Harvesting and Preserving in Summer Down Under - Episode 40
Good evening patrons
This week we share with you the joy of our bountiful Summer harvests on the Ramshackle Ranch. An unexpected outbreak of spider mites at the end of Summer destroys some of our crops but we were grateful that most of the plants were healthy enough to survive the onslaught.
We both get busy outdoors and in the kitchen preserving the harvest to enjoy the fruits of our labour over the winter months.
As we now enter the last month of Autumn/Fall the garden is undergoing a major renovation and the harvesting and preserving of the last of our Summer crops continues! If you enjoyed this video we would be delighted to share another with you of our Autumn harvests and preserves.
We're new to pressure canning and water bathing so if you have any useful tips and techniques or you pick up on anything we might be doing wrong in the video do let us know.
As always with gratitude
Troy and Pascale
Harvesting and Preserving in Summer Down Under - Free Range Homestead Ep 40 (YouTube)
Comments (12)
Hi guys, for dry season electric fences I have one earth wire then one live wire all the way up as well as the earth stake. The ground doesn鈥檛 need to be a good contact because of the earth wires. Mushy peas or beans, leave them in the freezer until you have time(馃馃き馃槄馃槈) then put them in the dehydrator and dry them well, when dry blitz them to a powder and put in a sealed jar. Sprinkle the power over mashed potatoes (remember they are very concentrated) I believe you will enjoy (spice as you see fit) silver beet and kale are great this way to. I have two year old kale still going strong, use a spoon so as not to get any steam in the jar.
Thanks for another lovely episode. I have found to my detriment that reusing store bought canned food jars and lids does not pay, but is a false economy. If you compare the threads on jars and lids with actual canning jars and lids you will see why. The threads are longer and provide a much better seal. Look for them at garage sales and thrift shops. The rings can be reused many times, the flat lids too. You can actually reuse the rings after the jar cans with the next batch. I have found a solution of water and Dr. Bronners Peppermint soap discourages mites, etc after you wash them off as you did. Charleston Grey is an old watermelon variety that is just wonderful. I do not know if it is available there but worth a look. Long melons are generally sweeter than round ones, and seeded are far superior to seedless, at least here. Best wishes on it and good luck with the next round!
I agree that I would prefer to use 100% proprietary canning jars but supply issues has meant that they are currently unavailable unless I pay an extortionate price for them to be delivered to me new. I have set up alerts to pick up canning jars secondhand online when available. In the meantime, I am using the few canning jars I have to preserve high value items that must be pressure canned such as bone broth, homemade soups and meat products. For the water bathed items, often in an acidic liquid, I am repurposing old jars and lids for the time being. Hopefully we don't have too many failed seals. So far a couple of jars have not worked but we have avoided the wastage issue by putting them in the fridge for immediate consumption. Interesting tip for the mites if we have another outbreak I will try with some Castille soap and peppermint oil as you say. Thank you for all the wonderful information we really appreciate it! Pascale
I've done battle with Spider Mites, and lost. I'm a pipe smoker, and tried my hand at growing a small crop of Dark Kentucky tobacco. We live in the heart of the "Black Patch" region, where it has been grown historically for many generations. And it just takes off here! Sadly, we have a healthy population of pests that are thriving as a result. I've never tried to grow anything that attracts pests or fungus more than Dark Kentucky tobacco. I did battle organically with very little effect. I felt like I was going to a modern war with sling shot. I've never been more tempted to do chemical warfare in the garden. I tried the spraying with water technique you used. I also tried soapy water and a number of other organic solutions. My situation was complicated by doing a bit of traveling during the peak growing season. The spraying with water, and also soapy water only work if you catch it early, and keep after it every day. For three seasons in a row I came back from vacation to find a full blown infestation with major unrecoverable damage. All that to say, good luck! Relentless diligence may win the battle organically. I have great luck with various peppers here too. The pests seem to be lightweights when it comes to any amount of heat.... The canning looked great! If I ever harvest more produce than we can just eat fresh I'll love to give it a go. As it is, most of mine goes to the "wildlife" ;)
Our neighbour likes a smoke and I'd love to grow a bit of tobacco as an experiment. I think the curing process would appeal. You would think the nicotine in the plant would give it some protection but there you have it. Spider mites are reigning champs of chaos. An organic solution I have seen in Australia revolves around releasing a related mite that preys on their vegetarian cousins. Maybe next spring we can release a few pre-emptively.
Love this! You have a subscription to Mother Earth News, you should be contributing. You have gained so much from your sailing days. The land you are on is rejoicing.
Writing contributions to Mother Earth News is something we are seriously considering. We are enjoying the subscription very much!
Such a bounty even with the 馃珱 & 馃悰 issues. We are gaining a better idea for our next spring plant to maximise our small space. 馃榾
This is a great video, really enjoyed it. Quite interesting to see all the different ways you're preserving your harvests. I personally would love to see an autumn harvest video as mentioned in the blurb :) I unfortunately don't have any tips for the canning or water bathing though :P Looking forward to the next one.
Oh fantastic! We finally made the call and pulled out the tomatoes to plant our garlic and onions. I now have about 15kg of green tomatoes to process. I'm thinking fried green tomatoes, green tomato pickle and green tomato chutney.
It is such a treat when I see a new video is available. As always, I loved the it. I really enjoy seeing the fruits of your labor. ;) Amazing how many peaches were on that broken branch! Sorry to see the spider mites' widespread damage to your garden. They were brutal. Looks like all the preserving will keep you busy for a while, and provide plentiful bounty throughout the coming months. Sending much love from Texas.
Thank you Janet. Yes, I think we have a long way to go when it comes to estimating how much we are growing because I think we'll still be preserving tomatoes for another fortnight! Hopefully, that peach responds to some remedial pruning because they are a delicious variety and so productive.