Any "home-canners" Out There?

[jenvan]

Well, I majorly simplified my planting this year...just too tired to do more at this point. But did about 8 pots--coleus, the new begonias and some ivy...excited to see how it turns out. Also planted some sunflowers...we'll see on those! But I could have a forest of 12 foot sunflowers by the end of summer

Oh, Judy and others--I got pictures of the table runner I sewed from the antique hankerchiefs--if anyone wants to see them I'll e-mail you a pic or two

[Judyin Philly]

Well, I majorly simplified my planting this year...just too tired to do more at this point. But did about 8 pots--coleus, the new begonias and some ivy...excited to see how it turns out. Also planted some sunflowers...we'll see on those! But I could have a forest of 12 foot sunflowers by the end of summer

Oh, Judy and others--I got pictures of the table runner I sewed from the antique hankerchiefs--if anyone wants to see them I'll e-mail you a pic or two

Yes yes yes PLEASE send me one.

I'm sorry i never sent more critter 'pictures'

i've been out in the garden everyday...but the days i was in bed...HA

A strange 'roller coaster' of food issues..

maybe that's why when not on the "POT" i'm in the garden.

I have a great plant for pots...i'll try to find the name and forward it and the description of it.

Great follage but no flowers but sure takes room and adds texture and wow color to pots

can't wait to see pictures, Jen

judy

[kabowman]

I added a small flower bed last weekend and this weeknd added another raised garden bed and fixed the flower bed along the south side of the house. Hubby pulled and replanted 2 of the six bushes I hate that are in front of the house so now I am fixing up the right side of the house...4 more bushes to pull on the left (cut down 4 along the north side last year).

Can you tell I hate most bushes...hubby likes them so he moves them where I don't have to look at them too much so we can both enjoy.

Now I just need: more veggies, more herbs (I have a couple of bare spots), more flowers, more grasses, etc. NO bushes!

Oh, and we are eating lettuce out of the garden!

[jenvan]

Ha ha on the bushes Kate You go girl with the gardening--seriously! You are kicking as*! Already eating the lettuce--that's great! What kind?

[Judyin Philly]

HI Guys

Haven't been able to get on for awhile do to 'bouncing' issues with my emails and driving poor Scott nuts.

Just wanted to add.....gave Jim my Hubby my huge back garden

It was the first one I put in 28 years ago and full of penerials but...since it was on a 90 degree angle it was so hard for me to garden on....so gave it to him for veg garden. we had to fence it in to keep neighbors dogs out of it and the little... garden friends who 'take more than their planted share' of food and pray the deer stay out. Left all the hostas around the egde as they cleared them out last year so maybe if they come back they will just eat them. what do you think? think it will work..???

What other projects are you guys working on now?

I'm redoing a side garden and still the new stone hill in front...My iris are doing so well this year.

maybe i'll put a picture up

hope to get some alerts FINALLY it's been 2 weeks since that has worked on my contril panel.

love to hear what your all up to

this is my favorite thread, you all

PS Hi jen...think you need to do a cut and paste of my new email in your address book. the replys aren't getting through

Well rain just stopped so hitting the garden.

Sure hope i get my alerts back

Judy in Philly

[Guest Viola]

We have our veggie garden mostly planted now..well, most of the seeds anyway. I'm going to put the cabbage, broccoli and lettuce plants out tonight when it cools down. Too darn hot this afternoon. Won't put the tomatoes, cucumbers and mellons out until after the long weekend.

We already have a bear hanging around. He's been digging out the big ant hill behind hubby's work shop. Sure hope he keeps digging. And finds all the other ant hills too.

[covsooze]

I'm going to put the cabbage, broccoli and lettuce plants out tonight when it cools down. Too darn hot this afternoon.

Wish I could say the same for here! It's been pouring with rain so much this week, that I haven't been able to pot my tomatoes on yet Still, they're doing well, which is great for me as a newbie to veggie growing

[AndreaB]

Hi all!

I would love to learn to can. I bought a pressure canner, water canner and some jars. Then my hubby changed jobs and with the pay cut I never had all the extra money in the summer to buy boxes of fruit/veggies. Now I have a 6 mo old and canning all day isn't on the horizon. Any tips about starting would be appreciated. My old neighbor cans and cans and cans and then cans some more. She helped me put up some pears and peaches a few years ago.

Gardening is something else I haven't been able to do. Been moving during the planting season and now we are in a rental that doesn't have good soil so we'd have to build boxes and find a way to bring in good planting soil.

Everything crafty, sewing, canning skipped my mom. I don't think her mom did much either. I took a summer school class around 4th grade for sewing and didn't do very well.

I'm a stay at home mom and don't miss work at all. My husband works 50-70 hours a week driving a semi truck. He's home every night but we still wish there was something else he could do that would have him home more and still allow me to stay home. Oh well, at least I get to stay home. I'm planning on homeschooling my children and my oldest will be starting the 1st grade curriculum this year.

I'm off to get a few parts I need to install our new water filter. I don't know if I'll be able to figure it out or if I'll have to wait for my husband to do it. I love putting things together (not anything with cars though).

[Judyin Philly]

Hi Shirley,

boy, honey, i'll take the deer, rabbits, possums,groundhogs, and foxes--you can keep your bears, thanks alot. See you live in Canada. Seems our weather is warmer here in Philly than there correct?

He has pepper, hot and green, tomatoes, and the herbs are now going into the rock wall we just made.

oh, of course, some sun flower plants for his birds...

I tried to do tomatoes and a salad garden on the deck after hip replacement and the squirels ate it all.

I love the share...but they are piggy.

judy

[Guest Viola]

Hi Shirley,

boy, honey, i'll take the deer, rabbits, possums,groundhogs, and foxes--you can keep your bears, thanks alot. See you live in Canada. Seems our weather is warmer here in Philly than there correct?

He has pepper, hot and green, tomatoes, and the herbs are now going into the rock wall we just made.

oh, of course, some sun flower plants for his birds...

I tried to do tomatoes and a salad garden on the deck after hip replacement and the squirels ate it all.

I love the share...but they are piggy.

judy

Normally our weather is cooler than yours, but we had 36 C (97F) yesterday and 31C (90F) today. It's just been sweltering here this whole week. The fruit trees have pretty much finished blooming, and I put out most of the plants this evening. So glad that's done Hope it cools down a little soon. Otherwise we'll have to get the air conditioner in for the summer. Yes...there really are limits about how much you want to share. Usually the wild life distroy more than they eat by just playing with it. Can get really annoying.

How is your hip replacement going? I'm having hip problems as well, I think mostly it's the bone spur on the left hip that's causing most of the trouble, although I've got arthritis as well. Hope yours is going well, sometimes they can be slow healing.

[Judyin Philly]

Shirley

""How is your hip replacement going? I'm having hip problems as well, I think mostly it's the bone spur on the left hip that's causing most of the trouble, although I've got arthritis as well. Hope yours is going well, sometimes they can be slow healing.""

Fantastic---I didn't know how much pain i was in until I had it done.

I spent 6 months in the pool doing exercises preparing the muscles for the surgery and the PT said when he came to the house the first time...i was in the best shape of any patient he'd seen. It was do to getting some 'targeted' exercise under my belt before the surgery.

Ha now I've got the knees and hear they are worse...didn't your hubby have the lap surgery on one of his knees?

judy in philly

[nikki-uk]

Well I've had a busy day !

I had to sort out all my tomatoes that were grown from seed and were still in seed trays in my greenhouse.

Now the weather here has warmed up a bit it's time to move them tomatoes out of the greenhouse into 'gro-bags'.

Also been planting out bedding plants-(petunias,buzy lizzie,lobelia) and have done some hanging baskets.

Anyone got any composting tips?

Mine seems to be going very slowly-it's not breaking down enough,so I've been adding more newspapers,added some compost accelerator and 'poked' it with a cane to try and get more air in it

I'm a bit of a novice at composting.

Now,I've got to scrub my hands and try and get this dirt out of my nails !

[Guest Viola]

Hi Judy, I'm sure glad your hip is doing so well. I had mine ex-rayed last Wed., so will get the results on Tues. Also had a bunch of blood work done.

My hubby had the orthescopic surgery done on his knee, but it not only didn't work, it made it worse, so he has an appointment with another surgeon in Aug. hopefully to set a date for knee replacement surgery.

I just got home from Castlegar. We have a two day Obedience seminar on. I left here at 7:00 this morning and didn't get back until 6:00 ... hope tomorrow is a little shorter. It's all so interesting, but I'm getting too old for these long, long days. Sheba must think so too because she went to bed without eating her supper Poor dog, she did behave very well and worked hard.

The gardens are all growing here. The tomatoes are blooming, and I think one or two of the cucumbers. Lettuce and radishes pretty much ready to eat. They'll keep until Monday though, I'm too tired to go out there tonight, and I'm sure I'm not going to have any more energy left after tomorrow.

[jenvan]

Hi Judy, I'm sure glad your hip is doing so well. I had mine ex-rayed last Wed., so will get the results on Tues. Also had a bunch of blood work done.

My hubby had the orthescopic surgery done on his knee, but it not only didn't work, it made it worse, so he has an appointment with another surgeon in Aug. hopefully to set a date for knee replacement surgery.

I just got home from Castlegar. We have a two day Obedience seminar on. I left here at 7:00 this morning and didn't get back until 6:00 ... hope tomorrow is a little shorter. It's all so interesting, but I'm getting too old for these long, long days. Sheba must think so too because she went to bed without eating her supper Poor dog, she did behave very well and worked hard.

The gardens are all growing here. The tomatoes are blooming, and I think one or two of the cucumbers. Lettuce and radishes pretty much ready to eat. They'll keep until Monday though, I'm too tired to go out there tonight, and I'm sure I'm not going to have any more energy left after tomorrow.

Shirley--

What's the word on your hip? Did your other gluten-free dinner go well?

[Guest Viola]

Hi Jen;

The x-rays showed bone spurs on the outside of the left hip, which is causing the problems. Nothing to be done about it right now, just anti-inflammatories.

The second dinner went wonderfully! We had 23 there. We had it on a Saturday evening, and one fellow was diagnosed on the Friday morning before and had remembered seeing the ad in the paper, so he phoned the hotel to see if there was still room for him! Of course we would make room for everyone It was great for him as he got lots of advice and where to find things etc. Also, phone numbers and email addresses if he needed more help. Another lady had been diagnosed only 3 weeks before, so was good for her too Would you believe there were three ladies named Kim at the dinner ?

Our next dinner is actually a BBQ at our place. We have six acres here, so lots of room for everyone. The rules of the BBQ are ... Bring your own meat

Bring a potluck gluten free dish to share

Bring at least 10 copies of the recipe to put with your potluck so we can share recipes

All dishes must be gluten free even though non-Celiac family members can come.

If you like to golf ...bring your clubs and come early (we are attached to a golf course)

If you have a dog, bring it too and play in the Obedience ring and the dog agility course.

It should be fun. It's being held on Saturday, Sept. 24th if you want to come???

[jenvan]

Ah! That sounds like so much fun--golf, bbq, hanging out--hope you have a gorgeous day for it. I'm sure the other dinner was such a blessing to your friends--esp the newbies!!

Sorry to hear about the bone spurs--I hope they aren't really painful...and that they don't slow you down! (But what could?!)

[jenvan]

Have any of you crafters ever tried to create your own sewing patterns or sewed a piece of clothing based off of one you have? I have wanted to make a shirt...but can't find any patterns that suit me. I have some great shirts I'd like to replicate and wondered about copying. They are more of a knit shirt, not a button-down type. Thanks for any thoughts !

[Guest Viola]

Have any of you crafters ever tried to create your own sewing patterns or sewed a piece of clothing based off of one you have? I have wanted to make a shirt...but can't find any patterns that suit me. I have some great shirts I'd like to replicate and wondered about copying. They are more of a knit shirt, not a button-down type. Thanks for any thoughts !

Hi Jen. Yes, I've done patterns from old clothes. Knits are a little harder as they have the stretch, but when you get them cut out you can use a very narrow tape (you can get 1/4 inch tape that looks like masking tape, or another one called magic tape which is sticky on both sides and washes out) to keep the seams from stretching when you sew them. Make sure you do the same to the hem, as it can really stretch out of shape. But it does work quite nicely with a bit of patience Go for it

[tiredofdoctors]

That's the only way I made my kids' Halloween costumes. I would simply make them lie down on a piece of newspaper that was taped together to be their entire BODY, placed on the floor, then mark their whole body! Then, I would make marks where I wanted specific things to be placed. Then, measured some circumference things (arms, legs, waist, whatever I was covering!), and made front and back accordingly. My daughter has a smaller back than front, so I sometimes had to make accommodations for that. Once you get the knack of it, it's not too hard. My grandmother was a costumer . . . I watched her make patterns my whole life, so I kind of picked it up. I think she used uncoated butcher paper, if I'm not mistaken . . . although I'm sure she used the newspaper thing, because that's how I knew to to that . . . . She was the grandma that was pretty abusive . . . the one thing that I DID get from her was the ability to sew, and the ability to "visualize" what something should end up like, then take it from there . . .

[jenvan]

Shirley and Lynne-

I knew you two would know what to do Can't wait to try it. Hopefully I'll have time this weekend... I'll have to ck into that tape too Shirley. I will be doing some batchelorette party planning and gift shopping for Brian's 30th. Maybe I can make a detour to Joann's.

Had my mom take pictures of some of my flower pots from this year...the coleus returned Maybe I'll post one later.

Oh, I taught myself a new stitch on the machine Can't remember the name now! My dad wanted me to make him golf towels and finish the edges. Have a good weekend !

[taz sharratt]

P.S. Jen ~ I also embroider, cross-stich and knit! IF you want to sew, it is the easiest to start with simple curtains, plain dresses, pillows, etc. It is really very easy ~ just take it slow and have fun!!

Since I started working full-time, I don't have as much time for all the extra things I do, but I try and get it all done eventually!!

I also love to fill my flower beds with new "pretties". Do you do any landscaping??

That is my other hobby!!

wow kimberly you are wonder woman! all i acn do is crochet and badly! my mum keeps unpicking it and makeing me start again. ide love to be able to do those kind of things they so cool.

[Guest Viola]

wow kimberly you are wonder woman! all i acn do is crochet and badly! my mum keeps unpicking it and makeing me start again. ide love to be able to do those kind of things they so cool.

I can crochet okay, but with me it was knitting my mom was picking apart I can relate.

Things are crazy around here. I've been busy doing all the advertizing for a show catalogue, our big dog show is happening next month...my parents are here and need lots of help, plus a big veggie garden, peas are almost all in the freezer, but still doing raspberries and of course weeds. And of course I'm trying to train my dog twice a week and other peoples once a week. So haven't had much time for sewing, or much golfing for that matter Miss doing both

Let us know how you make out with your sewing using the tape idea Gotta go do Dad's ironing before I turn the air conditioner on ... it blows a breaker if I do both

[jenvan]

I love your life Shirley--so fun, but hard work! I went to the driving range last weekend with dh. First time I've picked up the clubs in 5 years!! Had a few good shots...but lots of misses and 3 feet shots too!! My arm is still sore!

Ooo, send some peas my way !

[tiredofdoctors]

I think I want Shirley's life . . . but I don't know if I'd have the stamina that she has!!!!!

Jen, you're doing better than me . . . I tried hitting golf balls on the driving range with my dad & my son . . . I was TERRIBLE!!! I finally said, "This is a stupid game, anyway." Talk about laughing hysteria . . . .

Shirley -- I tried to crochet once . . . I am so anal-retentive, what was supposed to look like an afghan ended up looking (and feeling) like an outside doormat! It was the most rigid, tightly woven artifact of yarn you have ever seen!

So, do you guys know . . . catapillars that are NOT fuzzy, but are smooth, with yellow and black, maybe some red spots here and there . . . are they BUTTERFLY catapillars or MOTH catapillars? If they're BUTTERFLY -- I'm excited, because we have a bunch of 'em in the spontaneous garden. Moths . . . well, we may have a problem. ALSO . . . I had my first REAL ladybug -- not the brown kind -- an actual RED ladybug with black spots -- I was so excited. Of course, it probably means I have aphids, as well, but what the heck?? It was a REAL ladybug!!!

[Guest Viola]

I think I want Shirley's life . . . but I don't know if I'd have the stamina that she has!!!!!

Jen, you're doing better than me . . . I tried hitting golf balls on the driving range with my dad & my son . . . I was TERRIBLE!!! I finally said, "This is a stupid game, anyway." Talk about laughing hysteria . . . .

Shirley -- I tried to crochet once . . . I am so anal-retentive, what was supposed to look like an afghan ended up looking (and feeling) like an outside doormat! It was the most rigid, tightly woven artifact of yarn you have ever seen!

So, do you guys know . . . catapillars that are NOT fuzzy, but are smooth, with yellow and black, maybe some red spots here and there . . . are they BUTTERFLY catapillars or MOTH catapillars? If they're BUTTERFLY -- I'm excited, because we have a bunch of 'em in the spontaneous garden. Moths . . . well, we may have a problem. ALSO . . . I had my first REAL ladybug -- not the brown kind -- an actual RED ladybug with black spots -- I was so excited. Of course, it probably means I have aphids, as well, but what the heck?? It was a REAL ladybug!!!

Oh, Oh Lynne ... look up tent catapillars! Just Google them, if that's what you have you best get rid of them quickly They are mostly black with the bright colours. Bad news for your trees and bushes.

From afghan to doormat

Shhhhhhhhhh, Jen & Lynne, but I beat hubby again on Thurs. morning. He had a real bad first five holes, and I played them well, so even when he played the rest good, I still had the edge

Almost bed time, I have to be up early to head into Castlegar to train my little Sheba tomorrow morning. Then going to hopefully watch a Rally Obedience trial on my way home. The organizer wanted me to enter Sheba, but I've never even watched that style of obedience let alone done it. She feels I could do it, but I told her I'd watch this trial and give it a shot the next trial.

Have a real good night you two, and a super day tomorrow!

Oh yes ... my mother actually ate a whole plate of food for supper! She has not been eating well and has lost tons of weight. Anyway, I did a turkey on the BBQ (it's far too hot here to use the stove), did some scalped potatoes, garden peas, cucumbers, and fresh fruit, and she ate everything! If she stays long enough, she might even put a bit of weight back on