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songbird 09-06-2016 03:50 PM

strawberries today
 
picked a bunch yesterday, so cleaning and
making jam or just freezing them as crushed
berries.

i'm about 1/3 of the way through getting
them cleaned up and smooshed. they're yummy
too. :)

hoping to put up 16 pints of freezer jam
and whatever is left will be frozen smooshed
for shortcakes this winter.

this year looks to be about half of what
i had last year. we covered up a large
patch out back and the new expanded patch
is just starting up and the third patch may
be a few years before it gets going in
quantity. plus the weather/rains have not
been much.


songbird

George Shirley[_3_] 09-06-2016 04:33 PM

strawberries today
 
On 6/9/2016 9:50 AM, songbird wrote:
> picked a bunch yesterday, so cleaning and
> making jam or just freezing them as crushed
> berries.
>
> i'm about 1/3 of the way through getting
> them cleaned up and smooshed. they're yummy
> too. :)
>
> hoping to put up 16 pints of freezer jam
> and whatever is left will be frozen smooshed
> for shortcakes this winter.
>
> this year looks to be about half of what
> i had last year. we covered up a large
> patch out back and the new expanded patch
> is just starting up and the third patch may
> be a few years before it gets going in
> quantity. plus the weather/rains have not
> been much.
>
>
> songbird
>

I must be unusual, I really don't care much for strawberries. My folks
used to plant several acres of them when I was a kid and I had to pick
the blasted things. They sure sold good alongside old Highway 90, aka
Old Spanish Road in SE Texas. We made good money on that garden for
several years plus had plenty of good stuff for us. I do not care for
stoop labor anymore. I'm thinking of putting larger wheels on my
mechanics slider so I can lay down and work. <G>

George

songbird 09-06-2016 07:38 PM

strawberries today
 
George Shirley wrote:
....
> I must be unusual, I really don't care much for strawberries. My folks
> used to plant several acres of them when I was a kid and I had to pick
> the blasted things. They sure sold good alongside old Highway 90, aka
> Old Spanish Road in SE Texas. We made good money on that garden for
> several years plus had plenty of good stuff for us.


yes, i could make decent money off these if i wanted
to set up a stand at the road side. i could have a lot
more plants going too. usually i just call friends to
come pick the extra ones we don't use. this year i'm
not sure i'll be doing that.


> I do not care for
> stoop labor anymore.


i'm not a big fan of it either, but it is good
exercise and i need to drop another 15-20lbs before
the end of the summer. at my current rate i'm
likely to get down 5 lbs... gotta step it up a
bit and cut a little more calories out of the diet.

the good news is that the frozen smooshed
berries for shortcakes have no extra sugar added.
last year i had leftovers from making freezer jam
that had some sugar in them and they were good,
but i want to cut back on extra sugar in the diet.


> I'm thinking of putting larger wheels on my
> mechanics slider so I can lay down and work. <G>


i use a ground pillow for close work when i need
to kneel or weed something finicky. saves a lot of
knee aches. i've talked Ma into making me a second
one so i have options for reclining and watching the
clouds, napping, etc. :)


songbird

George Shirley[_3_] 09-06-2016 09:10 PM

strawberries today
 
On 6/9/2016 1:38 PM, songbird wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
> ...
>> I must be unusual, I really don't care much for strawberries. My folks
>> used to plant several acres of them when I was a kid and I had to pick
>> the blasted things. They sure sold good alongside old Highway 90, aka
>> Old Spanish Road in SE Texas. We made good money on that garden for
>> several years plus had plenty of good stuff for us.

>
> yes, i could make decent money off these if i wanted
> to set up a stand at the road side. i could have a lot
> more plants going too. usually i just call friends to
> come pick the extra ones we don't use. this year i'm
> not sure i'll be doing that.
>
>
>> I do not care for
>> stoop labor anymore.

>
> i'm not a big fan of it either, but it is good
> exercise and i need to drop another 15-20lbs before
> the end of the summer. at my current rate i'm
> likely to get down 5 lbs... gotta step it up a
> bit and cut a little more calories out of the diet.
>
> the good news is that the frozen smooshed
> berries for shortcakes have no extra sugar added.
> last year i had leftovers from making freezer jam
> that had some sugar in them and they were good,
> but i want to cut back on extra sugar in the diet.
>
>
>> I'm thinking of putting larger wheels on my
>> mechanics slider so I can lay down and work. <G>

>
> i use a ground pillow for close work when i need
> to kneel or weed something finicky. saves a lot of
> knee aches. i've talked Ma into making me a second
> one so i have options for reclining and watching the
> clouds, napping, etc. :)
>
>
> songbird
>

I've got a tractor seat on four wheels and the front wheels swivel.
Still way to high up without my pot belly getting in the way.

I may design some raised beds that can have a seat that goes around
them. That way I can reach two feet in on any side and, by going around
the bed, I can get at everything. It would probably be expensive so it
won't happen. Once you're retired you have to start watching where the
bucks go. Happily we own our house and both cars outright plus have
saved a dollar or two over the years. I just don't want to outlive my
money. My Mom came from abject poverty and I've heard all the bad
stories. Don't want any of that.

I keep telling the great grands that I might have to sell one or two of
them to the Gypsies if necessary. They still give me hugs.

songbird 13-06-2016 12:30 PM

strawberries today
 
George Shirley wrote:
....
> I've got a tractor seat on four wheels and the front wheels swivel.
> Still way to high up without my pot belly getting in the way.
>
> I may design some raised beds that can have a seat that goes around
> them. That way I can reach two feet in on any side and, by going around
> the bed, I can get at everything. It would probably be expensive so it
> won't happen. Once you're retired you have to start watching where the
> bucks go. Happily we own our house and both cars outright plus have
> saved a dollar or two over the years. I just don't want to outlive my
> money. My Mom came from abject poverty and I've heard all the bad
> stories. Don't want any of that.


i would like to put large square bins on rails and
then i could remote control everything like the model
railroaders. bring any needed bin through the station
to get watered and weeded then send it back out.

think that would be expensive? haha. yes, i know
it would be.

plus, it divorces the topsoil from the subsoil and
you lose all the benefits of the soil community. to
do it well you'd need about 1x1x2m and that's a lot
of weight... nah, i'll stick with the ground pillows.

i grew up poor too, but didn't notice it much until
others were sure to point it out and treat us badly
for it too. i live a simple life and keep expenses
low. hope to never have to work full-time again.
enjoying my time off now.


> I keep telling the great grands that I might have to sell one or two of
> them to the Gypsies if necessary. They still give me hugs.


easier to catch that ways! :)


songbird

George Shirley[_3_] 13-06-2016 01:13 PM

strawberries today
 
On 6/13/2016 6:30 AM, songbird wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
> ...
>> I've got a tractor seat on four wheels and the front wheels swivel.
>> Still way to high up without my pot belly getting in the way.
>>
>> I may design some raised beds that can have a seat that goes around
>> them. That way I can reach two feet in on any side and, by going around
>> the bed, I can get at everything. It would probably be expensive so it
>> won't happen. Once you're retired you have to start watching where the
>> bucks go. Happily we own our house and both cars outright plus have
>> saved a dollar or two over the years. I just don't want to outlive my
>> money. My Mom came from abject poverty and I've heard all the bad
>> stories. Don't want any of that.

>
> i would like to put large square bins on rails and
> then i could remote control everything like the model
> railroaders. bring any needed bin through the station
> to get watered and weeded then send it back out.
>
> think that would be expensive? haha. yes, i know
> it would be.
>
> plus, it divorces the topsoil from the subsoil and
> you lose all the benefits of the soil community. to
> do it well you'd need about 1x1x2m and that's a lot
> of weight... nah, i'll stick with the ground pillows.
>
> i grew up poor too, but didn't notice it much until
> others were sure to point it out and treat us badly
> for it too. i live a simple life and keep expenses
> low. hope to never have to work full-time again.
> enjoying my time off now.

We weren't poor by any course, Dad was a top operator in a refinery and
made what was good money back then. We had ten acres of paid for land, a
three bedroom home we built ourselves from old Navy housing from WWII.
We had critters like a cow, a mule for plowing, pigs, and chickens plus
rabbits for other meat. Everyone worked at something beside the farming,
etc. I worked in a grocery/filling station from age 12 to about 15. If
you wanted money in my family you had to work to get it. Some people my
age look at me strangely when I say I had a job at 12. I made 25 cents
an hour but grown men mostly made a dollar an hour back then. I made
sure my kids didn't get an allowance, they got jobs. Mowing old peoples
lawns, growing a patch of whatever they thought they could sell, etc.
Daughter was cleaning people's homes for 25 cents an hour to get
spending money. Both of our kids grew up to be professional people,
daughter in teaching, son started out as a purchasing agent for a
hospital and now is an assistant director of the hospital. So they
absorbed the will to work and have done well. We're very proud of them
and happy that we taught them to be good workers.

Good news, it ain't raining right now. <BSEG>

George
>
>
>> I keep telling the great grands that I might have to sell one or two of
>> them to the Gypsies if necessary. They still give me hugs.

>
> easier to catch that ways! :)
>
>
> songbird
>



songbird 05-12-2016 06:51 PM

strawberries today (learned one lesson)
 
songbird wrote:

> picked a bunch yesterday, so cleaning and
> making jam or just freezing them as crushed
> berries.


....

the berries i picked later in the season
were overripe and not the best, were even
sorta fermenting and very dark when i was
slicing them up and putting them into jars
for freezing. i knew it was questionable
but hoped the freezer would do in the
microbes. instead i got a very long slow
cold ferment. some jars blew the tops off
when i went to open them.

none of these were good when i opened them
up. :( they didn't taste horrible, but they
weren't right either. the texture is what
ruined them for me. spongy and all stuck
together as one mass. i've eaten some of
them and they don't upset my stomach, but...

a lot of work for little results. the
worms will be fed any left in a few more days
when the rest of them are done thawing out.

i have two pints we'll use up that are
borderline acceptable.

next year i will know better. i was
excited last summer because the ones i had
done the previous summer turned out perfect
(just what you would expect).

well at least we have freezer space now. :)


songbird

George Shirley[_3_] 05-12-2016 09:46 PM

strawberries today (learned one lesson)
 
On 12/5/2016 11:51 AM, songbird wrote:
> songbird wrote:
>
>> picked a bunch yesterday, so cleaning and
>> making jam or just freezing them as crushed
>> berries.

>
> ...
>
> the berries i picked later in the season
> were overripe and not the best, were even
> sorta fermenting and very dark when i was
> slicing them up and putting them into jars
> for freezing. i knew it was questionable
> but hoped the freezer would do in the
> microbes. instead i got a very long slow
> cold ferment. some jars blew the tops off
> when i went to open them.
>
> none of these were good when i opened them
> up. :( they didn't taste horrible, but they
> weren't right either. the texture is what
> ruined them for me. spongy and all stuck
> together as one mass. i've eaten some of
> them and they don't upset my stomach, but...
>
> a lot of work for little results. the
> worms will be fed any left in a few more days
> when the rest of them are done thawing out.
>
> i have two pints we'll use up that are
> borderline acceptable.
>
> next year i will know better. i was
> excited last summer because the ones i had
> done the previous summer turned out perfect
> (just what you would expect).
>
> well at least we have freezer space now. :)
>
>
> songbird
>

What is freezer space? Dear wife makes odd soups and such and puts them
in plastic container and into the freezer with no label on them. I may
have to get her go visit somewhere while I empty the containers that are
needed for food you know what it is. <BG>

Gloria P 05-12-2016 11:20 PM

strawberries today (learned one lesson)
 
On 12/5/2016 1:46 PM, George Shirley wrote:

>>

> What is freezer space? Dear wife makes odd soups and such and puts them
> in plastic container and into the freezer with no label on them. I may
> have to get her go visit somewhere while I empty the containers that are
> needed for food you know what it is. <BG>



She needs a good Sharpie or a Listo china marker to make labeling
easier. (Yes, I have few unknown things in the freezer that remain
forever except every few years when (ahem) someone leaves the freezer
door unlocked and half the contents thaws beyond saving (a very good
excuse for binning the Unknown.)

To Songbird: I can't think of a single food that IMPROVES with freezing
when it is unripe or over-ripe. Sorry for your loss.

gloria p


songbird 06-12-2016 02:44 AM

strawberries today (learned one lesson)
 
gloria p wrote:
....
> To Songbird: I can't think of a single food that IMPROVES with freezing
> when it is unripe or over-ripe. Sorry for your loss.


our loss, the worms gain (tomorrow). will give
them a nice snack going into the winter months. :)

i keep 16 buckets of worms plus a bin of them.
they're always happy to get scraps.


songbird

songbird 06-12-2016 02:53 AM

strawberries today (learned one lesson)
 
George Shirley wrote:
....
> What is freezer space? Dear wife makes odd soups and such and puts them
> in plastic container and into the freezer with no label on them. I may
> have to get her go visit somewhere while I empty the containers that are
> needed for food you know what it is. <BG>


i dislike plastic in almost any form, we
put things in pint jars or quart jars for
storage. small quantities are rare as i'd
just eat them (or Ma would).

we have made our New Year's Resolution to
put a label on the quart jars because we have
some now that we're not sure what's in them.
it's all good, but it would be nice to know.
likely onion soup, chili, spaghetti meat balls
or bean soup.

the pint jars i label. only strawberry
freezer jam and roasted red peppers left.


songbird

George Shirley[_3_] 06-12-2016 03:51 AM

strawberries today (learned one lesson)
 
On 12/5/2016 4:20 PM, gloria p wrote:
> On 12/5/2016 1:46 PM, George Shirley wrote:
>
>>>

>> What is freezer space? Dear wife makes odd soups and such and puts them
>> in plastic container and into the freezer with no label on them. I may
>> have to get her go visit somewhere while I empty the containers that are
>> needed for food you know what it is. <BG>

>
>
> She needs a good Sharpie or a Listo china marker to make labeling
> easier. (Yes, I have few unknown things in the freezer that remain
> forever except every few years when (ahem) someone leaves the freezer
> door unlocked and half the contents thaws beyond saving (a very good
> excuse for binning the Unknown.)

She's an artist, she has all that stuff, she just thinks that at age 76
she can remember what is what. I asked her one day "What is this?" Oh,
that's tomato soup, it was leftover chili.

I really need the space in the big freezer that she has cluttered with
her "I have to save this" stuff. She is the middle child of five,
they're always hoarding food. VBG
>
> To Songbird: I can't think of a single food that IMPROVES with freezing
> when it is unripe or over-ripe. Sorry for your loss.
>
> gloria p
>

I took a college course forty years ago in preserving food, just for the
hell of it plus I needed three credits more to graduate. It was really
good to learn all that stuff. I've been putting up my own food starting
at my mother's knee. Even got the little paper that says I can do that. <G>

My favorite is jams, jellies, sauces, etc. At least all the grands and
great grands love it.

George, off to bed after a very long day of watching it rain, plus
napping with Tilly.

George Shirley[_3_] 06-12-2016 03:53 AM

strawberries today (learned one lesson)
 
On 12/5/2016 7:53 PM, songbird wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
> ...
>> What is freezer space? Dear wife makes odd soups and such and puts them
>> in plastic container and into the freezer with no label on them. I may
>> have to get her go visit somewhere while I empty the containers that are
>> needed for food you know what it is. <BG>

>
> i dislike plastic in almost any form, we
> put things in pint jars or quart jars for
> storage. small quantities are rare as i'd
> just eat them (or Ma would).
>
> we have made our New Year's Resolution to
> put a label on the quart jars because we have
> some now that we're not sure what's in them.
> it's all good, but it would be nice to know.
> likely onion soup, chili, spaghetti meat balls
> or bean soup.
>
> the pint jars i label. only strawberry
> freezer jam and roasted red peppers left.
>
>
> songbird
>

Easiest thing in the world, I go to one of the office stores and buy the
cheapest labels they have. Write on it with pen or a colored pen, stick
it on. Empty jar, run hot water over the label, pull it off and you're done.

songbird 07-12-2016 03:20 AM

strawberries today (learned one lesson)
 
George Shirley wrote:
....
> Easiest thing in the world, I go to one of the office stores and buy the
> cheapest labels they have. Write on it with pen or a colored pen, stick
> it on. Empty jar, run hot water over the label, pull it off and you're done.


i suspect we'll be quite happy with post-its
and a marker. we're not talking about a huge
number of items all that often. we really don't
eat many frozen things (maybe three to six times
a month) for meals.

this past summer with adding more frozen
strawberries, roasted red peppers and squash i've
really increased the amount of food i'd eat from
the freezer. some of the frozen strawberries
were replacements for strawberry freezer jam so
i reduced those to make room for the other. Ma
still needs room in there for when she bakes
bread.

will all the jars of frozen berries out of
there now it's about the emptiest it's been in a
long time.


songbird

George Shirley[_3_] 07-12-2016 04:24 AM

strawberries today (learned one lesson)
 
On 12/6/2016 8:20 PM, songbird wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
> ...
>> Easiest thing in the world, I go to one of the office stores and buy the
>> cheapest labels they have. Write on it with pen or a colored pen, stick
>> it on. Empty jar, run hot water over the label, pull it off and you're done.

>
> i suspect we'll be quite happy with post-its
> and a marker. we're not talking about a huge
> number of items all that often. we really don't
> eat many frozen things (maybe three to six times
> a month) for meals.
>
> this past summer with adding more frozen
> strawberries, roasted red peppers and squash i've
> really increased the amount of food i'd eat from
> the freezer. some of the frozen strawberries
> were replacements for strawberry freezer jam so
> i reduced those to make room for the other. Ma
> still needs room in there for when she bakes
> bread.
>
> will all the jars of frozen berries out of
> there now it's about the emptiest it's been in a
> long time.
>
>
> songbird
>

This past summer we had enormous harvests of sweet peppers of all
colors, eggplant, squash, green beans, okra, etc. Not being able to eat
it all fresh we then started freezing the stuff. Most of our grown
grands don't come around that much so there's no one to give it to. None
of our neighbors are very friendly and none of them garden so just a few
get some good groceries and even some of those don't eat much in the way
of vegetables. Seems a lot of them just eat bread, meat, and cheese. Yuck!

I hit the big freezer hard today, took out a package each of okra,
shucked beans, corn on the cob, and many other vegetables. Tomorrow I
will make a large amount of veggie soup and then put it back in the
freezer less the couple of meals we will eat. Makes a little bit of room
in there. I'm trying to eat more "stuff" out of the freezer and less
from the pantry.

The rain stopped yesterday, for four days we got slightly over an inch a
day. Then the sun came out and the garden has gone crazy again. I'm
hoping the rain took a good bit of the volcanic dust out of our sky too,
at least the cars and the roof aren't coated with it right now.

I'm off to bed.

George


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