Green thumbed folks, gardeners and grow your own

They are great, aren't they!  One can save SO much money with them, and you know precisely what is in each jar. No surprise fillers, no surprise chemicals, no stealth sugar.... 

Bramble jam sounds so good! I used up the last of our blackberry jam a couple of weeks ago. Made some nice plum jam to replace it this year.

There  are several pumpkins earmarked for canning sitting on my kitchen table once I have more quart-sized jars available. I used my stock of those up with chicken back when it was on uber-sale, so there's a few more nights of curried chicken to go yet before I can put up any of the pumpkin.

On an encouraging note, jars are a lot more available this year than last year, although the jar lids are still in somewhat short supply. Nothing like last year - you can find them now but really have to hunt for them. Any better over there than it was?

It had been pretty impossible finding lids here. We bought tons and tons to bring back when we were in the US last May for that reason. Not sure if it’s gotten any better.

It had been pretty impossible finding lids here. We bought tons and tons to bring back when we were in the US last May for that reason. Not sure if it’s gotten any better.

You'd think some enterprising soul would get some sheet metal and sealant, and a stamping press! They could have named their price, last year. The lids are going for like twice than what they should cost here, when you can find them, this year. The shops do occasionally have an off brand (Chinese)  but I'm hesitant to try them. I had heck with the failure rate of the ones I got in the UK and don't want to repeat that. At least one Kilmer jar in every two batches would fail. The sealant didn't seem to be evenly distributed on the lids. I wonder if I was sold "counterfeit" lids on Amazon while over there?   I have only had one jar fail in all the canning in both years we've been  back here. 

I've also seen reusable lids that are supposed to seal as well as Ball or Kerr jar lids, but I'm waiting for more people to try them first - for the same reason, I hate having failed seals.  (And they are definitely higher cost, too, but if they actually work that'd be great!)

What brand of canner did your hubby get for you?

Wow, I'm intrigued by the reusable lids for sealing. Will need to investigate further. 

 I too hate jars that don't seal and Kilner jars/lids definitely seem to cause headaches.. . I haven't tried any of the Chinese ones you see on Amazon, but I'm a bit hesitant to try because , well it's such a waste of time, money and effort if they don't seal and you have to reprocess or eat up straight away.   We bought a stack of Ball brand lids in the US and they've been doing stellar work.   

He got me a 16 quart Presto - it was the only one he could find to get shipped to the UK. Rare as hen's teeth to actually find one in the UK.  Works awesome for our needs though!

My sister (in the US) recently got a steam canner as a gift.  You use this instead of water bath canning. She has RA and limited mobility, so this works very well for her as she doesn't need to lift tons of water and a big pot onto the stovetop.  It's a pretty cool device.  Obviously not going to work for low acid stuff, but for jams and pickles and chutney, pretty cool!

You'd think some enterprising soul would get some sheet metal and sealant, and a stamping press! They could have named their price, last year.

You guys should have a word with @jfkimberly, she has tools! 

I really need to get into preserving. I'm still at the giving stuff away stage!

Wow, I'm intrigued by the reusable lids for sealing. Will need to investigate further. 

 I too hate jars that don't seal and Kilner jars/lids definitely seem to cause headaches.. . I haven't tried any of the Chinese ones you see on Amazon, but I'm a bit hesitant to try because , well it's such a waste of time, money and effort if they don't seal and you have to reprocess or eat up straight away.   We bought a stack of Ball brand lids in the US and they've been doing stellar work.   

He got me a 16 quart Presto - it was the only one he could find to get shipped to the UK. Rare as hen's teeth to actually find one in the UK.  Works awesome for our needs though!

My sister (in the US) recently got a steam canner as a gift.  You use this instead of water bath canning. She has RA and limited mobility, so this works very well for her as she doesn't need to lift tons of water and a big pot onto the stovetop.  It's a pretty cool device.  Obviously not going to work for low acid stuff, but for jams and pickles and chutney, pretty cool!

Well, we're twins then - and he did right by ya! My daughter got me a Presto 16 quart years ago and it's still going strong. Mine is a weight-regulated model, rather than a gauge regulated. But it works just fine. We had it with us over in Glasgow. The only hassle was getting replacement parts over there - but I did find them on Amazon. I like to have a spare gasket and spare seals for the over-pressure plug on hand, just because of the wear and tear put on them after years of processing at that pressure.

I went to a demo by the ag extension folks last spring on canners and saw those steam canners. They are great and much less hassle than doing water baths. It's getting to that time when my lifting up a canner full of boiling hot water to get it off the stove is not going to end well, so I may be looking into getting one of those steam canners myself.

I've been debating trying these lids https://www.lehmans.com/product/reusable-canning-jar-lids-regular  but so far haven't made that leap.

I really need to get into preserving. I'm still at the giving stuff away stage!

Really. Saves money in the long run, and it's nice to open up a jar of something tasty in the middle of winter. Especially when the shelves are either on the bare side or you have to take out a loan to buy a jar of jam....

Hey hey, it's pumpkin time!


https://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/super-squash-2554-pound-pumpkin-carves-us-record-90931477 

Sigh, freeze warning for tonight. It was inevitable, and only the carrots, fennel and peppers remain, but I wish we had a bit longer of a growing season.   

Off in a bit to throw covers over the peppers and hoping they'll make it. The fennel I'll harvest and the carrots will be ok.

We planted a boatload of garlic last weekend, and it poured rain yesterday, so it should all be good. In a week or two I'll go get a bunch of aspen shavings (animal bedding) from the feed store and pile it on top of the beds for the winter. Fingers are crossed we get as good of a harvest next year as we did this year.

Just put three inches of shaved pine wood chips on the garlic beds, tucking them in for the winter. It's been so warm here that they had already sprouted and were up a few inches.  Starting tonight it's going below freezing for every night for the foreseeable future, with the low 20Fs being the norm for a while. Hopefully that will convince the garlic to go dormant.  Will need to go back over there and put row cover down to hold the chips down for those days when it gets breezy, but for now they should be ok.

For anyone who might be interested, I can highly recommend the variety of basil "Mammoth" for growing hydroponically. We have a small AeroGrow that has mint, Genovese Basil, and I tried Mammoth basil in it as well.  It has performed spectacularly, and regularly produces enough leaves for pesto.  I placed a jumbo brown chicken egg next to one of the leaves for scale. On the left is standard Genovese basil.  Seriously, Mammoth  a very good plant for the kitchen - leaves picked are pretty much replaced by new growth the next week.n 

Yeah, old topic. I know.

So. Gardners. Have you ever grown poppies? We have tried for three years and they don't even germinate. Not sure what we are doing wrong. Tried planting when the ground can first be worked. Tried planting when the ground had warmed up significantly. Tried: barely covering the seed; leaving the seed uncovered; pressing the seed in the soil and leaving uncovered; planting as broadcast seeding; planting in rows; planting in furrows; placing a row cover over; leaving them open to the sun; watering every day; watering only when the soil is dry. Nada. Not a single plant.... Is there some secret incantation I need to chant while throwing the seeds over my left shoulder to plant? 

(Also tried germinating them indoors in flats. Nothing.)

Yeah, old topic. I know.

So. Gardners. Have you ever grown poppies? We have tried for three years and they don't even germinate. Not sure what we are doing wrong. Tried planting when the ground can first be worked. Tried planting when the ground had warmed up significantly. Tried: barely covering the seed; leaving the seed uncovered; pressing the seed in the soil and leaving uncovered; planting as broadcast seeding; planting in rows; planting in furrows; placing a row cover over; leaving them open to the sun; watering every day; watering only when the soil is dry. Nada. Not a single plant.... Is there some secret incantation I need to chant while throwing the seeds over my left shoulder to plant? 

(Also tried germinating them indoors in flats. Nothing.)

I'm having the same problem trying to grow onions from seed. On my 3rd batch, second variety and nothing at all.
Poppies on the other hand, I'm pulling out like weeds as they self seed like crazy here. Go figure! 

Oh you lucky......   I'm going to try one more time.  And I also got some California poppies (not the same as bread seed poppies, but similar appearance, generally, and possibly happier with the climate here) that I'm going to plant out later this week.  It's 80F right now. I spent 5 hours in the garden yesterday getting beds ready and planting flower seeds. Not going to chance putting anything sensitive in the ground yet. And my hunch was right - we are under a freeze watch for tomorrow night! I feel bad for a lot of the gardeners - they've put things like squash, peppers, and tomatoes out. Hopefully they're paying attention to the weather forecast!!

I've had some luck with onion from seed - starting in a traditional tray but keeping it covered, and slightly damp but not wet, and when the first sprouts appear taking the cover off. Otherwise, fungus!  It seems to help if the room is either around 70F or the tray is on a heating mat. And under a good, strong grow light. Elsa Craig works well for me, even here. But I have to put a row cover over them for shade in the hottest of the summer months.

I have been growing poppies (stunning pink ones) from seed my late FIL harvested from seed 10+ years ago.  Absolutely no issues getting them to germinate.  I do them in seed trays, moist compost, cover until they pop up.  Prick out and go.  So I'm not sure Nan!