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If you freeze corn without hitting it with some hot water first then the enzymes in the corn will continue to degrade the taste until it is just starchy and not much else.
I used to par boil all my veggies and then make sure they were dried good and then put them in baggies to freeze. this includes corn,squash,egg plant,green beans and tomatoes with skin on them. They did just fine til I was ready to use them. Lasted a long time.
The Ball Blue book sets you straight. If you are going to can you can not do without one. Tomatoes for example, improve nutritionally by cooking because it breaks down some of the nutrients into accessible forms where they are inaccessibly to you raw. Pumpkin is another that actually improves in nutrition. Most things are better off going to the freezer but need to take a trip through hot water for a minute or two first.
Canning kills nearly everything because of the heat. Boiling water is particularly good at dispatching bad bugs. Tomatoes are no problem but if you can salsa the addition of so many other non-acidic ingredients neutralizes the PH and you are back to potential trouble. If you are canning something acidic then a straight water bath canner is all you need. They are cheap too. Again, the Ball Blue book will set you straight. Good luck!
Fantastic addition PatriotDan,When I was young I did help my Grandmother can tomatoes, well she did the canning I just squeezed the juice with the colander.
She has passed now I have the colander now, I would like the chance to try some tomatoes this year.. Did freeze some green beans, green peppers though I did do the water bath blanch first they were very good..looks like I will need to find myself a Ball Blue book as you state.
Now then, what can you do with compost. Of course you know you can add it to garden soil for impressive fertilizer but much more importantly is the organic nature added to the soil that improves drainage, critter count in the soil to help work it for you, and vastly improved texture for greater root growth. You probably knew most of those though.
A fully functiong compost pile gets hot. Add some raw horse, chicken, or what ever you can get, manure and it can get very hot. Mix that together with the greens and brown and you have a hotbed of microbial activity can substantially lengthen the growing season, even more than a cold frame because you are adding the heat from the composting manure rising through he soil and being trapped by the frame. You can find the details by searching for hot beds. The down side is that you do have to be able to crack them open if you get a warm day. A fifty degree day with the heat from the hot bed can wither the plants. Other than that you just have a nicely extended season.
We did have good luck with the mulch, I think your additional ideals are great, we added rabbit manure from a friends hutches, they are inside and the pellets have already broke down essentially with the added red worms he added to them. fantastic loam from the worms also the pellets staying dry from the closed building were a big help. We used the mulch we made to line the trenches where we planted rather than spread it throughout the garden.
The cold frame with added compost heat is a great ideal Dan we may try that. I am looking for some older stile wood frame storm windows for this project.
Dan I want to Thank you for your additions Glad to have a
"Master Gardener"
(Think I seen that posted on Richards thread somewhere)
...aboard the thread..
It is not length of life, but depth of life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
How a Man plays the game shows something of his character
How he loses shows all of it..
MizJ , We did the same with our peppers and carrots as you did.... a friend of mine grows some of the best sweet corn around in Noblesville... That I have ever tasted... his wife gave me this to freeze the sweet corn..
Shuck corn remove the silk, cut directly off the raw cob, run your knife down the cob to obtain the milk from the cob. when you have 8 cups.. Microwave on high heat for 5 minutes, stir in one stick of soft real salted butter, (we only used 3/4 stick) return to the Microwave 5 more minutes on high.... After, we removed, let it stand for 10 minutes... then used freezer bags and a dipper, it helped to measure the amount for each family member, we put 5 dippers full in each bag for our 5 family meals, then some with only 2-2 1/2 dippers full in others when it was just Mamma_Mayhem and myself.
Taste as fresh as off the cob all winter long..
MizJ, Thanks for your addition to the thread..
It is not length of life, but depth of life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
How a Man plays the game shows something of his character
How he loses shows all of it..
Dan is this because the surgars in the corn?
It is not length of life, but depth of life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
How a Man plays the game shows something of his character
How he loses shows all of it..
Colts Fan is par boil the same as blanching it.. Also I have wanted to try egg plant, how do you prepare that?
It is not length of life, but depth of life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
How a Man plays the game shows something of his character
How he loses shows all of it..
I'm going to try worm composting this year. I bet it doesn't make enough for a large outdoor garden, but it might be good for a smaller one. Has anyone else tried it?
http://www.css.cornell.edu/compost/worms/basics.html- Thomas Paine
I had a service man where I used to work that went fishing every night and he used the heads of the fish he caught in his garden.
And the enzymes that are present. It is the same enzymes that start converting the sugar to starch as soon as you pick it. Even -10 doesn't stop the process. 212 degrees will stop it right now though.
Dan is this because the surgars in the corn?
You are welcome and I am. Actually I am an Advanced Master Gardener which indicates an additional 35 hours of service and 6 additional educational hours.
The Ball Blue book sets you straight. If you are going to can you can not do without one. Tomatoes for example, improve nutritionally by cooking because it breaks down some of the nutrients into accessible forms where they are inaccessibly to you raw. Pumpkin is another that actually improves in nutrition. Most things are better off going to the freezer but need to take a trip through hot water for a minute or two first.
Canning kills nearly everything because of the heat. Boiling water is particularly good at dispatching bad bugs. Tomatoes are no problem but if you can salsa the addition of so many other non-acidic ingredients neutralizes the PH and you are back to potential trouble. If you are canning something acidic then a straight water bath canner is all you need. They are cheap too. Again, the Ball Blue book will set you straight. Good luck!
Fantastic addition PatriotDan,When I was young I did help my Grandmother can tomatoes, well she did the canning I just squeezed the juice with the colander.
She has passed now I have the colander now, I would like the chance to try some tomatoes this year.. Did freeze some green beans, green peppers though I did do the water bath blanch first they were very good..looks like I will need to find myself a Ball Blue book as you state.
Now then, what can you do with compost. Of course you know you can add it to garden soil for impressive fertilizer but much more importantly is the organic nature added to the soil that improves drainage, critter count in the soil to help work it for you, and vastly improved texture for greater root growth. You probably knew most of those though.
A fully functiong compost pile gets hot. Add some raw horse, chicken, or what ever you can get, manure and it can get very hot. Mix that together with the greens and brown and you have a hotbed of microbial activity can substantially lengthen the growing season, even more than a cold frame because you are adding the heat from the composting manure rising through he soil and being trapped by the frame. You can find the details by searching for hot beds. The down side is that you do have to be able to crack them open if you get a warm day. A fifty degree day with the heat from the hot bed can wither the plants. Other than that you just have a nicely extended season.
We did have good luck with the mulch, I think your additional ideals are great, we added rabbit manure from a friends hutches, they are inside and the pellets have already broke down essentially with the added red worms he added to them. fantastic loam from the worms also the pellets staying dry from the closed building were a big help. We used the mulch we made to line the trenches where we planted rather than spread it throughout the garden.
The cold frame with added compost heat is a great ideal Dan we may try that. I am looking for some older stile wood frame storm windows for this project.
Dan I want to Thank you for your additions Glad to have a
"Master Gardener"
(Think I seen that posted on Richards thread somewhere)
...aboard the thread..