I'm forgetting something, been doing this so long, but that's about it. 

 

You were the one who was talking about gardening earlier this year weren't you? Soo, you getting the garden spot ready? Remember to have a compost bucket in the kitchen, anything that NOT animal protein, all vegetable, is what you throw in there. Well, wait, I don't throw fruit scraps in my garden so I guess I should say all veg scraps go in the bucket. I put all fruit scraps under the big tree in the back. It draws all kinds of flies and gnats.  

[MzT]

Yes, we were talking about gardening earlier.  I need to have a clear plan for next spring/summer's garden.  I have a compost pile with homemade compost containers.  The set up costs me like $26 per can.

 

I would love to do a Skype canning session/lesson.     That would be awesome as I think it would help me answer the questions I have about the process & needed equipment.  I have been on the hunt for a pressure canner (at a discount!) - do you think it's necessary equipment for canning or not useful at all?

 

I've been teaching myself how to make breads and bakery quality products but canning still scares me (a little).  This is one reason why I truly love Jehovah's organization.  So many different experiences and skill sets that we are all willing to share with each other. 

[CHecker]

I try to keep everything uncomplicated. Let me make a suggestion on how to begin. Get a hot water canner, found in all hardware stores. Here's mine circa 1989! And along side it is the pressure cooker. You can see the difference. So get one like the black one. 

Then you'll need a large stainless stock pot, a jar grabber and big funnel. That's all you'll need to do peaches, pears, tomatoes, applesauce and anything else that's high acid. You should already have everything else you'll need in your kitchen. 

If you don't have a canning book go here to get yours- http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Complete-Book-Home-Preserving/dp/0778801314/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409423540&sr=8-1&keywords=ball+home+canning+book, it's wonderful.

 

I don't have a compost pile. I have 3 random piles of grass clippings, leaves and other stuff. Just piles. My mom-in-law did this and then the next year threw potatoes out there and put more clippings and debris on them. Man oh man did she have a pile of spuds! So my piles this year are staying and in march or so I'll get my seed spuds and put them in the 3 piles. And your garden can just be a spot in a flower bed where you'd like to grow something. Ok so in NJ a cucumber, a tomato, a bunch of dill (I'll send you a seed head if you want to plant it now, it will come up in spring) carrots, potato whatever you'd like to grow. Keep it small and go to farmers markets or call a local community store and ask which local farms they buy from and you can buy your own foods to water bath can. Keeping it small will help it not be overwhelming and you can ALWAYS make it bigger. 

 

I've talked too much, that's it for now.

 

 

 

[CHecker]

Ok, here's an update for those of you who give a hoot. I have been so impressed with this years' garden, what Jehovah allows my soil to grow is amazing! I can say I'll be duly impressed with how it grows in the new system after going through this year!

Here's some pic's of the last few days, and I mean it changes and grows every day!!

Please enjoy these, I sincerely don't mean to sound like I'm a know-it-all, I'm just an appreciative woman who enjoy's what Jehovah allows me to do. And I feed the congregation so well I am running out of friends, I have to send produce to Seaside and to my customers!!! HA!!

 

 

 

 

[MzT]

Is that squash? Looks yummy.

[CHecker]

Its spaghetti squash! I thought it was a pumpkin! I have 2 huge ones I picked the other day- here's my grand girl trying to carry it...

 

 

I now know not to let it get this big! I'll have to share 1/2 of this with another sister so I can eat it!

 

The others, almost 20 of them, will be picked small. I'll probably end up with few friends as I give them out!! 

 

[MzT]

Oh wow. I tried spaghetti squash last year for the first time. I like all kinds of squash. But I do find them difficult to cut thru.

[CHecker]

I'm so impressed you saw it was squash! I didn't ! I use my meat cleaver, it works well, or else I have Lew take it out and chop it in half, barbaric I know but it works!!

 

I'm so excited.... oh let me show you what I picked today............... hang on..............

[CHecker]

I didn't go in the garden until today, forced myself! And this is what I found-

 

 

I picked these and was surprised to need a big box to bring them in. I only have 4 plants for goodness sake!

 

Then after I gave some to Chuck, the brother I cook for, I ended up with this-

 

 

I'm taking this to Seaside Wednesday morning for the brothers and sisters to share. They give me tomatoes I give cuc's!!

Oh so fun. 

[CHecker]

My beautiful babies!

[MzT]

Ooooooo love your bounty! So, cucumbers and ????

The stems look like tomatoes but the shape and spots looks more like a different type of squash. Not so sure though.

I could tell the spaghetti squash was squash because of the stem and leaves. I spent a lot of time studying plants so that I could play Farmer Tammi. Lol

One thing I've come to appreciate is how manipulated our view of vegetables are when you realize that not all grown veggies turn out supermarket perfect. The looks do not affect the taste yet I would be hard pressed to find "less than" perfect veggies here...even at the biggest farmers markets in NYC.