On 4/03/2015 4:18 AM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

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.

:-)) On the few occasions I've bothered to look at sites online that
showed the prices of food in the US, I can't believe how cheap it is.
You would not like the prices we pay in Oz.

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'm sure the pressure canners haven't been available here because really
there has never been a real need for them. Most of our country is snow
free all year round and only a small part of the country gets any snow
at all and so our shops all stock large quantities of fresh fruit and
veg all year round. It's all affordable even the tropical stuff when in
season. Our climate generally allows keen gardeners to produce fresh
product all year round to some degree. For example, I live in a cold
climate but I still can eat something out of my garden even in the
depths of winter. David H-S who live sin amuch warmer climate can grow
far wider range than I can but perhaps he is too warm and humid for
growing good apples.

Australia also des't have the sort of hunted animals that USians often
'can'. Any Australian who did shoot a kangaroo is far more likely to
use it for dog food than for eating himself and if you told him that he
could probably 'can' it as USians do for deer, he'd think you were
trying to pull his leg.

The common preserving method used here was known as the Fowlers Vacola
method (hot water bath) and that covered the sort of preserved food most
households ate here ie fruit. Preserved veg was never popular when home
preserving was a big hobby/domestic habit.

Fran Farmer wrote:
On 4/03/2015 4:18 AM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

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.

:-)) On the few occasions I've bothered to look at sites online that
showed the prices of food in the US, I can't believe how cheap it is.
You would not like the prices we pay in Oz.

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'm sure the pressure canners haven't been available here because
really there has never been a real need for them. Most of our
country is snow free all year round and only a small part of the
country gets any snow at all and so our shops all stock large
quantities of fresh fruit and veg all year round. It's all
affordable even the tropical stuff when in season. Our climate
generally allows keen gardeners to produce fresh product all year
round to some degree. For example, I live in a cold climate but I
still can eat something out of my garden even in the depths of
winter. David H-S who live sin amuch warmer climate can grow far
wider range than I can but perhaps he is too warm and humid for
growing good apples.

We should get together and compare sin where we live sometime.

I have just harvested most of my pomes. The medar will be another two
months if the possums don't get them.

I have one producing apple tree, it gave a little less than one crate of
granny smiths, they are very tasty, I just love the tart-sweet crispness.

I have one quince that gave one and half crates of fruit.

I have two pears. The Josephine Dumaurier (sp?) gave one crate this year,
in years past more. The Packhams Triumph had a good year and gave 7 crates.

Despite the hot summer we still get frost in the winter. We selected
cultivars that do not require high chilling. Why do they vary so much from
year to year? I don't know. The hot humid summer doesn't seem to do any
harm, the pomes don't appear to get fungal diseases. They do get birds,
bats, possums, chooks, fruit fly and rats however.

These are milk crates that hold about 20kg (45lbs) of fruit. So the Packam
had about 140kg (310lbs) of fruit, some branches were broken.


The common preserving method used here was known as the Fowlers Vacola
method (hot water bath) and that covered the sort of preserved food
most households ate here ie fruit. Preserved veg was never popular
when home preserving was a big hobby/domestic habit.

I will bottle some and freeze some and try to give away most of the pears
before they rot.

--
David

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Corporate propaganda is their
protection against democracy

On 3/4/2015 5:48 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 4/03/2015 4:18 AM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

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.

:-)) On the few occasions I've bothered to look at sites online that
showed the prices of food in the US, I can't believe how cheap it is.
You would not like the prices we pay in Oz.

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'm sure the pressure canners haven't been available here because
really there has never been a real need for them. Most of our
country is snow free all year round and only a small part of the
country gets any snow at all and so our shops all stock large
quantities of fresh fruit and veg all year round. It's all
affordable even the tropical stuff when in season. Our climate
generally allows keen gardeners to produce fresh product all year
round to some degree. For example, I live in a cold climate but I
still can eat something out of my garden even in the depths of
winter. David H-S who live sin amuch warmer climate can grow far
wider range than I can but perhaps he is too warm and humid for
growing good apples.

We should get together and compare sin where we live sometime.

I have just harvested most of my pomes. The medar will be another two
months if the possums don't get them.

I have one producing apple tree, it gave a little less than one crate of
granny smiths, they are very tasty, I just love the tart-sweet crispness.

I have one quince that gave one and half crates of fruit.

I have two pears. The Josephine Dumaurier (sp?) gave one crate this
year, in years past more. The Packhams Triumph had a good year and gave
7 crates.

Despite the hot summer we still get frost in the winter. We selected
cultivars that do not require high chilling. Why do they vary so much
from year to year? I don't know. The hot humid summer doesn't seem to
do any harm, the pomes don't appear to get fungal diseases. They do get
birds, bats, possums, chooks, fruit fly and rats however.

These are milk crates that hold about 20kg (45lbs) of fruit. So the
Packam had about 140kg (310lbs) of fruit, some branches were broken.


The common preserving method used here was known as the Fowlers Vacola
method (hot water bath) and that covered the sort of preserved food
most households ate here ie fruit. Preserved veg was never popular
when home preserving was a big hobby/domestic habit.

I will bottle some and freeze some and try to give away most of the
pears before they rot.

Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs
another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And,
with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear trees.
I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but better),
and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies,
cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top.

On 5/03/2015 11:27 AM, George Shirley wrote:

Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs
another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And,
with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear trees.
I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but better),
and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies,
cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top.

What is a 'cobbler'?

I'm wondering if it is anything like what David and I would call a
'crumble'. I make various 'crumbles' eg Apple Crumble, rhubarb crumble
etc. It's a topping over stewed fruit and the 'crumble' component is
traditionally made up of flour, sugar and butter that looks crumb like
before it is baked in the oven to make a crunchy topping. Lovely served
with ice cream or cream in the cold weather and much loved by men more
than women IME.

On 3/5/2015 5:05 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 5/03/2015 11:27 AM, George Shirley wrote:

Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs
another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And,
with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear trees.
I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but better),
and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies,
cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top.

What is a 'cobbler'?

I'm wondering if it is anything like what David and I would call a
'crumble'. I make various 'crumbles' eg Apple Crumble, rhubarb crumble
etc. It's a topping over stewed fruit and the 'crumble' component is
traditionally made up of flour, sugar and butter that looks crumb like
before it is baked in the oven to make a crunchy topping. Lovely served
with ice cream or cream in the cold weather and much loved by men more
than women IME.
Pretty much the same thing, a US southern cobbler is stewed fruit with
dough ladled into it and the dough puffs up when baked. Favorites here
are blackberry, dewberry, peach, and pretty much any available fruit.

I can dig up a recipe and post it if you like. I've made blueberry and
everything else but apples. About the only way I eat apples is sliced up
and have a plate of sharp cheddar cheese handy.

I was brought up in a house full of women, ranging from a great
grandmother on down to two older sisters. Being the only boy child I
learned to cook, clean, and preserve pretty much anything. When you have
that many women hovering over you you learn to be polite and correct.

I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of
zucchini bread.

On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote:
On 3/5/2015 5:05 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 5/03/2015 11:27 AM, George Shirley wrote:

Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs
another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And,
with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear trees.
I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but better),
and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies,
cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top.

What is a 'cobbler'?

I'm wondering if it is anything like what David and I would call a
'crumble'. I make various 'crumbles' eg Apple Crumble, rhubarb crumble
etc. It's a topping over stewed fruit and the 'crumble' component is
traditionally made up of flour, sugar and butter that looks crumb like
before it is baked in the oven to make a crunchy topping. Lovely served
with ice cream or cream in the cold weather and much loved by men more
than women IME.
Pretty much the same thing, a US southern cobbler is stewed fruit with
dough ladled into it and the dough puffs up when baked. Favorites here
are blackberry, dewberry, peach, and pretty much any available fruit.

I can dig up a recipe and post it if you like.

Thanks for the kind offer but I've just done a google, which in all
honesty, I should have done to begin with rather than asking you, but
then it does make for newsgroup conversations I guess. I've learned a
few more things about American food as a result of my hunt and that is
always a worthwhile activity.

I've made blueberry and
everything else but apples. About the only way I eat apples is sliced up
and have a plate of sharp cheddar cheese handy.

Yum. Apples and Blue vein. I'm slobbering at the thought.

I was brought up in a house full of women, ranging from a great
grandmother on down to two older sisters. Being the only boy child I
learned to cook, clean, and preserve pretty much anything. When you have
that many women hovering over you you learn to be polite and correct.

Snort! You mean you didn't learn to dish it out to them when they
dished it out to you?

I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of
zucchini bread.

Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them
that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts
come.

On 3/5/2015 10:34 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote:
On 3/5/2015 5:05 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 5/03/2015 11:27 AM, George Shirley wrote:

Sure wish you were several thousand miles closer, our pear tree needs
another three or four good years before we can really pick a crop. And,
with many pick-your-own farms and orchards nearby, none have pear
trees.
I make a very good pear jelly, pear sauce (like apple sauce but
better),
and boiling water bath can lots of quarts of pear slices for pies,
cobblers, and just eating with ice cream on top.

What is a 'cobbler'?

I'm wondering if it is anything like what David and I would call a
'crumble'. I make various 'crumbles' eg Apple Crumble, rhubarb crumble
etc. It's a topping over stewed fruit and the 'crumble' component is
traditionally made up of flour, sugar and butter that looks crumb like
before it is baked in the oven to make a crunchy topping. Lovely served
with ice cream or cream in the cold weather and much loved by men more
than women IME.
Pretty much the same thing, a US southern cobbler is stewed fruit with
dough ladled into it and the dough puffs up when baked. Favorites here
are blackberry, dewberry, peach, and pretty much any available fruit.

I can dig up a recipe and post it if you like.

Thanks for the kind offer but I've just done a google, which in all
honesty, I should have done to begin with rather than asking you, but
then it does make for newsgroup conversations I guess. I've learned a
few more things about American food as a result of my hunt and that is
always a worthwhile activity.

I've made blueberry and
everything else but apples. About the only way I eat apples is sliced up
and have a plate of sharp cheddar cheese handy.

Yum. Apples and Blue vein. I'm slobbering at the thought.

I was brought up in a house full of women, ranging from a great
grandmother on down to two older sisters. Being the only boy child I
learned to cook, clean, and preserve pretty much anything. When you have
that many women hovering over you you learn to be polite and correct.

Snort! You mean you didn't learn to dish it out to them when they
dished it out to you?
Back then if I came home from school with a note from the teacher or the
principal I got whopped good by all five of those women. It was the old
timer way of teaching kids to be a) polite to their elders, b) do well
in school and not cause problems, c) don't make Mama mad, you might die.
Of course there were lots of hugs and kisses after the punishment. My
grandmother taught me how to play board games, my big sisters taught me
to read and write at four years of age, great grannie let me cut the
sweet gum small branches she brushed her teeth with. She dipped snuff
and brushed her teeth with snuff. Died at 89 years of age with a full
set of teeth. I loved all of them to pieces just like they loved me.
They did make sure I would grow up to be polite, courteous, and not a
trouble maker. Seems to have worked.

I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of
zucchini bread.

Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on them
that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before the frosts
come.



Last summer's zucchini crop was sparse, only picked about six or seven
fruit, they all weighed more than three pounds and were seedless. Put up
a lot of shredded zukes and also yellow squash, which also makes a good
squash bread and can be used in casseroles.

Got down to almost freezing again early this morning, the rest of the
week the weather heads are predicting temps in the 70's and 80's. So
much for climate change. Will plant spring carrots today and clean out
the last of the fall garden. Then will amend those two beds and get
ready for all the seeds we have on the counter now. We have tomatoes and
sweet chiles nearly a foot tall under the grow light and others coming
on steadily. It's either plant out or fight the jungle inside.

I used to fly in and out of both Australia and New Zealand back in the
late nineteen fifties, was a crew member in a U.S. Navy transport
squadron. We flew stuff all over the world and it was a hoot for a rural
Texas farmboy. Don't miss it because wife and I averaged over 100,000
miles a year in flight time when we worked and lived in the Middle East
and other parts of the world. I haven't flown since 1990 when we came
home for good. Met a lot of nice people though, at least the sober ones. G

Fran Farmer wrote:
On 6/03/2015 11:16 AM, George Shirley wrote:
I think I'll make a blackberry cobbler tomorrow and maybe a loaf of
zucchini bread.

Show off! My poor old zucchinis have got so much powdery mildew on
them that I'll be amazed if I get another zucchini off them before
the frosts come.

gloat I have both fresh-frozen blackberries and shredded zucchini in my
freezer ... and several gallons of muscadines .

--
Snag

Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

What is a 'cobbler'?
Basically, "deep dish" berry or fruit pie with no bottom crust and
a biscuit dough top crust.

snippage happens

We have crumbles, too-in the Southeastern US, at least-known by a
variety of names and they are exactly as you describe. Again, there
are regional variants.

Our cobbler recipe is basically a stick of butter melted in a deep baking
pan (we use a 4 qt round pan), a pint or two of fruit added , then a batter
of 1 cup each of sugar , flour , and milk with some baking powder poured in
the center of the whole thing . Toss it in the oven at 375 for about 45 min
to an hour , then enjoy with ice cream on top . We've used apples , cherries
, fruit cocktail (!) peaches , and blackberries . Fresh , frozen or canned ,
if you use fresh add some sugar to the fruit . If we use canned , we use the
juice and water with dry milk in the batter .
Another variation uses a chocolate cake mix with reduced liquid and
canned cherry pie filling (google dump cake) cooked in a dutch oven over a
camp fire , that one was a really big hit with the Boy Scout troop I was
involved with (as a leader) .
--
Snag

Terry Coombs wrote:
Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

What is a 'cobbler'?
Basically, "deep dish" berry or fruit pie with no bottom crust and
a biscuit dough top crust.

snippage happens

We have crumbles, too-in the Southeastern US, at least-known by a
variety of names and they are exactly as you describe. Again, there
are regional variants.

Our cobbler recipe is basically a stick of butter melted in a deep
baking pan (we use a 4 qt round pan), a pint or two of fruit added ,
then a batter of 1 cup each of sugar , flour , and milk with some
baking powder poured in the center of the whole thing . Toss it in
the oven at 375 for about 45 min to an hour , then enjoy with ice
cream on top . We've used apples , cherries , fruit cocktail (!)
peaches , and blackberries . Fresh , frozen or canned , if you use
fresh add some sugar to the fruit . If we use canned , we use the
juice and water with dry milk in the batter . Another variation uses
a chocolate cake mix with reduced liquid and canned cherry pie filling
(google dump cake) cooked in a dutch oven
over a camp fire , that one was a really big hit with the Boy Scout
troop I was involved with (as a leader) .

Forgot to add , what you're calling crumbles is probably the same dish we
call a crisp . Sliced fruit covered with a mixture of oatmeal , flour ,
brown sugar , and butter and baked hot enough that the topping gets browned
and crispy - thus the name .

--
Snag

On 6/03/2015 2:11 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:

Forgot to add , what you're calling crumbles is probably the same dish we
call a crisp . Sliced fruit covered with a mixture of oatmeal , flour ,
brown sugar , and butter and baked hot enough that the topping gets browned
and crispy - thus the name .

Bingo! It is the same thing is an apple crisp/crumble according to
Wikipedia although given the two photos that Wikipedia has put in to
illustrate the dish, they should have foudn someone who could actually
cook because both of those look like a very lame effort :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_crisp

But form there i followed the link to 'crumble' and there it says that a
'crumble' is also called a Brown Betty! Not in my universe!

On 3/5/2015 9:02 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

What is a 'cobbler'?
Basically, "deep dish" berry or fruit pie with no bottom crust and
a biscuit dough top crust.

snippage happens

We have crumbles, too-in the Southeastern US, at least-known by a
variety of names and they are exactly as you describe. Again, there
are regional variants.

Our cobbler recipe is basically a stick of butter melted in a deep baking
pan (we use a 4 qt round pan), a pint or two of fruit added , then a batter
of 1 cup each of sugar , flour , and milk with some baking powder poured in
the center of the whole thing . Toss it in the oven at 375 for about 45 min
to an hour , then enjoy with ice cream on top . We've used apples , cherries
, fruit cocktail (!) peaches , and blackberries . Fresh , frozen or canned ,
if you use fresh add some sugar to the fruit . If we use canned , we use the
juice and water with dry milk in the batter .
Another variation uses a chocolate cake mix with reduced liquid and
canned cherry pie filling (google dump cake) cooked in a dutch oven over a
camp fire , that one was a really big hit with the Boy Scout troop I was
involved with (as a leader) .

Used to make biscuits in the 24 inch wide, footed dutch oven back in my
scouting days. Started at age 8 and quit in my thirties. Still have that
giant dutch oven, just don't do much with it. My Dad was a scout leader
for over forty years, good program at the time. Nothing tastes as good
as grub cooked over a wood fire in cast iron pots. Thanks for jogging
some very old memories.

On 3/5/2015 8:11 PM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

What is a 'cobbler'?
Basically, "deep dish" berry or fruit pie with no bottom crust and
a biscuit dough top crust. Whether "real" cobblers have bottom crusts
has been the subject of debate at (USA) Southern family reunions for
generations ;-) The crust, also, is more casual and less demanding than
pie crust, resembling biscuit dough much more than it does traditional,
butter-rich flakey pie crust. Regional variants abound. Although, I'll
eat damn-near anything with sugar in it, I regard guava cobbler as
unmatched for purely decadent but forgiveably sinful, pleasure. Some
people abuse ice cream and cobbler by combining the two—to my mind, a
practice as questionable as combining whiskey with Coca Cola. Of
course, I'm revealing my personal bias, he Ice cream and cake, pie
or cobbler _never_ should be mixed for the same reason that one adds
five only drops of water, and nothing more, into a 2-oz "shot" of
single-malt.
We have crumbles, too—in the Southeastern US, at least—known by a
variety of names and they are exactly as you describe. Again, there are
regional variants.

You're a sick puppy Derald. You can't eat cobbler without BlueBell
Homemade vanilla ice cream on top. BlueBell makes a very good "Southern
Blackberry Cobbler" ice cream too. My new favorite is "Chocolate Covered
Cherries." Outstanding ice cream.

I don't think I've ever eaten a guava, since you're in Florida you
probably grow your own. My favorite fruit is papaya, ate some for the
first time in Bangkok and fell in love with it. Bought one in the
supermarket yesterday and it is chilling before I devour it. Even the
dog likes papaya. We have a lot of guava plants in our neighborhood,
pineapple guava. Most don't get a chance to ripen fruit. Neighbors
across the street have four of the plants in their front flower bed.
She's from Puerto Rica and didn't realize the plants were guava. Guess
she had never picked her own and didn't recognize the growing fruit. I
keep hoping they will produce some ripe fruit one day.

On 3/6/2015 11:41 AM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

You're a sick puppy Derald.
Well, hell: It certainly took you long enough to notice.

You can't eat cobbler without BlueBell
Homemade vanilla ice cream on top. BlueBell makes a very good "Southern
Blackberry Cobbler" ice cream too. My new favorite is "Chocolate Covered
Cherries." Outstanding ice cream.
Don't start. I wouldn't eat the Bluebell ice cream alone (too many
ingredients) and no dairy with fruit or berries, thank you. Truth is, I
don't eat much fruit because it just doesn't taste good (to me).

I don't think I've ever eaten a guava, since you're in Florida you
probably grow your own.
Not this far north, no. Don't know whether they're native but
guavas are naturalized from about the Tampa Bay Area, southward.
Unusually cold winters in the mid and late 1980's reduced their number
to the point that recovery took ±20 years. Ironically, much guava
habitat was destroyed in the process of remediating earlier
environmental disruption from open pit phosphate mining.

My favorite fruit is papaya, ate some for the
first time in Bangkok and fell in love with it. Bought one in the
supermarket yesterday and it is chilling before I devour it. Even the
dog likes papaya.
Had'em in the back yard years ago when still living in NBT, a
little further south of here. Never acquired a taste except for the
juice.
I'm that way by mango, tried them several times and they were always
astringent so gave up.

We have a lot of guava plants in our neighborhood,
pineapple guava. Most don't get a chance to ripen fruit. Neighbors
across the street have four of the plants in their front flower bed.
She's from Puerto Rica and didn't realize the plants were guava.
Guess she had never picked her own and didn't recognize the growing fruit.
Hah: spent her early years in PR indoors, I guess.
I suspect she came to New York City as a child. She and her husband are
nice people, she taught grade school in Harlem for many years and he was
a Customs officer at JFK for 32 years. Grow bananas in their backyard
and have a couple of 4X4 raised beds. Have a very friendly pit bull
named "Lilac" who loves everyone she meets. Moved here when they both
retired to get away from the "CITY" as they call it, and because they
have a kid nearby.

Living in Houston, TX area nowadays is weird for a native Texan. We have
290 homes in this subdivision and about fifteen different nationalities
living here. Our next door neighbors who moved home in January were
Russian, very nice folks. New neighbor is a retired American school
teacher who is married to a Chinese woman who works in China most of the
time. Folks from all over South and Central America, Africa, most
countries in Europe, and, of course, quite a few from Latin America.
Pretty quiet here but the inhabitants drive like idiots, running 40 or
50 MPH down the streets, running stop signs, etc. Scares me badly when
it's time for the school bus to come by. We sit a great grandson most
school mornings to ensure he gets on the bus as both parent work. So
we've become street patrol while all the kids are out. I can remember
when Houston was a much smaller city the last time we lived here back in
the mid-seventies. Now it's gone berserk. To many toll roads too. I want
to move back to East Texas but wife wants to stay close to all our get.
Heck, we raised them and set them up, let them live their lives without
us bothering them. G Besides, I want more gardens, chickens, rabbits, etc.

On 5/03/2015 10:48 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 4/03/2015 4:18 AM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

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.

:-)) On the few occasions I've bothered to look at sites online that
showed the prices of food in the US, I can't believe how cheap it is.
You would not like the prices we pay in Oz.

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'm sure the pressure canners haven't been available here because
really there has never been a real need for them. Most of our
country is snow free all year round and only a small part of the
country gets any snow at all and so our shops all stock large
quantities of fresh fruit and veg all year round. It's all
affordable even the tropical stuff when in season. Our climate
generally allows keen gardeners to produce fresh product all year
round to some degree. For example, I live in a cold climate but I
still can eat something out of my garden even in the depths of
winter. David H-S who live sin amuch warmer climate can grow far
wider range than I can but perhaps he is too warm and humid for
growing good apples.

We should get together and compare sin where we live sometime.

I know you live inland a long way north of me. I had placed you from
the things you'd said and the weather conditions reported at times when
you said certain things as being inland in a triangle bounded by Taree,
Musswellbrook, Newcastle. How close is that fit?

I have just harvested most of my pomes.

My inclusion of "perhaps" was right.

The medar will be another two
months if the possums don't get them.

I have one producing apple tree, it gave a little less than one crate of
granny smiths, they are very tasty, I just love the tart-sweet crispness.

We have at 5 of a size that produce and more coming on. Our trouble now
is netting them quickly enough to keep the blasted Sulphur Cresteds off.

I have one quince that gave one and half crates of fruit.

I lost all fruit form mine this year on a hugely loaded tree in l2
hours. Guess what got them? Ran out of netting.....

I have two pears. The Josephine Dumaurier (sp?) gave one crate this
year, in years past more. The Packhams Triumph had a good year and gave
7 crates.

We've got 2 pears and they seem to alternate and both are ????
Williams??? This year both are going to give a huge harvest

Despite the hot summer we still get frost in the winter. We selected
cultivars that do not require high chilling.

We are in high chill area. Down to -9C is not unusual. -7 is common.

Why do they vary so much
from year to year? I don't know. The hot humid summer doesn't seem to
do any harm, the pomes don't appear to get fungal diseases. They do get
birds, bats, possums, chooks, fruit fly and rats however.

My chooks never seem to do any harm to our trees. Teh worst problem so
far is that one hen got inside the nettign and I dint notice she was
missing and then realised she'd been out in the open under the tree
without water or food for 3 days and we'd had a humungeous storm in that
time. Poor thing. She survived but was thirsty by the time I foudn
her. I felt very guilty.

These are milk crates that hold about 20kg (45lbs) of fruit. So the
Packam had about 140kg (310lbs) of fruit, some branches were broken.

I have had the same trouble with one of my prune trees this year. I
knew i should have put props under the branches and didn't. I felt
guilty again.

The common preserving method used here was known as the Fowlers Vacola
method (hot water bath) and that covered the sort of preserved food
most households ate here ie fruit. Preserved veg was never popular
when home preserving was a big hobby/domestic habit.

I will bottle some and freeze some and try to give away most of the
pears before they rot.

Make soem pear juice? I've made apple juice in the Vacola using very
large jars and it was lovley int he depths of winter.

Yesterday I made plum jam. I've also frozen stewed plums, I've also
done the "5 minute Microwave Bottling" method of putting away plums in
old Salsa jars. Later Today I am going to do the Vacola method of
preserving plums after I deliver basket loads to various people around
the village (along with eggs, tomatoes, zucchini and there is somehting
else someone asked me for so I'd better recall that before I set out...).