Halfway into the strawberry harvest
May has reached its halfway point and so has the strawberry season. There are three more weeks for enjoying the strawberry harvest. The pick-your-own fields are still colorful with white blooms and bright red tart berries. They are ready for picking or the strawberry farmers will pick them for you. Always call ahead if you need them ready-picked. As the season progresses, it’s a good idea to check and see if the fields are open all day. The warm May days cause berries to ripen and make for an easy time to pick berries. The best time to pick strawberries is in the morning when the air is fresh and the sun shines down on the fields, the scent of fresh strawberries mingled with the perfume of wild honey suckles.
Picking strawberries to freeze for winter
Strawberries are easy to freeze and are as great in winter as they are in spring. To freeze strawberries, process them as soon as you bring them from the field. Use quart plastic freezer containers to place the berries in. When processing strawberries, never run water over them because this causes loss of the tiny seeds on the berries and makes berries mushy. Process the berries one quart at a time. Remove the caps, preferably with a strawberry capper. Wash berries a quart at a time in a sink of water. Dry the berries by placing them on a dry towel, leave berries in water only 15seconds and dry for a minute. Place in plastic quart containers. Avoid water in the containers or mashing the berries. Berries are naturally better when placed whole in the containers leaving a small amount of space at top of containers. Repeat the process with every quart and immediately place in the freezer.
A strawberry capper makes processing easy
The cappers can be purchased at most strawberry farms. With this gadget you can dig the caps from the top of strawberries without damaging the berry. It is a much cleaner and easier method to remove the caps from strawberries. Purchase one where you purchase strawberries or at a store that sells kitchen gadgets.
Saint Dunstan’s Day occurs on May 19
Saint Dunstan’s Day will occur on Sunday, May 19. It is said that on his day, we can be assured there will be no more frost this spring. Dunstan may be right and we agree, after all, this is mid-May; we still have a few cool nights, but nothing to be alarmed about. We are past the middle of Blackberry Winter and there are some blooms on the blackberries. Cool nights are typical of mid-May but they will not hinder strawberries from ripening and warm weather vegetables, tomato and pepper plants can surely be set out. The dogwood leaves are bigger than a squirrel’s ear and the corn crop can be planted and Saint Dunstan can turn over in his grave.
Tomatoes can be planted
A few cool nights should not hinder the setting out of the bulk of summer’s tomato crop because the warm days of May will condition the soil for setting out the tomato crop. Set out a few tomato plants each week for as long as you can find healthy plants to assure a harvest all the way into autumn. Best varieties are Marglobe, Rutgers, Homestead, Big Boy, Better Boy, Mortgage Lifter, Parks Whopper, Beefmaster, Beefy Boy, Early Girl, Pink Lady and Roma. Feed tomatoes with Tomato-Tone organic tomato food, Dr. Earth organic tomato Food, Miracle-Gro liquid tomato food and Vigaro tomato food with added calcium. Most tomatoes need cages or stakes to support them from thunderstorms, wind, and a cleaner harvest, no matter what the variety is that you plant. Never use 10-10-10 fertilizer on tomatoes.
Setting out several eggplants this week
These are the most delicate of all vegetables in the garden. Their large leaves are targets of many insects including the Japanese beetles. Spray them with a light mist of Sevin mixed with water in spray bottle once a week. A four-pack of eggplants will produce a harvest over many weeks. Keep soil hilled up to them and side dress with Plant-Tone organic vegetable food. Staking them or placing a tomato cage around them will protect from summer storms and support the eggplants as they mature.
Straightnecks are best of the squash
When it comes to squash varieties, the straightneck winds up the best choice over the crookneck. If you prefer watery squash, the choice would be crookneck, but if you prefer meaty, less seed and water, the choice would be straightnecks. Straightnecks are easy to cube or slice and are more tender and easier to cook. They have smaller seeds and they are better in casseroles and sonkers. Straightnecks are more uniform in size which makes them easier to fry. Straightnecks come in several varieties including Early Prolific, Enterprise and Saffron by Burpee and Park. Whether you choose straightnesks or crooknecks, harvest them when skins are smooth and seeds are small and the squash are tender. Harvest often so the plants will produce more blooms over a longer season.
A simple strawberry crunch crush combo
This strawberry crunch dessert is as simple as it gets and has very few ingredients. You will need two quarts of fresh strawberries, cleaned, capped and cut into quarters and mixed with a cup and a half of sugar, one box of Duncan Hines strawberry cake mix, one stick light margarine, and one teaspoon vanilla extract. Pour the mixed strawberries into a 13x9x2 inch baking dish sprayed with Pam baking spray. Sprinkle the box of cake mix over top of the strawberries. Melt the margarine, mix in the vanilla and drip over the cake mix. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for one hour or until the top of the cake mix is crunchy. Top with a prepared envelope of Dream Whip or a carton of Cool Whip. Decorate with a handful of whole strawberries.
Plant more rows, varieties of green beans
The green bean is one of America’s most popular vegetables and a favorite in most gardens. It is wonderful that there are so many varieties to select from. They can be planted all during the spring and summer and produce a harvest in 65 to 70 days. They can be used in a lot of casseroles, salads, and dishes as well as canned and frozen for year round meals. The most popular varieties are Strike, Top Crop, Derby, Contender, Tenderette, Blue Lake Bush, Kentucky Wonder Bush and White Half Runners. For green beans of early summer, prepare a furrow about four inches deep and line bottom of furrow with a layer of peat moss for moisture retention. Sow seed on top of the peat moss and add another layer of peat moss. Apply a layer of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food on the peat moss and hill soil on each side of the furrow and tamp down soil on top of row for solid soil contact. After beans sprout, side-dress with Plant-Tone organic vegetable food and keep soil hilled up on both sides of the row. Feed every two weeks. Water top of rows when no rain is in the forecast.
Keeping the hummingbird feeders filled
The season of the hummers is in full swing and we believe they have now all arrived. Keep the feeders filled. Many of the honeysuckles are blooming at this time but your feeders will assure them of a steady food supply in the early days of their return. They have a good memory and will return to the feeders for a sure food source. In choosing nectar, you can select ready-to-use nectar in quart bottles, or envelopes of powdered mix that you add water to or a concentrate that you add water to. You can also make your own nectar with a mix of half water and half sugar. You can also use bottled water or distilled water the homemade nectar.
Hoe hoe hoedown
“No show Joe!” Judge: “You say you want to divorce your husband because he is careless about his appearance.” Wife: “That’s right, your honor. He has not shown up in two years.”
“Old Wives Tale.” Man: “I wonder if that old girl is really flirting with me?” Other man: “I can easily find out, by asking her. She is my wife.”
“As the cake crumbles.” Mother: “Hush, you two children are always quarreling. Why can’t you agree with each other once in a while?” Son: “We do agree mom. Joan wants the largest piece of the cake and so do I.”
“Picnic time.” Husband: “This is the perfect spot for a picnic.” Wife: “It must be. Ten thousand ants can’t be wrong.”
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