I have questions from ppl w/ thumbs greener than mine

[heathergirl67]

Hi everyone! We're growing a garden and it's going really well! But I'm having a problem with our beefsteak tomatos. They're coming in well, but they're all getting eaten up! Now, I don't mind sharing with the bugs, but they're getting a little too greedy. Is there anything I can do to save my tomatos? I had heard that soapy water sprayed on them will work. Is that true?

Oh, and I started canning... You know where you heat seal your produce in Mason jars? It's awesome! I wanted to make pickles with my zucchini, but both of the recipes I tried were yucky. Does anyone have a good recipe for regular or zesty dill pickles? TIA!

[lmonter]

My friend did the regular dill pickles (with double garlic and double dill) in the Ball Blue Book that my hubby raved over when staying with them. That's what I attempted this year. We'll see in a few months whether this attempt worked - my last time a few years ago resulted in mush. Blech.

[sidandspencersmom]

Do you know what kind of bugs are eating your tomatoes? If they are stink bugs, there really isn't anything you can do. If you can determine the type of pest that is giving you problems, you'll be able to find a traditional or organic way to help control them.

[Toolip]

Originally Posted by heathergirl67

Hi everyone! We're growing a garden and it's going really well! But I'm having a problem with our beefsteak tomatos. They're coming in well, but they're all getting eaten up! Now, I don't mind sharing with the bugs, but they're getting a little too greedy. Is there anything I can do to save my tomatos? I had heard that soapy water sprayed on them will work. Is that true?

Oh, and I started canning... You know where you heat seal your produce in Mason jars? It's awesome! I wanted to make pickles with my zucchini, but both of the recipes I tried were yucky. Does anyone have a good recipe for regular or zesty dill pickles? TIA!

you know that usually pickles are made from cucumbers, right? Zucchini pickles will never be the same, imho. However, you can pickle then

[heathergirl67]

Originally Posted by Toolip

you know that usually pickles are made from cucumbers, right? Zucchini pickles will never be the same, imho. However, you can pickle then

So that's what the problem is! Haha, just kidding. I know they're usually made with cucumbers, and that will change the taste. But the problems so far have definitely been with the recipe. The first one was sweet. Yuck!

[heathergirl67]

Originally Posted by sidandspencersmom

Do you know what kind of bugs are eating your tomatoes? If they are stink bugs, there really isn't anything you can do. If you can determine the type of pest that is giving you problems, you'll be able to find a traditional or organic way to help control them.

I don't know which bugs they are. They're holes which turn kind of black and rot the area around the hole. They also get these weird white stripes that go around the tomato, but I don't mind those so much because they appear to be only skin deep. How can I tell which bugs are at fault?

[kriket]

Originally Posted by Toolip

you know that usually pickles are made from cucumbers, right? Zucchini pickles will never be the same, imho. However, you can pickle then

Yeah, they are better

Originally Posted by heathergirl67

I don't know which bugs they are. They're holes which turn kind of black and rot the area around the hole. They also get these weird white stripes that go around the tomato, but I don't mind those so much because they appear to be only skin deep. How can I tell which bugs are at fault?

I don't know about the bugs, but the white stripes are called rain check, it's from uneven water. If you set up some terra cotta rain things to slowly leak out water, or punch holes in old juice containers, you can prevent some of this. There isn't anything wrong, it's just ugly

[lotus.blossom]

You should check your plants for hornworms. If you find one don't panic! They are very large green caterpillars that really blend in with the stems. They are quite scary looking and do major damage to tomatoes. You can tell if you have them by looking for their poop. About the size of a raisin and sort of clustered looking (I call them grenades) You can find them on leaves or scattered under the plants. The best thing to do is to pick them off while they are small. Also at the end of the season do some good deep digging to remove the larvae that burrow down in the dirt.

[Erinz]

You could do a simple hot pack on those zukes which is 50/50 vinegar and water plus whatever spices you want in there, then process for 15 minutes in a water bath. You can do small batches (1 jar at a time really, if you use a small pot!) until you find the taste you like. If you don't want sweet, don't use sugar! I like dill, garlic, salt, and a teeny bit of sugar to balance the salt. Play with it, it's fun! You could try fennel, basil, oregano, really.... whatever suits your fancy. The 50/50 white vinegar/water ratio is quite flexible imo.

[FarmerCathy]

Originally Posted by lmonter

My friend did the regular dill pickles (with double garlic and double dill) in the Ball Blue Book that my hubby raved over when staying with them. That's what I attempted this year. We'll see in a few months whether this attempt worked - my last time a few years ago resulted in mush. Blech.

Hey Lanna,

I have a question, so do you wait to eat them then? Let them sit in the jars for a couple months?