Micro-Farming Thread

[CropDuster507]

Hey guys,

This is off-brand, but I started a micro-farm (because gardening sounds soft as hell) this spring/summer. Growing a couple different tomato varieties, as well as some bell peppers and chiles of different sorts. Mostly jalapeños have popped off.

I'm real dumb on this, and have just been researching as I've went. At the end of the day, it ain't THAT difficult. Sun + Water = Plant.
But, does anyone have good ideas/recipes for what to can from this? I'm also gonna be getting some sweet corn from a local program that I'll be adding to things when the rest are ready to harvest. What's your favorite thing to harvest, come fall?

It's the off-season. At least I didn't start a thread about my experimental beer brewing lol.

 

[nittinsc]

I've been micro-farming the top of my head for years now and still having problems getting anything to grow.

 

[nerfstate]

Homemade salsa is pretty easy to make and can. Nothing wrong w/ canning tomatoes too--lots you can do w/ that. Canning is kind of a PIA, but ultimately worth it if you can spare the time, and endure the hot kitchen.

 

[nittinsc]

Homemade salsa is pretty easy to make and can. Nothing wrong w/ canning tomatoes too--lots you can do w/ that. Canning is kind of a PIA, but ultimately worth it if you can spare the time, and endure the hot kitchen.

I've made salsa before and it's not too difficult. I never bothered canning salsa; fresh-made will keep a good while in the fridge as long as it is fairly acidic. Instead of canning tomatoes, I usually cook them down to a sauce and freeze that in plastic milk cartons. It does help to have at least a small chest freezer.

Growing tomatoes here in SC can be a challenge due to high heat which causes blossom drop, low soil calcium which causes end rot, and nematodes which infect and essentially kill tomatoes. I've gone to containers using large landscaper pots for growing peppers and tomatoes.

 

[TangSoo]

Not sure how strong her hula hoop game is, but this is a nice, simple sauce. Don't forget the fresh basil.

 

[a_mshaffer]

yes, reduce the tomatoes to sauce and freeze!

 

[WEAREPSU_LI]

I'm amused that you have to call it micro farming, but to each their own.

I am currently growing the following: Muncher Cucumbers, Black Cherry Tomatoes, Scotch Bonnets, Anaheim Chiles, Jenny Golden Melons, Thai basil, green beans and Kohlrabi.

 

[CropDuster507]

Ya’ll are killing it. This is exactly what I’m here to learn.

 

[nittinsc]

A++ to the kohlrabi! That needs to be planted in February here.

 

[nerfstate]

yes, reduce the tomatoes to sauce and freeze!

To expound on this a little, @CropDuster507 if you get serious about your preservation of tomatoes and their wonderful array of sauces, you may want to acquire a food mill like this:

Food Mill

Smoothly grinds chunky foods into purees, sauces and more

www.oxo.com

Gets rid of the skins and most of the seeds without breaking a sweat.

 

[nittinsc]

To expound on this a little, @CropDuster507 if you get serious about your preservation of tomatoes and their wonderful array of sauces, you may want to acquire a food mill like this:

Food Mill

Smoothly grinds chunky foods into purees, sauces and more

www.oxo.com

Gets rid of the skins and most of the seeds without breaking a sweat.

Yes sir, I have a very old model, Foley 101 I think, and it really does a good job making a nice puree. One of those gadgets that you don't use that often, but well worth it. You can find them on EBay for about $25.

 

[WEAREPSU_LI]

I forgot I already harvested cabbages and broccoli!

Below is a picture from early July of my garden with my twins anonymized and my nittany lion showing you all my compost is #1

 

[Dogwelder]

I'm amused that you have to call it micro farming, …

Is that the same as home industrial nano factory amateur agribusiness?

 

[CropDuster507]

I forgot I already harvested cabbages and broccoli!

Below is a picture from early July of my garden with my twins anonymized and my nittany lion showing you all my compost is #1

Cool setup!

 

[baccafarmer]

Hey guys,

This is off-brand, but I started a micro-farm (because gardening sounds soft as hell) this spring/summer. Growing a couple different tomato varieties, as well as some bell peppers and chiles of different sorts. .....

Don’t get too excited. Don’t do it if you
think of it as work. I traded a career in Pharma for small scale farming in 2005. While we make (or as often lose) money on Angus, Herford, Goats, and sheep .... we dabble heavily with heirloom tomatoes, Lettuce, Spinach, peppers, and bok Choi. These crops don’t make any real money either. In the end I just have a little retirement fun with it all. Making various sauces and selling heirloom tomatoes off a hippie styled cart down by one of the barns has been entertaining. I keep a chalk board where customers can make special requests or post political commentary. We use an “honor box”, but, sometimes the customers need their money more than I do.

 

[El-Jefe]

To expound on this a little, @CropDuster507 if you get serious about your preservation of tomatoes and their wonderful array of sauces, you may want to acquire a food mill like this:

Food Mill

Smoothly grinds chunky foods into purees, sauces and more

www.oxo.com

Gets rid of the skins and most of the seeds without breaking a sweat.

Isn't that what freshmen are for?

 

[PAgeologist]

I agree with the salsa idea. You can freeze fresh salsa. Personally I think it's better than the cooked and canned variety.

If you have an abundance of jalapenos, make some homemade poppers. My friend gave me a boatload last year and I made 4 gallons of bite size ones. Easy and delicious, but time consuming.

 

[amattaro]

Hey guys,

This is off-brand, but I started a micro-farm (because gardening sounds soft as hell) this spring/summer. Growing a couple different tomato varieties, as well as some bell peppers and chiles of different sorts. Mostly jalapeños have popped off.

I'm real dumb on this, and have just been researching as I've went. At the end of the day, it ain't THAT difficult. Sun + Water = Plant.
But, does anyone have good ideas/recipes for what to can from this? I'm also gonna be getting some sweet corn from a local program that I'll be adding to things when the rest are ready to harvest. What's your favorite thing to harvest, come fall?

It's the off-season. At least I didn't start a thread about my experimental beer brewing lol.

I’m surprised you haven’t engaged in any crop dusting, CropDuster.

 

[El-Jefe]

Hey guys,

This is off-brand, but I started a micro-farm (because gardening sounds soft as hell) this spring/summer. Growing a couple different tomato varieties, as well as some bell peppers and chiles of different sorts. Mostly jalapeños have popped off.

I'm real dumb on this, and have just been researching as I've went. At the end of the day, it ain't THAT difficult. Sun + Water = Plant.
But, does anyone have good ideas/recipes for what to can from this? I'm also gonna be getting some sweet corn from a local program that I'll be adding to things when the rest are ready to harvest. What's your favorite thing to harvest, come fall?

It's the off-season. At least I didn't start a thread about my experimental beer brewing lol.

Bell peppers make great stuffed peppers. Stuff with ground beef or chorizo + rice, top with cheese, bake in tomato sauce.

Or cut the peppers into strips, freeze them, and use in cooking.

The eastern euros make a fantastic roasted red pepper + tomato spread -- lutenica. Spread it on toast, top with feta. Or use as a dip. Can probably do with orange or yellow peppers, wouldn't do with green.

My wife makes a great pasta sauce from roasted red peppers, garlic, and ricotta or cottage cheese. Whip it all together in a food processor. It can get a little thick, but then we thin it with pasta water to the desired consistency. Good in the fridge for a week, never seems to last that long. (Likewise works with orange or yellow, not as good with green.)

I've used both of these spreads/sauces as condiments elsewhere -- on top of steak or shrimp or salmon, in sandwiches or quesadillas, etc.

 

[SRATH]

I am not sure what you mean by a micro farm, but it sounds wonderful. We have dwarf apple trees. Will take 3 years after planting to really start to produce. One tree can make 5-20 lbs of apples and will require some sort of additional support and produce for 15-20 years. I love tinkering with them. Blueberry bushes are nice too. We had some on the property but planted Chandler, large tart blueberries. The original 6 trees produced 16 quarters of blueberries last year. This year the crop is down, but we will probably get 10 quarts.

We also planted asparagus. Once you plant it, it grows back for years. We have green and purple varieties. Same with green beans.....we have purple beans too but once cooked, like purple asparagus, it turns green. Home grown green beans. I think we had 50 lbs last year. Froze most of them but this year there are canning supplies available and Mrs SRATH is going to try canning. Saves freezer space for meat. Yeah we grow tomatoes, peppers, red beats, broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, onions and lettuce.

Finally, we bought grape juice from a local winery and made our own wine. Bordo wouldn't like it but when you are making a bottle of wine for under $3, flavoring it with blueberries or apples from your own property, it works at least for us.

Hard work for sure but so satisfying. This is our third summer. When I retire in 3 years, look out.

 

[El-Jefe]

Almost forgot -- if you're growing "other chilies," look up Pati Jinich's recipes. She's the resident chef at the Mexican Cultural Institute in DC, and has a PBS cooking show.

You might wind up using her recipes to choose which chilies to grow.

 

[Agoodnap]

I freeze, can, and de-hydrate some of my harvest. Cayenne peppers and other hot varieties work well in the de-hydrator. Just don't de-hydrate hot peppers inside your home or you'll be sorry.

 

[Reslo]

This year for summer harvest I planted Bibb lettuce, radishes, carrots, and Bell peppers. That was everything I needed for a decent salad (or, if that's too soft, let's call it a vitamin intake system). I'll be planting pumpkins and more radishes and lettuce for fall harvest next week.

Now, let's hear more about this experimental brewing...

 

[pawrestlersintn]

To expound on this a little, @CropDuster507 if you get serious about your preservation of tomatoes and their wonderful array of sauces, you may want to acquire a food mill like this:

Food Mill

Smoothly grinds chunky foods into purees, sauces and more

www.oxo.com

Gets rid of the skins and most of the seeds without breaking a sweat.

I am not sure what you mean by a micro farm, but it sounds wonderful. We have dwarf apple trees. Will take 3 years after planting to really start to produce. One tree can make 5-20 lbs of apples and will require some sort of additional support and produce for 15-20 years. I love tinkering with them. Blueberry bushes are nice too. We had some on the property but planted Chandler, large tart blueberries. The original 6 trees produced 16 quarters of blueberries last year. This year the crop is down, but we will probably get 10 quarts.

We also planted asparagus. Once you plant it, it grows back for years. We have green and purple varieties. Same with green beans.....we have purple beans too but once cooked, like purple asparagus, it turns green. Home grown green beans. I think we had 50 lbs last year. Froze most of them but this year there are canning supplies available and Mrs SRATH is going to try canning. Saves freezer space for meat. Yeah we grow tomatoes, peppers, red beats, broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, onions and lettuce.

Finally, we bought grape juice from a local winery and made our own wine. Bordo wouldn't like it but when you are making a bottle of wine for under $3, flavoring it with blueberries or apples from your own property, it works at least for us.

Hard work for sure but so satisfying. This is our third summer. When I retire in 3 years, look out.

My father in law planted a variety of blue berries, with varying ripening times, so that "blueberry season" lasts a long time at his house. I think I posted before, but if anyone wants a great blueberry custard recipe, let me know. It was one from my great grandmother, handeddown through the generations.

 

[nerfstate]

My father in law planted a variety of blue berries, with varying ripening times, so that "blueberry season" lasts a long time at his house. I think I posted before, but if anyone wants a great blueberry custard recipe, let me know. It was one from my great grandmother, handeddown through the generations.

Well, obviously.

 

[pointingdogsrule]

I do a lot of gardening (that doesn't mean that I am good). One of my favorites is "tangy spaghetti sauce". Best I have ever eaten. I live on this stuff. Can be used as a pizza sauce also.

Tangy Spaghetti Sauce for Canning Recipe - Food.com

This is a very mild spaghetti sauce. Thick and chunky just like we like it. I make this with the veggies from my garden. I have tired many different h

www.food.com

Easy to make and I freeze it in quart bags.

On a side note: different from Nerfstate.....
Amazon product ASIN B0000DDVMQ


I take off the handle and add a CAPPED NUT. Get out the 18 volt Milwaukee drill with a nut driver and process buckets of tomatoes in minutes with no effort. Note: I do 60 pints of salsa, along with chili sauce, tomato juice, and applesauce so it's worth the money spent on the "juicer".
Good luck.

 

[86PSUPaul]

I do a lot of gardening (that doesn't mean that I am good). One of my favorites is "tangy spaghetti sauce". Best I have ever eaten. I live on this stuff. Can be used as a pizza sauce also.

Tangy Spaghetti Sauce for Canning Recipe - Food.com

This is a very mild spaghetti sauce. Thick and chunky just like we like it. I make this with the veggies from my garden. I have tired many different h

www.food.com

Easy to make and I freeze it in quart bags.

On a side note: different from Nerfstate.....

View embedded media

I take off the handle and add a CAPPED NUT. Get out the 18 volt Milwaukee drill with a nut driver and process buckets of tomatoes in minutes with no effort. Note: I do 60 pints of salsa, along with chili sauce, tomato juice, and applesauce so it's worth the money spent on the "juicer".
Good luck.

I have a very similar set up! Works great for freezing.

 

[PSU Mike]

Only like 5 kinds (jalapeño, habanero, super chili, garden salsa, and cayenne) of peppers here 😢

 

[Agoodnap]

Here's a nice video on how to make a really good tomato sauce.

 

[CropDuster507]

I’m supposed to be getting a recipe for Bloody Mary mix from a club parent. Pretty excited to try that. Also gonna try wine in my brewing

I will definitely want some kind of processor. I’m not a huge chunk tomato kinda guy.

Lots of good info in here. Thanks for sharing!

 

[tikk10]

I'd not have expected of this wrestling board to splinter off into such a sizeable Better Homes & Garden wing, but here we are.

 

[SRATH]

My father in law planted a variety of blue berries, with varying ripening times, so that "blueberry season" lasts a long time at his house. I think I posted before, but if anyone wants a great blueberry custard recipe, let me know. It was one from my great grandmother, handeddown through the generations.

i'll take it. i normally eat frozen bb's but always looking for recipes.....thanks

 

[Dogwelder]

I'd not have expected of this wrestling board to splinter off into such a sizeable Better Homes & Garden wing, but here we are.

Wait until someone starts a thread to ask “I’m thinking about getting into bondage and light BDSM. What are the essential equipment? …”

 

[nittinsc]

Wait until someone starts a thread to ask “I’m thinking about getting into bondage and light BDSM. What are the essential equipment? …”

Why don't you tell us?

 

[El-Jefe]

Wait until someone starts a thread to ask “I’m thinking about getting into bondage and light BDSM. What are the essential equipment? …”

Are we talking about Iowa's 3 inch binder again?

 

[Fac]

I grow limes to keep the Mrs. happy. She drinks Corona.

 

[Fac]

Wait until someone starts a thread to ask “I’m thinking about getting into bondage and light BDSM. What are the essential equipment? …”

A willing female.

 

[CropDuster507]

Smut-peddlers.

 

[Dogwelder]

Smut-peddlers.

Says the “gardener”!

 

[CowboyUp61]

I freeze a lot of produce from my "micro farm". Hint-use a vacuum sealer to freeze-stuff lasts a lot longer with no freezer burn. Peppers, corn, peas, squash, carrots all freeze well.