{"id":2470,"date":"2012-08-10T03:00:54","date_gmt":"2012-08-10T07:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=2470"},"modified":"2012-08-10T03:00:54","modified_gmt":"2012-08-10T07:00:54","slug":"q-and-a-spaghetti-squash-trimming-tomato-vines-and-wrong-canning-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2012\/08\/10\/q-and-a-spaghetti-squash-trimming-tomato-vines-and-wrong-canning-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Q and A: Spaghetti squash, trimming tomato vines, and wrong canning time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spaghetti squash and trimming tomato vines<\/strong><\/p>\n

The spaghetti squash is beginning to turn yellow. When it is almost ready, can I pick it early and let it ripen in the house? Also, some varieties of my tomatoes are getting very tall (I have them woven through a 4’x16′ cattle panel). Could I trim some of the top branches soon, as those blossoms will not have time to produce tomatoes before the end of the season?<\/em><\/p>\n

Sandy Agostini<\/em>
\nNixa, Missouri<\/em><\/p>\n

Squash doesn’t like to ripen in the house like tomatoes and peppers do. When your spaghetti squash is yellow, bring it in. I really haven’t had much luck keeping it over a month or two inside but other folks report that theirs lasted a year or more!<\/p>\n

Yes, you can prune your tomatoes to drive the strength of the plant into the lower part where tomatoes are formed that will have a chance of ripening. I don’t bother and we still have tons of tomatoes, but if you only have a few plants you can sure do it. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Wrong canning time<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh my, I messed up BIG TIME…don’t know what I was thinking (guess I wasn’t). I am now a widow, and when I did 12 stuffed peppers (with hamburger mixture) and 12 jars of beef tips both done in jelly jars, I did them ONLY for 60 minutes! (Pressure canner). Should I empty containers and throw contents away as I did not do them the required 75 minutes? I am petrified that they were not done the right way.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bev Giroux<\/em>
\nOxford, Maine<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m about to get lynched! Okay, if it were me and this was a relatively recent happening, I’d gently open the jars and sniff the contents. If it smells okay and looks okay, I’d re-heat the contents to boiling temperature by steaming, boiling, or baking (depending on contents), then pack hot into hot jars and re-process with new lids for the correct time. I wouldn’t worry a bit but some experts will probably hang me from the nearest tree. I wouldn’t worry as re-canning them will again bring them to the correct internal temperature, effectively killing any and all pathogens and their toxins. It’s your choice, of course. If you feel uncomfortable about this, toss the food and chalk it up to experience. — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spaghetti squash and trimming tomato vines The spaghetti squash is beginning to turn yellow. When it is almost ready, can I pick it early and let it ripen in the house? Also, some varieties of my tomatoes are getting very tall (I have them woven through a 4’x16′ cattle panel). Could I trim some of […]<\/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\/2470"}],"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=2470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}