...we don't see bobcats and foxes all that often because they are so elusive but every now and then one will show up. Snakes, on the other hand, are very common and being outside as often as I am, you really gotta watch where you step. The rattler in the pic was a timber back and along with copperheads, are the most common. Diamond backs and cotton mouths, not so much. And of course, I won't bother a non-poisonous snake because they're actually helpful.
...the garden is doing well. I harvest about 20 pods of okra each day and the plants are only about 1/2 grown. Most of them I blanch and put up in freezer bags. But for the last week I have been picking them small and young and yesterday, my wife and I put up 8 canning jars of our own recipe of pickled okra...(boil equal parts of vinegar and water, ...add sugar, salt, red pepper, sprig of dill, and a clove of garlic) ...let 'em pickle for a month or more...good stuff.
...the only tomatoes I've had any luck with are the Roma variety and the cherry tomatoes...(the big tomatoes just don't do well in my area)...evidently, the Romas are cross pollenating with the cherry Romas tomatoes because the cherry Romas are about 3 times bigger than normal...great to eat fresh or freeze in bags, ...very meaty, fewer seeds, and make great salsa too.
...I also decided to grow some jalapeños this year...those I just save in the freezer and will add them along with some crab boil for cajun boiled peanuts which will become available in the next couple of weeks till mid September. (I put up about 50 quart bags each year)...take 'em out of the freezer, nuke 'em, and then eat a belly full.
...I'll take some pics in a few minutes and will post them for you.
...here ya go, matts;
Frozen jalapenos
View attachment 4025
Cukes (about 15)
View attachment 4026
8 jars of pickled okra
View attachment 4027
Roma's
View attachment 4028
I wonder if you could
patent the hybrid Roma-to-cherry tomatoes....that is very cool. I'd of never guessed to try as much. My wife's roses cross hybrid simply over the years of being in close proximity. So, I can see how the same could apply to your unique tomatoes. You could be on to something, if you chose to mass grow cherry Roma's. Of course you'd have to buy a few hundred acres of cherry roma tomato land, for it to pay off. Tho'- The high costs of mass production is often not worth the effort, or headaches. Especially if your producing enough to appease your own produce needs.
Sounds like your pickled Okra is exceptional. You could probably make a 2nd fortune growing and packing your personal signature pickled Okra.
Now that's a true Southern Tradition I miss alot. When i was a kid, I couldn't believe how many people sat outdoors on weekends, with a brown bag full of fresh baked peanuts, and a cold glass of Lemonade. From La. to Ga. Seemed like every block had a few porches of peeps enjoying the southern specialty of: bags of warm roasted peanuts. The Jalapeno crab boil peanut touch sounds perfect......
another festivity I miss from the south, crawfish boils.......and the parties that are inherent with them....!!! Bring your own accordion, washboard, spoons, kazoo, anything that can play a note....in my case NOT.
It's good to see, your garden's doing very well. Especially with the brutal winter ya'll had, and around the nation. So many gardener's I've known, even some small farmers, did not bother to plant, due to late frosts. Or-planted late, planted less, and expect a smaller yield. Those gardeners who are doing well, did like you did, began their seedlings indoors.
do you grow cilantro for your salsa? Basically Coriander plants. I found when making salsa, adding Lime and Salt to be more than sufficient for preserving Salsa, indefinitely, (well, for a season-not til Armageddon). When I do make salsa, I also make a hot spicy Creole Sauce.
I read an article about a Dr. in Hawaii, who grows coffee beans for a hobby. He uses vine wire to get his coffee trees, to get more sun inside the tree, and allow the tree to grow outward, like vines. The end result is: he gets alot more yield of beans, which are bigger/heartier; even tastier (more pronounced unique flavor) full bodied, fruitier; aromatic Kona beans. He gets more per lb. for his beans, than any other Kona grower. He's getting approx. $135-150$ per lb. for his beans, about what a grower would get for Jamaica Blue Mt. coffee beans.
I love to stuff Jalapeno's and Okra too, make poppers, nuke, bake or deep fry 'em.....
all this talk is making me:
Thanx for the update 59....!!!
