What's Growing in the Garden

A question from someone who has never been granted the pleasure of picking a ripe apple by the Squirrel Anarchists, how do you decided when to pick? Refractometer or some secret folk tradition?

BTW - there is a very lightly used and lonely refractometer in my junkashoparage somewhere's.
 
The pears have started loosing leaves, but the apples are holding strong. This Winesap normally wouldn't be ripe until early October, but had early spring and good season.
 
Mike Hill said:
A question from someone who has never been granted the pleasure of picking a ripe apple by the Squirrel Anarchists, how do you decided when to pick? Refractometer or some secret folk tradition?

BTW - there is a very lightly used and lonely refractometer in my junkashoparage somewhere's.
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I use color and flavor. On the Winesap, they will loose most of the green color to red all over. On the HoneyCrisp, the green turns to yellow. Flavor you just learn. How easily they come off the tree is another factor.

At the research farm in grad school we used the starch-iodine test on some apple varieties to make sure most starches had converted before harvest.

A refractometer is used by some, but readings vary from season to season. Believe that refractometers are used more by those who primarily make cider to balance acidity and flavor. Also used extensively by those who make hard cider to make sure they have proper levels for fermentation.

I do have a refractometer that I picked up this year, but I mostly used it for tart cherries to help learn about ripeness. Used out of curiosity on Honeycrisp, but not as a determination of ripeness.
 
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Well shoot. I thought I was just going to be able to show you the fruits of my labor in regard to pressure canning, WITHOUT having to ask questions, but NO! I hot packed seven 1 qt jars that are a little squarish. I could only get six inside the canner. Can you can less than a full canner (one or two jars)? Should I just let the seventh jar cool down and refrigerate? Then warm to RT before canning tomorrow? I have more beans. I had two to three inches of water in the canner when I did a test on it, so now the water level with the six jars is 2/3rds up the side of the jars. They don't need to be covered like BWB processing do they?
 
Less than full is just fine. We still have old mayo jars we use and cannot get a full load if those are part of a load. I've gone as few as 3 jars per load.

Amount of water in canner. I use 2 qts in the canner. Sounds like yours is similar size, so that is probably about right is you don't have any instructions. After jars are in canner, boil on high for 10 minutes with stop rooster open to build steam and vent all the air out. After 10 minutes, close it up and let pressure start building. When pressure hits the point you want, slowly, slowly start reducing the heat. I will turn the heat down gradually every 3-4 minutes until it usually stabilizes about 15 minutes into the session. Don't worry if the pressure builds higher than 11 psi, it will. Just don't let it start pegging the needle. The biggest thing you don't want is for the pressure to go up and down. That's why I gradually decrease heat until the pressure stabilizes at whatever psi. As long as it is above 11 you are good. On many stoves, that is usually just above midway on the dial, but they all vary.

The beans that are in the jar, id remove the lid, drain the juice dump them out and cool quickly.
 
trc65 said:
Less than full is just fine. We still have old mayo jars we use and cannot get a full load if those are part of a load. I've gone as few as 3 jars per load.

Amount of water in canner. I use 2 qts in the canner. Sounds like yours is similar size, so that is probably about right is you don't have any instructions. After jars are in canner, boil on high for 10 minutes with stop Male chicken open to build steam and vent all the air out. After 10 minutes, close it up and let pressure start building. When pressure hits the point you want, slowly, slowly start reducing the heat. I will turn the heat down gradually every 3-4 minutes until it usually stabilizes about 15 minutes into the session. Don't worry if the pressure builds higher than 11 psi, it will. Just don't let it start pegging the needle. The biggest thing you don't want is for the pressure to go up and down. That's why I gradually decrease heat until the pressure stabilizes at whatever psi. As long as it is above 11 you are good. On many stoves, that is usually just above midway on the dial, but they all vary.

The beans that are in the jar, id remove the lid, drain the juice dump them out and cool quickly.
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Mayo jars? Looks like your Mom and mine are from the same generation. I still have some of hers, and being wide mouth, pickle pickles and okra in them. I needed the vent pipe so I ordered the kit. The weight was the three piece style and not the single piece one as described. As mentioned, I tested it with the 5 # wieght only. Started jiggling at 8 psig on the guage. I added another weight and it started to jiggle at 12 psig. So that's how I'm using it now. Kind of a hybrid pressure canner. I did vent the air for 10 minutes and now in the 25 minute processing time. Tomorrow will be quicker.

I did use the hot water that I hot packed (blanched) the beans in the jars. Kind of cloudy. Should I have used fresh hot water?

I turned the flame down to 2/3rds and am holding 12.5 psig. I'm guessing that's 11 psig in reality since my guage was reading a little high.
 
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Mike Hill said:
A question from someone who has never been granted the pleasure of picking a ripe apple by the Squirrel Anarchists, how do you decided when to pick? Refractometer or some secret folk tradition?

BTW - there is a very lightly used and lonely refractometer in my junkashoparage somewhere's.
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Kamp King, Old Timer, Case, and many more work. Cut the apple in half. With most, if the seeds are white, not ripe, brown or black, ready to taste test.
 
djg said:
Mayo jars? Looks like your Mom and mine are from the same generation. I still have some of hers, and being wide mouth, pickle pickles and okra in them. I needed the vent pipe so I ordered the kit. The weight was the three piece style and not the single piece one as described. As mentioned, I tested it with the 5 # wieght only. Started jiggling at 8 psig on the guage. I added another weight and it started to jiggle at 12 psig. So that's how I'm using it now. Kind of a hybrid pressure canner. I did vent the air for 10 minutes and now in the 25 minute processing time. Tomorrow will be quicker.

I did use the hot water that I hot packed (blanched) the beans in the jars. Kind of cloudy. Should I have used fresh hot water?

I turned the flame down to 2/3rds and am holding 12.5 psig. I'm guessing that's 11 psig in reality since my guage was reading a little high.
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My procedure is too cold (raw) pack beans in jars, add 1 tsp canning salt/qt and then pour boiling water over them.

I dump out and rinse the canner after every batch as you will often have venting of the jars into the water.

Depending on the water source, you can get residue accumulating in pots, or even floating in the boiled water. We have well water that has tons of calcium (limestone bedrock) and it can make the water cloudy or even see precipitate floating in it.

Sounds like you've got a procedure down, just takes some repetition to feel comfortable with all the steps.

Another tip. When the run is done, I turn off the heat and let the canner sit in place. When pressure is zero, I will break the seal on the lid, but leave the lid in place for 15 minutes or so to start cooling down. If you pop the lid off as soon as pressure is zero, the jars will still be boiling and at times can vent juice which can interfere with sealing. Takes a little longer to let them cool, but doing it this way, it's been years since I've had a jar not seal.

Another tip, when adding boiling water to jars, you will always get some bubbles. Fill all the jars, then go back and use a rubber/silicone spatula along the sides to help remove air. Use a spoon to bring water levels to required head space, wipe jar rim add lids and good to go.
 
Thanks Tim (@trc65) for your help. I got caught up bean wise.

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Beans have slowed down, probably because of the 10 day dry spell we've had and I haven't watered. Probably only 4 more quarts to put up. I may try a soup stock (beans, tomatoes, spices, etc).

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Did pick little over a gallon yesterday as well as my crowder (purple pod) peas. Only a few pods do actually get a little purple.
 
They just won't stop. Raspberries everywhere! This is just since Monday, about 2.5 gallons. I freeze them on a sheet pan then vac seal them. Ran out of vac bags though, so just going in regular bags until I get to town for more.

Raspberry jam, peach and raspberry jam, and from a random post on FB, going to make a lot of raspberry apple sauce. Winesap apples are just about ready, so probably next week will start cooking and canning again.

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Just a plain old Nesco sealer. Not a chamber sealer or anything. Don't actually use bags per say, but rolls and cut to length. Tried a bunch of premade bags once and ended up wasting too much as we seal so many differently sized things.
 
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Ok. The bags I got were for a chamber. If anyone has one, I'll let them go cheap.
BTW...check out Webstaurantstore.com and look at bags/rolls. Good quality and cheaper than I've found anywhere. I used to buy the rolls in bulk at Sam's Club but this place is cheaper. Where I got my new sealer too.
 
I like that place, bought numerous things from them but never looked at vac bags.

Wish I had a chamber vac, but can't justify the cost, or the counter space...
 
trc65 said:
They just won't stop. Raspberries everywhere! This is just since Monday, about 2.5 gallons. I freeze them on a sheet pan then vac seal them. Ran out of vac bags though, so just going in regular bags until I get to town for more.

Raspberry jam, peach and raspberry jam, and from a random post on FB, going to make a lot of raspberry apple sauce. Winesap apples are just about ready, so probably next week will start cooking and canning again.

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I can't say I've ever had red raspberries. Do they taste just the same as black raspberries? Do raspberries in general like a lot of sun? I've got a 50' row of blacks planted in a E-W direction that gets baked in the sun and they are doing poorly. I'm thinking of transplanting in a N-S direction behind my paneled 6' garden fence for some shade.
 
Different flavor between the two. Blacks have a much deeper rich flavor than reds. Blacks are also much more delicate, smaller and have a higher ratio of seed/fruit. Blacks are my favorite, but you can't beat the production you get from some varieties of reds.

They all like full sun, but my blacks are planted up against some timber and get only afternoon sun. I think I'm going to move some to a different location though as they are being invaded by bindweed. Tough to control chemically in a crop and impossible to control without chemicals.

Black raspberries are shallow rooted and need consistent moisture, but also good drainage. I often use grass clippings to mulch in spring, but you have to be careful with thick layers of mulch as they can promote root disease and house mice and voles over winter. The grass works pretty well for me as a majority of it breaks down before winter. They can take a good deal of shade and still produce.
 
Looking for a different variety of POLE bean to try. Currently, I'm planting Blue Lake Stringless Pole beans. Any suggestions?
 
trc65 said:
That's the ones I'm using, so no help.

Is there something you don't like about them?
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Nothing really. Someone here mentioned a variety they liked and I thought I might try something different in addition to what I'm doing now. I tend to pick too late and the beans inside are nearly fully developed. They get a little tough. Seems like (but not confirmed), the pods run short until the bean inside are fully developed. So I wait until the pods are longer to pick. My problem really not the variety.

Early in the season, I loose beans inside the foliage and they get too big. I'm going to plant further apart next year.

I like your arch system but I can't get those panels cheap any more. I've bought 'damaged' panels 50% off before. Using two panels to try and train vining squash plants onto. Poor year for experimentation.
 
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