I will try another round of green peas and sugar snaps soon then. And follow that with some kale and mini bok choy in my deck planter troughs. I have seeds for a ton of other stuff I want to try like cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, leeks, turnips, carrots... I think I'll chill on some of that and just start with a few dependable things at first.
Just got back from a 2 week business trip and it looks like the garden survived OK. Lots of big green tomatoes, but only cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, and swiss chard is being harvested.
No tomatoes harvested yet but when they turn, holy shit will they hit fast and hard. The improved planting advice has really increased fruit density. They are EVERYWHERE.
Great fruit set. Might want to add extra supports to the branches so the branches don't end up tearing under the weight of the tomatoes.
It has begun! The mortgage lifters didn't get huge but are very uniform, deep pink fruits. The beefsteak seem to split at the top as they get big and are more of a deep orangey red. Soon...
There is tons of support that you can't see with the stringing I've done using twine. @bewildered asked in rep if I have any recipes ready yet, and honestly, other than having simple olive oil, balsamic, vinegar, salt/pepper, with some cheese, or making tomato sauce for lasagna and other pasta, I'm going to be canning a bunch of it. My herbs have gone fucking mental this year and have really blown up to be huge, so I'm going to probably can a bunch of tomatoes with oregano and basil for later use. Otherwise it's bacon/tomato sandwiches for lunch almost non-stop, or just fresh sliced up cucumber/tomato. It's really handy working out of the house so you can just go to the garden and pick lunch fresh.
Hey man, on making sauce.......check this out. It's a blessing if seeds in the sauce bother you. https://www.westonsupply.com/Roma-Food-Strainer-Sauce-Maker-p/07-0801.htm
Yeah pal. Tomato seeds in sauce can really throw some folks off. This is both faster and better in every way. Hard to deny.
OK, so it is hot here, and the tomatoes are slow, everything tender is burned up.....but the African gift, okra, is going nuts. Peppers, too, of course. As I mention yearly, it is not my favorite, but I swear that I am harvesting it every 3 days or so, about half of a bucket.....2, 3 gallons each time. Here is about a third of today's pick getting washed. And here is how I eat what I don't give away. Feel free to spice it with more than salt and pepper, but the recipe is solid. DO shake the pan every 5. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013838-martha-rose-shulmans-roasted-okra
I ended up ordering something similar but it attaches to my stand mixer. Same concept, though... just powered instead of hand cranked.
I saw some lifehack video thing where a guy used a hand powerdrill for a lot of interesting uses, including as the motor to a hand crank on a meat grinder. He would custom make whatever attachment was needed and then spin away. I have a hand cranked food mill that I use but holy shit it is a labor of love. With the handle design I don't think I could power it with a drill. I picked an excessive poundage of concord grapes last season and milling the skins and seeds out nearly killed my back. Is there an all in one tool that could be used as a meat grinder AND as a food mill? Don't a lot of stand mixers have attachments for both? I am in the market for a meat grinder and I guess a powered food mill too. I have shopped lustfully for stand mixers but given how frequently I would use one, the price tag just isn't doing it for me.
Yes. I already have a grinder and other attachments for my kitchen aid so it made sense to just get this press. I also tend to think that the low speed and high torque of the stand mixer will do a much better job than some DIY using a battery powered drill. I do a lot of DIY, but kind of thought this was a no-brainer... well worth the cash to me. Just having it steady on the countertop will probably make all the difference.
If you're just looking for a grinder/etc, then you may want to check out Cabela's, etc, as they have a huge culinary section devoted to post-hunting food processing. I've found that they have the best vacuum packers (light years better than the ubiquitous FoodSaver), dehydrators, meat grinders/slicers, etc. They can be a bit pricey too, but I've found it to be pretty good quality for price, not stupid expensive. They also have some of my favourite spices and I regularly order from them online for things like blackened seasoning, etc.
Check Best Buy's Deal of the Day. About once a month it seems they'll have the Kitchen-Aid stand mixer for ~$250 off regular price. Few catches though: You need to check it every day obviously or you can miss it and not even know. They are usually a limited color. When I bought mine it is kind of a matte gray color, the wife wanted gloss white. I said for $250, we're getting whatever color they have. And lastly, it's usually the 5qt model and not the 6qt one.
Just educate yourself about the different models... they are not all the same, and the lower end ones can be quite cheaply built compared to the higher end ones. They are not all "lifetime" products like they built their name on. https://www.everythingkitchens.com/kitchenaid-stand-mixer-review.html
Great tips you guys, thanks. I have burned out enough motors on cheap kitchen appliances to know I need at least a mid tier appliance. I usually shop by looking at reputable brands and the power of the motor, plus reviews of course. I'll be reading that link and figuring out what I need so I can shop a sale. I also tend to abuse warranties on items and look for products with lifetime/ long warranties. It's a hassle sometimes but worth it to me. For example I'm on my 3rd pair of boots in less than a year...
I have one of the Professional 600 lift-bowl ones and it's built like a tank and I love it. Probably way overkill for what I need, but it'll last.
Don’t attach motors to hand grinders. That’s how you lose a hand. I can help anyone in need of meat grinders and game processing equipment. I work for a company that does just that.
The attachment arrived today (yay Amazon Prime) so I thought I'd try it out. I didn't have any tomatoes that needed processing (yet) but I still had about 1/4 of a jug of sangria in the fridge. So I hooked up the fruit processor to one of my mixers (yes, I have 2... this old one inherited from my grandmother and mother and the one I bought myself) and then ran the sangria and all the berries/grapes/etc through it. Out of one end came a solid stream of compacted fruit pulp and seeds (like a dry fruit sausage) and out the bottom came all the liquid sangria and juices from the fruit, with a bit of a pulpy mush without any seeds... just stuff that would squeeze through the screen. It worked remarkably well, and colour me impressed. I think it'll do really well with tomatoes to get rid of the skins and seeds. Never knew something like this existed, but in hindsight it makes perfect sense.