|
1. Growing Tomatoes
By
Laurie Hodges and Dale Lindgren, UNL Horticulture Specialists
Tomatoes come in a wide range of fruit colors, sizes, shapes and maturities. Ripe tomatoes may be red, yellow, orange, pink or even green. Shapes vary from globe or round to slightly flattened, pear-like or cherry-sized. Often consumers complain tomatoes purchased in grocery stores are lacking in flavor or have tough skin. In a home garden, you can grow the tomatoes you prefer, including a wide selection of fruit colors, flavors, textures and sizes. Although rumored, there is no direct link between fruit acidity and color. Preference for one fruit over another is due more to cultivar differences in flavor and texture. Each plant typically will produce 10 to 15 pounds of fruit.
Continued...
Tomatoes In The Home Garden
|
2. Growing Peppers
By Dale Lindgren and Laurie Hodges, UNL Horticulture Specialists
Peppers are treated as warm-season annual crops when grown in Nebraska gardens. They are related to eggplants, potatoes and tomatoes, all of which belong to the Solanaceae (Nightshade) family. Garden peppers (Capsicum annuum) include different strains commonly called sweet peppers, chili peppers and Hungarian peppers. They are quite different and not in the same genus as the plants that furnish the black pepper (Piper nigrum) used as a condiment. Tabasco peppers (Capsicum frutescens) are the small fruited peppers generally processed into hot sauce, which are largely grown in warmer climates.
Continued...
Peppers
|
3. Growing Eggplant
By Dale Lindgren, UNL Horticulture Specialist
The average yield of eggplant varies with the variety planted and the growing conditions. Two or three plants per family member is usually sufficient-depending, of course, on the acceptability of eggplant into the diet.
The eggplant belongs to the Solanaceae or nightshade family, which includes the sweet pepper, tomato and potato. The ornamentals petunia and Jerusalem cherry, and other plants such as tobacco and horse nettle, are also members of this family.
Eggplant was so named because the first varieties introduced to English-speaking people had egg-shaped fruits. Its scientific name is Solanum melongena var. esculentum.
Continued...
Eggplant
|
4. Growing Sweet Potatoes
By R.E. Neild and Laurie Hodges, UNL Horticulture Specialists
The sweet potato, a member of the morning glory plant family, is native to tropical America. It is an important food plant in warmer regions of the world and is adapted to southeastern Nebraska. Sweet potatoes may be boiled, baked, fried, or candied. They have high food value. Varieties with deeply yellow colored roots are a good source of vitamin A.
Being of tropical origin, sweet potatoes require a long, warm growing season. Sweet potatoes require a growing season of at least five months, so they are best adapted in Nebraska to an area south of a line extending northeast through McCook, Grand Island, and West Point. They do not grow well below 70 degrees Fahrenheit, so planting should be delayed until the last week in May in the area just described. Planting should not be delayed much beyond June 10, however, since root size will be small and the yield reduced.
Continued...
Sweet Potatoes
|
5. Preserving Snap, Wax or Italian Beans
By Nancy Urbanec, UNL Extension Associate
CANNING: Select tender, crisp pods. Remove and discard diseased and rusty pods. Wash beans and trim ends. Break or cut into 1-inch pieces or leave whole.
- Hot Pack - Cover beans with boiling water; boil 5 minutes. Pack hot into hot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Fill jars to 1 inch from top with boiling hot cooking liquid. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids and process as directed below.
- Raw Pack - Pack beans tightly into hot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Fill jars to 1 inch from top with boiling water. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids and process.
- Process in Dial Gauge Pressure Canner at 11 pounds pressure for 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts.
FREEZING: Select young, tender pods when the seed is first formed. Wash in cold water; trim ends; cut into 2- to 4- inch lengths or lengths to fit the freezer container. The longer cuts are the best quality. Blanch 3 minutes. Cool. Drain. Pack beans into freezer jars, bags or containers. Seal, label and freeze.
Home Food Preservation Resources: A variety of freezing and canning links are available for home preservation of food.
|
6. Freezing Basics
By Nancy Urbanec, UNL Extension Associate
Freezing is a simple and easy way to preserve food. Properly frozen fruit and vegetables are much like fresh in color, flavor and nutritive value. They will keep up to a year without losing quality. As a rule, all vegetables that need to be cooked freeze well. Vegetables such as cucumber, lettuce, radishes and tomatoes lose their crispness when frozen and become limp. Most fruits can be frozen successfully.
FREEZING FRUITS: Use only perfect, fully ripe, sound fruits for good flavor and attractive color to make the most satisfying products. All fruits need to be washed in cold water, a small quantity at a time. Drain fruits thoroughly. Small fruits and berries can be frozen whole. Large fruits are usually halved or sliced. Most fruits and berries can also be frozen crushed or as a puree for use as fruit toppings. Most fruits have a better texture and flavor if they are packed in sugar or syrup. Some can be packed without sweetening. Fruits packed in syrup are generally good for dessert use; those packed in sugar or unsweetened are best for use in cooking.
FREEZING VEGETABLES: Fresh, tender vegetables right from the garden are best for freezing. The fresher the vegetables when frozen, the more satisfactory your product. As soon as possible after the vegetables have been picked, wash them thoroughly in cold water and sort according to size. Peel, trim and cut into pieces desired. Heat or blanch to stop or slow enzyme action. Use at least one gallon of boiling water for each pound of prepared vegetables. Put the vegetables in a wire basket and lower into boiling water. Start counting time immediately. After vegetables are blanched, cool them quickly and thoroughly to stop the cooking. Plunge them immediately into a large quantity of cold water. When the vegetables are cooled, remove from water and drain. Pack into freezer containers and place in freezer.
|
7. Canning Answers
By Cindy Brison, UNL Extension Educator
Your local county extension office can offer a wealth of information about canning. However, you are not always canning when the office is open. To get many of your questions answered, you may go online to the North Dakota Extension web site.
If you want specific directions on canning fruits, vegetables, meats, or jams go to the Ball-Kerr web site.
|
8. Dehydrating Herbs for Winter Storage
By Nancy Urbanec, UNL Extension Associate
The first frost sends chills through many gardeners' minds. They have been working hard all summer to cultivate a wonderful garden, and it could be wiped out in one evening.
One way to preserve your garden's bounty is to dehydrate fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Dehydration can be done in your microwave, your oven, and in a dehydrator. When using your food dehydrator, follow manufacturer's directions.
Follow your microwave oven manufacturer's instructions for herbs. Generally, you can use a microwave safe plate (not paper), and microwave safe paper towels. Wash herbs thoroughly under cold running water, then pat dry. Place one piece of paper towel (not recycled) on the plate. Place a single layer of herbs on the top. Cover with the other piece of paper towel. Place in the microwave on full power for 90 seconds for a 600-700 watt microwave. Check herbs and stir. Continue to heat for 30 seconds intervals until herbs are dry. When completely dry, store the herbs in an airtight container. A plastic storage bag or plastic containers work great.
You can also dry herbs in your oven. As with the microwave, first wash and pat herbs dry. Place them on a rack, where air can circulate, and place them in the oven. Turn the oven on low. Open the oven- as if you were broiling. Place a small fan to blow across the opening in the oven. This will draw the moisture out of your oven. This will take longer than the dehydrator and the microwave, but will heat up your house on a cool fall day!
Remember these points when dehydrating no matter what device you choose to use:
- Keep all pieces uniform in size, so everything dries at the same rate.
- Some items need to be pre-treated before dehydrating, so follow instructions for each individual herb. However, most herbs just need to be washed and patted dry with a paper towel
- Store dehydrated items in an airtight container for best storage quality.
|
9. Drying Vegetables
By Alice Henneman, UNL Extension Educator, and
Nancy Malone, UNL Extension Assistant
Drying is one method for preserving vegetables. Dried vegetables are frequently used in soups and stews. Drying removes the moisture from the vegetables so that bacteria, yeasts and molds cannot grow and spoil them. It also slows down the action of enzymes, but does not inactivate them. Because drying removes moisture, the vegetable becomes smaller and lighter in weight. The optimum temperature for drying vegetables is 140° F. If higher temperatures are used the vegetables may "case harden", meaning to cook and harden on the outside while trapping moisture on the inside. These vegetables will eventually mold when the moisture equilibrates in the item. Thus, the drying process should never be hurried by raising the drying temperature.
Continued...
Drying Vegetables
|
10.
Planting for Fall Vegetables
By Dale Lindgren, UNL Horticulture Specialist
Though often overlooked by the gardener, planting vegetables in July and August for fall production is an excellent practice. Late plantings of cool- and warm-season vegetables can extend the harvest long after spring-planted crops have ceased production. Most cool-season vegetables grow as well as or better than those planted in the spring as they mature during shorter, cooler days. Flavors of vegetables maturing in the cool, crisp days of autumn are often sweeter and milder than those grown during hot summer weather. This is especially true for cole crops such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and kale. Plants such as lettuce and spinach which tend to bolt (develop flower stalks) in late spring, stay productive due to the shorter day lengths. For those who love to garden, extending the harvest as long as possible helps ward off the dreariness of cloudy autumn days.
For more information,
Fall Vegetable Gardening
|
|
|
|
