On 3/3/2015 11:18 AM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

On 3/03/2015 3:51 AM, Derald wrote:

Many tree fruits, even citrus, need some amount of coddling
(primarily protection from cold, heat, sun), which I'm not willing to
do, and those that "vernalize" easily get badly confused, bloom 'way too
early only to have blossoms and nascent fruit freeze in February (I just
watched my neighbor's peaches do that dance for the third consecutive
winter)

That's interesting about the peaches. We can grow peaches here well out
in the open and even though we get heavy frosts, I am starting to get
lemons to grow close in to the house and put in a spot where the sun
doesn't reach them in winter till about 10am so that the frost is
thawing before the sun hits their leaves.
The on, off nature of our winters and the long near-tropical
summers make it nearly impossible for peaches, apples, pears to cope.
Although, within my memory, serious attempts were made to introduce
hybrid peaches, apples, "improved" blackberries, "improved" wine grapes,
and "improved" table grapes commercialy in my immediate "neighborhood",
all failed and I never have seen any of those, save for Pierce-resistant
table grapes, grown as "dooryard" fruit.
Citrus is less common now than in past years but still popular,
although, it requires protection or strategic siting, as you mention.
We have one tangerine tree, from a volunteer seedling, that bears
sparsely because it's shaded but the trees that shade it are protective
so.... Commercial orange groves (In the US Southeast, oranges and
pecans live in "groves", not in "orchards". Who knows why.) once
abounded where I live but several successive freezes between 1984-1989
were major factors in the eventual death of that industry in these
parts. Nowadays, many former groves now sustain introduced planted
pines or houses but a fair amount of it is being allowed to naturalize.

We have a fig and a kumquat, both young, growing in the backyard. The
kumquat fruits in the fall and we have been picking them up until late last
month. We have a young pear tree in the front yard, blossoms last year
got frost bit, this year it looks as though we may escape a late frost
and may, maybe, I hope, get a few pears this year.

We moved back to Texas after 24 years in SW Louisiana, town called
Sulphur. Had a very large backyard with a mature fruit trees, two
kumquat trees generally gave us about ten gallons of fruit, fig tree
almost that much, Japanese persimmon, two plum trees, one Ponderosa
lemon tree that was very fruitful too. We were basically one step up
from sub-tropical, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) heat
zone 9b, we're one zone down here at the new place so get a bit more
frost. In 8b our last frost date was generally around mid-February, here
it's mid-to-late March.



snip

Climate variations and what is achievable in certain areas
always interests me.
I'm continuously confused by the phase differences among regional
climates in the two hemispheres. Although we have had March surprises,
for practical purposes, "winter" is over where I live. Only had
overnight freezing temperatures two or three times. One night, temps
remained at or below freezing for almost nine hours, which is
unusual—two nights like that are a cold wave. One sparkling frosty
morning and no ice, at all. Haven't made a fire for a couple of weeks,
at least. Looking for a high today of 26-27 real degrees; low tonight
15-16. The window for planting veggies that demand cool temperatures is
closed, or nearly so, and it's time to think about beans, eggplant, etc.

snip

As far as the freezer goes and without bothering to go look: Okra,
green peppers (julienne and diced), hot peppers (whole),

Do you use those in cooking? I assume they go squishy which is why I
ask about cooking.
The okra is frozen either whole or sliced, the slices being alread
breaded and ready to cook (fry). The diced/sliced "bell" peppers keep
their texture very nearly as well as the flash frozen commercial
products. The hot peppers (mostly jalapeño) are frozen whole and, yes,
they do get squishy and are suitable only as ingredients. Slicing, if
needed, is done while peppers are still nearly frozen. Although we keep
a stock in the freezer, with a little effort, I can grow jalapeño
peppers as perennials, which keeps fresh green peppers available almost
year 'round but we use enough ripe (red) ones that we keep some in the
freezer.

We freeze a lot of vegetables. Generally I will slice and dice then put
on a bun pan and into the freezer for 1 hour, then vacuum bag. Do that
with peppers, okra, green beans, etc. For greens I blanch them for three
minutes in boiling water, drain the liquid off, put on a bun pan in a
serving size for two, vacuum pack and into the freezer again. Pulled
some Swiss chard out the other night from 2011, still like new

snip

LOL. You freeze much more than I do in it's vegetative state. If I was
going to freeze a lot of those things, they'd be included in cooked
meals (stews/casseroles etc). I'm trying to think what veg we eat that
has come out of the freezer and the only thing that comes to mind is
peas.
Well, as noted, many of the veggies named _are_ pre-cooked or are
in finished side dishes. Eggplant, for example, frequently will be in a
casserole or vegetarian lasagna, although DW has learned a technique for
preserving its texture well enough for other uses; the collards and
other greens are only par-cooked so that they can finish cooking without
getting all mooshy. Green beans don't freeze well in home freezers but
they're tolerable in January, when there's not a fresh bean in sight
unless one is willing to pay exhorbitant prices for those things the
grocery stores sell.

We puree a lot of eggplant and/or zucchini, turn into fritters, let
cool, vacuum bag and freeze, handy to get out for dinner in the winter.
Lots of zucchini and other summer squashes get either sliced for
casseroles, or shredded to make bread or fritters during the winter.

snip

Pressure canners have only fairly recently
become available int his country...
Goodness; I find that surprising but I do remember seeing, in an
online catalog, types of containers no longer used here. Seems to me
the lid-sealing arrangement differed.

I would not be without my pressure canner and assorted menagerie of
boiling water bath canners. We put up a lot of beans and peas by
pressure canning plus we make lots of jams and jellies for our extended
family there's about 21 of us around the area now, all descendants or
married into the family. We both learned to pressure can and otherwise
preserve food in the late forties, early fifties from our parents. Hardy
farm folk in the main. I have a small closet in my office that is full
of canning jars, lids, rings, full jars of this and that, and most of
our canning pots and pans plus extra rolls of vacuum bags, etc. Once you
learn how to do it and do it the proper way so no one dies from eating
your stuff it becomes easy and, I think, saves lots of money instead of
buying more stuff that you don't know where it comes from. I have become
one of those who avidly reads food labels. I don't buy food canned in
certain countries and try not to eat anything that comes out of those
countries. I don't visit certain American restaurants because most of
their food comes from one or more of those countries. Home made is best.