{"id":3417,"date":"2013-08-03T03:00:16","date_gmt":"2013-08-03T07:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=3417"},"modified":"2013-08-03T03:00:16","modified_gmt":"2013-08-03T07:00:16","slug":"q-and-a-canning-caramels-and-blight-on-tomatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2013\/08\/03\/q-and-a-canning-caramels-and-blight-on-tomatoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Q and A: canning caramels and blight on tomatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canning caramel<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have checked the archives and your canning book, but still wondering about canning caramel, not caramel sauce. My husband found a great deal just after the holidays ($2 for 5lbs, we ended up with 20lbs) and it has been fine in the plastic bags that it was sold in. However, just started thinking it might be good to cube it up, put in wide mouth pints and water bath it? Just wondering if you have ever done that, or what your thoughts are? I am thinking probably 10-15m for canning time. Also just finished using your recipes for canning blackberry preserves and hot packing cherries. Now I am on to corn, that I got for dozen\/$1… not free, but still not bad deal. Thanks for all the great info, and the pork is still tasting delicious!<\/em><\/p>\n

Lisa Basso<\/em>
\nSt Paul, Minnesota<\/em><\/p>\n

If you keep your caramel in its original bags, placed in a dark, airtight container, it’ll keep well for decades. I have canned caramel sauce but never caramels. I’m afraid if you canned the caramels they would be a big solid blob in the jars that would be hard to get out. It sounds like you’ve been busy! So far I’ve only done blueberry jam but everything is coming on at once so I’ll soon be hopping! I’m glad you like the pork. We just had seven baby pigs so we’ll be having more, come winter! — Jackie<\/p>\n

Blight on tomatoes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you have any suggestions to deal with blight on tomato plants. There are a few of us in WI dealing with this. Our friends have it so bad. Is there something they can do to the soil to prepare for next year? He had heard about spraying bleach on the soil this fall. So far I have been picking off the affected leaves.<\/em><\/p>\n

I think the beavers need to rethink the weather lately. Yes it is dry but not extremely hot as it has been. They will probably laugh it off and build for the winter!<\/em><\/p>\n

Cindy Hills<\/em>
\nWild Rose, Wisconsin<\/em><\/p>\n

It sounds like you have early blight in your tomatoes which is not as horrible as late blight that turns your plants to black mush in short order. Early blight is easier to deal with and live with. First off, try to get as much air circulation through your plants as possible by either caging and staking them to get them off of the ground and\/or pruning some branches on the lower part to help air flow through the plant. Often the spores of the fungus lay on the ground and when the garden is watered with a sprinkler or the rain, the spores bounce up onto the branches and leaves. Using a soaker or drip hose to water helps a lot. Also, a deep mulch under and around the tomatoes keeps rain from bouncing spores onto the plants. If you plant your tomatoes in one long row instead of a patch, air flow is increased. If you are not adverse to using chemicals in your garden as a last resort, spraying Ortho’s Garden Disease Control (Daconil) on your plants as soon as you notice spotted leaves often quickly cures the problem. In the fall, pull and burn all tomato and potato vines as they carry and winter over spores for a problem next year. I wouldn’t pour bleach on my garden.<\/p>\n

We got pretty dry around here and it’s lucky the beavers raised their dam. Even so, the pond’s getting low. It IS cooler, thank God. But now it feels like fall! — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canning caramel I have checked the archives and your canning book, but still wondering about canning caramel, not caramel sauce. My husband found a great deal just after the holidays ($2 for 5lbs, we ended up with 20lbs) and it has been fine in the plastic bags that it was sold in. However, just started […]<\/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\/3417"}],"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=3417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3417\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}