Peaches! Melons!
Aug. 5th, 2010 02:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluesgardenFor the record, 100 pounds of peaches equals:
29 pint jars sliced, in own juice
14 half pint jars sliced, in own juice
10 pint jars puree
9 12-ounce jars jam
5 half pint jars jam
1 pie
1 cobbler
A dozen or so eaten out of hand
and some as-yet-unknown quantity of dried fruit (they're still in the dehydrator)
Yesterday, with the headache finally abating, it was time for the final peach processing which involved turning more than a bushel of fruit into slices for either canning or drying. Of the sliced peach pint jars listed above, 1 broke in the canner, 1 seal failed, and 1 seal is questionable - all older blue glass jars, which would be a good illustration of why I use them last. I still have some newer jars up in the top of the shed, but I didn't know if they were clean and I wasn't going out and climbing up there at 10pm last night when I needed them. The failed seal and questionable seal jars are fine, just in the fridge.
I'm pretty sure I blanched, and sliced, and canned for close to 12 hours straight.
Today I'm feeling a certain lack of motivation although I did make it out to the garden. After evicting two more tomato hornworms, I checked the melon patch and discovered some ripe ones - 3 Ambrosia (orange fleshed), 2 Charentais (orange fleshed), and 1 Ha'Ogen (green fleshed). I've only weighed one since I was giving it straight away, and that was the largest netted cantaloupe which came in at 5 pounds, 2 ounces. One of the others I'm going to have to guess was 3 pounds since D made off with it and was eating it before I could even get the rest inside! Er, and a second one that he apparently gave away when I wasn't looking. I also went ahead and pulled the oldest watermelon, a Sugar Baby, which may be ripe. I'm not sure. They're much harder to tell than melons that turn a sudden, marked yellow and detach themselves from their vines.
(Okay, now I've found a thread on GardenWeb.com - with pictures! - that it's apparently the tendril closest to the watermelon that I need to look at. Mine doesn't have a spot! I rotated it so it wouldn't! The spot thing doesn't help me at all, but tendrils I can do. I think.)
(eta: HOLY MOSES IS THAT TASTY. Yeah, the watermelon's ripe. *g* ...I still didn't get to weigh it though. Darnit, D!)
I've yet to plant the beets and turnips. Headaches and heat, mainly, but I'm also discouraged by the lack of germination among the last set of seeds I planted, which can probably also be blamed on the heat. Possibly also not enough watering on my part. Sigh.
Meanwhile, the green beans have tapered off significantly, but I do need to pick and can them tomorrow when the heat is supposed to drop back for a day or two. The potatoes just plain need harvested since the plants are dying (lovely weather we're having this summer).
But as for me, considering the last canner load came out at 1:00 am and then I started some coding that needed finished, I'm just going to take a wee bit of a nap. :)
29 pint jars sliced, in own juice
14 half pint jars sliced, in own juice
10 pint jars puree
9 12-ounce jars jam
5 half pint jars jam
1 pie
1 cobbler
A dozen or so eaten out of hand
and some as-yet-unknown quantity of dried fruit (they're still in the dehydrator)
Yesterday, with the headache finally abating, it was time for the final peach processing which involved turning more than a bushel of fruit into slices for either canning or drying. Of the sliced peach pint jars listed above, 1 broke in the canner, 1 seal failed, and 1 seal is questionable - all older blue glass jars, which would be a good illustration of why I use them last. I still have some newer jars up in the top of the shed, but I didn't know if they were clean and I wasn't going out and climbing up there at 10pm last night when I needed them. The failed seal and questionable seal jars are fine, just in the fridge.
I'm pretty sure I blanched, and sliced, and canned for close to 12 hours straight.
Today I'm feeling a certain lack of motivation although I did make it out to the garden. After evicting two more tomato hornworms, I checked the melon patch and discovered some ripe ones - 3 Ambrosia (orange fleshed), 2 Charentais (orange fleshed), and 1 Ha'Ogen (green fleshed). I've only weighed one since I was giving it straight away, and that was the largest netted cantaloupe which came in at 5 pounds, 2 ounces. One of the others I'm going to have to guess was 3 pounds since D made off with it and was eating it before I could even get the rest inside! Er, and a second one that he apparently gave away when I wasn't looking. I also went ahead and pulled the oldest watermelon, a Sugar Baby, which may be ripe. I'm not sure. They're much harder to tell than melons that turn a sudden, marked yellow and detach themselves from their vines.
(Okay, now I've found a thread on GardenWeb.com - with pictures! - that it's apparently the tendril closest to the watermelon that I need to look at. Mine doesn't have a spot! I rotated it so it wouldn't! The spot thing doesn't help me at all, but tendrils I can do. I think.)
(eta: HOLY MOSES IS THAT TASTY. Yeah, the watermelon's ripe. *g* ...I still didn't get to weigh it though. Darnit, D!)
I've yet to plant the beets and turnips. Headaches and heat, mainly, but I'm also discouraged by the lack of germination among the last set of seeds I planted, which can probably also be blamed on the heat. Possibly also not enough watering on my part. Sigh.
Meanwhile, the green beans have tapered off significantly, but I do need to pick and can them tomorrow when the heat is supposed to drop back for a day or two. The potatoes just plain need harvested since the plants are dying (lovely weather we're having this summer).
But as for me, considering the last canner load came out at 1:00 am and then I started some coding that needed finished, I'm just going to take a wee bit of a nap. :)
