Heating with compost
I am wondering if you have ever heard of heating your green/hoop house with your compost pile. I have read about it, and it makes sense to me. It could probably be used for heating a small structure like a hen house.
Barb Mundorff
North Royalton, Ohio
That’d work fine provided you buried your compost deeply so the roots didn’t suck up nutrients, chiefly nitrogen, from the compost. Will used too much compost in our hoop house we grow our peppers in and we have terrific, huge plants but very few peppers set on yet. Even we old-timers screw up sometimes! The heat would provide a few degrees of added warmth, but in cold climates, it wouldn’t be enough for winter use. — Jackie
Dehydrator
We are to the point of looking for a dehydrator. Through the years we have had several but one is catching my eye and I wanted to know if you can tell me anything about it. It is the L’Equip Deluxe Food Dehydrator in Emergency Essentials. I like its high capacity, commercial strength and controlled drying. I like to put it in and let it go and have one that shuts off itself.
Margie Buchwalter
Bowersville, Ohio, formerly Palmer, Alaska
I think the L’Equip dehydrator is very nice. I’d buy one in a heartbeat. Go for it and enjoy dehydrating. It’s addictive, just like canning! — Jackie
Picking peaches too early
I picked my peaches a little early to stay ahead of the deer and raccoons. Some were not quite ripe so I put them on papers on the back porch. A few of them have a hard, white, clear goo running down the sides. It looks like tree sap does. What caused that? Does it hurt the peach? They also have dark spotting on the skin. Is that just surface? I plan to use them for peach jam.
J from Missouri
It sounds like tree sap. Do the peaches have a stem left on them? If so, it’s probably from that. It won’t hurt the peach. Don’t let your peaches got too soft before making your jam. The dark spots may be the first signs of spoilage. If the peach flesh isn’t affected, no worries. If so, you’ll have to trim carefully so you don’t use the spoiled flesh in your jam. — Jackie
