Overgrown Cucumbers
pink_warm_mama_1
15 years ago
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Comments (19)
jimster
15 years agoblubird
15 years agoRelated Discussions
what is this veggie ?
Comments (5)some kind of melon, I`d guess, and somewhat starved and unhappy. Did you sow any or could there be volunteers from some compost bye, Lin Here is a link that might be useful: melons...See MoreBall instructions for red cinnamon pickles using pickle crisp
Comments (4)Hmmm never seen it is a box like that, only in the plastic jar. The instructions are printed right on the jar in that case. Standard regardless of the recipe it is used in: rounded 1/4 tsp. per quart or rounded 1/8 tsp. per pint. Of course you don't have to use that much if you don't want to. Glad you found what you needed though. Dave...See MoreOkay guys - off topic but please introduce yourselves...
Comments (31)Hello, It is really neat to read about everyone. I am feeling really young. I am 31, married and have 3 girls and 1 more on the way. I live in the country near Clay Center Kansas. I am an elementary teacher. This year I moved schools and moved up to Middle School Math. I grew up on a farm raising livestock (Cattle and Hogs) and crops. There was not enough $$$ on the farm to support more families, so I went my own direction. Now I am starting my own "farm" as my wife says. I have around an 1 acre garden. I grow alot of our produce for sale at 3 small farmers markets I attend. I started to make jellies to add to the produce that I sell. It also helps me use stuff that I don't sell or isn't perfect. I work very hard at what I do and enjoy every minute of it. I don't have a tractor, (I wish I did) and I am expanding every year. Everything is done by hand, usually mine. I get the kids involved as much as possible. They are great at somethings, but not everything. Next year I am putting up two hoopbuildings,(12 by 45ft each) to grow tomatoes and cucumbers in. I want to capture the most $ for my labor. I have time in June and July, but once August roles around, it is back to school and I don't have that much time to spend in the garden. I am not into gardening for the $$, I am into it for good produce and flavor. I also love to grow things that people have never seen before. Black tomatoes, Lemon Cucumbers, Chocolate Bell peppers, Strange Squash, etc, etc, etc. I usually don't sell lots of these things, but they do keep bringing people back. We have a small flock of chickens, started out as a 2nd grade chicken egg hatching project. Those chickens were some tough 'ol birds. We use alot of eggs and sell the rest at my market stand. Future plans? To continue the garden and probably expand by another 1/4 acre. Maybe try using floating row covers for squash. I enjoy gardening more and more. I wish I could do it full time year around. Kansas weather doesn't allow that to happen! I want to expand my pepper jellies and sell online and to local shops and I wish I could win the lotto so I could do it all. It just isn't possible or is it? I will still come back here and read about everyone and find new recipes to try. Thanks for the support and Keep up the good work! Jay...See MoreMystery cucumber -- dark orange
Comments (9)Lisa, Your folks are my kind of people! I love big gardens and I love big canning. I'm not sure I'd open and eat a 15 year old jar of beans though. Your mom's kitchen counter lined with jars looks like mine on any random summer day when I've been canning. The pantry was full and overflowing before the end of June this year and I've run out of closet space where I can cram one more case of canned food into a corner or something. So, I bought some plastic under-the-bed storage boxes, filled them with jars of canned stuff, and now have canned food stashed away both upstairs and downstairs. I'm about ready to stop. I'll can jalapenos again at some point this fall because we give away a lot of jars of Candied Jalapenos at Christmas, but otherwise, I think I am about through canning.....unless I decide to make some dilly beans from part of the fall harvest. Last week I harvested a total of 15 gallons of peppers, both hot and sweet. I froze several gallons of roasted peppers, froze a bunch of chopped and sliced sweet bells, canned a few dozen jars of jalapenos, and then sent a big bag of peppers to work with Tim to give to one of his co-workers. This week I'll harvest again (though not nearly as many) and send more to work because one of the guys saw those peppers Tim took in and said "I want some", so we'll give him some this week. I was trying not to have a big canning year this year since I was only going to can peppers, some salsa and a lot of pickles, but somehow I have filled up all the pint jars anyway. (I still have quarts and half-pints though....) We drove by one of those big gardens today and they've really let the bermuda grass and Johnson grass come in and take over the melon area now (but, it's August and who wants to be out in August heat pulling weeds?) but it looked like a highly productive garden in June and at least half of July. I yanked out the pickling cukes today so I could use that area for fall plants. The 20-30 deer and half-dozen cottontails that have been eating pickling cukes every night for the last 3 weeks or so will be really disappointed. Tonight they'll get the last of the pickling cukes, and then tomorrow night. they'll be wondering what happened to their nice cucumber dinners. I never have planted 100 hills of squash (and hope I never do) but one year I planted 30 different varieties of squash and had the most awesome and amazing harvest. It likely was in 2004 or 2006....because the squash vine borers hadn't found us yet. We had squash piled up everywhere and had the most amazing autumn displays of pumpkins, squash, Indian corn, etc. That was a fun year. My goal always is to raise as much as I reasonably can and to preserve whatever we cannot eat fresh, but sometimes I just get tired of canning and give the excess away. Because the cucumber beetles hadn't shown up and spread disease to the pickling cukes like they usually did, I just let them keep growing after I was through with the pickle making and I fed them to the wildlife. It has been so dry here that I have to make water puddles for the butterflies and fill pans with water for the wildlife, so I figured the wildlife would enjoy having cucumbers to eat, and they did. I think next year I'll plant a bunch of extra cukes on the back garden fence just for the wild animals. We still have Armenian cukes growing on the fence, but the plants are getting old and worn-out and are slowing down so I don't know how much longer they'll last. Now that I have cucumbers on the brain, I should work on my grow list for 2014 because I want to grow a bigger variety of sizes, shapes and colors. I have quite a few seeds for unusual varieties, but just haven't gotten around to planting them. Dawn...See Morecentralcacyclist
15 years agofoodonastump
15 years agoCloud Swift
15 years agoannie1992
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15 years agojessyf
15 years agoilene_in_neok
15 years agopink_warm_mama_1
15 years agojimster
15 years agojannie
15 years agoliza070831
15 years agotrixietx
15 years agoannie1992
15 years agoliza070831
15 years agoblonderoots72
8 years agobig boy cucumber
6 years ago
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