re: 2022 Spring Garden Thread

And I thought I had too much to handle. Here are a few photos that are about 3-4 weeks old.

Someone else asked but can you share your pepper canning recipe? I have had bad luck. They taste fine, but the water bath canning method turns them into mush.

Brad's Atomic Grapes - They're gonna be ready to pick this week.



My personal favorite - Buena Mulata peppers. These are similar to cayenne in heat and taste, but purple.



China Jade cumbers - These are about 1# a piece. It won't be long and I'll need to turn these into dill relish... Recipes appreciated.



Red and Nicola potatoes before and after. ~ 30#





Assorted peppers - Banana, Jalapeno, Poblano, Carmen, and Italian Pepperoncini. I have banana peppers coming out of my ears, with poblano's not far behind. Spent some time stuffing some of the banana peppers last night.

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They taste fine, but the water bath canning method turns them into mush.

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There are two ways to deal with this that I am aware of. First way, which is widely considered the best way if you have the time, is to use calcium hydroxide (pickling lime) and soak them in it for 12-24 hours before canning. One of the potential issues with that can arise from using pickling lime, because it's an alkaline solution, if you do not thoroughly rinse all of the solution away before canning it can bring down the needed acidity of your brine. Then you can have potential for botulism. It is very important to rinse all of the pickling lime away. It is recommended after liming to thoroughly rinse your produce and soak in fresh water for an additional hour. And you need to do this 3 times.

If you are pressed for time like I usually am, there is calcium chloride granules (pickle crisp). Calcium chloride has a pH of 5.4 if I remember correctly. So there is no risk of it raising the pH of your brine. 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon per pint, 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon per quart. Add it into the jars with your produce before adding the brine. This is what I use and it works just fine. I usually use the higher end of the recommended amount.

As a disclaimer I will say not to take anything I say as gospel here. Be sure to use food grade products and follow USDA safe canning guidelines.

ETA: Correction: After a little reading it would appear that calcium chloride has a neutral to slightly alkaline pH. But the small amount used in canning does not affect the pH of the brine. In order for it to affect pH "You’d need to use enough to turn your cucumbers into fossils to have an impact on pH."

LINK

Is there a way to prevent tomatoes from splitting?

They've been splitting like 2 days before turning red...

Enjoyed green beans with red potatoes and skillet corn from the garden tonight with steaks. Celebrating end of the school year! Can’t beat fresh stuff from your own garden.

I noticed today that two tomatoes in one of my pots had bottom end rot. Would the best thing for me to use be some bonide root rot spray or is there a faster fix I could do to hopefully save the rest of the tomatoes? This hasn’t happened to me before but it’s also the first time I’ve tried growing in pots.

Blossom end rot is a calcium defieincy. It's usually not a calcium defienecy in the soil. Uneven watering (ie underwatering) causes the plant to pull calcium from the friut causing blossom end rot. Adding calcium and not changing how yu water will nt change blossom end rot. Water more and eater evenly

Certain varieties are more prone to splitting than others. Better Boy is bad about splitting but delicious tomatoes. I plant Big Beef and don't have much problem with splitting.