Every 3 Days

[assateague]

This is what I get. Now the Lima beans are coming on, as well. The kids are a big help, but they no longer think the garden's "fun" I did over plant a bit. And this doesn't have the jalapeños, since I did them yesterday.

I've got a system now- core, blanch, and peel the tomatoes, bag them in gallon freezer bags, freeze until I get 6 gallons, then cook them down and can. About every 4 days, I'm cooking down and canning. Made some more salsa to mix things up. So far this year, I have put up 12 quarts of green beans, 27 quarts of dill pickles, 6 quarts of bread and butter pickles, 18 pints of sliced jalapeños, 13 quarts of salsa, and 7 gallons of tomato sauce (cooks down by about half, from frozen to sauced). I'm officially out of jars, and an going to have to start buying more, especially with beets and another month of tomatoes. Have to turn the closet under the stairs into a pantry this weekend. Just wanted to brag a bit about my first world problems

[Flightstopper]

Holy hell AT! How many tomato plants?

[Westie25]

Goodness!

[assateague]

I have to first say that last year, my entire crop of tomato plants died, had to replant, and they did horrible. So I decided it wasn't going to happen this year. My neighbor gave me all the plants I wanted from his greenhouse (and then some) for working on his truck. I think I have 67 that survived, out of 80-something.

Like I said- way too many.

And I asked him to start me some fall cabbage, about 10-15. He just brought the plants up for me tonight, and I put them in. All 30 of them. I don't want to waste anything, but I'm going to have to make sauerkraut by the gallon or something.

[Rooster]

That's a lot of maters

[assateague]

Honestly, it's too many. But then I think how much I'm going to be saving on spaghetti sauce all winter (with two kids, we do go through some spaghetti sauce), and I'm ok with it. If my fall crop of green beans grows like they should (not like the first crop, which flat sucked), I'm going to be spending very little at the grocery store. Combine that with the deer which are going to start getting laid out in a couple weeks, if not sooner, and hopefully I'll be sitting pretty.

[Flightstopper]

I wonder what the savings are once you figured it all out. I wish I had space and time to go after something like this.

[assateague]

Hard to tell. Even if I had to buy new jars for everything, it's got to be quite a bit cheaper. A quart jar with lid costs .75 each, so thats the max I'm paying for each one, since the plants are all free. I grow my own onions, garlic, cilantro, and peppers for the salsa, and oregano, garlic, and basil for the sauce. Figure a quart of salsa at about $3, and the same for spaghetti sauce, and I've already saved about $100 on those two things alone. Maybe I'll try to figure it all out at the end of the season. I keep a log, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure.

[QH's Paw]

I have to first say that last year, my entire crop of tomato plants died, had to replant, and they did horrible. So I decided it wasn't going to happen this year. My neighbor gave me all the plants I wanted from his greenhouse (and then some) for working on his truck. I think I have 67 that survived, out of 80-something.

Like I said- way too many.

And I asked him to start me some fall cabbage, about 10-15. He just brought the plants up for me tonight, and I put them in. All 30 of them. I don't want to waste anything, but I'm going to have to make sauerkraut by the gallon or something.

I love homemade kraut. A guy I used to work with made it every year and I'd keep him supplied with salmon. He had a spicy version too. He was shreading his on an old washboard type shreader from his grandparents. I mean it literally looked like one of those old washboards but, it was a shreader. It made the kraut courser.
Ok, I gotta ask Assa, who you need to disappear for some of that stuff?

[Redbeard]

Can I borrow some veggies for tomorrows beastie feats?

[AKPirate]

Posted earlier but love tomatos, Assa

tomato.jpg

[assateague]

QH, I've never made it before, so you probably wouldn't want any of mine If you have any "recipes", let me know. I think I just need the crock and some salt, but I could be wrong.

[assateague]

Can I borrow some veggies for tomorrows beastie feats?

Only if I'm invited.

[vincentpa]

Wow!

I'm envious!

[broccoli]

That would be great the whole no rain thing really took its toll on my garden this year but I did get some good stuff before it all died. I would love to have a garden that produced like that.

[assateague]

We're hurting bad on rain, too, but I'm lucky enough to live in a low area, where the water table is at about 27 inches. I still watered a lot more than usual, though, but it'll be worth it when I'm eating homemade sauce in February!

[hotrodtoad]

Hard to tell. Even if I had to buy new jars for everything, it's got to be quite a bit cheaper. A quart jar with lid costs .75 each, so thats the max I'm paying for each one, since the plants are all free. I grow my own onions, garlic, cilantro, and peppers for the salsa, and oregano, garlic, and basil for the sauce. Figure a quart of salsa at about $3, and the same for spaghetti sauce, and I've already saved about $100 on those two things alone. Maybe I'll try to figure it all out at the end of the season. I keep a log, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure.

Don't forget to figure in the gas or electric for cooking, and you and the families hourly wages. I figure it's probably about 8.00 a jar or so.

[vincentpa]

I wouldn't make sauce. I would just can tomatoes and make the sauce later. But I'm still envious.

[assateague]

I wouldn't make sauce. I would just can tomatoes and make the sauce later. But I'm still envious.

That's sort of what I'm doing. By "sauce", I just mean tomato sauce, no seasonings. Just canning the tomatoes takes up too much space. I grind them and cook them down, getting rid of the water. I'm left with a chunky, thick tomato sauce to can, then I add the spices and meat when I cook it for eating. You taught me that one last year!

And papa, I'm still on my first tank of propane- I do all the cooking/canning outside on the turkey fryer. Worst case, I've got maybe $10 worth of propane in it so far. And my kids' labor doesn't count- they're my indentured servants.