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Jude
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Sun 29 May , 2022 8:39 pm
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Sadly, we didn't have a raspberry or blackberry season last year. I tried every farmer's market, but no luck. And vison's blackberry jam recipe is definitely in my top five favourite.

This year, maybe?

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LalaithUrwen
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Mon 30 May , 2022 1:13 pm
The Grey Amaretto as Supermega-awesome Proud Heretic Girl
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I know raspberry as a female tonic and an antidiarrheal. That's interesting about the antipyretic aspect.

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Jude
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Mon 06 Jun , 2022 12:15 am
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So my blackcurrant bush has hundreds of little green berries. I'm going to be biting my nails until they ripen.

I forget how far I got along last year before the harvest disappeared. I should probably document it this year.

More good news: it looks like I'm going to have a gooseberry harvest this year. :banana:

Oh, and my lilac bush is now blooming. It looks and smells amazing.

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nienna
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Mon 06 Jun , 2022 7:13 am
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That's great news, Jude - everything crossed for a bumper harvest!

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Frelga
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Mon 20 Jun , 2022 12:46 am
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I'm getting a decent crop of plums this year. As in, *we* are getting plums and not just jays and squirrels.

My husband made jam yesterday. I canned it, although it's in the fridge now because I boiled the jars but didn't sterilize them after pouring jam. I'd like to get some equipment to simplify the process, and maybe make some jam to send to son in New York.

However, next on the list are brandied plums. ;)

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Jude
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Mon 20 Jun , 2022 1:01 am
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You can get a water-bath canner pretty cheaply. The one I have is just a pig pot with a metal rack that fits in and keeps the jars separate from each other. I got it from my local hardware store.

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Frelga
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Mon 20 Jun , 2022 5:15 am
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I mostly need a rack. I have a big enough pot, but I've been using rolled up foil instead of the rack. And I wouldn't mind a nice funnel. Using a ladle is workable but messy. :D

But they also sell the pressure cooker kind that supposedly works better for pickling. I have a dream of getting enough cucumbers to pickle, and the dill surviving long enough to use. And I don't want to take chances. A jar of spoiled jam is a waste but a jar of spoiled pickles is explosive!

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Estel Dúnadan
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Wed 22 Jun , 2022 11:55 am
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Yay for crops! Hope they come through!

Canning equipment - it really depends what you want to can. Jam doesn't need water-bathing or pressure-canning: just pour hot jam into hot jars, close them immediately, and let them seal themselves. I like to sterilise the jars in the oven for that, because if you sterilise in hot water, you have to make sure the jars are thoroughly dry but still hot. But if you water-bath or pressure-can, you have a wider variety of contents you can safely preserve. Even meat can be apparently pressure-canned, as long as you remove all the fat first.


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MariaHobbit
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Wed 22 Jun , 2022 5:44 pm
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I waterbath can anything with lots of sugar or acid in it. I pressure can anything that doesn't have low pH or isn't sugary. I've pressure canned lots of vegetables and soups and stews with meat in them. I've never canned just meat in broth before, but I could if I needed to. I've got freezers for meat. I prefer green beans frozen, too, so I don't can those unless I'm running out of freezer space.

I use the Ball Blue Book as a reference.

edit: If you make a low sugar jam, you can't just waterbath can it. Pressure canning allows the temperature to get high enough to kill every bacteria and spore and leave the insides truly sterile.


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Frelga
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Wed 22 Jun , 2022 9:38 pm
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Oh, that's good to know!

I've never tried to pressure can. Grandma pickled every year - tomatoes and cucumbers, watermelon, sauerkraut, sometimes apples. I don't think she pressure canned, but that's also how I learned about exploding pickles.

PS: meanwhile, husband is getting ready the next batch of plums to be preserved in brandy.

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MariaHobbit
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Thu 23 Jun , 2022 1:57 pm
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When I was young, we made jellies and fruit preserves with just a wax seal on top of the jar. They stayed good just as well as ones with metal lids. It's the high sugar content that keeps things from growing in it, really.

We didn't do that all the time, mind you. It was more of an experiment, to see if the method was valid. It's a pain to do and costs more than metal lids, so I never followed through on that. Plus, nowadays the internet is pretty disapproving of the method. But it is an alternative.


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Alatar
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Thu 23 Jun , 2022 2:19 pm
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My mother always used waxed paper circles held on with rubber bands for her Marmalade.

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LalaithUrwen
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Fri 24 Jun , 2022 12:03 am
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My grandma always used the paraffin wax method for her jams and jellies.

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Frelga
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Sun 26 Jun , 2022 1:34 am
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This sounds familiar but I don't remember why. Grandma used single-use lids over rubber rings that you sealed with a hand-held gadget.

I have such fond memories of her making jam. Picking cherries in the yard or buying plums by a bucket. Wasps going nuts behind the window net. Saucers of sweet foam, mine by right.

We had a bit of jam left over that didn't fit into jars, so husband added ginger and spices and made a sauce for the turkey sandwich.

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Jude
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Sat 02 Jul , 2022 9:11 pm
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The blackcurrants are getting quite large, but are remaining stubbornly green. If I can just protect them a bit longer, I may have jam this year.

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nienna
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Sun 03 Jul , 2022 12:20 pm
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Yay!

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Jude
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Tue 26 Jul , 2022 7:04 pm
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The blackcurrants are just beginning to darken and ripen, and the aphids have chosen this moment to come back in force. I think the berries are robust enough to resist them, but I'm going back to spraying with soapy water several times a day.

Every time I go out, there are tons more aphids. They must have a huge reproduction rate.

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nienna
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Wed 27 Jul , 2022 1:59 pm
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Oh wow! :( I hope you can keep them at bay long enough...

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Jude
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Sun 07 Aug , 2022 6:48 pm
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More on the blackcurrant saga: the aphids once again are threatening to take over, but it was too late to affect the berries. I got enough to make a small batch of jam, and even had enough left over to make blackcurrant crumble. Imagine having enough of a hard-to-obtain fruit like blackcurrants to use in a commonplace dessert like fruit crumble!

Apart from that, the aphids are attacking other branches so the leaves are falling off. They seem to be focused on this year's new branches, not the ones that bore fruit this year. Apparently you should prune the branches that bore fruit after you've harvested them, since they're only at peak production for one year. Even though there are still quite a lot of green unripe berries left, I've been pruning them to prevent the aphids from getting a foothold. That's too bad, because I think there would have been enough to make at least one more blackcurrant dessert if I felt safe leaving them.

Edit: I noticed earlier in the page I mistyped "The one I have is just a big pot with a metal rack" as "The one I have is just a pig pot with a metal rack". Were you all puzzled about what I meant, or did you realize it was just a typo?

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Impenitent
Post subject: Re: Gardening
Posted: Tue 09 Aug , 2022 2:16 am
Try to stay perky
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Estel Dúnadan wrote:
If I post food things, will you all want an Australia moot?
Yes!

(Late to the party, but can't blame me for trying)

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