{"id":2397,"date":"2012-07-18T03:00:41","date_gmt":"2012-07-18T07:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=2397"},"modified":"2012-07-18T03:00:41","modified_gmt":"2012-07-18T07:00:41","slug":"q-and-a-preserving-figs-and-blossom-end-rot-on-tomatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2012\/07\/18\/q-and-a-preserving-figs-and-blossom-end-rot-on-tomatoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Q and A: preserving figs and blossom end rot on tomatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Preserving figs<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have so many figs this year. I have canned figs, made fig jam, preserves, conserve, and strawberry fig jam. I am going to do some raspberry fig jam. Maybe you have something else I can try, at least something new to me.<\/em><\/p>\n

Joyce Pierce<\/em>
\nGreenville, Alabama<\/em><\/p>\n

You could slice and dehydrate them for later use in baked goods or try this pickled fig recipe I found in one of my favorite old pickle books:<\/p>\n

Louisiana Pickled Figs:<\/p>\n

5 quarts figs
\n1 quart water
\n3 pints sugar
\n1 pint vinegar<\/p>\n

Spice bag:
\n1 Tbsp. cinnamon
\n1 Tbsp. cloves
\n1 tsp. allspice
\n1 tsp. mace<\/p>\n

Select firm, ripe figs and scald with a soda solution made up of 1 cup baking soda to 6 quarts boiling water. Drain and rinse. Cook figs until tender in 1 quart water and 1 pint sugar. When figs are tender, add remaining 2 pints sugar, vinegar, spice bag and cook until figs are clear and transparent. If syrup is not thick remove figs and continue boiling until it is almost as thick as a preserve syrup. Allow figs to stand in this syrup overnight. On the following morning, pack fruit into jars, cover with syrup that has been heated to boiling, leaving 1\/2 inch of headspace. Process in a water bath for 15 minutes. Be sure to remember to consult your canning book if you live at 1,000 feet or above to find directions on increasing your processing time to suit your altitude if necessary. I hope you enjoy this old recipe! — Jackie<\/p>\n

Blossom end rot<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am having a huge problem with blossom end rot on my tomatoes (but not on my squash). When I planted them I put crushed egg shells in the hole, and when I started seeing the problem I limed some plants and Epsom salted others to see which worked better. Well, its been over a month and neither has worked and I’m losing a lot of tomatoes. I have been watering pretty regular, though I know they are not getting as much as they would like. Were in a drought right now and I don’t want to drain the pond down too much. All of the info that I have found regarding blossom end rot has suggested doing what I have already done. What do you think that I should do for my problem this season and seasons to come? <\/em><\/p>\n

Staci Hill<\/em>
\nMurfreesboro, Akansas<\/em><\/p>\n

Squash can handle less water better than tomatoes do. I’d concentrate on getting more water directly to the tomato roots, then use a deep mulch, such as weed-free straw, to hold that precious moisture there as long as possible. With the calcium you’ve already added I don’t think that’s the trouble, rather that the plants are water-stressed and are not using the calcium like they should. This drought is hurting a lot of folks nationwide. We’ll all pray for relief. — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preserving figs We have so many figs this year. I have canned figs, made fig jam, preserves, conserve, and strawberry fig jam. I am going to do some raspberry fig jam. Maybe you have something else I can try, at least something new to me. Joyce Pierce Greenville, Alabama You could slice and dehydrate them […]<\/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\/2397"}],"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=2397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}