Looking at the many green tomatoes I have, I realize that I need to start thinking about what to do with them after they turn red. Matt and I go through a lot of tomatoes in a week anyways. I cook with them so much. However, I have a strange suspicion that all of those lovely green tomatoes on the vines on my deck will turn red all at the same time. In which case, I need to figure out what to do with them.
At first I was thinking about buying a pressure canner. "It's the only safe way to can." However, I have decided that since all of the stuff I will be canning is tomato based, I think I can pass with just the old water bath method. Does anyone have any insight on this? I mean, I have never actually canned anything in my life, but have been the recipient of many a canned gift, all of which was done with a water bath, and I haven't died yet.
I really am just so excited about my container garden this year. I am already thinking ahead to next years garden and more veggies I want to plant. I like the container gardening, it is easy, there are no weeds, and they are all on a second floor deck, which means the nice woodchuck family that lives next door can't get at them. The problem? You may have noticed from previous pictures that my deck is completely full. I don't think that I can fit anything else up there. So what do I do?
I am too inexperienced to actually plant a real garden I feel. I don't think I could take it if I planned a great looking garden, took care of it, and then one day come home to no plants because the woodchucks ate them all, or I have some weird infestation of bugs that ruins everything. At the same time I think, people have been gardening forever, and they seem to do ok, so maybe I should just not worry about it.
In other news, our living room furniture arrived yesterday. I can't even describe how elated I am to have a place to sit now! We haven't had a place to sit in the living room since we moved in. It was nice to be able to sit down last night with a (local) beer and watch a movie. It is starting to feel like home! Now...if we can just get the dining room painted and a floor put in...all will be right with the world :-)
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Hey Heather, a pressure canner is totally overkill for tomatoes. I happen to really like my steam canner (which I got online) because I don't have to heat up such large volumes of water. It's great for all acid things (like tomatoes, and fruits). Tomatoes, of course, are considered boderline, so using a little bit of lemon juice or citric acid in the jar is a really good idea. Any good canning book will give you the amounts. Drying is also a great way to deal with them, and lots of people make sauce and freeze it.
Woodchucks are a real concern, and if you wanted to actually have a garden in the ground, I'd suggest putting up a fence. It doesn't have to be high, but fencing them out before they realize there are yummy treats to be had is key.
As for losing your whole garden in the blink of an eye... unlikely to happen. I've never had a swarm of locusts descend and wipe out all my crops... yet. ;) Seriously, when you have plants to tend for, you tend to notice things, and if there are a large amount of cucumber beetles (or whatever) you can take measures to deal with them so they don't get out of control.
Oh, and to comment on your last post, I'm glad you found my blog and are taking part in OLS, and serving to educate other young people that cooking and growing your own food isn't just for old folks. ;) I think being in the kitchen is heaven, too!
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