Month: August 2026

Garden Update August 10, 2026

The garden is changing as August arrives. We can now anticipate when we need to set aside time to pick and can produce. By August, it’s just too hot to keep up with radishes. The lettuce just gives up and gets bitter. The cucumbers have outdone themselves and the tomatoes ripening quickly. I’m now down to just one box of pint jars and Bert is going to pick up two more boxes so we can finish the season.

Just as I’m thinking we’re almost done…my neighbor brought me two large bags of commercially-frozen strawberries. I was just thinking they could be made into Jam! I have lots of ½ pint jars; I have several boxes of Sure-jell. Why not!

At the moment, we’re focused on using our latest picking of tomatoes. We’ll get a bunch of hamburger and onions and make a big pot of chili. We will pressure can the jars and have easy meals all winter! I’ve already made pizza sauce and just plain canned tomatoes so I don’t need those this year. Here’s the latest pile of tomatoes…with more to come! Yesterday we canned 12 pints of pickle relish and we still picked more cucumbers! Crazy!

So, let’s tour the garden today.

The petunias are going strong but after the rain storms, they look beat down.

The spearmint is growing tall but we haven’t seen any flowers at all.

In the planter on the patio, I’ve planted some old beet seeds. I wasn’t sure what would happen! We’ll wait and watch to see if they actually make beets!

The planter that held lettuce and radishes now has beets and spinach…also old seeds. I can start adding a few leaves of spinach to my salads! The center section had lettuce that I cut off. We did not pull the roots and it continued to grow! However, the lettuce is very bitter so we’ll save it for a friend who has rabbits.

In the bed off the patio, the row of carrots is looking good. Always a waiting game to see if carrots will develop properly.

The asparagus continues to just be there. It’s hard to get a picture of them because their green tops blend into the hillside behind them.

The pumpkin patch is looking impressive. We’ll wait to see how many pumpkins survive roving critters, but so far the fence has kept the groundhogs out.

Of course, there are one or two that insist on growing outside the fence!

Up on the hill, the tomato plants look like they’ve had it. However, the tomatoes are ripening quickly.

This row had beans. We’ll leave it empty now. Actually, the extra space makes it easier to pick tomatoes!

Here is the second planting of beans. They grow fast in this hot, wet weather!

I’m not optimistic that the carrots will produce much! Luckily, we have that section down by the patio that seems to be doing well!

The cucumbers have outdone themselves! I have a few just to eat and that’s fine. The wandering voles have managed to take little bites out of most of them and at this point I don’t care!

And finally, the echinacea is still pretty, but the seeds are falling and the seed heads are turning black. Let’s us know fall is on the way!

We’ve had plenty of rain this summer and no serious plant diseases to worry about. I marvel at how fast the summer is going. If I get depressed about it, I can just check out my pantry and admire all the beautiful jars!

If you have comments or questions, please email me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com. Thanks!

Canning Pickles and Green Beans

When my kitchen counter starts to look like this, I know it’s time to consider pulling out the canner!

About the only thing I do with cucumbers is eat them! This year Bert suggested we try Bread & Butter pickles. The cucumbers are still producing, so next week I think I’ll make a batch of pickle relish…that we will use!

Bread & Butter Pickles

I found a recipe in my canning book:

Then we found packets of the seasoning in my supplies. We followed the recipe above and used the packets for the spices.

First, we chose some of the smaller cucumbers so we could slice them into rounds 1/4″ thick.

Bert chopped the onion.

We sprinkled the pickling salt over the chopped pieces and put lots of ice on top. We let it sit for about 2 hours.

The vinegar, sugar and spices were added to a large pot and brought to a boil. The cucumbers and onions were rinsed and drained several times and added to the pot.

Once this boiled, the mixture was spooned into hot jars, topped with hot vinegar mixture and sealed with a lid and ring.

The jars were placed in our big canner and covered with boiling water. They boiled for 10 minutes.

Within minutes of being removed from the canner, the jars all sealed. We have no idea how they will taste…they have to ‘cure’ for about 4-6 weeks on the shelf!

This is our canner set up. The canner is too big to put on our ceramic-top stove and is larger than the burner. We had to find another way to heat up the canner out in the garage. So…we have a canning party while things need to be monitored! (Actually, Bert monitors the canner while I clean up the kitchen!)

Canning Green Beans

Once we start the canning process it’s just easier to spend several days in a row canning what’s ready. While we’ve had quite a haul of green and yellow beans from the garden, the green beans did not do well. So, I went to the Amish Farmer’s Market nearby and picked up a box of green beans that weighed about 10 pounds for $20. (The green beans were selling for $2.25/pound, so I got a good deal!) The best thing was they were all about the same size and very blemish-free! All I had to do was ‘snap’ them…that took half a day!

I separated the snapped beans into 3 bowls and washed them well. Then they went into a big pot (one batch at a time) with water to boil for 5 minutes. That really made them easier to handle and they fit better into the jars.

I got the jars ready and put 1/2 tsp of pickling salt into each jar. The canner holds 19 pint jars.

Each filled jar was topped with hot water and sealed. They were put into the canner (with the appropriate amount of water for pressure canning) and processed for 20 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.

The 19 jars are beautiful and ready for the pantry shelf! They will be tasty in the winter!

Of course, the cucumbers continue to produce so I expect I’ll be grinding up a bunch to make pickle relish next week. We’ll also have a new batch of beans from the second planting. My back is grateful for a rest from bending over to pick them! And so…the 2026 garden continues!

If you have comments or questions, please contact me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com