Gardening Thread - Show me your gardens!

What's the purpose of the water bath?

 

Yep, got 12 tomato plants planted this year. It tastes so much better than store bought stuff. Less acidic, easier on the stomach.

I am not diabetic yet, but have a family history. Commercial jams and normal home made jams are 1 to 1. 1 cup of berries to 1 cup of sugar. This batch was 16 cups of berries and 3 cups of sugar, 80% less sugar than normal. Berries were still a little bit tart, and you could really taste them. Regular pectin needs sugar to jell, low sugar does not, so that's what we use.

Sterilization. Killing the bacteria. If it were meat in those jars, pressure cooker would be closed and they would be pressure canned (pressure raises the boiling point). For jams and sauces, 15 minutes in the regular boiling water is enough to kill the bacteria.

 

Is 12 plants enough, for tomatoes sauce/paste?

Do you jarred enough fruits, sauce, jam to get though the winter months?

I thought it was more to preserve the product in the jars. Giving it a longer shelf life.

Like vacuum sealing with the bags.

General question. Will the hot product you put in the jar kill any bacteria?

 

Yes. For breakfast today I opened a can of spiced pears we had made in 2020. As a rule of thumb, with fruit trees and berries, you will have good crops every other year. Plants are living organism. If they produce a lot in one year, they take a year off, sometimes two, to rest and rebuild. We try to can in one year to last us two to three. Does not always work out. Had some health issues last year, and did not can much last year, so we are living off the 2 year old cans. Ran out of home made salsa last year.

You plant accordingly. Last time I counted, we had 100+ fruit trees and bushes on the farm. I am losing a pear and an apple tree to fire blight and a lightning strike, so I planted 2 pears and 2 apples this past spring. They will bear fruit in 2 years. Nectarines were planted 3 years ago. They tried to set fruit this year, but could not. Will have nectarines next year, which is great, since peach is strong this year (and we will have none next year). Farm requires constant plant management (and both wife and I have day jobs). Lots of work, but..... 80% of fields in Alabama, next door to us, do not have any crops (fields that I drove thru). Fuel is too expensive, fertilizer is too expensive (2.5x more than a year ago, 70% of the world's fertilizer is made in the 2 unmentionable sanctioned countries, B&R, and US just slapped another tariff on it. Great way to "help" farmers./sarcasm off)

Vacuum sealing alone does not kill the bacteria. It is just that botulism does not grow in rice or beans. It will grow in the processed food, like jam, jellies, sauces, meat, cooked corn, green beans, etc.
Hot product by itself will not kill all of bacteria. You put hot, cooked jam in sterilized jars, lid and band it, and hot bath brings up the contents to a boiling point inside the jars (it is much easier to bring to a full boil a pint or a quart of product than a 2 gal pot of jam). Jam boils in the bath, air in the jar expands, and bubbles out. Once you pull the jars out, they cool, pressure inside drops, and that drop pulls the lid in, sealing the jars. Jars have negative air pressure inside (that's why the pop when you open them).

 

Is there a shelf life the way you canned the fruits, berries?

My neighbor had a fruits farm, garden I used to help out. She mention the same, fruit trees take a years off. I was young and didn't know what she meant.

It's a crime to run out of salsa. Good thing for Tostito. Never had fresh before.

Is there a lot maintenance with the farm? My neighbor had me pick the fruits off the ground then mow the grass inbetween the garden. Water everything. Only when needed she will stuff to kill insects. I didn't go anyway near the insect spray, to young. She was in her 80's so I was glad to help out. I learned a lot. As she got close to her 90's she sold the farm, to developers. I was too young to do everything she needed to be done, with no help from her sons. She used to her kicks out of me trying to reach the fruits from the trees since I was so small. Then she would have to step in from time to time. It was fun.

Does vacuum sealing increase shelf life of frozen foods? My friend's brother vacuum sealed deer meat in the winter to eat throughout the summer.

So all the jam get cooked in the jars at the same time the jars get sterilized, then the sealing takes place on its own. Due to the boiling/cooling process. Think I got it now.

My neighbor would of shown me how to jar fruits but with age she likes to sleep during jarring since it's a long process.

 

Yes, go by sniffing test. If it is canned in the pressure cooker vs hot bath, shelf life is extended (pressure cooking temp are higher than plain boiling temp). I am still eating things my late wife pressure canned in 2014 and 2015. Acidic foods, like pasta sauces, pickles, relish, last longer. Acid kills the bacteria. Keeping jars in the cabinet extends life (that's why old jars were tinted, to block the sunlight).

We finish a pint of homemade salsa in one meal, it is that good. Escpecially when it is made with yellow tomatoes or Cherokee black tomatoes.

Yes, year around, 20 to 40 hours a week. Watering, especially in the south takes time, it would be easier for you. Just stick with the plants adaptable for your zone. I have a system rigged up to store the rain water, north of 5K gallons. Some plants require less maintenance than others, for example figs and blueberries. Plums, peach and nectarine are the highest maintenance trees I have. Winter is when I prune, feed, build new raised beds and plant new trees (fall). Amount of work depends on what you have. We have figs, apples, pears, plums, peaches, nectarines, paw-paws, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, European linden, aronias, zhimilost (edible honeyberry), Sitka roses, hazelnuts, apricots. Took out the almond tree last week, it died of old age. Add in my wife's collection of rare lilies and all kids and both parents work every weekend and a couple times in the evenings on the weekdays

Yes. Oxygen is bad for meat, plus vacuum sealing slows down freezer burning the meat (freezer burn turns meat tough, a freezer burned steak is good only for a pot roast).

You got it! We did 2.5 pints of strawberry jam last night, took us an hour. So it is an hour, whether it is 2 or 6 pints. Helps that we are doing it together and we got the process down.

 

properly vacuum sealed meat will last a few years easy

 

Nice looking "tomato hybrid".

 

"High boy" variety

 

Popped off some of those big ole sucker leaves !

 

Had to get them off so air would flow around the plant . Huge

 

Feel anything?

 

@Barsoom how many years till paw paws start to produce?

 

About 2 to 3 for a native tree, 4 to 5 for a hybrid.

My native tree is 7 years old and 3 times the size of the hybrids that are 9 years old. Go with the native. Also, get a potted plant, pawpaws have very fine, hair-like roots. My attempt at mail-order bare root failed 2x, went with 4" EX grow pots from Stark Brothers and both of the hybrids made it. I found the native tree in Lowe's or Home Depot. PS you will need 2 hybrids to cross-pollinate. Native is self-pollinating, IIRC.
Where are you located?
PS I will take pics of the trees and fruit this weekend, when it is not raining.

 

Who has the Durian growing?

 

My friend's bother usually sealed enough for 2 years. It doesn't always work out.