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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Monday, July 20, 2026 - 3:33 pm 
Carey is now calling herself a “canning geek”. 🙂 Just happened I was going to the grocery store and was actually there when she sends me a text she wants mini cucumbers and some fresh dill. Okay, no problem. Turns out she’s decided to try dill pickle spears. Bought enough, per her instructions, to just do six pints. Kind of an experiment since she’s never canned those before. And she forgot pickling spices but rather than send me back to the store Amazon came to rescue and those will be here tomorrow. I helped her slice up the cucumbers and they are in a brine bath for the next 24 hours.
As for “geeking” she now has plans for canning sliced peaches, peach butter, and peach jam. Of course she has plans, in no particular order, for apples, strawberries, and tomatoes. Each of which will be processed and canned into two or three versions. Meantime she is collecting various tools she wants to prep each. Amazon keeps coming through and lately something has arrived almost daily for the last week. 😳😀
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Monday, July 20, 2026 - 9:18 pm
Bwahahahaha!!! Oh, you newbie retirees are SO cute!
Oopsie, I have apparently missed this whole thread, since it was started when we were packing up to come home from South Padre Island in Jan. 2026.
But I also don't know anything about canning. Bigdog probably knows a lot, but I have never encouraged him to can, as we had to go see the world first.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Tuesday, July 21, 2026 - 5:52 am
Carey and I both come from families rooted in the traditional Midwest from Michigan to Missouri. Our parents were all Depression Era babies and children which means their parents, our grandparents, lived through and supported their families through the Depression. There weren’t the huge grocery chain stores of today back then plus few had the money to buy food.
Raising and preserving their own food was how most survived. While I’m old I’m not that old so I really didn’t experience that but my maternal grandmother never gave that up. My parents really never got into that way of life but my father was in military and we moved too much to have a garden or raise food animals and certainly no way to pack and move potentially hundreds of pounds of preserved foods. Carey’s parents on the other hand canned literally up to the day they passed away. Last time we saw Carey’s father alive he was just preparing their garden for spring planting but he passed six weeks later of a heart attack with her mother passing 83 days later. Today Carey’s sister cans and has for years and Carey is returning to canning. Probably a comfort thing and not a necessity.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Saturday, July 25, 2026 - 7:08 am
Well our road trip to get peaches kind of turned out to be a bust at least as far peaches are concerned. We had heard that this year’s crop was smaller and more limited due to a late freeze on St Patrick’s Day. “Smaller and limited” really should have been decimated. There were no local peaches available and many of the small peach stands were actually closed. We did stop at two places, both kind of “mom and pops” operations. Both businesses have been family owned and run since the early 1900’s. They are getting by but both were selling other produce like tomatoes, corn, onions, cucumbers, blackberries, etc., sourced from either their gardens or local farmers. Both stands also had a pretty good assortment of canned products like syrups, sauces, preserves, and so on. In fact at one place they were processing and canning in a back area. The fellow doing the canning was actually a direct descendent of the great grandfather who founded the business in 1926. We bought a few items at each place, one because they looked good and two because we wanted to provide some support.
The road trip was not all without some good besides our few purchases at the stands we were also in the middle of Texas wine country. Our route took us by one of our favorite wineries so we stopped there for a tasting and came home with a case of assorted wines. 🙂
As for peaches we did stop at our local and favorite grocery store on the way home. While not from the area north of San Antonio there were other orchards in Texas not hit by the late freeze so fresh peaches are available. Today we start the processing with peach butter first up. 🙂
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Wednesday, July 29, 2026 - 4:55 pm
Today was peach preserves. That actually was a two day process with peeling peaches…..a giant pain by the way but I was involved and did my share. Carey then processed them which means heating, making a syrup, and other steps I don’t know or understand. Those had to sit overnight to marinate or maybe season would be a better description. Today was finishing the canning process in the water bath and that’s all done.
A little break of a day or two and Carey wants to make a batch of her grandmother’s chili sauce. Not a biggie for me but I will help. The carrot on the stick for me will be homemade salsa maybe next week. I love a good salsa. 😬
Right now is the peak of locally grown produce and we’re trying to take advantage of that. Probably will take a break until late September or early October when Washington state apples start showing up here. Texas is not a big apple producer and I grew up with Washington apples.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Wednesday, July 29, 2026 - 9:54 pm
Our summer growing season is just coming on. The best blueberry and raspberry-picking seasons passed while we were on the recent 3-week Alaska cruise. Heirloom tomatoes are just beginning. Sweet corn is about two weeks out, per a local farm I called today.
We live in the raspberry capitol of the USA, and also have a LOT of blueberries.
Bigdog would have been gung ho on canning most all of our 53 years together, because his mother, born in 1905, canned almost all of her adult life, which lasted to age 111. But I always discouraged it, because I knew it would become an obsession, and I would rather have traveled the world, which we did. Bigdog tends to fetish on things. He would not have been capable of dabbling in canning. He would have had to think about better ways to can all day every day, until the top of my head blew off about five years in.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Friday, July 31, 2026 - 6:46 am
Have to smile about Bigdog and potential canning obsession. I think I’m living that life. 😱😳🙂 We went to the grocery store yesterday and bought tomatoes, etc., for Carey’s chili sauce which we’re making today. While we were in the produce area Carey commented several times “I can can that”. Then she’s in the regular grocery isles and picking up a jar of this or that and saying “this cost such and such and I can buy the produce and do it for a lot less”. I keep reminding her parents, grandparents, and others lived in farming communities. They raised much of what they canned in garden plots or traded what they raised with others for something they didn’t grow themselves. At one time her father owned a small HVAC company. He’d often work on systems where the client didn’t have a lot of money. He had to be paid for the cost of parts, etc., but he’d sometimes trade off his labor for several flats of this or a bushel or more of that. Carey remembers one year or more they never bought eggs because her father was getting paid in eggs from a small chicken farmer.
As for mentioning berries and the Pacific Northwest that reminded me of my two day career as a berry picker. At least back in the 60’s when I was in junior high school (middle school today) there were not and maybe still aren’t machines to pick the various berry crops. It was all done by hand by a mixture of migrant workers, gypsies, and a few junior/senior high school kids. Talk about hard work! Convinced me I was going to college. 😬
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Friday, July 31, 2026 - 10:13 pm
(((Hugs, Mack))) Try not to get to the top of your head blowing off stage.
There are indeed now raspberry picking machines, so presumably blueberries as well. Which reminds me, we are coming to the end of the raspberry picking season, so we should probably get to the berry fields before the end of the season.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Saturday, August 01, 2026 - 5:21 am
The chili sauce is all canned, cooled, labeled, and ready for me to put them in our makeshift storage. By makeshift I mean we’re using the cupboards above our washing machine and dryer but Carey eventually wants to move the canned goods to the pantry. We’ve already freed up maybe 15 to 20% of the pantry space by getting rid of our hosting equipment. When we were both working and were division chiefs we’d host things like Christmas parties, beginning and end of summer parties, and occasional smaller dinners. Obviously we’re both retired now and so our most of our old staffs so we haven’t hosted a party in years.
As for our next canning session right now it is a salsa maybe next weekend. Carey has said that will be it until fresh Washington apples become available. There are some early crop now but I suspect a lot of what we have locally are refrigerated from last year.
Of course I’m not totally sure we’ll have a break as Carey has been flipping through the canning books she’s acquired and quite a stack of handwritten recipes from her mother, grandmothers, and other assorted relatives. Who knows…….😳😬
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Saturday, August 01, 2026 - 10:10 pm
You're a good egg, Mack! Good thing you've already traveled most of the world and can now lean heavily into home arts.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Sunday, August 02, 2026 - 5:04 am
Not done traveling yet. Off to the South Pacific in January. Not much canning to do in the middle of the winter….I hope. 😬🤞
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Sunday, August 02, 2026 - 10:55 pm
But what if something comes into season while you are gone, Mack?
I hope you are going to Bora Bora, which the large cruise ships no longer seem to go to. But I think you sail the smaller ships, Regence or the other one whose name eludes my mind right now. And, IF you are going to Bora Bora, I hope Patrick is still doing his tours. Patrick's tour is a MUST-do on Bora Bora. We have been FOUR TIMES!! Just Google Patrick Bora Bora. You will never ever regret being on a Patrick Bora Bora excursion.
Patrick was both the priest in a challenge AND the ending greeter with Phil at the finish line when Amazing Race went to Bora Bora, AFTER our fourth visit to Bora Bora. He is THAT good, and famous. And humble, all at the same time. I want to go the heaven where Patrick is going.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Tuesday, August 04, 2026 - 4:53 pm
OMG! Carey, the Canning Geek, has decided to make our own sweet relish! I thought we had a break after salsa this coming weekend but somehow sweet relish snuck into the plans. Oh me…..😳😱😬
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Tuesday, August 04, 2026 - 9:51 pm
I don't know whether to laugh or cry, because I have SO been there, Mack. Welcome to retirement. Although, I guess I went through some of it in San Francisco before we retired, and Bigdog only had a part-time job and decided he should make home-made bread. And he was TERRIBLE at it, and we couldn't go anywhere on weekends because he had to tend the biga or do this or that. We threw out so much bad bread into the tiny back yard for the birds to eat, that the raccoons started coming up the back steps to get the bread first. At which time the top of my head finally blew off, and my mantra became: "We LIVE in a BREAD TOWN. We do NOT NEED to make our own bread!"
Aaaaiiiieeeeeee! <runs screaming from room>
We are still married, however, and reached our 51st wedding anniversary while on the recent 3 week Alaska cruise in July.
There is a sequel to the above bread story, but I will save it for Mack's upcoming pickled zucchini rant.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Wednesday, August 05, 2026 - 6:05 am
All I can say for certain right now is zucchini will not be a project. Neither of us likes it that much. 😬
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Saturday, August 08, 2026 - 5:22 am
No canning this weekend. Carey has a blocked tear duct and her eye is all swollen. She did go to the doctor yesterday and it already seems to be resolving itself. Not canning the salsa this weekend is not a big issue as the recipe calls for roma tomatoes which are very easy to get here.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Saturday, August 08, 2026 - 10:07 pm
Slackers!
And yes, we love when we can get still sort of good Roma tomatoes all winter when we spend winters in South Padre Island, TX.
Our local tomato season just started here and goes until about mid-October. Mack, if you can get heirloom tomatoes, like at Farmer's Markets, look for Brandywines, or Berkeley tie-dies (both in the pink tomato family) or Green Zebras. I am a super-taster (which is now an officially acknowledged medical phenomenon, hallelujah, Google it.) who grew up on Illinois red tomatoes from our backyard. I love real, fresh tomatoes.
Car54, I know you are still lurking here if you are still alive! Can you give a girl a hand with the heavy lifting? Car54 also grew up in Illinois and loves real tomatoes as much as I do.
Anyway, Mach, try the heirlooms, the funny-colored tomatoes, if you can get them in Texas, and can some if you can get them and like them.
Sympathies to Carey, and hope she can get back to canning soon. It is likely too hot to go outside right now where you live anyway, so might as well keep canning.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Sunday, August 09, 2026 - 5:38 am
We like all sorts of tomatoes and even raise a few ourselves at home. Our season here is well over but we’re hoping to get a second/late season crop once the weather cools off. Tomatoes generally will not set fruit once the constant temperature reaches 85F. Doesn’t help that we raise the in containers so the plants don’t get the natural cooling like being in the ground.
We do like heirlooms but as large as the produce section is with our local HEB grocery stores heirlooms are a hit or miss. We get them when they have them but it’s not frequent for some reason. As I have mentioned before small producers, sometimes called truck farming, are not big in this part of Texas. Truth is very little garden type produce comes from this part of south central Texas probably because of the heat, lack of water, and poor soils.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Sunday, August 09, 2026 - 6:11 am
Mack, thanks for the info about it being to hot for tomatoes not setting fruit over 85°. That's what's wrong with mine. Dont know the problem with my zucchinis. They've flowered all summer long, but no fruit.
The only seeds I had for tomatoes when I started them indoors were burpee sandwich. I never got a chance to start my gourmet tomato seeds. Next year. But the ones I have taste like run of the mill store bought ones. At least they won't make give me explosive diarrhea. 
I do have one plant called Aunt Lou's underground rail road. Those tomatoes are taking forever to turn red. I can't wait to try them.
And all I've gotten from my 3 cucumber plants are 2 cucumbers so far.
Not a good garden year, but it was a new permanent garden bed and I didn't have time to prepare it. The weather was extremely non cooperating this year. We actually had a frost the day after mother's day. That never happens! Then it kept raining on my days off. And I was extremely worn out after going back to work.
But there's always next year. And I am hoping to start some bush beans and lettuce tomorrow or Tuesday. We shall see.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Sunday, August 09, 2026 - 7:42 am
There are some variants of tomato plants that are supposedly more heat tolerant. I did try one of those two years ago without much luck. Of course that was a particularly brutal summer with some almost 60 days in a row of 100F+ temperatures and it started in May which is kind of the peak of the early tomato season here. Not much of anything grows with those high temps.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Sunday, August 09, 2026 - 9:55 pm
Thanks for tomato-talking with me, Grooch and Mack, all of us from three very different time and geographic zones.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Monday, August 10, 2026 - 3:21 am
YW, Juju.
I just wanted to add that Brandywines are my favorite tomatoes, too.
And that the last frost we had this year was right after Memorial Day, not Mother's Day. A 3 week difference this year.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Monday, August 10, 2026 - 5:43 am
Our crop of a Burpee variant this last May was some of the best tomatoes we’ve raised. What passes for our spring here was almost perfect with cooler temperatures and a fair amount of rain. The plants are still alive and actually looking pretty good. While it has been pretty warm here….it is south central Texas….we’ve only had a few 100F days so they haven’t burnt up. I’ve kept the plants watered and feed and we’ve hoping if I can get them to hold on another month or so we actually might get a second crop out of them.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Monday, August 10, 2026 - 8:41 pm
Grooch, if your favorite tomatoes are Brandywines, then Berkeley Tie-dyes are tie with green zebras for next best tasting tomatoes. But Brandywines seem to be too difficult to grow in our climate, and our local farmers have quit growing them.
I almost wept today, when I went out to the closest farm to my house, and their farm-stand had four Berkeley tie-dyes and ONE tiny green zebra, and I bought them all.
But, Yay!!!
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Tuesday, August 11, 2026 - 5:08 am
Juju, my mother and I have grown green tomatoes and striped ones in the past. I'd get frustrated trying to figure out when they were ripe to pick. So, I will have to pass on the one you recommended. But I am very happy you found some. Luckily for me, Brandywines grow wonderfully where I live. Circumstances just didn't work out for me this year. But I do have the seeds already, and everyone should know that tomato seeds are nearly indestructible, so they will still be fine for next year.
In fact, I can't remember which major storm it was that had major flooding with salt water. Well, that storm dispersed tomato seeds from everyone's tomato gardens and everyone had tomato plants that they hadn't planted in their yards. Even yards that had been flooded by the bays. It was even in the newspapers about it.
Long live the tiny but mighty tomato seed!
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