I only have a few jars of pimentos to can.
I hope to switch to sewing instead of canning.

No canning, but hoping to catch a break in the rain to go harvest Concord Grapes at a friend's house to make into wine.
Then a visit on Sunday with my DD & SIL.

I could use about 3 dry hours on Saturday if you know an effective ANTI-rain dance, go ahead!! Please????

Deanna

Deanna, I'm thinking dry thoughts for your wine making!

Here I'm working on apples, collard greens, rutabagas and more apples. I have a dehydrator full going right now, and plan to make apple butter and apple sauce this weekend, and at least one more batch in the dehydrator, plus a double batch of apple maple jam.

Healthy things like rutabaga and greens might have to wait until next week!

Annie

All canning is finished for us. I have a few dozen pepper to cut up and freeze. I also have some beets to pull up but there aren't enough to can. The canners are all washed and ready to be put away for the winter.

We found some beautiful Granny Smith Apples at Wal Mart for $1.00 per pound. Plan to make the Apple Pie Filling using NCHFP recipe.

Any tips, ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. This will be my first time doing this.

Looking forward to using the filling for pies, apple crisp, etc. this winter.

I've got to find some recipes for the quart of habaneros I just picked. I did a batch of habanero gold last night, and will probably do another batch or two if I can get ahold of the coveted 4 ounce jars.

Then I'd like to do a peach/habanero sauce
2 batches of regular salsa, and a batch of salsa verde
Pear butter
Pears in syrup
Something else to use up the box of pears I have.

I have a box of apples to work on too, but my food strainer won't be delivered until Monday, so those might have to wait.

Maybe some herb vinegars, not sure on that.

My in-laws are coming in from California tonight, and I asked them to bring me a box of whatever fruit's in season there. I'm really hoping for some figs or persimmons (can't remember what would be ripe this time of year, but we'll see), or maybe pomagranites.

I started apple butter in the oven today. I'm going to let it cook all day and jar it tonight.

Tomorrow, the rest of the apples will go into applesauce, and then I am officially *done* canning for the season!!

Wife is doing more applesauce and Apple Pie Jam. Deer hunting for me. ;) Season just opened here so we will have the venison to do if I'm lucky. Will be doing some pumpkin things later in the month for the freezer.

Dave

First on my list, I'm embarrassed to say, will be to clean the kitchen. ;-) (It's been a crazy week.) Thus ccaggiano will be two or three cannerloads into that scrumptious list before I can even get started, alas.

Once I rediscover my countertops, I'm going to do something with the two baskets of Ontario peaches I bought yesterday! I was excited to find them; it's been so cold and we the past few days I assumed the season was over. I stopped at the grocery just to pick up a red pepper for last night's dinner, and was surprised to find that, while there wasn't an Ontario pepper to be seen despite it being the peak of the season (the display of peppers had the sign literally crossed out by hand from "Product of Ontario" to "Product of Holland," so SOMEthing clearly went awry at the last minute), there were still several baskets of lovely peaches. I know from experience they won't be at their sweetest this late in the season but also that when it's the middle of February they'll sure taste good to me!

I did one cannerload of peaches in light syrup last month; I might do these plain, too, or might go get some pears and can them in combo. Green grapes are on sale, I see, so maybe I'll put some of them in too and can fruit cocktail --- it makes it no longer an "all-local" item but makes for a nice, easy fruit salad in winter. So many choices! Maybe I'll get another two baskets and do some each way!

What else I do depends on whether we go by the orchard store, the famr stand, or the farmer's market.

I made oatmeal this morning and was thinking some fruit sauces for winter oatmeal breakfasts were needed --- hoping to get some blackberries and do some of that.

If local red peppers are cheap I'll get a bunch for the freezer (I'm assuming the absence of them at the grocery was a glitch). And if corn is still available I'll try to freeze a bit more of that. I keep meaning to freeze a big whack of it but I rarely get around to it; I need one of those school-age sous-chefs to shuck it!!!!

Something else I hope to do soon, but that should probably wait till the soon-to-disappear things like blackberries and peaches and corn are done, is scoop out one of my snackjack pumpkins. I've got two ripe ones I picked yesterday (and one more wee one just turning orange). This variety, first time for me this year, has hull-less seeds, the easier to roast, salt, and eat them. Looking forward to trying it! (Will do the other one closer to Hallowe'en so I can then carve it....)

Z, who will enjoy thinking of her Harvest buddies all across the continent (and beyond, hi Flora!) canning away as well

P.S. And, of course, I'll be making several more batches of zucchini bread. ;-)

Hey Zabby. I saw a blog on freezing roasted corn. You just take off a couple of the outer leaves. That is also on my to do list. Better get my butt in gear and get to the store!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Freezing roasted corn

Regarding the question posed earlier, " msdonnie 6 , Oct 2, 09 at 5:24 ...We found some beautiful Granny Smith Apples at Wal Mart for $1.00 per pound. Plan to make the Apple Pie Filling using NCHFP recipe. Any tips, ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. This will be my first time doing this..."

I haven't yet made Apple Pie Filling (because I'm picking up the Regular Clear Jel tomorrow), but I have read that others on this forum suggest you DO NOT use as much of the product as the NCHPF recipe calls for.

Ms. Donnie, you might want to search the forum for "Apple Pie Filling" and "Clear Jel" (use quotation marks at the beginning and end of two or more search words if you want to see that EXACT combination of words) at the same time and see what you come up with. I've read some suggestions/instructions for mixing the Clear Jel with sugar so as not to create lumps.

Of course, it is possible to can the apple pie filling without using any thickener (only Clear Jel, remember). One can always thicken the filling after the opened the jar when they're actually going to make/bake a pie.

Good luck, Kathy

Thanks for that information Kathy! I "think" I've read just about every post about the Apple Pie Filling and Clear Jel..(and there are a ton of them). But..I will take your advice and search again.

One person was having issues with lumping and it was perhaps determined that she was using Instant Clear Jel instead of the regular Clear Jel.

If this turns out well, I want to give some to my son and his family for using on ice cream, waffles, etc. So I definitely want to have a thickened end product.

I have visions of making the most fabulous apple pie filling!!! (grin)

I just scored apples for .49 per pound so add some apple stuff to that list. It's going to be a busy weekend. If I get everything done, I just have to wait until the 17th when my mom brings me broccoli and cauliflower from PA and then I will officially be done. But knowing me, I'll find more recipes that I "have to have."

lantana - do you want a peach/habanero sauce or preserve or does it matter? Readinglady has a wonderful Peach Preserves for a Cold Morning that combines peaches and habaneros.

My plans for the weekend start out very similarly to Zabby's. There are jars of tomato juice and pickled peppers all over my countertops waiting to be wiped off and have labels out on and be put away.

I am going to completely empty the garden this weekend so need to figure out what to do with all remaining produce. My plan, in order of priority since I know I will never get it all done:

Tomatoes. I picked most of my tomatoes Monday (or was it Tuesday) when a frost was predicted, so now I need to get them in jars. I have done enough salsa (might do one more batch) and sauce and juice, so these will probably all just go as canned tomatoes.

Eggplant. I'll make a complete eggplant parmesans and freeze, also baked slices to freeze. Some caponata and some baba ganoush too.

Peppers. Most of my peppers never changed color so I have a boatload of green bells, green Corno di Toros, plus Anaheims, Poblanos, serranos, and jalapenos. I'm not sure what I'll do with peppers.

Corn. Have to pick the remaining corn and freeze.

Carrots. Just have to harvest and put someplace where they will last awhile.

Should I somehow end up with extra time, I'll pick apples and make applesauce. But that can still wait a couple of weeks, so it is very low priority.

You all are making me feel stressed about how much I still have to do before my ground freezes. I still have some perennials sitting on my driveway waiting to be planted and some bulbs in the garage that need to get in the ground too.

Ann

You all have some great canning plans ! I do agree, cut back on the Clear Jel. It winds up being too thick and it oozes out of the jars. Headspace is critical with the pie filling, too. It will be wonderful, I assure you ! It is hard to fill the jars and not stand there and eat it.
A friend sent me a nice pie crust recipe she said the Mennonites make in their stores and sell little turnover pies with it. It has butter in the crust. I would like to try some of them.
I got some apples for 19 cents a lb. not long ago. Sure would like to have more at that price ! Now they are 48 cents, I think. Still not too bad.
Happy Canning to everyone !!!
I am going to take my pimentos out of the canner soon. It is cooling now.

So far, the corn is roasted and I have to say, it was the best corn I have ever tasted. I used the method that I linked above. I did 24 ears but the kids and I ended up eating 6. I'm going to freeze just one tonight then reheat it tomorrow to test it. I roasted for ten minutes on each side - medium heat on the bbq. For freezing, it might be cooked just a little too much. I'll keep you posted on that.

I finally, finally got a true roasted red pepper. And boy are those good!!! I made one batch of ajvar. I just hope it tastes as good coming out of the freezer as it does going in.

I made a batch of the caponata recipe from Ellie Topp. Doesn't taste anything like a caponata should taste. The vinegar throws it off. The recipe states to cook it until the liquid boils off. And it came out so solid and chunky with no liquid at all. There is no way I would feel comfortable canning this. It doesn't taste that bad, but def not a caponata. I'll go back to my recipe from the Soprano's cookbook and freeze it.

Hello all! I'm new to the forum. I'm finding so many good ideas on here! My canning for the weekend is a batch of pepper jelly. I've already canned 22 pints of hot sauce, 5 quarts of spaghetti sauce, 3 batches of wild plum jelly and 1 batch of concord grape jelly.

I am finding myself wanting to do some apple butter but don't have an abundance of apples....maybe I'll watch for a good sale and make a batch of that. Going to our state fair next weekend so I'm sure I'll come away from there with some more inspiration.

Welcome to the forum cookingsmygame!!! My canning plans are slowly going awry as real life is interrupting. But I will press on and anything that gets preserved is a step in the right direction.

I did some apple butter at the beginning of the season. I really didn't know what I was doing so I have no idea if I made a true Apple Butter.

I just got 30 pounds of apples for .49 cents per pound. Not too sure what I am going to do with them but apple butter may be in my future.

>>"lantana - do you want a peach/habanero sauce or preserve or does it matter? Readinglady has a wonderful Peach Preserves for a Cold Morning that combines peaches and habaneros. "

Prairie, I'm looking to do more of a sauce that I can add to commercial BBQ sauce to spice it up. There is a similar sauce in the Ball Home Preserving book, so I think I can get it figured out (i.e. swap out the jalapenos for the habs). I've seen the peach preserves recipe, and that looks good too. I've just never been able to do spice in the morning because it clashes with coffee, and I need my coffee more!

So far I've finished the carrot cake jam and 4 jars of pureed tomatillo salsa (to use for chile verde or green enchiladas). I'm feeling wiped out, but hopefully tomorrow I'll have my energy back and maybe do some crushed tomatoes.

Have to pick a bunch of beautiful red peppers tomorrow - probably into the freezer.

CCaggiano, glad you liked the roasted corn technique on my blog. Isn't it delicious grilled on the bbq?

We're still getting broccoli to freeze. If nothing else, we got a lot of broccoli this summer with the cool, rainy weather.

Need to plant the garlic, but other than that, I think the garden is pretty much done for the year.

I canned 11/2 batches of Annie's Salsa today-10 pints. I tried something different-I used chipolata peppers that I found in the Mexican part of the supermarket. The sample that I tasted was really good. A little hot, but good.

13 quarts Bloody Mary Mix
15 half pints taco sauce
15 pints spaghetti sauce
20 pints stewed tomatoes
7 pints chili sauce
11 pints + 3 quarts "italian herb" tomato juice
3 quarts "mexican" tomato juice
1 quart plain tomato juice
. .
. and gave a bunch of tomatoes away!

That pretty much takes care of canning tomatoes now, unless they're green! Hoping for apples for sauce and pie filling and jelly... More concord grapes would be wonderful as well!

Okay - I've heard about canning Blood Mary Mix. But never saw a recipe. Please post it!!!

Apple Pie Jam,
Peach & Jalepeno Jelly
Annie's Salsa
Apple Sauce
Pickled Peppers
I also harvested 3 bushels of beautiful bell peppers in all the colors, 2 of mixed hot , so instead of the chilli mix that I use to do and now know is not safe I will try freezing a bag of mixed peppers and see how this does as a subsitute.

Like others my weekend plans of canning 200 pounds of tomaotes 50 pounds of hot peppers freezing and drying things went south fast when I was washing the kitchen sat morning the well went out so that put me way behind pulling up the pump):

I got done 8 qts spagetti sauce with meat 6 pints catsup 6 pints salsa from a mrs wages mix that isnt near as good as from scratch a pound or so of smoked chilles and some dried tomatoes so I had better hit it hard today..

With some of those WALMART apples on sale for $1 a lb., and some N.C. Mountain apples, I made:
7 pints Apple Pie filling
11 half-pints Apple Maple Jam (Xmas gifts)
6 quarts of peeled red potatoes in the p.canner at the moment. I added the calcium chloride to keep them crisp.
Seemed to work with ones I used earlier.

I still want to make Linda Lou's Apple Pie Jam when I get more apples. Maybe I'll get to that next weekend. Happy Canning!

ccaggiano,

Well, my projects haven't gone totally according to plan either --- when do they ever? But I, too, have done some stuff. I was thinking about you!

The peaches we decided would be better in another day or two. And we didn't make it to the orchard stand OR the farmer's market for various reasons.

The first thing I made was chocolate-chip cookies because I had a real hunkering. But no way any of those are getting preserved; they'll all be eaten in the next few days, no doubt.

Then I made some Peanut Butter Oat Bars from a recipe I found on the 'net that uses up leftover oatmeal. They did not come out well, but I don't know if that's beause the recipe was a dud or because the toaster oven was acting up. Will try again next leftover oatmeal day and if it's any good I'll share it.

I picked any tomatoes that had even a bit of colour or had fallen off the vine, and sorted them into three batches:
RIPE,
WILL BE RIPE SOON, and
WON'T BE RIPE FOR SOME TIME (AND LET"S HOPE THEY DON'T ROT BEFORE THEY ARE)

Made a double batch Tomato-Basil butter with some of the ripe ones. Mmm! Love that stuff. We ate some on pasta as a side dish with a leek tart last night, and the rest I froze in a muffin tin; got nine yummy third-of-a-cup "pucks" out of it to ration out over the winter.

Made 2 quarts of vegetable stock when I found my veggie-scrap bag in the freezer was full.

Made another two loaves of zucchini bread and shredded what's probably the last of the crop, enough for 2-3 more batches.

I did get some red shepherd peppers and I hope to slice them for the freezer tonight during MASTERPIECE. (My mom is coming over; maybe she'll help.)

The big question is: what to do with the rest of the ripe tomatoes? I haven't done any plain sauce this year, and so I was thinking of doing that with these. But there are just about four pounds, enough for a batch of Annie's salsa, so I may take that for a sign and do that. I wouldn't get more than a few cups of sauce, so I'd probably have to buy tomato sauce anyway (gasp) this winter.

Z
P.S. Wouldn't you know it, the kitchen counters are STILL invisible (or rather, AGAIN) after all that cooking. I'll have to clear them before my mom comes. But this time at least it's (mostly) CLEAN dishes drying off. ;-)

P.P.S. I meant to say, sorry to hear about the caponata! I felt exactly the same way when I tried the Bruschetta recipe from the BBB a few years ago. It was too vinegar-y to taste like bruschetta, and the texture was wrong (in this case too RUNNY rather than too dry). I decided some things weren't meant to be water-bathed and went back to making it fresh. But I wish they hadn't teased me by pretending I could can it!!

i know you guys think I'm nut to grow so much food but between two of our gardens we picked 28 buckets of tomatoes. mostly green. we left at least twice that many in the garden. it was 18 degrees that night.

we can all week and rest on Sunday and think up things to crowd into our already full schedule. we are building a grow tunnel this fall.

we have apples. peaches and tomatoes to can this coming week.

i have an old family recipe for green tomato dill pickles we are going to try. lots of green san marzano tomatoes to use.

a friend gave me a loaf of home made whole wheat bread and a quart of peach jam. the jam was just right for me. i do not like it to sweet. and the loaf and 1/2 of the jam disappeared. can you imagine that?

so next week it is apples peaches and tomatoes.

when we added the squash from the other garden we ended up with over a ton of squash. so we will be putting up a lot of pie filling too.

Dean

Zabby, would you share your Tomato-Basil Butter Recipe? Sounds intriguing! I know what you mean about 'clearing' baking...it amazes me what all these wonderful folks do...You Mom will benefit from all the goodies she takes!! If I had ever walked into my Mom's house with clean, cleared kitchen counters, I would have thought I was in the wrong house! Alas, I do have to clear my spaces, as my kitchen is small and I guess I'm the opposite of my Mom, can't stand the clutter.

BTW, one quart of my potatoes siphoned down about an inch. I will use that first, but I followed ALL proper procedures, go figure. Let the P.Canner get to zero pressure, remove the weighted gauge and wait 10 minutes. Remove the lid. Wait 5 minutes. The jars were still boiling. Should I have waited until they finished boiling??? (Anybody...)....

June Lynn

June Lynn,

I'm very happy to share it, but I certainly can't take any credit for it. It is credited to Ruthanna from the cooking forum; a kind soul who posts on both that forum and this one shared it with us here, I think two summers ago, saying everyone over there was raving about it, and I can see why!

It's great for pasta, fish, vegetables, or just spreading on bread....

Z

P.S. We do often turn out the opposite of our parents, eh? My mom's kitchen counters are like yours --- perfectly clear and clean at all times --- while mine is more often cluttered than not. I was able to get it looking half-decent by the time she arrived, but she isn't foolish enough to think it looks that way very often. She knows me. ;-) )

TOMATO BASIL BUTTER
- from Ruthanna on the Cooking Forum

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 1/ 2 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes
(about 1 lb.)
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/ 2 cup sweet butter, softened
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/ 2 tsp. salt
1/ 8 tsp. pepper
1/ 4 cup minced fresh basil

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet. Add the tomatoes and garlic and saute, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until the tomatoes form a puree that will mound. Let cool. Put the butter in a mixing bowl and beat in the tomatoes and remaining ingredients. Can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated but best served at room temperature so that it will melt quickly.
[**Can also be frozen in wrapped meal-sized portions! -Z]

Well, the weekend is almost over and I've not canned! I'll start first thing in the morning when everyone else has gone to work! Then I'LL GET TO WORK!! I bought apples, so I'll freeze some, make some sauce and applebutter and I'm even thinking of drying a few. Then hope to go on Tuesday to get some local fresh pears. I think my week is going to be hectic with canning, picking, Bible study, clothes to wash, and a board meeting this week.

I did get some canning done, but not really what I'd planned. Couldn't bring myself to do any peeling or coring when I know the Roma strainer will be here tomorrow. So headcount for the weekend is:

5 1/2 pints carrot cake jam
3 pints tomatillo salsa
6 pints crushed tomatoes
2 quarts and 2 pints vegetable stock

I'm hoping with the help of the strainer I'll get some salsa and pear butter done in the evenings this week, then finish up the apples and ripe tomatoes I've tossed in the freezer next weekend. It's lots of work, but I get such a warm fuzzy feeling seeing all those shiny jars in my little pantry cupboard, instead of a bunch of store bought cans.

Another person whose plans got derailed, mine by four red cows who suddenly appeared in the hay field instead of on the other side of the fence in their pasture, where they belonged.

So, instead of spending the day canning applesauce, which is what I'd planned, I spent the day outside in the rain, repairing fence. Since I was already wet I cut the collards, so those are now waiting in the garage along with the apples.

I did manage to get another half bushel of apples into my dehydrator yesterday, and make 6 pints of applesauce. Tonight when I got home, I did 7 pints of apple maple jam, I'd like to do one more double batch, I just love the stuff, but the greens may take precedence.

Wow, Dean, a TON of squash! Now that's a lot of squash, I thought I was over doing it with three bushels! I also have pumpkins that my Monkey Princess grew, and we planted the pie pumpkins so I might can some of that before the season is over too. We'll see, the cider still needs to be pressed, and I'll have to can some of that....

Zabby, isn't that tomato basil butter good? I've loved it since the first taste, and I think I've thanked Ruthanna over on Cooking about a dozen times.

Annie

My plans for making the canned apple pie filling didn't work out either!

I do Internet work from my home and am often restricted to meeting crucial deadlines. I was just too tired and grouchie by the time I got the job done yesterday.

So...hopefully, I'll get to the pie filling tomorrow.

We did make some butternut squash soup for dinner last night!! Yummie. We'll definitely be growing some squash next year!

Hope everyone has a good and productive week. Winter is coming!!

lol!

Annie, I'm sorry you got wet, but I have to say, yours is definitely the most amusing-to-read story of how your canning plans were readjusted.

And yes, I do love the tomato butter. I hope you'll pass on to Ruthanna that many of us over here appreciate it, too!

That reminds me --- gotta go pop out those "pucks" and wrap 'em.

Z
P.S. More derailement: those peaches that I thought would improve by softening for another day or two did NOT improve; they started to rot. Clearly they were actually as good as they were gonna get on Saturday. Sigh. I found this out when I went to slice a few of them to make dessert last night when my mom was over, and had to cut off moldy spots from two. Serves me right for thinking I can can peaches in October....

I also got sidetracked last weekend, grandkids showed up. Now I have the dehydrator full of peppers, mostly hot, a drainboard stacked with peppers to chop and freeze for future projects. The last of the tomatoes, I think the next trip to the garden will be the last. All that cold stuff is sneaking in on us too fast. They have been forecasting lows in the lower 30's so anything not out soon will be done. I have a lot of green peppers too but they'll be tasty in soups and stews all winter.

I got sidetracked too by some yard work. I finally, finally mowed the lawn and I'm happy to say I started a compost bin :-) I've wanted to compost forever but every time I researched it, it looked too complicated. I still have a bushel of tomatoes and a bushel of eggplants in my dining room. I'll get them done sometime this week. I did get the caponata, avjar and corn finished.

Well, Zabby, I spared the details of how I decided to clean the chicken coop since it was raining outside and that's a pretty nearly inside job, LOL. Except taking those wheelbarrows full of chicken...um....stuff and dumping into the garden where the potatoes were until I dug them. Can't waste good....stuff. (grin)

Ccaggiano, composting isn't complicated at all. It'll all compost. You put the wrong stuff in, it'll smell bad and it'll take longer, but it'll be compost eventually. I have lots of "compost" from two horses and four hereford cattle, so I don't notice the smell, I think. :-)

Annie

For the coming week - VENISON, venison, and more venison. :^)

Dave

Congrats, Dave!! Got 'im, huh?
Do you can your venison plain or ?!?!??!?!

Deanna

Thanks Deanna! :) Venison chili, venison and pork sausage, plain in chunks (hot pack), and the Venison Goulash recipe I posted last year. We also freeze steaks and tenderloins.

VENISON GOULASH

This uses the tougher portions of venison that are usually ground into deerburger. Chuck portions are ideal.

2 pounds small white onions, sliced
4 ounces canned vegetable
1 T shortening for browning meat
3 pounds stewing venison, cubed
1 Tbsp. marjoram
1 1/2 Tbsp. paprika
2 cans beef broth
Noodles (if desired at serving time)

Saute onion slices in shortening until soft. Add cubed venison and brown on all sides. Sprinkle marjoram and paprika over meat and cover with beef broth. Cover pot and simmer slowly 3 hours or until meat is tender, stirring often and adding more warm beef broth from time to time. Can be canned following the NCHFP guidelines for pressure canning meat-based soups.

At serving time thicken juices into gravy and serve over broad egg noodles or with wild rice. Serves 8.

Dave

ccaggiano,

Congrats on the composting! I LOVE composting. My DH sometimes teases me that the only reason I garden is to have an excuse to compost. It's not QUITE true.... ;-p

As Annie says, the great thing is, you couldn't STOP compost from "working" even if you wanted to --- organic stuff rots, and rotted organic stuff (= compost) is good for garden soil. There are ways of managing this rotting so that it's more convenient to the gardener, but you really can't do it "wrong"!

The two most useful things I have learned about composting, for what it's worth:

1) have TWO piles or bins (or more; please don't ask how many I'm up to! but start with two). That way, when one gets full, or when you decide it's time, you can leave it to finish decomposing while you add new stuff to the other. Ads for composters often show the happy gardener taking finished compost out from the bottom even as new stuff is added to the top, but in my experience, that doesn't work as easily as in the little drawings. ;-) I find it by far the easiest to start a new one while you let one "cook" (you can turn it from time to time --- easiest way is to just dump it out, then shovel it back into the bin or pile) and it'll go faster, but it'll all turn into compost eventually even if you just leave it).

2) Keep a pile or bin (like a Rubbermaid tub) of "browns" by the pile/bin. Most of what I add, at least in much of the year, is kitchen waste or garden weeds, which are "greens" (higher-nitrogen stuff). Compost piles rot fastest and smell least if they are made of a more or less even mix of "greens" and "browns" (lower-nitrogen stuff like dead leaves, straw, or shredded paper). This is easy to achieve if I keep some right nearby, and every time I dump in a bucket or two of greens I add a similar amount of browns on top. (As you may have noticed, greens left on their own tend to smell, while piles of browns don't; this is why you don't do this the other way around!)

Anyway, you maybe didn't even need any advice, but I can't help myself, I do love talking compost! Soil and harvesting may be my two fave parts of gardening --- the beginning and the end. The part in between is fun, too, of course, but not quite as exciting somehow. ;-)

Good luck,

Z

Zabby - when it comes to compost, I need all the advice I can get. As of now, I pounded 4 stakes into the ground, surrounded it with chicken wire and started throwing stuff in there. I know there is a TON more to it and I'll get to it. But I was sick of throwing scraps into the garbage. Sick of bagging garden and yard stuff. And when the canning is done, I'll concentrate on that. And I'll probably be e-mailing you for help :-)

Malna - you officially take the prize for biggest spaz move. I laughed out loud when I read your post. Probably because I can identify with it. That is something I would do.

And for the rest of you with the pepper burn advice... Yes, it will all work if you get to it quickly. I.E. you immediately realize that you forgot to put gloves on and start using the aforementioned remedies. But for the newbies to cooking and canning, you won't realize the mistake until the burn hits. And at that point, there is nothing you can do but wait it out. Once that stuff seeps into the pores of your hand and starts to burn, it is too late. I literally sat with two docs in the ER and flat out REFUSED to leave until they gave me something to numb the pain. After an hour of arguing with the doc, an intern finally took pity on my and gave me a topical numbing ointment.

And lastly, back to you Malna - your grilled corn recipe is awesome!!! The first batch was grilled for 20 minutes. I found it to be a little too cooked after freezing and reheating. So I cut the cooking time down to 12 minutes (6 on each side) and it is perfect!!!

I take half my post back - I posted responses to two different threads in this thread. But, in my defense, I just made the tomato, basil, garlic butter and I am beside myself. I was like a crack addict licking every last drop of it from every surface that it touched. That is, quite possible, one of the best things I have ever tasted. Wow.

>> Zabby - when it comes to compost, I need all the advice I can get. As of now, I pounded 4 stakes into the ground, surrounded it with chicken wire and started throwing stuff in there. I know there is a TON more to it and I'll get to it.

Nope! No more to do at all. You are now officially composting! Lots more you CAN do --- IF you run into any annoyances with it (it smells, or you have critters raiding it, say), or IF you want to encourage the decomposing to happen more quickly. But there's nothing to stop you leaving it at that and sitting watching it rot while you eat Ruthanna's tomato-basil butter. ;-)

Enjoy.

Z

Zabby is right, nothing more to it unless YOU want there to be. Ever see rotten leaves in the forest?!?!?
Nobody goes out there and turns the pile, adds "just the right amount" of greens and browns, adjusts the water and takes it temperature!!

The good lord is pretty casual composter, me thinks!!
I'm patterning after that! The less work the better.
Anything not broken down enough when you want to use it just goes back into the next pile.

:-)
Deanna

Yes, compost is easy. You can make it hard of course, but there's no need, and your plant will be happy with whatever type of stuff you turn out. I'm the world's laziest composter, but I always find some good black stuff to spread on my beds in the bottom of my bin each year.

The next weekend is coming up. What is everyone doing?

My pears and apples HAVE to get used up, but I'm not quite sure what I'll do with them.

I will also be making a couple batches of habanero gold and a couple batches of salsa.

Tomato sauce is also on the list, so that I can reclaim my freezer space.

Need to dry some more herbs before they go dormant, too.

Don't forget to put the lint from the dryer and any hair you cut in the compost pile (your hair dresser can give you yours as well in a bag)!! I have a small mound in my backyard area where I can layer all my leaves from my pecan tree, garden refuge, bury some kitchen scraps, things like that. Well, it's under a tree limb, so it doesn't get a lot of rain. One year, in February,at night it caught fire!!! Policeman comes to the door, we go out and look, and of course, it's burning! I was just shocked! He had spotted it from the street! About 50 yards from the street. It wasn't big, but it was still kind of scary. He calls the Fire Dept. They HAVE to blow all their horns - 10 pm at night. I am embarassed! By the time they got there the fire was almost out, but all the neighbors are outside looking. Funny now! But I sure do make sure that pile stays moist and gets turned! I now KNOW that compost piles can catch fire!

Lantanascape, it's supposed to rain all weekend! I found some more NC mountain apples at a farm stand last night after work, in a big bag marked DOWN! If I go after work, they usually have marked down produce. I got huge baskets of great strawberries there in the spring that way. Plus I picked up some more $1 lb. Granny Smiths at Walmart, so I will be making Linda Lou's apple pie jam and some mini apple pies for freezing!

Which reminds me...I need to get that chicken out of the freezer, get it thawing. Make some more mini chicken pot pies for freezing as I've already been into the stash I've made! Then I can make more chicken stock as I have enough frozen veggie trimmings for stock!! Nothing beats REAL chicken stock!! Woo-Hoo!

Enjoy the weekend!