Nice harvest Ranch! What brand of vacuum sealer do you use? I'm still looking for one that will last 5 years. Maybe we just had bad luck with our last one.
Whatcha Up To???
- Thread starter Mike
- Start date
It's a Cabela's CG-15 & it's on year 7 now... it will suck the chrome off a trailer hitch. Unfortunately Carbela's came out with 'new' models, which don't sound as heavy duty. The good news is that you can still get one from the company that originally manufactured the one we have AND Amazon carries it!!!
Weston 65-0201 Pro-2300 Vacuum Sealer, Silver
Weston bags are great to & much cheaper than Cabela's.
Weston 65-0201 Pro-2300 Vacuum Sealer, Silver
Weston bags are great to & much cheaper than Cabela's.
Thank you Sir. That looks a lot better built than the Foodsaver brand we had.
FoodSavers are junk, we had 2 of them before buying the one we have now. You get what you pay for...
Vacuum packed yesterday's stuff.
Continued harvesting/processing/bagging the Brussel sprouts. Got 2 tubs picked & cleaned but only got 1 tub blanched & bagged before my back gave out. We'll do the last one tomorrow.
Made bread & have a pot of navy bean soup simmering for supper tonight.
It is still very wet here.
Continued harvesting/processing/bagging the Brussel sprouts. Got 2 tubs picked & cleaned but only got 1 tub blanched & bagged before my back gave out. We'll do the last one tomorrow.
Made bread & have a pot of navy bean soup simmering for supper tonight.
It is still very wet here.
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Moved the ferns out of the greenhouse, got them watered & then hung them back up on the front & back porches.
Finished blanching & bagging the last of the brussel sprouts. Vacuumed packed the batch from yesterday. We now have enough for a couple of years, 42 - 1 pound bags, so the freezers are pretty full.
The fruit trees are all blooming & there are bees galore!!! And the crape myrtles are just starting to leaf out!!!
Finished blanching & bagging the last of the brussel sprouts. Vacuumed packed the batch from yesterday. We now have enough for a couple of years, 42 - 1 pound bags, so the freezers are pretty full.
The fruit trees are all blooming & there are bees galore!!! And the crape myrtles are just starting to leaf out!!!
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Mr_Yan
Guest
Moved 6 (dad size) and 2 (kid size) wheel barrows of snow from the piles over my garden to the alley to melt and flow away from my house.
Pruned my grape vine - well hacked-back is a better word for it.
Removed a branch from a neighbor's tree that was growing into my garage.
Side note. The Finns make a reasonable blade. The hatchet and loppers I used are Fiskars brand and stamped Finland and my pole saw is Fiskars stamped China. All of them cut really nicely.
Pruned my grape vine - well hacked-back is a better word for it.
Removed a branch from a neighbor's tree that was growing into my garage.
Side note. The Finns make a reasonable blade. The hatchet and loppers I used are Fiskars brand and stamped Finland and my pole saw is Fiskars stamped China. All of them cut really nicely.
Rahab222
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 354
- Planting Zone
- 9B
The college age nieces stopped by on their way to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for lunch, so I ventured out to the backyard to see if I could get some lettuce for a nice salad. My lettuce has exploded! Apparently, it loves the rain and cold temperatures in Houston. The onion bed looks fabulous. The squirrels have dug up (3) of my seed potatoes, so I will replace those today. Hoping to get out and do some weeding today and get more onions planted. Everything is still really wet! I'm contemplating getting rid of my strawberry boxes since the pill bugs have taken over. That would be a lot of extra space where I could put a blackberry bed. Just thinking.
Mrs. Ranch wants to make supper... a spinach/penne pasta bake, so this morning I picked/cleaned & cooked more fresh spinach for her to use in it.
She changed her mind & made lasagna instead...
I cut the grass, as more rain is expected on Tuesday & Wednesday.
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Rahab222
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 354
- Planting Zone
- 9B
Spring Break is over and today was the first day I was able to get out in my garden. So much for catchup. I did spend a full day trying to do as much as I could. I fertilized all the fruit trees, including the blackberries. Only two of my blackberry plants made it through the winter. I doused my strawberry boxes in diatomaceous earth. This is the third and largest producing year for one box - TONS of strawberries, but the pill bugs are still beating me to them. I'm sure they were feasting on strawberries all during the rain. I replaced the five, Yukon Gold seed potatoes the squirrels dug up. I went in the house to get some more tea and those dang rats with bushy tails had stolen two of the five I'd just replaced. I think my garden has gained a reputation as the picnic grounds on the bayou. My lettuce is gorgeous! I actually planted two pepper plants in the horse trough, along with a few more onions. I started weeding my main tomato and pepper bed. The weeds came out pretty easily due to all the rain we've been having in Houston. I only weeded around the outside parameters since the ground is so wet and I was bogging down. This is the only spot I have that isn't a raised bed, but it's the largest. I actually found the carrots I planted last fall. Left them in the ground and might make a venison stew with them next weekend. I came inside to rest my back after 8 hours in the garden and flopped on the couch. Funny thing, I couldn't get back up. I think my body is broken.
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ErnieCopp
Guest
Yan,
If you have a wood stove, sprinkling ashes on the snow will help it melt a lot faster.
We are having a record breaking Heat wave out here, and i did too much in my garden today and made myself sick, but we got the work done. Spread compost on the Begonias and Melon ground and built trellises for the melons, and got all four varieties planted. Cranshaw, Cantaloupe, Persian and Watermelon. My soil is sixty degrees so they should sprout and grow about two weeks ahead of last year. Also got a couple of hours of small jobs done. Very pleased with the way Spring work has come along.
Next job is to dig out my bi sexual asparagus bed and replant this autumn with all male plants.
Ernie
If you have a wood stove, sprinkling ashes on the snow will help it melt a lot faster.
We are having a record breaking Heat wave out here, and i did too much in my garden today and made myself sick, but we got the work done. Spread compost on the Begonias and Melon ground and built trellises for the melons, and got all four varieties planted. Cranshaw, Cantaloupe, Persian and Watermelon. My soil is sixty degrees so they should sprout and grow about two weeks ahead of last year. Also got a couple of hours of small jobs done. Very pleased with the way Spring work has come along.
Next job is to dig out my bi sexual asparagus bed and replant this autumn with all male plants.
Ernie
Spent the better part of the day weeding the garden in preparation for tilling. Pulled all the remaining brussel sprout/spiniach plants & fed them to the cattle.
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ErnieCopp
Guest
I found some real bad news in my tomato patch. Four plants seem to have either Fusarium or Verticillium wilt. Does not make much difference which as neither are curable, so ripped out the ones that showed any wilt. Others are still big and beautiful. Then took Linda to Costco, and they had some about 18 inches tall, left over from the weekend, beautiful plants discounted to 3.00 each from 9.00. So i bought a half dozen of them. Will plant some in the other patch, and some back in the problem area.
First time i have ever had the wilt problem.
Ernie
First time i have ever had the wilt problem.
Ernie
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Mr_Yan
Guest
Played out side and started to map out this year's garden.
Made it above 70° F today.That's an 85+° swing in 17 days. Feb 28 we were -16° F as a low.
--------- Edit to add
Well it was not in the garden but I did bottle a batch of beer. 25 bottles of a hoppy red. Give it two to three weeks to be drinkable
Made it above 70° F today.That's an 85+° swing in 17 days. Feb 28 we were -16° F as a low.
--------- Edit to add
Well it was not in the garden but I did bottle a batch of beer. 25 bottles of a hoppy red. Give it two to three weeks to be drinkable
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ErnieCopp
Guest
Sam,
I am planting my first Roma tomatoes. I think they are bush type. Do you stake them or trellis, or are they self supporting?
Thanks,
Ernie
I am planting my first Roma tomatoes. I think they are bush type. Do you stake them or trellis, or are they self supporting?
Thanks,
Ernie
I stake mine ('Health Kick' are determinant & grow about 4-5')...
Went grocery shopping, then baked the bread & made another batch of bread pudding from yesterday's leftovers, then a new batch of bourbon sauce.
Mrs. Ranch is making meatloaf for supper, so I'm just taking it easy today to give my back a break.
Went grocery shopping, then baked the bread & made another batch of bread pudding from yesterday's leftovers, then a new batch of bourbon sauce.
Mrs. Ranch is making meatloaf for supper, so I'm just taking it easy today to give my back a break.
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ErnieCopp
Guest
I will stake mine, as i have some good stakes and we will see how big they get. I planted the big new ones i bought yesterday, six inch pots, and they are real beauties. The earlier ones i planted that have not shown any wilt yet are looking good, too.
So i have the Green parts, now if i can just get the Yellow parts to set fruit and make some Red part, I will have some nice tomatoes.
Ernie
So i have the Green parts, now if i can just get the Yellow parts to set fruit and make some Red part, I will have some nice tomatoes.
Ernie
Getting the spring garden ready is going to be a challenge again this year as it rained another .90" this morning & more is on the way. Forecast for Friday 80%/0.68" & Saturday 100%/1.25"...
Replaced the florescent tubes in the laundry room & the replaced the weather stripping in 2 more exterior doors.
Made bread dough for tomorrow (it will do a cold rise in the refrigerator).
Replaced the florescent tubes in the laundry room & the replaced the weather stripping in 2 more exterior doors.
Made bread dough for tomorrow (it will do a cold rise in the refrigerator).
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ErnieCopp
Guest
We tore out and demolished my asparagus bed. 35' long by 3'wide, say 100 sf, 1' deep, 100 cubic feet, four cubic yards of solid root or rhizome mass. Very similar to a Palm tree stump, but not quite as tough digging. An excellent, hard working man, could not have asked anyone to work harder than he did, spent 8 hours with a razor sharp, round pointed shovel cutting through and tossing out that root pack..
We will rototill it a few times tomorrow, seeing if we can wind up a few more of the rhizomes around the tiller, cleaning it after each pass, and then i will let it dry out all summer, hoping the lack of moisture will kill the smaller feeder roots. Next Fall i will replant with just male plants
No more sign of wilt on the remaining plants and the replacements are looking good.
Linda saw about five little tiny avocados, so we may have our first ones this year. Weather has cooled down and is very nice now,
Started a tip rooted cutting on the Himrod Grape vine for a friend.
Enjoyed a drink on the veranda, bird watching and discussing all the new growth, so it has been a very satisfying day.
Ernie
We will rototill it a few times tomorrow, seeing if we can wind up a few more of the rhizomes around the tiller, cleaning it after each pass, and then i will let it dry out all summer, hoping the lack of moisture will kill the smaller feeder roots. Next Fall i will replant with just male plants
No more sign of wilt on the remaining plants and the replacements are looking good.
Linda saw about five little tiny avocados, so we may have our first ones this year. Weather has cooled down and is very nice now,
Started a tip rooted cutting on the Himrod Grape vine for a friend.
Enjoyed a drink on the veranda, bird watching and discussing all the new growth, so it has been a very satisfying day.
Ernie
whistech
Well-Known Member
Mr. Ranch, I just saw your wife's Spinach Lasagna, and it looks delicious. Be sure and tell Mrs. Ranch it is the best looking lasagna I have ever seen, and I'm sure it tastes even better than it looks.
She said 'Thank you'!!!
Yesterday I continued cleaning out the garden & water the vegetable flats in the greenhouse before an additional .63" rain fell...
Forecast for the next 2 days has been revised again to show greater rainfall, so I doubt that I will be accomplishing very much this weekend...
Made a pizza for supper.
Forecast for the next 2 days has been revised again to show greater rainfall, so I doubt that I will be accomplishing very much this weekend...
Made a pizza for supper.
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Good grief, all this rain is good but I wish it would quit long enough for me to get a garden in. This is going to put a dent in my production this year for sure.