So far we have received 2.65 inches of gentle rain over three days and
it's still coming down.

The sweet peppers and the tomatoes are thoroughly enjoying the water. I
can see the cabbage and other greens growing while I'm watching them. G

We probably be eating fried green tomatoes soon with peppers on the
side. Some of the tomatoes appear to be around four or five inches in
diameter but a frost is due soon so they will be picked today or tomorrow.

It's funny watching the dog go out to do her business, she finds the
best place on the back porch to keep out of the rain and then sticks her
butt out just enough to not pee on the porch and does what needs to be
done. She does not like to get wet but enjoys a warm bath, strange
little dog. She's getting really gray around her face and is now nine
years old. She's also the most expensive dog we've ever had, getting her
knees fixed and other problems cost over $6K over the nine years but she
is worth every penny of it as she loves our entire extended family. Some
of our great grands call her "Aunt Tilly" and she answers to it. VBG

Back to watching the gentle rain fall.

George

On 12/5/2016 2:05 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

So far we have received 2.65 inches of gentle rain over three days and
it's still coming down.
"That's right, Baby: When you got it, flaunt it!" That stalled
front that's letting y'all hog the rain is keeping us crackers hot,
humid, and anxious.
http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_sfc.php?inv=0&t=cur. Sky here
remains sunny and clear. The wizards still predict rain in our near
future, however, but have moderated predicted low temperatures for the
next week or so. Good for me but not so good for the garden. I'm antsy
to plant some carrots but as long as nights are ±60 and days are 80+,
there's no point to it.
Received some bare-root strawberry sets Sunday which I intend to
get into the ground late today. I have strawberry farmers in the family
but these are my very first. Not a big favorite among us but, what the
heck, strawberries are pretty and compost is compost. Strawberries are
cool-season annuals in this climate but late November shipping for
Decembeer planting seems late. These berries are a whim. If I decide
to grow strawberries next fall, I'll probably hit up some kinfolks for
fresh seasonal transplants ;-)

My loverly wife loves strawberries, I prefer blackberries and dew
berries. Strawberries don't grow well here but she keeps trying.
Blackberries and dew berries are native to this part of Texas. The State
even doesn't mow the road verges in spring until berry season is over.
Not unusual to see several vehicles parked along a country road with
berry picker butts facing the road.

If I can get her to get some of her flowers out of the gardens along the
fence I would get some domestic dewberries and plant them there. I may
do it anyway as the blueberry plants we put in two years ago won't grow
worth a darn. I suspect dewberries would do much better as there isn't
much sunshine in that spot.

Looks like the fog isn't going to rise, I don't think we will do any
driving for a day or two.

George

Derald wrote:
....
Received some bare-root strawberry sets Sunday which I intend to
get into the ground late today. I have strawberry farmers in the family
but these are my very first. Not a big favorite among us but, what the
heck, strawberries are pretty and compost is compost. Strawberries are
cool-season annuals in this climate but late November shipping for
Decembeer planting seems late. These berries are a whim. If I decide
to grow strawberries next fall, I'll probably hit up some kinfolks for
fresh seasonal transplants ;-)

no idea what their habit is when grown that far
south, i just know i luv 'em.

i had a bunch of frozen berries put up for
short-cakes, went to take them out of the freezer
a few weeks ago for the first round and found out
that they had been slow fermenting ever since i
put them in there. edible if you like spongy
semi-fermented strawberries. a few pints have
been edible (likely from the year before). so
the worms will get about 10 pints of fermented
strawberries tomorrow.

at least we have extra freezer space now.


songbird

On 12/6/2016 12:13 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

If I can get her to get some of her flowers out of the gardens along the
fence I would get some domestic dewberries and plant them there. I may
do it anyway as the blueberry plants we put in two years ago won't grow
worth a darn. I suspect dewberries would do much better as there isn't
much sunshine in that spot.
I did some time working at a neighbor's blueberry ranch in '01,
'02, or thereabouts. Had a few bushes in containers for kichen use but
we didn't eat enough of them to warrant the water so I returned them to
the source and haven't grown any fruit since until now.
Down here, blueberries are grown commercially above grade on or in
pine bark obtained directly from sawmills located a short distance north
and are fed citrus or azalea (acid-producing) fertilizer. Container
plants, for the most part, grow in pine bark, too. Otherwise one must
diddle with soil pH and who needs another continuing project?
The native soil and the water in peninsular FL are too alkaline for
blueberries, although, from Gainesville, and Starke, and in the
panhandle away from the coast, as recently as the 1970s and very early
1980s, native blueberries grew profusely in the pineywoods habitats
before progress obsoleted and did away with them, replacing them with
roadways and houses in many areas.

Yeah, I have several old friends in Florida, mostly refugees from the
northern states that moved when they retired. I grew up in the Piney
Woods of Texas and am familiar with pine needles. I went into the woods
behind us and got a pick up load of pine needles for the blueberries we
planted but they still haven't done anything. They have leaves, they
make a few blooms but they don't seem to grow nor ripen fruit. I finally
took a lot of looks over a day or two and it just doesn't get enough
sunshine. Wife planted old maids next to them and they got four feet
tall trying to find sunshine.

I think dewberries or blackberries will do okay there as they mostly
grown in spotty sunshine in the woods around here. Plus those berries
can be planted close to each other and they still do well.

The rain finally stop and we've had some spotty sunshine today, thank
goodness the vegetable garden is growing like crazy after four inches of
rain over three days or so.

A while back I made a run back to our old home place, surrounded by
houses close together, streets running through what used to be woods,
etc. One plat, across Hwy 10 is still pristine, 990 acres belonging to
the Stark Foundation. I used to hunt and fish on that property and now
they have wardens walking it to keep people out for some reason but
there is no use of that property. Our ten acre plot is still the same,
the guy I sold it to is keeping it that way, all three of the family
houses on that land are still there and occupied by his kinfolk. Looks
homey to me.

On 12/6/2016 12:13 PM, Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

no idea what their habit is when grown that far
south, i just know i luv 'em.

i had a bunch of frozen berries put up for
short-cakes, went to take them out of the freezer
a few weeks ago for the first round and found out
that they had been slow fermenting ever since i
put them in there. edible if you like spongy
semi-fermented strawberries. a few pints have
been edible (likely from the year before). so
the worms will get about 10 pints of fermented
strawberries tomorrow.
Shoot, I can easily see how fermeted strawberries might become the
next health food fad. Read up on kefir grains.
I dunno what it takes to freeze strawberries but the sugar that fed
the fermentation might require "very" cold. My parents froze fresh
strawberries successfully but I don't know of any special steps or
requirements. I never have tried to freeze strawberries. I've never
grown strawberries of my own or bought strawberries, frozen or
otherwise. Strawberry "preserves"—basically, strawberries cooked in
sugar syrup—is another story, though.

I freeze all berries on a cookie pan and then bag them. Have not had a
problem with them that way.

George Shirley wrote:
Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

no idea what their habit is when grown that far
south, i just know i luv 'em.

i had a bunch of frozen berries put up for
short-cakes, went to take them out of the freezer
a few weeks ago for the first round and found out
that they had been slow fermenting ever since i
put them in there. edible if you like spongy
semi-fermented strawberries. a few pints have
been edible (likely from the year before). so
the worms will get about 10 pints of fermented
strawberries tomorrow.

Shoot, I can easily see how fermeted strawberries might become the
next health food fad. Read up on kefir grains.

haha, yeah, i know the fermentation craze has
been going around the self-help groups for several
years now.


I dunno what it takes to freeze strawberries but the sugar that fed
the fermentation might require "very" cold. My parents froze fresh
strawberries successfully but I don't know of any special steps or
requirements. I never have tried to freeze strawberries. I've never
grown strawberries of my own or bought strawberries, frozen or
otherwise. Strawberry "preserves"—basically, strawberries cooked in
sugar syrup—is another story, though.

I freeze all berries on a cookie pan and then bag them. Have not had a
problem with them that way.

we rarely have any kind of room in the freezer
for a cookie sheet and all that air space in bagged
frozen individual fruits would take up a lot of room.

Derald, if you don't much like strawberries you'd
not understand, but the difference between cooked
strawberry jam and strawberry freezer jam is quite
a bit. i can't even much enjoy cooked strawberry
jam that much any more i'm so used to the other kind.

as for the rest of it, no, if the strawberries i'd
put up weren't overripe and already starting to
ferment when they went in the jars they'd have been
fine. i've learned that lesson!

good thing that freezer jam is a workable substitute
for frozen strawberries, but it's very sweet in
comparison.


songbird

On 12/6/2016 8:09 PM, songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

no idea what their habit is when grown that far
south, i just know i luv 'em.

i had a bunch of frozen berries put up for
short-cakes, went to take them out of the freezer
a few weeks ago for the first round and found out
that they had been slow fermenting ever since i
put them in there. edible if you like spongy
semi-fermented strawberries. a few pints have
been edible (likely from the year before). so
the worms will get about 10 pints of fermented
strawberries tomorrow.

Shoot, I can easily see how fermeted strawberries might become the
next health food fad. Read up on kefir grains.

haha, yeah, i know the fermentation craze has
been going around the self-help groups for several
years now.


I dunno what it takes to freeze strawberries but the sugar that fed
the fermentation might require "very" cold. My parents froze fresh
strawberries successfully but I don't know of any special steps or
requirements. I never have tried to freeze strawberries. I've never
grown strawberries of my own or bought strawberries, frozen or
otherwise. Strawberry "preserves"—basically, strawberries cooked in
sugar syrup—is another story, though.

I freeze all berries on a cookie pan and then bag them. Have not had a
problem with them that way.

we rarely have any kind of room in the freezer
for a cookie sheet and all that air space in bagged
frozen individual fruits would take up a lot of room.

That's why I freeze berries, etc. on a cookie sheet and then put them in
a vacuum bag. No extra air space. Do the same with chopped peppers, etc.
Takes less space in the freezer, take it out, put it in the fridge to
thaw, then cook it. Wash the bag, let it dry, use it down to one weenie
size then toss the bag. G There's always a little space for a cookie
sheet.

Derald, if you don't much like strawberries you'd
not understand, but the difference between cooked
strawberry jam and strawberry freezer jam is quite
a bit. i can't even much enjoy cooked strawberry
jam that much any more i'm so used to the other kind.

as for the rest of it, no, if the strawberries i'd
put up weren't overripe and already starting to
ferment when they went in the jars they'd have been
fine. i've learned that lesson!

good thing that freezer jam is a workable substitute
for frozen strawberries, but it's very sweet in
comparison.


songbird