On Sat, 17 May 2008 18:17:34 -0600, "The Joneses"
wrote:


"George Shirley" wrote in message
.. .
KW wrote:

Welcome to our insane world Mark!

Keith

BTW all, my garden is in and everything is going well this season (no
late April freezes like last year)

Menu for the season:

Established plantings
Apples (5 varieties - 9 trees)
Peaches
Plums
Cherries (2 trees)
Blueberries (12 bushes)
Blackberries (1 jumbo thornless, 1 crimson and a heap of wild bushes
Wild Strawberries are back with a vengence this year!!!!! :-)
Rosemary

Seasonal plantings
Tomatoes (7 varieties - just 26 plants total this year)
Watermelon (2 varieties)
Canteloupe (2 varieties)
Cucumbers (2 varieties)
Bell Pepper (Red & Yellow)
Jalepeno Pepper (Jumbo & Regular)
Zuchinni Squash
Crookneck Squash
Sunflowers
Red Okra
Crowder Peas
Pinkeye Purplehull Peas
Sweet Basil
Cilantro
I will agree with your assessment, you are definitely either insane or
completely hooked on home preserving.

Here's ours:

2 plum trees, 1 peach tree, 1 quince, one row of Triple Crown thornless
blackberries, four blueberry plants, one Japanese persimmon, one Ponderosa
lemon, two kumquat trees. 17X24 main vegetable garden that is planted
chock-a-block with green beans, 3 different tomato varieties totaling 6
plants, crowder peas, carrots, Ichiban eggplant, okra just went in, two
different types of sweet chiles, no hot ones this year.

Waal - not quite insane, but definitely a trifle goofy, suh, a trifle
goofy!
On that *pressure canner*, think about what size jars you'll be using -
that
is if planning on putting up green beans by the quart for your household of
ten, you will need a canner tall enough to accomodate them. My first
*bwb canner* pot was too short for quart jars AND the water for over, not
tall
enough for double rack of pints either. And who needs pickles in them
teeny-weeny jars? Was a more work putting through double batches of
things, esp., if the harvest was warm!
Do read our FAQ regarding the "steam canners" that are still for sale at
the
Sprawl-Mart and other places. We can't prove they are safe, so we don't
use them.
And oncet you get started agin, there'll be no stoppin' y'all. It's the
fumes,
suh, the fumes....
I got
4 strawberry plants, and it'll never be enough,
2 different variety blueberries (wish I had some Nacodoches Texas
blueberries, more for our climate)
2 Marion Blackberry, thorns & all (whoops, did I make a mistake or
what?)
Lots of tomatoes & peppers my sister planted. Wished she'd labled
them. I sware both veggies may come up in several different colors.
Will need more Aji de Limon de Peru seeds, Jorge, last year I
neglected them and they died.
Oh well, here's a nice surprise in my garden. Glommed onto 4 rose
geranium plants, p.graveolens, I think, 4 coffees, and of course, all the
herbs.
PING BARB, I'm fixing to mix up a batch of pickling spice - herbs
from my garden & spices from Penzey's, y'all want a bag?
Edrena



How about sharing your recipe for the pickling spice.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

In article ,
Mark A.Meggs wrote:

I wasn't sure if ripe fruit had enough acid to be 4.6 pH or less.

- Mark

Get a book. Seriously. A basic text in hand is a good thing to own.
The Ball Blue Book can be purchased online if not at your local
hardware, Kmart, Walmart, or Fleet Farm store. Pretty inexpensively for
invaluable information.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Check my new ride: http://www.jamlady.eboard.com

On Sun, 18 May 2008 20:41:18 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
wrote:

In article ,
Mark A.Meggs wrote:

I wasn't sure if ripe fruit had enough acid to be 4.6 pH or less.

- Mark

Get a book. Seriously. A basic text in hand is a good thing to own.
The Ball Blue Book can be purchased online if not at your local
hardware, Kmart, Walmart, or Fleet Farm store. Pretty inexpensively for
invaluable information.

I have the Ball Blue Book and a couple of others. Since I hadn't had
any fruit to preserve, I hadn't read those sections. I'm considering
buying the Ball Complete Guide to Canning also.

I'd love to take a class, but the Purdue extension service in the
counties near me doesn't seem to offer any.

Thanks!

- Mark

In article ,
Mark A.Meggs wrote:

On Sun, 18 May 2008 20:41:18 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
wrote:

In article ,
Mark A.Meggs wrote:

I wasn't sure if ripe fruit had enough acid to be 4.6 pH or less.

- Mark

Get a book. Seriously. A basic text in hand is a good thing to own.
The Ball Blue Book can be purchased online if not at your local
hardware, Kmart, Walmart, or Fleet Farm store. Pretty inexpensively for
invaluable information.

I have the Ball Blue Book and a couple of others. Since I hadn't had
any fruit to preserve, I hadn't read those sections. I'm considering
buying the Ball Complete Guide to Canning also.

I'd love to take a class, but the Purdue extension service in the
counties near me doesn't seem to offer any.

Thanks!

- Mark


OK, I'm glad you've something at hand you can refer to.
I believe the U of Georgia offers an online course. I think it's free
though I'm not positive. Someone who posts here went through it -- maybe
Keith Warren? Personally, I like to have hands on in such a course.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Check my new ride: http://www.jamlady.eboard.com

"The Cook" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 17 May 2008 18:17:34 -0600, "The Joneses"
wrote:


"George Shirley" wrote in message
. ..
KW wrote:

(clipped a lot)
PING BARB, I'm fixing to mix up a batch of pickling spice - herbs
from my garden & spices from Penzey's, y'all want a bag?
Edrena


How about sharing your recipe for the pickling spice.
--
Susan N.

I use the recipe from Joy of Pickling, the gourmet version being that the
herb/seed portions are from my very own garden, and I increase the stated
cloves & cinnamon a bit 'cause I like it. This would probably be better in a
weight catagory instead of spoonsful, but it's real hard to measure how much
a dill seed weighs. Like I said before, you could use this and miss one or
two things and not be wrong. How about making a tea and tasting it to see
what you like?


Here's the recipe in alphabetical order (I'm such a geek) I reprinted some
time ago (without the author's approval, but with her cite):
I put it in alphabetical order, easier not to get
confused, and made everything a "part"
(1/8 teaspoon)

16 p bay leaf bits (6 bay leaves)
16 p allspice, whole
24 p chile pepper bits (I use chile de arbol. 6 chile peppers,
do not automatically multiply this if multiplying recipe),
optional
16 p cinnamon stick bits (1 each 4" cinnamon stick)
8 p cloves, whole
16 p coriander seed, whole
24 p dill seed
8 p fennel seed
4 p fenugreek seed
24 p mustard seed, yellow whole
4 p mace, blade type bits or nutmeg bits
24 p peppercorns, black (no use using the fancy colors,
they bleed in the liquid)

Edrena

On Tue, 20 May 2008 19:00:05 -0600, "The Joneses"
wrote:

"The Cook" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 17 May 2008 18:17:34 -0600, "The Joneses"
wrote:


"George Shirley" wrote in message
...
KW wrote:

(clipped a lot)
PING BARB, I'm fixing to mix up a batch of pickling spice - herbs
from my garden & spices from Penzey's, y'all want a bag?
Edrena


How about sharing your recipe for the pickling spice.
--
Susan N.

I use the recipe from Joy of Pickling, the gourmet version being that the
herb/seed portions are from my very own garden, and I increase the stated
cloves & cinnamon a bit 'cause I like it. This would probably be better in a
weight catagory instead of spoonsful, but it's real hard to measure how much
a dill seed weighs. Like I said before, you could use this and miss one or
two things and not be wrong. How about making a tea and tasting it to see
what you like?


Here's the recipe in alphabetical order (I'm such a geek) I reprinted some
time ago (without the author's approval, but with her cite):
I put it in alphabetical order, easier not to get
confused, and made everything a "part"
(1/8 teaspoon)

16 p bay leaf bits (6 bay leaves)
16 p allspice, whole
24 p chile pepper bits (I use chile de arbol. 6 chile peppers,
do not automatically multiply this if multiplying recipe),
optional
16 p cinnamon stick bits (1 each 4" cinnamon stick)
8 p cloves, whole
16 p coriander seed, whole
24 p dill seed
8 p fennel seed
4 p fenugreek seed
24 p mustard seed, yellow whole
4 p mace, blade type bits or nutmeg bits
24 p peppercorns, black (no use using the fancy colors,
they bleed in the liquid)

Edrena


Thank you. I will try it with some of my homegrown herbs.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

"Melba's Jammin'" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Mark A.Meggs wrote:

On Sun, 18 May 2008 20:41:18 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
wrote:

In article ,
Mark A.Meggs wrote:

I wasn't sure if ripe fruit had enough acid to be 4.6 pH or less.

- Mark

Get a book. Seriously. A basic text in hand is a good thing to own.
The Ball Blue Book can be purchased online if not at your local
hardware, Kmart, Walmart, or Fleet Farm store. Pretty inexpensively for
invaluable information.

I have the Ball Blue Book and a couple of others. Since I hadn't had
any fruit to preserve, I hadn't read those sections. I'm considering
buying the Ball Complete Guide to Canning also.

I'd love to take a class, but the Purdue extension service in the
counties near me doesn't seem to offer any.

Thanks!

- Mark


OK, I'm glad you've something at hand you can refer to.
I believe the U of Georgia offers an online course. I think it's free
though I'm not positive. Someone who posts here went through it -- maybe
Keith Warren? Personally, I like to have hands on in such a course.

Yep, that was me. Hands on experience from a local source is invaluable but
the UGA on-line deal is a good course to help sort out the chemistry and
mechanics around various canning principles with some decent practicle
application tests & reviews as well.
It is self paced and you can start & stop at your leisure and with cookies
turned on, you can pick right back up where you left off the last time.

I posted link information up in an earlier response ......

"2nd the recommendation for the UGA site http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/ and
strongly recommend the "Preserving Food at Home: A Self-Study " on-line
course as a great primer. https://www.uga.edu/nchfp/exception_account.html"

KW


--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Check my new ride: http://www.jamlady.eboard.com

"KW" wrote in message
...

"Melba's Jammin'" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Mark A.Meggs wrote:

On Sun, 18 May 2008 20:41:18 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
wrote:

In article ,
Mark A.Meggs wrote:

I wasn't sure if ripe fruit had enough acid to be 4.6 pH or less.

- Mark

Get a book. Seriously. A basic text in hand is a good thing to own.
The Ball Blue Book can be purchased online if not at your local
hardware, Kmart, Walmart, or Fleet Farm store. Pretty inexpensively
for
invaluable information.

I have the Ball Blue Book and a couple of others. Since I hadn't had
any fruit to preserve, I hadn't read those sections. I'm considering
buying the Ball Complete Guide to Canning also.

I'd love to take a class, but the Purdue extension service in the
counties near me doesn't seem to offer any.

Thanks!

- Mark


OK, I'm glad you've something at hand you can refer to.
I believe the U of Georgia offers an online course. I think it's free
though I'm not positive. Someone who posts here went through it --
maybe
Keith Warren? Personally, I like to have hands on in such a course.

Yep, that was me. Hands on experience from a local source is invaluable
but
the UGA on-line deal is a good course to help sort out the chemistry and
mechanics around various canning principles with some decent practicle
application tests & reviews as well.
It is self paced and you can start & stop at your leisure and with cookies
turned on,

chocolate chip or sugar cookies?

Ted

"Ted Mittelstaedt" wrote in message
...

"KW" wrote in message
...

"Melba's Jammin'" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Mark A.Meggs wrote:

On Sun, 18 May 2008 20:41:18 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
wrote:

In article ,
Mark A.Meggs wrote:

I wasn't sure if ripe fruit had enough acid to be 4.6 pH or less.

- Mark

Get a book. Seriously. A basic text in hand is a good thing to own.
The Ball Blue Book can be purchased online if not at your local
hardware, Kmart, Walmart, or Fleet Farm store. Pretty inexpensively
for
invaluable information.

I have the Ball Blue Book and a couple of others. Since I hadn't had
any fruit to preserve, I hadn't read those sections. I'm considering
buying the Ball Complete Guide to Canning also.

I'd love to take a class, but the Purdue extension service in the
counties near me doesn't seem to offer any.

Thanks!

- Mark


OK, I'm glad you've something at hand you can refer to.
I believe the U of Georgia offers an online course. I think it's free
though I'm not positive. Someone who posts here went through it --
maybe
Keith Warren? Personally, I like to have hands on in such a course.

Yep, that was me. Hands on experience from a local source is invaluable
but
the UGA on-line deal is a good course to help sort out the chemistry and
mechanics around various canning principles with some decent practicle
application tests & reviews as well.
It is self paced and you can start & stop at your leisure and with
cookies
turned on,

chocolate chip or sugar cookies?

Ted

White chocolate macadamia nut

KW