progression of the garden and first canning

Just a quick look at the garden. The drought conditions this year have been a killer. The Cucumber didnt seem to mind. Got the first pick pickled with plenty more to go. canned about 24 quarts of green beens so far. the tomatos are now coming on strong with the peppers so august will be busy with salsa and tomato canning. some how I missed the photo of the tomatoes now, but they are up to the top of the white poles. thank goodness for shade cloth.

 

Great photos ! Thanks !

 

Great photos and a great job on your garden!
How did you can your pickles?

 

Great garden great pictures, and a real inspiration to get up and do something. Thank you for sharing.

 

Nice productive garden TheJackBull....keep it up....keep letting us know your progress, especially the canning and preserving of your crops

 

Nice garden and great pictures!!!
However the neighbors look a bit on the shady side ?

 

Is there a meth lab across the boundary fence that I am not seeing?

 

Never know, There's always the Jack-hat that figures if he gets hungry I'll just jump the fence and throw the vegies over.
Neighbors can be worse than a pack of raccoons !

 

That is sometimes / all too often so....the challenge, rather than building a higher fence, topped with razor wire, is to build a better neighbourhood with neighbours who are more self sufficient...try a gift of cucumber seedlings to go with a small jar of cucumber relish...offer to teach home preserving and pickling...build a community of like minded pro social folk...if moving to a better neighbourhood with better neighbours is not an option.

 

Fist thing that comes to mind is a minefield ?

 

Quite apart from the probable illegality of laying a minefield or booby traps on one's own property capable of maiming or killing unlawful intruders, mines can be as much a hindrance as a benefit. (I appreciate that you are possibly being sardonic).

 

Wouldn't be my fault if they were raiding my food plot and fell on a pitchfork,,

Nice garden you have there Mr Jackbull ,, I saw your 2 wheeled tractor back there ,, what model is it ?? Some thin tires on it , what do you use it for ?? Not trying to be nosey like them neighbors Gator seen .

 

@kckndrgn - it was a pretty simple mix of about 3 qrts water and 3 cups vinagar ( I do half white and half cidar) with one cup pickling/canning salt. then I just eyball the pickling spice and add a little alum or pickle crisp powder and throw in garlic and pearl onion and fresh dill sprigs. Boil the "brine" and fill 'em up. they all mostly seal as they cool and any that dont you can steam or water bath for a few minutes and they will seal. sometimes i dont worry if its only one or two jars that dont seal as they will get eaten when ready in a couple weeks.

@Gator 45/70 - I unfortunalty have 8 backyard neigbors due to my yard size. I know all of them on first name basis and and they are all good people. most of them stay to themselves and a few of us trade plants back and forth as we thin things out like berries/perenials/rizomes/honey... mostly good people. HOWEVER there are some people in the neighborhood that i keep my eye on.. I learned the hard way when living in Juneau AK and people were stealing the heating oil in the winter, it was usually your neighbor... the tracks in the snow was always a dead givaway. the police there also affirmed it was usually someone within walking distance who could tell when you were not home. so yeah I have motion lights, motion cameras and an 75lb dog.

@SB21 - the thin wheel tractor is an old Troy-bilt front tine cultivator. i dont recall the model. Its perfect for weeding the narrow paths. stock pic below...

 

looks good!

 

Lol, I had my camp doors wired with perimeter trip alarms, Complete with 172 db flashbangs shells and as an added bonus for their efforts, 2-12 gauge shells packed with cayenne pepper, Then I put word out locally, Camp was never broken into.
For an added bonus I spread the word that I see a Deadman crawling around at night with his eyeballs hanging out and dragging on the ground. Nothing like a little superstition thrown into the mix?

 

Cool ,, it was hard to tell from the distance in the pic ,, wasn't sure if it was an old Gravely ,, had never seen one with the thin tires tho. Thanks for the pic.

 

Wherever did you find the canning lids? They have been a no-show in retail stores for over a year now.

 

@Wildbilly - We stocked up on some, some are no name with about 10% fail rate... so thats nice...