wifezilla
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Duck poo is GREAT fertilizer. No need for the yucky artificial stuff.
Questions about watermelons
- Thread starter Pringlays
- Start date
journey11
Garden Master
Oooh, that would be great, thanks!ducks4you said:
curly_kate
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Here's the watermelon jelly recipe. If I try it this year, I'm going to try to lower the sugar. It was wayyy too sweet for my taste, but the kids said it tasted like a jolly rancher.
http://www.pickyourown.org/watermelonjelly.htm
http://www.pickyourown.org/watermelonjelly.htm
ducks4you
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journey11, didn't want to make you wait until I could copy this recipes from home, so I did an online search, and came up with two similar recipes, below:
Watermelon Pickles
Cherries add a little extra color to these watermelon pickles.
Ingredients:
2 pounds watermelon rind
1/4 cup pickling salt
4 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon broken stick cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons whole cloves
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
5 maraschino cherries, halved,optional
[b](Use a cotton or cheesecloth bag and put cloves, cinnamon, and lemon slices into it, then tie closed.) [/b]
Preparation:
Trim the dark green and pink parts from watermelon rind. Cut rind in 1-inch cubes and measure 7 cups. Soak watermelon rind overnight in a mixture of the pickling salt and water. If it takes more to cover, use the same proportion salt to water. Drain and rinse watermelon rind. Cover rind with cold water in a large saucepan; cook just until tender.
Meanwhile, in a 6 to 8-quart kettle or Dutch oven, combine sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, whole cloves, lemon slices, in their bag, and 1 cup water. Simmer mixture 10 minutes, then strain. Add drained watermelon rind, , and maraschino cherries, if using. Simmer the mixture until watermelon rind is translucent. Fill hot half-pint jars with watermelon rind and syrup mixture, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.
Makes 2 1/2 pints.
Another Recipe:
Watermelon Pickles
Ingredients
THE RIND OF TWO TEN POUND SEEDLESS WATERMELONS
1 gallon water, filtered, plus more
2 tablespoons pickling salt
2 cups cider vinegar
7 cups white sugar
1 lemon
1 tablespoon whole cloves
4 cinnamon sticks
4 inches candied ginger (or more if you want it spicy)
Directions
1. ZAAR would not let me enter the watermelon rind no matter how I tried so it is the rind of two ten to twelve pound seedless watermelons. Ugh I am so frustrated!
2. DAY ONE: Wash and carve watermelon and cut rind into one inch squares. Make sure you peel the rind carefully with a veggie peeler because there is nothing nastier than choking on an unpeeled piece of rind. Mix salt into the water in a large non-reactive pot and add the watermelon rind. Cover and let stand 24 hours.
3. D AY TWO: Drain watermelon rind and rinse well. Wash the pot and add the watermelon rind and a gallon of filtered water and lots of ice, at least 4 cups and let stand for two hours. Drain again and pick out the ice. Return the watermelon rind to the pot and cover with boiling water and cook until tender enough to pierce with a wooden skewer, about ten to 12 minutes and then drain well. While the rind is draining wash the pot and prepare the syrup. Put the spices in a spice bag or tea infuser or else you will have to fish all of it out later on. In your rinsed pot, combine the vinegar, sugar, spice bag, juice and rind of the lemon and bring to a boil. Add the rind to the syrup and cook ON LOW until the rind is transparent. This can take a while so keep checking for that transparency. When the rind looks transparent put the lid on the pot and take off the heat. Don't touch it for 24 hours. If you like less spice you can remove the spice bag at this time. I leave it in for the full 24 hours.
4. DAY THREE: Remove the pickles and let them drain back into the pot. Reserve the syrup and bring to a boil. Pack the pickles into (about) 6 sterile pint jars and pour the boiling syrup over the pickles, evenly between the six jars to about 1/4 inch from the top. Cap and adjust bands and process in a hot water bath for 5 minutes from the time the water returns to the boil. Ball Blue Book suggests ten minutes but my old recipe was 5 minutes. I think the 5 minute bath is a crispier pickle and I have to tell you I have never, in the past 35 years, had a jar explode in the pantry, but use the processing time you feel comfy with.
5. DAY SIXTY: Pickles are ready. OK, I start eating them as soon as I hit day three -- So these pickles are made all summer long and enjoyed all year round.
6. REALLY EASY METHOD: If you are not a canner you can cool the pickles on your counter and put the jars in your refrigerator and they will last one month.
I like the sit and wait recipe--My eldest DD has been experimenting with cold pickling. She's made pickled eggs that are outstanding!
Happy pickling!
Watermelon Pickles
Cherries add a little extra color to these watermelon pickles.
Ingredients:
2 pounds watermelon rind
1/4 cup pickling salt
4 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon broken stick cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons whole cloves
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
5 maraschino cherries, halved,optional
[b](Use a cotton or cheesecloth bag and put cloves, cinnamon, and lemon slices into it, then tie closed.) [/b]
Preparation:
Trim the dark green and pink parts from watermelon rind. Cut rind in 1-inch cubes and measure 7 cups. Soak watermelon rind overnight in a mixture of the pickling salt and water. If it takes more to cover, use the same proportion salt to water. Drain and rinse watermelon rind. Cover rind with cold water in a large saucepan; cook just until tender.
Meanwhile, in a 6 to 8-quart kettle or Dutch oven, combine sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, whole cloves, lemon slices, in their bag, and 1 cup water. Simmer mixture 10 minutes, then strain. Add drained watermelon rind, , and maraschino cherries, if using. Simmer the mixture until watermelon rind is translucent. Fill hot half-pint jars with watermelon rind and syrup mixture, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.
Makes 2 1/2 pints.
Another Recipe:
Watermelon Pickles
Ingredients
THE RIND OF TWO TEN POUND SEEDLESS WATERMELONS
1 gallon water, filtered, plus more
2 tablespoons pickling salt
2 cups cider vinegar
7 cups white sugar
1 lemon
1 tablespoon whole cloves
4 cinnamon sticks
4 inches candied ginger (or more if you want it spicy)
Directions
1. ZAAR would not let me enter the watermelon rind no matter how I tried so it is the rind of two ten to twelve pound seedless watermelons. Ugh I am so frustrated!
2. DAY ONE: Wash and carve watermelon and cut rind into one inch squares. Make sure you peel the rind carefully with a veggie peeler because there is nothing nastier than choking on an unpeeled piece of rind. Mix salt into the water in a large non-reactive pot and add the watermelon rind. Cover and let stand 24 hours.
3. D AY TWO: Drain watermelon rind and rinse well. Wash the pot and add the watermelon rind and a gallon of filtered water and lots of ice, at least 4 cups and let stand for two hours. Drain again and pick out the ice. Return the watermelon rind to the pot and cover with boiling water and cook until tender enough to pierce with a wooden skewer, about ten to 12 minutes and then drain well. While the rind is draining wash the pot and prepare the syrup. Put the spices in a spice bag or tea infuser or else you will have to fish all of it out later on. In your rinsed pot, combine the vinegar, sugar, spice bag, juice and rind of the lemon and bring to a boil. Add the rind to the syrup and cook ON LOW until the rind is transparent. This can take a while so keep checking for that transparency. When the rind looks transparent put the lid on the pot and take off the heat. Don't touch it for 24 hours. If you like less spice you can remove the spice bag at this time. I leave it in for the full 24 hours.
4. DAY THREE: Remove the pickles and let them drain back into the pot. Reserve the syrup and bring to a boil. Pack the pickles into (about) 6 sterile pint jars and pour the boiling syrup over the pickles, evenly between the six jars to about 1/4 inch from the top. Cap and adjust bands and process in a hot water bath for 5 minutes from the time the water returns to the boil. Ball Blue Book suggests ten minutes but my old recipe was 5 minutes. I think the 5 minute bath is a crispier pickle and I have to tell you I have never, in the past 35 years, had a jar explode in the pantry, but use the processing time you feel comfy with.
5. DAY SIXTY: Pickles are ready. OK, I start eating them as soon as I hit day three -- So these pickles are made all summer long and enjoyed all year round.
6. REALLY EASY METHOD: If you are not a canner you can cool the pickles on your counter and put the jars in your refrigerator and they will last one month.
I like the sit and wait recipe--My eldest DD has been experimenting with cold pickling. She's made pickled eggs that are outstanding!
Happy pickling!
journey11
Garden Master
Thanks Ducks, I can't wait to try them! :happy_flower
