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[Leslie <cayadopi AT yahoo.com>]

Yes, I plan on doing all of the above.  Canning (I have two pressure canners 
and lots of jars), freezing, eating fresh, and also growing dried.  I planted 
4 varieties specifically for dried (black, white, pinto & garbanzo), in 
addition to plenty for fresh.  
 
I used to pressure can and freeze eons ago, and have already harvest some of 
the dried beans, which so far seems easy enough.  Guessing yield a bit 
harder, but it's all a careful observation and learning process this year for 
sure.
 
I downloaded a brochure from the local university that had a chart with how 
many row feet of each veggie needs to be planted to grow enough for a year's 
supply, then multiplied times 4 ppl, then added another people for loss to 
critters, weather, mistakes, etc.  
 
I also went thru every grocery receipt from 2009 and entered the data into a 
spreadsheet to learn exactly how much food of each type I normally eat in a 
year, as a second guideline.  
 
Now the watermelon, canteloupe, honey dew, acorn squash and cukes are covered 
in flowers, and the yellow & zucchini are already producing.  Such fun ~~~!!! 
 Female corn on the stalks,,, soy bean are starting to flower, etc.   3 more 
bags of onions harvested.  New tomatoes popping up seemingly daily.
 
I've started some more crops, since the local guidelines say I can still 
plant.  3 growing seasons here allegedly..... good thing too, as it gives me 
time to fix my mistakes in the learning process.
 
It's so rewarding to actually plant things, and surprising that things have 
grown !!!!
 
Have been finding a green bug w/ black polka dots, ladybug size,,, slightlyl 
teardrop shaped,,,, haven'tfigured out if it is a good guy or a bad guy yet.


Leslie, I don't know how many beans you planted, but surely you can can
or freeze or dry the beans to preserve them?




>From cayadopi AT yahoo.com  Thu Jun 18 17:35:54 2009
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From: Leslie <cayadopi AT yahoo.com>
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Subject: Re: [Homestead] beans on steroids.... :-)
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I suppose for everyone, the first year planting a garden and actually 
harvesting things is the best memory.
 
I had to do a lot of this as a kid,,,,, picking the veggies & berries & 
fruits grown, and then helping with the slicing/dicing or whatever was needed 
and help with the pressure canning and freezing.  But it was my grandfather 
who always planted the garden and nutured it until harvest time.  The growing 
part is the new to me.  I've started a few small gardens before but something 
always happened and wiped out the garden.
 
And of course, it tastes so much better homegrown....
 
Beans are my favorite, dried, fresh, canned, frozen doesn't matter.  So I'm 
glad that so far they seem very easy to grow.  Even the beans in one area 
that I am purposely "abusing" are growing and putting fresh beans on the 
table.  The plants look puny, and have sunburned leaves, but they still 
produce,,,, unreal.  
 
I thought the worst I would have to deal with was bugs and other diseases,,, 
but so far it is a battle against birds and ground squirrels, and I've 
figured out ways to sort of win that battle.
 
Oh !  and the sunflowers!!! OMG - the are so beautiful.  Some have the 
flowers open now, and this morning as usual the bees were visiting them.  I 
decided to see if they have a purfume scent,,,,,,,wow ---- they actually 
smell beautiful.  I sure hope all those centers turn into edible seeds.
 
Today I took the last batch of onions harvested and cut off the tops and 
trimmed the roots and brushed off as much dirt as possible - so they are 
ready to store now.  I don't know if I did everything right, but if I see any 
signs that they dont' want to last long, I can cut and freeze them if I 
didn't quite harvest at the right point.  Ditto with garlic, cut tops and 
trimmed roots after hanging to dry for a couple weeks.
 
I discovered I can finely mince garlic and dry it on a window screen, and 
then jar it... and it retains the flavor real well, as an alternative if 
needed.  A few harvested so far aren't as big as I expected, but I think I 
know where I messed up already and batch #2 will prove or disprove my idea on 
my error I suspect.
 
WHAT JOY !  This is so much fun !  
City living is horrible compared to this !
 
 
 


--- On Tue, 6/16/09, Robert Walton <waltonrp AT gmail.com> wrote:



>
> I don't know what is going on with all the different beans this week, but
> they about doubled in plant size from last week.
>


I just did my first picking on string beans and they did the same. I know it
is the rain that did it, but they were kind of puny looking, but starting to
bloom last week and now they are real bushy. I'm glad it's nice to have good
beans.


I like hearing about your gardening, sounds like you're having some good
successes!

Rob - Va
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>From waltonrp AT gmail.com  Thu Jun 18 21:57:11 2009
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Here's a pressure canner Q. My pressure canner doesn't have a rack for the
jars like the other one. It holds 7 jars. If I have less than 7, I take an
extra jar and fill it with water, put an old lid on it and stick it in
there. I'm afraid that the empty space will cause a jar to break. Do I need
to do that?

I did my first snap beans today.

Rob - Va