The Infamous LastPost

I don't know how you can something and how you make jams. But I love eating jams That's why I chose to become a confectioner here

In my family's garden we have a lot of lemon trees. They don't need a lot of care and we have lemons when we need them. We also have orange trees. A few years ago my mother told me to go to the garden and bring one lemon for the food. I didn't know which tree was the lemon tree and I brought an orange Both oranges and lemons were green by that time and the even smelled the same My mother didn't sent me another time to bring a lemon until this year

 

Thanks for the lesson CJAT I used this more than most of the licencses and not once did I even look at thoses arrows...I'll be sure to slow down and take in more next event. Hopefully the limits on what we can share will be smaller too , I had planned to share many of my singing flowers and that fell through Maybe next time
Getting hungry now listening to these farmers speak of fruits and veggies....I have some fresh chowchow and some hotdogs I can fix quick, so off we go~

 

@CJAT (LD is just fine) How big is the tree? If it's in a small pot and not allowed to grow and mature again I doubt it will bear fruit. Still lemon trees are lovely and they have very nice smelling leaves so it would make an attractive plant. You might also need to feed it more often.

@Willow I should mention that it's a minute per cup of corn and you might want to experiment with your microwave. Your not looking to make the corn explode just get it good and blanched. I use a corning ware casserole dish that has a lid on it and it holds 4 cups of corn.

We used to blanch it in the dishwasher. Take the shucked ears and load them up in the top rack and run it on a short cycle with a hot rinse. Worked great but it's actually easier cutting them off the cob when they are raw.

Good Luck!

 

Thank you!!!!!!!! This is clearer than the FAQ. Now I just have to remember this next time around...

 

Got in from work with plans to start canning - but it will have to wait. I have a broken water line, and the plumber can't be here till tomorrow! Looking on the bright side; I can spend time farming!


CJAT - That is a great explanation of the trading system. Wish I had seen something like that the first time I tried to trade a year or so ago. I went in the opposite direction from what I intended (thinking left side was what I would give) and lost a rare stable for a yellow chicken. Hard lesson in trading!

 

Willow.. at least you are looking on the bright side! When will the plumber arrive? Maybe you could borrow some water from a friend and practice freezing some of your purchased produce?

The house we are buying needs some plumbing work too. There is some I think we might be able to do, but there is a dripping at the main water shut-off that I think a professional would be best to take care of!

Ouch - that was a painful lesson in trading! I understand why people don't use the trading system more - losing something rare (or that one wants to keep) was the very reason I stayed away from it for so long!

@ pepsi ~ you are so welcome! {{hugs}}

@LD ~ (call me CJ) ~ Hmm, the lemon tree is big enough that if preschoolers stand next to the pot, that they are all delighted to be as tall or taller than it! (Are you really asking me to measure it?) It could very well need to be repotted. With the move we are going to be saving our pennies, but once we are settled, I might take it out, loosen the roots and then replant it in the same pot but add a bit more soil. If nothing else, I can rotate it a bit so it grows straight up without a brace lol! I do have fertilizer added to my watering can. (Once I find out where I packed it, I can reread the directions and see if I am giving it enough or not).


@farmerlily22 ~ the main thing with the green arrow on the side of the trades, is that it lets you see how many offers there are for that same trade. It also lets you see how many of each item a person is requesting. For instance you might see a trade offering a platypus for a bio-lab, but once you click that arrow you see there are 3 people wanting to trade those items. One is offering 1 platypus for 5 bio-labs, another 2 platypus for 1 bio-lab and another 3 platypus for 6 bio-labs. (Not usually though - most people just do 1 item to 1 item in trading).


We will see how busy life is at the next Gift and Trade... maybe if I have time, I can take more screenshots and make a player's guide?

 

Plumber finally arrived and fixed the problem. Turned out to be a water pressure valve that had self destructed! Wish the plumber would take cc's for the payment!

Planning on trying a grape jelly recipe for next canning project. I am really getting ambitious thanks to all the canning advice!

LDCrow - Question on blanching peas. Can I do those in the microwave as well? Mom's old cookbook only describes doing it with boiling water.

 

What kind of peas?

 

So sorry, definitely should have been more specific! I would like to freeze shelled field peas (cream, black eye). Come to think of it, shelled lima beans as well.

Really appreciate you taking the time to help out a novice!

 

Well, my parents live in Romania and there winter is always cold and very big snow. Plus my parents are living to apartment. The lemon tree he keep's it in the living room when the weather is getting bad. Especially in winter. In summer he moves the tree at my grandmother house or mom work place. In winter almost all the leaves and flowers are falling down (except the lemons ). It needs special care in winter if keeping it inside the house. But late in spring when we take it outside is like coming back to life. One summer the tree had so many flowers next to each other and so many lemons. Poor tree almost broke. Its true that is hard to always move the 190 cm -200 cm outside and inside but it's worth it

 

Let me first apologize for what I know is going to be a lengthy post. Up front a couple of things you might want to do if you really want to seriously do this is.

First invest in a food saver system especially if you are going to be freezing the majority of your produce. Freezer bags are ok for short term freezing of a few weeks but if you want to store items for say 6 months of usage they simply won't cut it you need to cyrovac them.

Second get a spiral notebook and take notes on everything you do and try and mark down your results so you can either duplicate them or make sure not to make the same mistake twice.

Third don't be afraid to experiment just do it in small amounts until you get the results you desire.

On the subject of blanching your black-eyed peas. I personally wouldn't blanch them at all. I would wash them, drain them and then let them dry completely before I bagged and froze them. Same with the Lima beans.

My advice would be to experiment and freeze some them both ways and see which finished product you personally like best. If you do blanch the peas don't use the microwave you will explode the peas and just end up with a big mess. Also make sure you put them into an ice water bath directly after taking them out of the hot water as you want to stop that cooking process pronto.

With anything you freeze make sure it is dry (well not the corn as it will have juice) before you bag it to avoid freezer burn.

When you blanch what you are doing is stopping the growth of enzymes in the food which basically stops it from getting riper. So the thought is it preserves it better, locks in the flaver and color and you end up with a fresher tasting product. This does not really apply as much to "shelled" items such as peas or beans. Basically they have already matured as much as they are going to and will simply dry out as opposed to molding so the blanching does very little in preserving them. It might cut down a tiny bit on your cooking time but not much.

I hope this helps you. I do most sincerely encourage you in your endeavors and remember experimenting is good just do it in really small numbers.

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to explain things so well. I have much greater confidence now that I can do canning and freezing! The food saver system is something I had considered, but wasn't sure about. I will take your advice about that as well, and invest in one.

Thanks again for taking the time to advise me. Blessings to you!

 

I LOVE my food saver! I freeze everything. LOL I tried blanching peas in the microwave once! WHAT A MESS!! It wasn't a complete loss though. I was using shelled green peas and it just so happens that fish LOVE them! I froze them in tiny portions and thawed a few at a time once a week as a treat with their brine shrimp. ( I have 2 very large aquariums with many fish. One is or the larger aggressive breeds and another is for the smaller "pretty" varieties.)
Back on topic LOL, To dry my peas and beans I lay out clean towels and spread them to dry thoroughly. LDCrow, do you freeze any fruits? How do you do yours? I've never managed to have anything come out of the bag and just have that WOW factor, it has all gone to homemade ice-creams and smoothies.

 

@bygo_cris ~W ow! That is some dedication to that lemon tree! (Your family must really like lemons!) Was it only the lemon tree that your parent brought in and out of the living room, or other trees as well? I found a metric to english converter and 200 cm is equal to 6 and a half feet! (I'm guessing that is the diameter of of the branches and not the size of the pot??)


@LD ~ Your post length is fine. We talk about all kinds of things here, (as if you haven't noticed by now lol), and sometimes a long post is needed to properly explain things. Besides, I now know where to come looking if I take up canning or freezing again!


@Willow ~ I think if businesses started taking CCs for payment that BP would suddenly find itself with a lot of new players! (And those market-buying strategy threads would become very, very popular!) ;D We used to joke on the old forum about needing to water something in the house or outside and then catching ourselves wondering if we had topped off the water on the farm...


Well, gotta run ~ we will be leaving shortly to go to an art fair that my SIL/BIL will have a photography booth at. Not sure how this will effect my MM farming, but not to worried about it - some things are more important!

 

CJAT, Good luck with your move. My daughter and family moved into new house last weekend. I was there all week helping unpack and doing the usual babysitting. My mom always said "If you haven't used something for a year, get rid of it" Easier said than done It took forever for them to get a closing date Finally I said I will believe it when I see it. I know she got tired of me asking

 

My father loves to have plants and the lemon tree is his pride. We have just that lemon tree and some begonia that need special attention (the lemon tree because it stands in house). My father has a lot of plants. The lemon tree is the only tree because is big and they have other flowers too.... and we have 2 cats (the cats like playing with the lemons in tree ).
I'm not living in Romania since 2 years that is why I said the lemon tree is 190-200 cm (with pot) and it was difficult to take it out the door, and heavy to lifting. When move it outside, all family contribute .
I was talking with my father yesterday and I asked him how is the lemon tree. My father sold the lemon tree because it was growing bigger. Now he has a small lemon tree (the baby) but the house looks empty without the big one. And the cats will have to wait the Christmas for a big tree to play with

 

I freeze a lot of fruit but mostly for cooking. You will get the best results with berries if you are looking to thaw and eat the fruit. The higher the water content in the fruit the more squishy it will be once thawed.

The only thing I do anything really special for would be apples. I core, peel and slice them and then soak them in a solution of water and fruit fresh. I drain them and cryo freeze them in measured amounts 6 cups for a pie and 8 cups for cobbler. The fruit fresh will keep them from going brown. I have done this for peaches in the past as well. I also on occasion freeze really ripe bananas to use for banana bread at a later time.

 

@CJ, I think I am better at keeping my lemon tree alive looking
Back in 2008 I grew it from a seed. Now today it's Seven years old and never produce me one lemon. I just want to sell the lemons like on Farmerama

Spoiler: Click to see my tree

Just want to update people who following how it's going for me.

Things have been going very good for the Filipina and me. We had ups and downs, but we always solve everything pretty fast. We always tell each other that we aren't going to give up on everything we have been working on to accomplish together. The day we met online is approaching pretty quickly. It will be our six month of knowing each other. But the second month of being in a relationship together. In order to make things simple, we agreed to wait till the 10th day to enter relationship. Because that's the day we met online.

 

Thank you again for all your prayers for the house! We do not have a concrete closing date yet, but yesterday (Monday afternoon) we heard from the sellers bank! They said that they were, "working on getting a closing date soon". Then our house insurance guy called and said the seller's bank was thinking about closing on Thursday. Then our real estate agent called and said they were thinking about closing on Thursday, but the sellers might let us move in over the weekend. (Meaning closing would be next Thursday but moving in earlier).

So right now dates are still a little up in the air, but I've been waiting patiently thus far, and think I can wait a bit longer. Once we know for sure, the current plan would be to make two trips, one to clean the house and leave a car there. The second trip would bring the U-Haul and our other car.

I'm not sure how much I will be able to do with the current Kitty Event or the Nublon Battery event coming right after. Both of these event types are favorites as they exchange farm stuff/drops for items usually only obtainable with BBs. So I will do what I can reasonably do, and not let what I cannot do bother me.


@solo ~ your lemon tree looks lovely! Mine was bushy like that before, but growing all over the place - branches and leaves in some areas and empty spots in others. I chalk that up to lack of pruning early on. (ps!) As for selling home-grown lemons... if you can get them to grow, I have no doubt you will find a way to sell them! (Especially if your talent of making CCs on Farmerama is any indication)!


As always, best wishes and prayers for you and your girl!

@LD~ We had a Golden Delicious apple tree at the old house. About the only thing I made early-on with the apples was applesauce with Fruit Fresh. (We mad so much much applesauce! After it cooked and cooled, we froze them in quart freezer bags). Well, I did make a few pies, but pie crust and I still fight at not being dense and chewy lol! Later we bought a food dehydrator and spiral sliced the apples, cut them, and laid them out to dry. I never had to worry about storing them, as they disappeared just about as fast as I could make them!


@Julie~ Have you adjusted to having an empty nest again? I hope your daughter and her family they did not move those grandbabies too far away!
As for the house, I've not really got tired of people asking if we have closed yet. Most of them are sad to see us go... While I would rather be moving than waiting, I have been so thankful for the peace that has surrounded me during the waiting. It has made all the difference to me.

@bygo_cris ~ I googled begonias and was surprised at the variety! I saw some with 4 or 5 petals per flowers and others with petals that looked like full bloom roses! What kind(s) of begonias did your dad raise?

I've not had problems with the cats and our lemon tree before. It's more the cats in Christmas trees that we've had to worry about in the past!


I'm not sure when my next update will be - I will try to post here, but you know how crazy moving can get!

 

CJ -Such good news!!! I wish you all the best for a smooth & uneventful move! Any news of a teaching position??? How soon will Jora start school there??? How much/if any painting re-doing of the rooms??? I adore to decorate....and painting is the easiest/ inexpensive way to change the look of a room. You must be dying to get your furniture out of storage....and all your personal things that didn't have room at your MIL's!!! To me, it would be as though it was all new again!

solo - I'm happy to hear you and your girlfriend are doing well. Disagreements happen to all relationships...but it may be more difficult with 2 people from different countries, cultures & so far from each other. My Big question??? When are you going to meet in person???

As far as lemon trees go....I have one, that I consider a weed outside my office. It's growing under a huge Japanese Maple. We've cut it down several times....and it keeps growing back. It hardly gets any light(b/c it's under a large tree)...so a bit ironic. I couldn't get the lemon trees to grow in pots...but the 1 I don't want...will not die!!!! LOL
I'm not feeling well b/c my crohns and arthritis are flaring....and the medicine that is supposed to help is failing. So basically, I'm miserable most of the time. But reading & thinking of all of you good friends helps keep my mind off of it!