{"id":1583,"date":"2011-08-20T03:00:35","date_gmt":"2011-08-20T07:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=1583"},"modified":"2011-08-20T03:00:35","modified_gmt":"2011-08-20T07:00:35","slug":"squash-rotting-canning-sugar-pears-and-european-canning-jars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2011\/08\/20\/squash-rotting-canning-sugar-pears-and-european-canning-jars\/","title":{"rendered":"Squash rotting, Canning sugar pears, and European canning jars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Squash rotting<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0We planted Blue Hubbard squash this year (1st time), and while the plants have a fairly decent yield, there are many (a lot!) of squashes that fail to mature. Some are quite small before they turn yellow and rot, but some have gotten to the size of a baseball and then gave up the ghost. The watering has been relatively even, so we are at a loss to figure out what’s happening to our squash. It’s obviously lacking something, but we don’t know what.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Deb in New Hampshire<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Usually the cause of young squash rotting on the vine is overwatering. Squash are quite happy with less water than many other vine crops, such as melons and cucumbers. Try reducing the amount of water your squash receive and see if that doesn’t increase the amount of squash that go on to mature for you. — Jackie<\/p>\n

\u00a0Canning sugar pears<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0I have a lot of sugar pears ripening on the tree and would like to can them. But I know they’ll likely fall apart if I halve them. Is it okay to can them peeled and left whole? Will the seeds cause them to spoil?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Mike Sullivan<\/em><\/p>\n

Clayton, Illinois<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0You can home can your sugar pears. Mom did lots from her tree every year, peeled and seeded. They didn’t fall apart. Just pick them a tad bit green, if you can. No, the seeds won’t cause them to spoil. If you want to, you can wash and can the pears whole, much as you do some plums. Be sure to scout them over for bruises or other defects, as these could affect them during storage in the jars. — Jackie<\/p>\n

\u00a0European canning jars<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0What are your thoughts on the European canning jars such as Leifheit, Bormioli, Parfait and Weck? They use the rubber gasket system. They all look lovely and pretty, but that doesn’t get you very far when you’re trying to be self sufficient. I’ve read about 50\/50 reviews on these items, but as you are my canning “guru,” I’d appreciate your view point.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Andrea Del Gardo<\/em><\/p>\n

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0I agree; those European canning jars DO look beautiful. But they are not good choices for a self-reliant lifestyle or safe canning of anything except jams, preserves, jellies, and pickles. You can’t tell if the jars are truly sealed as the lid doesn’t suck in, as it does with the modern two-piece lids such as Tattler re-usable lids and Ball metal lids. If you can’t tell if the jars are sealed, you could easily have one that did not seal. — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Squash rotting \u00a0We planted Blue Hubbard squash this year (1st time), and while the plants have a fairly decent yield, there are many (a lot!) of squashes that fail to mature. Some are quite small before they turn yellow and rot, but some have gotten to the size of a baseball and then gave up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}