I have jersey knight and a few of the crowns are female. @Chikn said that a small percentage of them will be on JK. I have a small patch so when I see a spear that has berries I cut it out while the berries are still green. That’s working for me
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Thanks, Kathryn!
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Well, here I am again—just full of questions! Does anyone know what species the Cherokee Tan Pumpkin is? Looks like C. moschata to me—but I’m not exactly a cucurbit whiz.
While knowing botanical classification is good in itself, I’m mainly asking because I’ve got C. pepo in the garden this year, too (Lemon Summer Squash) and would like to save seed from my Cherokee Pumpkins. I’m assuming—I hope not incorrectly—that, under normal circumstances, different squash species won’t cross. I really should’ve bagged and hand pollinated, but I got busy with other stuff and plumb forgot about it.
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I started drying some apple slices in my food dehydrator and forgot to do the dip in acidic water. I realize they’ll get brown, but is there any reason I can’t eat them? I’ll probably put them in the refrigerator after dehydrating and will eat them in the next few weeks so I’m not to worried about spoiling if they aren’t totally dry.
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I never put anything on before drying the fruits. The brown color is fine. I put them in a glass jar with some food grade silica gel packages, and seal with cling wrap under the lid. I shake the jar for a few days to test. It is better to keep the jar upside down so they don’t stick to the bottom of the jar. As long as the pieces don’t stick together they are dry enough, otherwise I put them back in the dehydrator for a few more hours. In socal with the dry air, they last a long time keeping on a shade place in the kitchen. We are finishing the last jar of figs from 2017. In two weeks when my sister comes, I will put the new dried fruits in ziploc bags with a few silica packages for her to bring home to Missouri. It is humid there so she will have to finish eating them fast.
I throw away the packages when I finish eating from a half gallon jar. However if they get wet while drying the fruit, you can follow the direction to renew them. For a few packages, microwaving about 30 seconds is enough to reuse them.
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zero problems there not spoiled in any way. Im not sure if an acid bath would have prevented browning when drying. If you really want to keep the color you should use a sulfate dip. Get some Campden tablets from the brew store. you have a couple near by myLocal HomeBrew Shop and The Brew Shop
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Thanks @anon18642480 and @lordkiwi. I let them run without the dip and did another tray with lemon juice (and a little cinnamon and sugar). When they were done, they both basically looked them same… although the ones with the lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar were slightly more delicious. I just got the dehydrator about a month ago for drying peppers, etc. and it is a lot of fun. This turned some mealy Summer Rambo apples I picked up cheaply at a road side stand into delicious snacks! Besides the apple I also dehydrated some peach slices and some plums.
This is without the lemon juice:
And then with the lemon juice, cinnamon and a little sugar:
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Two things going on here. The browning and the flavor. The lemon juice prevents but is also brings out the flavor. You could also use Vitamin C to prevent browing, Vitamin C will also help bring out flavor its only slightly citricy. Finaly if you used sulfates you would definatly protect the color more and lengthen storage life with out flavor changes. Unless you want that then you can add Vitamin C or lemon juice.
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I don’t dip my fruit in anything unless I have lots of time. I will throw my bag of dried fruit in the freezer if I find that they are getting too moist, they come out just find, not crunchy but we like them to be softer anyway.
I usually do crabapples in the dehydrator and when the sourness of them condenses they are wonderful, just like those sour candies you buy. Cinnamon sounds like a nice touch, I will have to try that.
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Not a question but an interesting article on new peach varieties -
I have the Evelyn variety - I got about 8 peaches this year, it is a beautiful peach but is sub acid, I thought taste was okay - article is accurate, it is a mild tasting peach. We had a lot of rain early so that may have effected taste.
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i have about 4 apples on my Wickson, what should I look for in ripeness? I am zone 7a, in Utah.
Sadly, my frostbites split with this week’s rain.
Sadly, my frostbites split with this week’s rain.
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Your Wickson should be getting close. They get “plump” around the calyx it’s hard to describe. Try and store them for a week or two, than enjoy!
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Thank you! With so few apples on the tree I didn’t want to miss the optimal picking time.
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I believe with apples, if you gently tug on them they should come off easily. If you have to work at it, they are not quite ripe yet.
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When I walk my dog each day I go by this tree and I’m wondering what it is. I’m hoping someone here can identify it for me. I’m in Virginia, 7A (or maybe 7B now).
At first I thought it was something like a chestnut because of the fuzzy nuts, but now that they fallen I can see they seem to be some type of acorn.
And here are the leaves.
Looks like sawtooth oak.
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Thanks. I believe that is it. I’m a bit disappointed to hear that it isn’t native and is possible becoming invasive since it is a county park, but I’m sure it has been there a long time. Otherwise seems like a very nice tree.
Yeah, they are nice and healthy looking trees. The produce a lot of acorns, even from a young age, which is unusual in oaks and contributes to their invasiveness.
Can someone identify this apple variety please. It’s commercial and I had it in MA but no idea on where it was grown. Thanks
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On my peppers this year I have what looks like Artillery Fungus / Sphaerobolus. I don’t use woodchips or mulch in my vegetable garden as I don’t have permanent established beds. However I did use black landscape fabric for the peppers this year to help warm the soil. Would it actually be Artillery fungus on the fruits, or some thing else?