The Swiss chard and spinach have outdone themselves this year. Multiple
bags already in the freezer and, today, we're doing more of each. We've
also given a goodly batch of each to one of our grandson's who lives
nearby and his family enjoys it fresh. I do believe this years greens
have produced more than any other time we've grown them. Seems the
raised bed gardens we have nowadays are doing a good job.

Tomato plants have tomatoes, the sweet chiles are producing a good batch
already, radishes are being pulled daily, cucumbers are looking good
with lots of baby cukes on them and the Hopi lima beans are climbing.
Looks to be a good year for a good harvest of the things we like and
will be able to preserve for later use.

Today I will check my inventory of lids, rings, and jars although I'm
sure I have enough for what we can grow here. Put in a new kitchen sink
last week, single basin 22"W X 33" long and 9" deep, big pots for
canning sit in it easily plus a new high rise faucet helps too.

I think we're pretty much done with remodeling after replacing all the
carpet and vinyl sheet with laminate and tile but we will start
repainting the interior soon. The dark gray in the living room and the
gold paint in the kitchen/dining area are a bit much so those colors
will change as will the colors in some of the other rooms. It doesn't
hurt things to be married to a fine artist. She picks the colors and
then we both work on the walls.

George

On Fri, 09 May 2014 07:26:20 -0500, George Shirley >
wrote:

>The Swiss chard and spinach have outdone themselves this year. Multiple
>bags already in the freezer and, today, we're doing more of each. We've
>also given a goodly batch of each to one of our grandson's who lives
>nearby and his family enjoys it fresh. I do believe this years greens
>have produced more than any other time we've grown them. Seems the
>raised bed gardens we have nowadays are doing a good job.

Our spinach and lettuce did well this year too. Also in a raised bed.
It seems to make a difference, doesn't it? It sure makes it easier to
pick - don't have to bend down as much.

>Tomato plants have tomatoes, the sweet chiles are producing a good batch
>already, radishes are being pulled daily, cucumbers are looking good
>with lots of baby cukes on them and the Hopi lima beans are climbing.
>Looks to be a good year for a good harvest of the things we like and
>will be able to preserve for later use.

Sounds like you have a great crop this year with lots of promise for a
good harvest. I can't wait to can tomatoes this year! We had an
excellent year last year for canning and I hope this year is at least
half as good. We're growing several heirlooms and this year, for the
first time, we're trying San Marzano plum tomatoes. We grew Roma
Grande last year for sauce and they were wonderful (we still have a
few jars left). We split the plum tomato crop this year between SM
and RG so we'll see how they compare.

English and sugar snap peas have looked really good this year. I will
need to make room in the freezer.

We didn't have room in the veggie garden for peppers so we're doing
what we did last year as an experiment. We planted one or two in
large planters. Last year we had great luck with yellow and red bells
planted this way. We'll see if our luck holds out...if Mr. Raccoon
leaves them alone.

>Today I will check my inventory of lids, rings, and jars although I'm
>sure I have enough for what we can grow here. Put in a new kitchen sink
>last week, single basin 22"W X 33" long and 9" deep, big pots for
>canning sit in it easily plus a new high rise faucet helps too.

Don't you love a big sink like that? Our new house has a deep sink
and it's wonderful for large pots and sheet pans. I think you made a
wise investment in time and money well spent.

>I think we're pretty much done with remodeling after replacing all the
>carpet and vinyl sheet with laminate and tile but we will start
>repainting the interior soon. The dark gray in the living room and the
>gold paint in the kitchen/dining area are a bit much so those colors
>will change as will the colors in some of the other rooms. It doesn't
>hurt things to be married to a fine artist. She picks the colors and
>then we both work on the walls.

Have fun painting!

>
>George

bluechick

On 5/11/2014 8:38 PM, bluechick wrote:
> On Fri, 09 May 2014 07:26:20 -0500, George Shirley >
> wrote:
>
>> The Swiss chard and spinach have outdone themselves this year. Multiple
>> bags already in the freezer and, today, we're doing more of each. We've
>> also given a goodly batch of each to one of our grandson's who lives
>> nearby and his family enjoys it fresh. I do believe this years greens
>> have produced more than any other time we've grown them. Seems the
>> raised bed gardens we have nowadays are doing a good job.
>
> Our spinach and lettuce did well this year too. Also in a raised bed.
> It seems to make a difference, doesn't it? It sure makes it easier to
> pick - don't have to bend down as much.
>
>> Tomato plants have tomatoes, the sweet chiles are producing a good batch
>> already, radishes are being pulled daily, cucumbers are looking good
>> with lots of baby cukes on them and the Hopi lima beans are climbing.
>> Looks to be a good year for a good harvest of the things we like and
>> will be able to preserve for later use.
>
> Sounds like you have a great crop this year with lots of promise for a
> good harvest. I can't wait to can tomatoes this year! We had an
> excellent year last year for canning and I hope this year is at least
> half as good. We're growing several heirlooms and this year, for the
> first time, we're trying San Marzano plum tomatoes. We grew Roma
> Grande last year for sauce and they were wonderful (we still have a
> few jars left). We split the plum tomato crop this year between SM
> and RG so we'll see how they compare.
I prefer sauce tomatoes even for fresh eating, lots of meat and little
juice. Wife doesn't always agree with that but we don't argue over it.
>
> English and sugar snap peas have looked really good this year. I will
> need to make room in the freezer.
>
> We didn't have room in the veggie garden for peppers so we're doing
> what we did last year as an experiment. We planted one or two in
> large planters. Last year we had great luck with yellow and red bells
> planted this way. We'll see if our luck holds out...if Mr. Raccoon
> leaves them alone.
We grow loads of chiles and then we wash, dry, chop, and freeze them on
a bun tray. After an hour in the freezer they go into vacuum bags and
are stashed in the freezer for later use in cooking. Tomorrow I will
empty the big freezer where we keep veggies, inventory, and repack with
the eldest dates forward. We cook a lot with sweet chiles.
>
>> Today I will check my inventory of lids, rings, and jars although I'm
>> sure I have enough for what we can grow here. Put in a new kitchen sink
>> last week, single basin 22"W X 33" long and 9" deep, big pots for
>> canning sit in it easily plus a new high rise faucet helps too.
>
> Don't you love a big sink like that? Our new house has a deep sink
> and it's wonderful for large pots and sheet pans. I think you made a
> wise investment in time and money well spent.
Middle grandson and I did the job, mostly I showed him how and it did
the heavy work. He and family came to dinner Friday night, grilled
ribeyes, grilled sweet chiles and eggplant from the garden, and grilled
russet potatoes from the store. His wife has now decided she must have
the same sink and faucet. We've been teaching them gardening, home food
preserving, and how to shop without spending a lot of money. Next will
be jam and jelly making. Got them a Food Saver for Christmas last,
they're all excited. He and I are fishing buddies too so that helps.
They only live two blocks away on the same street.
>
>> I think we're pretty much done with remodeling after replacing all the
>> carpet and vinyl sheet with laminate and tile but we will start
>> repainting the interior soon. The dark gray in the living room and the
>> gold paint in the kitchen/dining area are a bit much so those colors
>> will change as will the colors in some of the other rooms. It doesn't
>> hurt things to be married to a fine artist. She picks the colors and
>> then we both work on the walls.
>
> Have fun painting!
>
>>
>> George
>
> bluechick
>
I enjoy painting, it's one of those mindless things you can do whilst
thinking of other things. We use a lot of blue tape so we don't run over.

George

George Shirley wrote:
....
> I prefer sauce tomatoes even for fresh eating, lots of meat and little
> juice. Wife doesn't always agree with that but we don't argue over it.


it may be a tastebud difference too as
some people don't notice the umami aspects
as much as others (most of the umami flavor
from a juicier tomato is in the juice
surrounding the seeds)?

i really notice the difference between the
Beefsteak tomatoes we use for most of the
canning (juice and chunks) and the Roma
tomatoes we used the past few years and both
of us agree that it's just not worth growing
the Roma's.

yes, there's more liquid in the tomato
jars, but we don't make tomato sauce that
often (when Ma makes tomato sauce we use
some tomato paste to thicken it up). our
primary use of tomatoes is in soups, stews
and straight up in macaroni and tomato
juice/chunks or drinking the juice. the
macaroni soaks up most of the extra juice
anyways.

for fresh eating, we definitely prefer
the Beefsteaks.

last year someone gave us some extra
tomato plants and it turned out that we
had hundreds of extra tomatoes, but they
were all small and Ma was rather irked with
all that extra work for processing them.
i was able to help with the first batch
early on, but then got waylaid by pneumonia
and so she had to do the rest until i
recovered.

for two people 40something tomato plants
is a bit too much. we gave around 70qts of
canned stuff away as gifts last Christmas.
this year, only 16 plants, mainly for chunks
are being planted and i've been told there
will be no experimenting with any other
varieties. Ma says she'll bake cookies
this year (she blew up her previous mixer
and finally talked herself into getting a
new mixer for her BD -- she's very happy
with it -- me too, it's nice and quiet, we
can even talk when she uses it or if she is
up early she can run it and i won't even
wake up ).


songbird