tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040094306206601621.post2155997382125527070..comments2024-03-21T01:15:20.870-07:00Comments on Sacramento Vegetable Gardening: Harvest Season IS NOT a Celebration!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040094306206601621.post-44743781762251865092011-09-06T21:03:04.358-07:002011-09-06T21:03:04.358-07:00Thank you for the guidance!
We are at 271 pounds ...Thank you for the guidance!<br /><br />We are at 271 pounds harvested so far. My coworkers and the food bank have been sharing the bounty. I've made a lot of pasta sauce and frozen it, but canning sounds like it might be a truer taste of summer in the cold months.AnnaNmtynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040094306206601621.post-66401639946444511942011-09-06T13:51:04.469-07:002011-09-06T13:51:04.469-07:00Well, you'll need canning jars and a Boil Wate...Well, you'll need canning jars and a Boil Water Bath canner. You can find both at Walmart. You can also pick up the BWB canner at Independent hardware stores like ACE or True Value. Home Depot or Lowes does not stock these things. Canning jars can be tricky to find because people stock up on them. What you need after that is a canning safe recipe. I would start with quarts of whole tomatoes. Just Google canning tomatoes and start reading. This is also a good resource: http://www.pickyourown.org/canning_tomatoes.htm. Reading how it's done, before you do it, is also very helpful.Bill Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11816389236294882066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040094306206601621.post-19254736674841074472011-09-04T10:45:09.933-07:002011-09-04T10:45:09.933-07:00Do you have any recommendations of what a person n...Do you have any recommendations of what a person new to canning should buy? The local canning classes I found are not going on now and so I plan to try canning with advice and books.<br /><br />I heard a couple of my coworkers lamenting over poor tomato harvests this year. It must be hit or miss in Sacramento. So far this year we have harvested over 185 pounds of tomatoes -- and that does not even include what's ready to pick today and the huge quantities tomato fruitworms made a buffet of.AnnaNmtynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040094306206601621.post-58806051115655486152011-08-24T09:12:30.576-07:002011-08-24T09:12:30.576-07:00Very informative. Thanks.Very informative. Thanks.Indoor Fountainshttp://www.kineticfountains.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040094306206601621.post-48258790520528463592011-08-11T17:51:41.511-07:002011-08-11T17:51:41.511-07:00Holy Tomatoes....What a haul!Holy Tomatoes....What a haul!SouthCoast Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02832319202301396206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040094306206601621.post-2771250945532942032011-08-11T11:46:58.944-07:002011-08-11T11:46:58.944-07:00Oh -- and one other thing? Even when you do pack t...Oh -- and one other thing? Even when you do pack those tomatoes in -- the juice still separates from the tomato itself during the canning procedure. What had been a one quart jar tightly packed with tomatoes -- comes out as a jar that is half tomatoes and half almost clear liquid when the pressure canning process ends. That is to be expected I'm told.Bill Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11816389236294882066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040094306206601621.post-85887626272480096382011-08-11T11:45:11.656-07:002011-08-11T11:45:11.656-07:00Ms. Meier,
In past years, with the water bath can...Ms. Meier,<br /><br />In past years, with the water bath canner, yes, Venus would fill up a jar with whole, peeled tomatoes, drop in two tablespoons of processed lemon juice and then top it off with water boiling on the stove. Usually -- no more than a quarter of a cup. But when we broke out the new pressure canner last weekend? The instructions were tomatoes and lemon juice, with the added instruction of "pack those tomatoes into the jar as tightly as possible." So, that's what we did. In packing the tomatoes, you get a lot of tomato juice that oozes to the top, so no additional water is needed (other than the processed lemon juice). You probably don't even need the lemon juice to be perfectly honest. But it's probably the best thing you can do to guard against botulism spores. Tomatoes are acidic by nature, but adding additional acid in the form of lemon juice or white vinegar certainly doesn't hurt.Bill Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11816389236294882066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040094306206601621.post-44088960299283348812011-08-11T11:03:44.064-07:002011-08-11T11:03:44.064-07:00Your pantry makes me swoon :) Just our of curiosit...Your pantry makes me swoon :) Just our of curiosity, do you pack the tomatoes in water or juice? Any fancy preserving tricks? Also, how do you use them later when the freshies are (sob) long gone?JMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11677875462252085092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040094306206601621.post-58930389869168145822011-08-11T10:36:31.982-07:002011-08-11T10:36:31.982-07:00Great! And yeah, I agree, harvest season means WOR...Great! And yeah, I agree, harvest season means WORK! Lots of it! :)Sam At SmilingGardenerhttp://www.smilinggardener.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1040094306206601621.post-3620357636796853542011-08-10T07:15:17.468-07:002011-08-10T07:15:17.468-07:00Looks great. I'm still a few weeks from a big ...Looks great. I'm still a few weeks from a big haul like that.Greg Damitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12681672410404222333noreply@blogger.com