Ducks4you for 2022

[ducks4you]

Took time this morning to subdivide the kitchen table tomatoes. 3 roasters/containers have the still green.
Yes, I cut off the camping bowl on the right, but it's full of green tomatoes.
Back left has close to ripening. You can see one Cherokee Purple, which will be fully ripe when the crown turns pink.
Front right has blushing, mostly bc of my dirty jokes.
Front left look to be ready for canning tomorrow. I expect about 5-6 quarts.
I brought in 2x as many as harvested before last year's freeze.

 

[ducks4you]

Autumn allergies: don’t blame goldenrod

As the growing season draws to an end, temperatures cool, woody plants prepare for dormancy, and we enjoy the last blooms of the season. For many of us, autumn also means sniffles and sneezes caused by seasonal allergies.

extension.illinois.edu

 

[ducks4you]

Fall Garden Cleanup With Pollinators In Mind

Don't be in a hurry to clean up every autumn leaf. While it's important to clean up plant debris, we can also spare a thought for the beneficial bugs and birds which need shelter over winter. Let's strike the right balance. Here's how.

www.almanac.com

"For fruit trees and berry bushes, we prefer to delay mulching until the end of winter. This means that once all of the leftover leaves are raked up, frost will have a clear run, penetrating down into the top layers of soil and cleansing it of overwintering pests lurking there."

 

[ducks4you]

Family ate 6 of the reddest tomatoes, one rotted, and more of the tomatoes in the rear look to be moved to the front. Had shopping in town, and some outdoor chores when I got home to canning will have to be tomorrow. We used 1 quart for stuffed peppers, but I still have 61 quarts.
3 day later...,morre tomato canning today!

 

[ducks4you]

Almost done boiling the skins off, 6 more tomatoes got turned into yard fertilizer.

 

[digitS']

My baskets of tomatoes are becoming depleted, Ducks'.

I made tomato soup for lunch yesterday with some going to the freezer and DW has already toasted some cherries for salsa. I said toasted because she uses the toaster oven. This may indicate that the plan for the leftover tilapia is the same as the first meal and not fish chowder. Learning to have cilantro late in the season may have backfired on me .

There are still green tomatoes of medium size in the backyard where the plant was slowed by being shaded by the Jellybean. The other plants slowed to a crawl from being hit every night with the near-freezing temperatures. It's okay. Those final ones are already beginning to blush and should be flavorful with a few days indoors.

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

WE CERTAINLY had an early freeze. Any tomatoes in My back yard are now toast. Yours should be, too, since you live in a lower growing zone than me.
How does she make fish chowder?

 

[ducks4you]

I think it was @Rhodie Ranch who likes to pressure canned tomatoes. The ONLY difficulty I have is that I insist on using quarts, my new hot water bath canner can hold 7, BUT, if I put 4 or more in it, it boils over and the floor gets wet.
SO, I am hot water bathing only 3/6 right now. Should be totally done in about an hour.
I am pretty sure that if I have 7 quarts at the bitter end, I will pressure can them...less messy.

 

[ducks4you]

THIS is interesting:

Plant Hardiness Zones and Garden Microclimates

How to work with your hardiness zone and microclimate to create your best garden, plus answers to common questions about hardiness zones and microclimates.

commonsensehome.com

"Do the USDA maps matter?
Yes and No. The USDA maps have been updated twice. The original map is 1960, the 2nd is 1990 and the newest is 2012. Here in Wisconsin, we live in an area that was solidly in Zone 4 in 1960.

The latest zone maps show us in Zone 5. We tried planting a couple Zone 5 magnolias, and they died. Many of the temperature readings used to create the USDA hardiness zone maps have been affected by urban sprawl (showing higher microclimate temps and shifting the zones north). Your microclimate may or may not match your current hardiness zone.

The maps don't tell us how frequently the temperature was below zero, and for how long. It just tells us the average in sets of 10 degree areas.

In reality, neither of those numbers matter because they only give you a starting point. The maps don't tell the whole story. What really matters is the plant hardiness zone and microclimate combined..."

 

[ducks4you]

6 more quarts to total 67 quarts of tomatoes in the jars. 1/2 of the roasters are now empty.
I can see my kitchen table again.