Well, it's getting around to that time of year Harvest Time in the vegetable garden and one of the big questions that many of you may have is what to do with all that stuff Bill none and his wife Jo are here to share their combined experiences with us today bill. It's a pleasure to have you again. Thank you. And why don't you tell us a little bit about Joe who you brought along with this. Well, I'm very happy to do that. Joe is a superb Gardener. She hasn't been a gardener all of her life. Actually Joe was born on the island of Manhattan in New York City. Hmm a long way from Gardens. SheI came to Minnesota with me our four children were born here. We arrived in 1945 just a short time ago Joe resigned from a lot of jobs to accept another one. The governor has just appointed her a while back to the Metro Council. She in order to accept that position. She had to resign as mayor of champlin. The only mayor of the city of champions ever had is she served her term out. She would have been mayor for 14 years. Hmm. She had to resign the presidency of the league of Minnesota cities.And she had to resign from the the the Metropolitan sports facilities commission. She was pointed to that commission and was therefore the building leasing contracts in the planning of the dome stadium. She's quite an active person in all sorts of ways. She done all these things beautifully. She still 4-H club leader. I might point out and she still a a gardener. Well, I was going to ask Joe if all of this new activity has kept you out of the garden or if you're still able to get in there and do some things. Well, I find that weeding particularly is very good therapy really they're involved in a lot of touchy decisions helps a great deal. So Bill does most of the work but I helped him when I can well we're going to talk about preserving things today bill and I suppose it wouldn't hurt to begin by giving out the telephone numbers for people who have questions about what to do with their Garden produce 2276 thousand in Minneapolis, and st. Paul and another parts of Minnesota one 865 29700 and other parts of Minnesota. The number is Rather in the in the surrounding states the toll-free. We don't have a toll free number which you can call directly at area code 612 2276 thousand when I think of preserving bill, I think of canning preserves and so forth. Is that the most common way of keeping things or are there some other things too that are pretty popular? Well, the a lot of ways of preserving things we've been canning for an awful lot of years middle of last century. We started counting since World War Two we've been freezing a great deal of stuff and freezing is become very very popular among home gardeners. We also a drying things. Well, we were drying things in the in the in the in the biblical periods. We were preserving by drying. Today we have very elaborate apparatus that makes trying possible. It's a very cheap way of drying very cheap way of preserving but we do all of those things. Hmm at our house. For example, we can and we freeze and we dry. Well I suspect as we go through the hour. We will find out what you think are the best techniques for preserving different types of vegetables when canning is best when freezing is best when drying is best. Let's take our first listener now with a question about preserving vegetables. Hi, you're on the air when it comes to storing vegetables in the basement. Some of the basements are pretty warm. And if you get far away from the furnace, then you have maybe sometimes a problem with humidity. Plus I have another question about herbs. What how do you store root vegetables? well When we move to Minnesota, one of the first things we did when we bought our house in 1946 was to build a root cellar in the basement and we have used that Root Cellar for Lo these many years just as our grandfathers. Did we did we fill the root cellar with boxes in kegs and packages of all sorts of roots turnips and rutabagas potatoes and so on we put them in damp not wet damp sawdust or damp sand a laborious kind of activity today. We don't do that. We are not using any sand that's damp or dry. We are we are we are packing carrots and such things in in in plastic bags. That have holes punched in them. When we do that with the things that we have preserving then we know what the temperature ought to be and we know what the moisture in the area ought to be and with some things you don't have much moisture and required so you can innovate you be Innovative and you can store these things all over the whole house. Let me ask kind of a stupid question Bill how it is a root cellar. And how do you how do you prepare one? Is that mean breaking up the cement basement and going beneath that or what she does you want to be on the ground on the dirt on the soil? The one that we built we built out of brick with a roof. We have smoke fire pipe going from that to the outdoors through a basement window. And so we get plenty of ventilation. In The Root Cellar, it is difficult even there to control the temperature you want for potatoes. For example, you don't want more than and anywhere from thirty, two, three, four five up to 40-ish. But if you go higher than that, the potatoes are going to sprout and so so if you have a root cellar that you are using you can have a damper on the Pike and you can get cold air in from the outdoors and in a crude rough sort of a way you can control the temperature but what you're going to suggest to the man who was calling was that rather than looking for one special place in the basement for everything that he investigate and everyone it and it just and choose places that would be proper for different vegetable. Sure, for example, if You have as most houses have a basement leading from the yard a steps leading from the yard into the basement and there is a door over the steps. You've got a root cellar. The Jeep in you can and that's also that's an old-fashioned kind of thing our house has that but I don't think that many houses that are being built now have that sort of remember what used to slide slide down my cellar door kind of thing on the outside. Yes. Well your suburban rameters don't have no safe return. No. All right. Let's move on to another listener with the question. Go ahead, please you're on the air if I have question on composting I put down newspaper and cover them with leaves and grass clippings from the lawn to keep the weeds down between the rows of grapevines and also between the plants is this a good idea and does this turn into a good fertilizer. Let's go back and ask you a question. What kind of compost are you using? I'm going to say I put down newspaper just newspapers with dried leaves and grass clippings or the newspapers don't go away and they eventually disintegrate actually what you're doing is not using compost you're using a mulch but you hope that I turned to compost in the Rose. I'd go ahead and do that actually paper is a good mulch and it will compost well, but it needs to be shredded. There is a there is a machine out. Now that's for sale that you can operate by hand and you can turn a crank and you can push newspapers through that and they come out and shreds. Okay 11 minutes past by the way, I might say something else for a long time. We were frightened to do that and you can still find in books on gardening and so on and admonition that you not do this and the reason given is that the ink used has a quality that will hurt plants might be toxic. Yes. So so so what we what we we just try to forget that once upon a time we didn't dare put newspapers with vegetables, but it's all right to do that. Yes. No. All right. Another listener is waiting with a question for Bill and Josephine none on preserving vegetables. Go ahead please you're on the air. Yes, good afternoon. This is Rich diekman calling Bob from South many eyes. It's how are you? I also have a question and that is that I was surprisingly successful or summer and raising red cayenne peppers in my garden and now that's full of bright red and ready to pick and I don't really know what to do with them. I had more than I could possibly eat in a given week and I'm not really interested in putting them up in jars, and I'm wondering about the feasibility of drying them slowly in the oven. I don't have a regular dryer for such thing are they hot peppers hot peppers are sweet peppers hot peppers go. Oh wonderful. All you need to do and this is the best thing to do get a needle and a long thread many feet. Long and sit in front of a television set on fire and use you you put the needle through the stems of the peppers and not please do the pepper itself only through the stems and when you get through you will have something 10 15 feet long and you can hang it up anywhere in the kitchen or anywhere in the house doesn't make anyone square and those Peppers will dry. I might tell you if you have a Christmas tree at your house and you're looking around for decorations don't overlook the the the strings of red peppers that you have now after Christmas you can you can you can you can preserve those Peppers By grinding them up. If you have a blender that's fine. You can do it in a food processor or you can do it with your fingers and you Ends, but you should end up with with Peppa that you can use. Am I tell you I have an egg every morning for breakfast and it's been all my life. I suppose I've always had red pepper powder and I can shake the red pepper on the egg and I'll tell you it adds greatly to the enjoyment of a breakfast. All right. Thank you for calling rich I can recall Bill having toured through the southwestern part of the United States last year that lots of times you would see outside people's houses these strings of red peppers. Oh, I think they called them. Is it restricts or something like that? I can't remember the name of it. I knew it. Well last year, but that's what he'll do. Anyway, another listeners waiting with a question. Go ahead, please. Yeah the second half of my Earlier was about herbs. Oh, yes. Sorry. We forgot that and you were talking about drying preserving. Things of this sort this turned out to be a good growing season. Oh the MIT did much better than previous years and things like oregano and tarragon and things of that sort. How can you come up with the flavor that comes closest? I've tried transplanting these plants indoors and they don't do well in a Minnesota winter and I'm trying to figure out rather than drying is there. A better way of freezing these things to maintain the fresh herb flavor. We you do all sorts of things but it depends on what upon what kind of herb we are talking about. What about chives? Let's start out with chives most gardeners have chives in there in there in there Gardens the chives they have are the short lead chives that the leaves around there is a much better chive. That is a broadleaf child. There are two of these one with white flowers is from China and the wide Leaf chives from these plants taste not taste like garlic garlic. There is a bigger plant with purple flowers that we liked very much and Is will taste like like like onions. By the way, if by any chance you are ever passing my place stop by and I'll be very glad to give you seeds or plants. I've been growing these things round don't know how long but now let me tell you how you can preserve those just take them and chop them. You can freeze them. You can dry them. You can you can mix them with oil or one kind or another cooking oil one kind or another and you will have chives for a long period of time. They will also keep in the refrigerator. How long Joe a month at least I should thank you. I should say with the with other herbs you do something of the same kind. I meant it's an herb. I have waiting for me at my house is shopping basket. The shopping box completely full of mint leaves that are cut from the garden just a few hours before we had our first bad Frost and I'm going to preserve those by turning them into into mint jelly or at least some of them will be turned into mint jelly and all you need for a recipe is to get a box of should gel and there is a wonderful recipe in that in that box follow it and you'll have a delightful jelly that you can use for lamb or for breakfasts or whatever he want to you use it for and and and and so on you should not have any difficulty in trying almost any herb. We have fortunately rooms at our house the children abandon a long time ago. One of the rooms is the room that now son. Had and we've got strings running high up. So you can walk around underneath them but on top of those and top we have Bunches of herbs that are that are that are that are that are drawing the prevailing way of preserving herbs is I might point out by drawing and that's been done for centuries 19 minutes past twelve o'clock Joe Giudice going to continue on that and say that I have read that you can freeze sprigs of herbs fairly successfully. I'm sure that you never can achieve quite the same flavor that you can with a fresh herbs, but I would imagine that if you took sprigs that were not blemished in any way and if you rinse them, then dry them very very carefully and then insert them into a plastic bag that's for freezing and then lay them flat and freeze them. That you'll have a product that is probably how it would retain more of the flavor than you could achieve with drying and storing them over a long period of time. I'm going to try some doing that this winter and maybe you and I can check with Bill and find out what the results are next spring. All right Bill none and his wife Josephine are with his talking about preserving vegetables. We do have a couple of lines open in Minneapolis. St. Paul. The number is two two seven six thousand 2276 thousand in the Twin Cities area in other parts of Minnesota toll-free 1-800 652 9700 and if you're listening in one of the surrounding states are Ontario, you can call us directly at area code 6 12 and then use the Twin Cities number. Here's our next listener. Go ahead please I have the slightest idea. I think Joe and I can probably make Some guesses, but I'm curious to know why do you want to store a watermelon? Because it's traditionally been a summer fruit and I'd like to have some in December. Well, that's a good reason I suppose I would put it in the coldest part of your house just above freezing close to 3334 degrees and and and hope for the best. I think he'll keep longer than most people would imagine there are other ways you can you can store watermelons. You can make you can use the Ryan from the from the Watermelons and make a perfectly wonderful watermelon rind pickle. That's much used in the South where watermelons are common place. I hope it works for you. All right, good. We'll take another skirt. Hi. You're on the air. Yes. Hello. I'm calling from Woodbury and I wonder if your guests would discuss countertop food dehydrators and also any books on the subject can all hang up and listen. Thank you. Well. Let me see this to you. There is a dehydrator called Harvest made Harvest made ma ID. It is made in Minnesota. The person to company that sells them is isn't it called is it survival? So yeah, that's right. It's a st. Paul company called survive all all we live all we always have an exhibition at the state fair. I know I'll tell you which this is the kind that we have and I hate to become a Salesman on your program. But I think I should tell you that that for every year since we've been living here groups of high school graduates from the high schools in Anoka go out to the West they started a long time ago and dams will being built and and objects of value and so on will be going to be covered with water the Smithsonian institution with the help of loud Bradley a The in the Anoka Senior High School mobilized youngsters from the area to go out and dig for fossils. Once I might tell you that jounin went along as the as a chaperone. I suppose you would call glad you said that I was afraid they might think that I was one of the things that were digging for. No, you're not that kind of Applause. But but these kids wouldn't would invariably end up in buses along way from restaurants along way from towns and so on and on and on and I guess from the very beginning they would drying large amounts of food and taking it with them. You see imagine for example food that is wet that isn't dry and think of the weight that's involved this space that's needed and so on dry it and you have very little weight and you can compact it in Limited amount of space and so on at any rate during every school year even now the kids in the Anoka senior high school will be engaged in drying food right now for next year for next year. Well, let me ask you this bill. What's the advantage of one of these countertop dehydrators? Like the one you mentioned as opposed to sticking stuff right in the oven? No, you can't really stick stuff right in the oven for a lot of reasons. One reason is you are going to have a terrible time regulating the temperature with the counter thing. You set it for whatever you want and that's what you got. If you try to dry anything in the oven you'll have to use an electric fan. Yeah and the electric fan blows air into the into the into the oven. And you end up with something that is up to be very unsatisfactory you end up with a much warmer kitchen than you are going to want to have around and so on. It's much better that you not dry in the oven in the South. You can try Outdoors as my father and my mother used to dry a lot of things particularly during World War One. It was always drying vegetables and so on. I wouldn't I wouldn't I would say that you need what you're talking about. And if you will find this company in st. Paul and go around you'll find a very superb gentleman in charge and he will be very helpful in showing you how to work it and so on and on and on and on that is the one that these high school the high school in Anoka uses. And when I asked Lyle Bradley to give me the name of the best one. He said it's made right here in Minnesota. It's his recommendation. I like ours but I haven't tried the others. I think he did and when you purchase or even before you purchase a dryer there are books that are available in the library and indeed you can buy them that give you very specific instructions as to how to prepare fruits and vegetables the temperatures the average length of time. We've usually found though that when we are drawing foods that the amount of time that's given in the Book is is kind of an optimistic take some time. It takes a little longer you decided it. So I might tell you that right now in our dryer which instantly we moved out of the kitchen into the garage because we are right now drying onions. And when you start drying onions, you create an onion odor that's unbelievable and you'd either better move the dryer out or to the garage are you'd better move on to the garage. But one of the nice things about dried food is you don't have to keep it in the refrigerator or in the deep freezer. You can put it in an old mason jar now. Well not a mason jar any kind of jar that you got around with a top with us with a tight-fitting top and it'll keep so you borrowed that kind of expense. I wish you luck with with drying we'll move on to a listener who has another question about preserving things. Go ahead. You're on the air, okay. Yeah, my aunt. Yes, sir. Okay, my name is quechua December 8th and several years ago. I planted some pear trees about three years ago. Got a few but this year we got so many pairs in our tree if the neighbors and we still have so many we'd like to preserve them and do something with them. We don't know what to have how to do it. Well, I can't help you because when you start talking about fruit you you moved out of my my area but I can be as it is slightly helpful. I think we have canned pears. Oh, yes, of course, you can can pay I know of no other way. They didn't satisfactory way. You can you can do that. Now we do freeze things. We freeze pictures for example, and we think the frozen peaches at our house are the best speeches in in December and January and so on. Frozen peaches. What do we do? We cut them into halves don't we just take the slip the skins off and cut them in half and then I freeze them in undiluted orange juice. Yes, very good. And and I wish you can do something of the same sort with your pears. By the way. You can also make pear jam you can make a pair relishes. You can drive pairs. Yes, you can do all sorts of things with parents. Don't let them go to waste on the tree and I wanted to tell you that we have a pear tree and your experience is the same as ours. This is the first year that we have had a good crop of pears and they it's marvelous to have them another listener has a question for Bill and Joan on go ahead. You're on the air. Hi. I'm from South Minneapolis. I got a question about a bush I have my backyard has red berries on it. You're out of my category already. All right. By any chance you talking about asparagus know that what them? That's right. It's not Ambush not push. It does have have have red berries on it. Possibly now a large bush with round leaves in the branches grow directly on the center of the leaves to the birds like the berries to the left. I tasted them and they taste sweet. Well, I will tell you at you you're from Duluth. I don't know. He's from South Minneapolis South Bend, even then if I were in your place, I would call the Arboretum Landscape Arboretum and get information from the Landscape Arboretum. Okay. Thanks for calling and good luck at 12:30. Another listener with a question. Go ahead, please yes, good afternoon. I'm calling from afternoon and living in a rural area. We've had quite a bit of luck with harvesting other berries and fruits from the Natural State now, I guess maybe the last caller is given me a clue for you. Burns but I have what has been called a chokecherry a growing wild in my area here. My problem is I'm not sure if it's a chokecherry. I would like to you know, make some preserves out of that the second part of this in researching this with the neighbors and discussing it I've heard references to chokecherry pin cherry whiskey Cherry all the same thing for idea. No, they are different but here's what you do. No one can identify something or over the telephone. What you do is you take as many of these as you can find just a few from each variety and take them down to your county courthouse and you will find an Agricultural Extension Service their talk to your agricultural County agent. He will be able to identify them probably but if not no cost to you. He'll put them in bags and send them to the University of Minnesota. And eventually you will be told what these things are. Okay, 29 minutes before one o'clock Bill none and his wife Joan are here. We're talking about preserving garden vegetable specifically and if you have a question the number to call his to 276 thousand in the Minneapolis st. Paul area in other parts of Minnesota toll-free 1-800 652 9700 if you got a busy signal a little while ago try now because there are some lines open. Okay. Now you're on go ahead please. Yeah. Yes. I'm from a little further and I was wondering what you know, what wire Chris how to preserve it Watercress Watercress, I don't know enough to bother with except we love to eat it. Yes. Where's Little Falls? How far is it to show off Reynard? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We have a friend in Stillwater who must be close to a hundred years old now who for years and years and years has raised Water Crest and he does a magnificent job. He's a former senator from the area one of the most important legislators the state ever produced. He was the Regents of the University of Minnesota for Lord knows how many years he is the authority I wish I could help you. I simply can't I but we think there is nothing better than workers. All right, another listener with the question. Go ahead, please hi. Good evening. I should say I'm calling from st. Paul. I just had a couple of tips and listening in on your conversation here is mr. Nunn and his wife the USDA publishes a couple of pamphlets that your colleague agent can give on drying foods and also on building your own dryer and I have a good friend who does dry pairs locally grown in pairs and they turned out very well. Yes, that's right. Five drive here is a marvelous. Thank you. As a matter of fact some years ago. We built ourselves a dryer with specifications that we got from let the farm Journal magazine was Nest sure. Yes, that's right and that work but they we find that the commercial one works better for us because of the heat control. Yeah. Okay. Here's another listener with a question. Go ahead, please. Hi. I have a question. I'm from Stacy Minnesota, and I have a question on my sweet peppers. We planted sweet banana jalapeno and We cherry peppers and I've been experimenting with canning them pickling that and I tried your recipe for jalapenos in your book and that turned them really mushy. And then I got a recipe from the extension service and my question is about the steps where you slit them and soak them for 12 to 18 hours. I did that I'll bet you and I think I can know exactly what is what your problem is. You cooked those peppers. After you have soaked your first of all you split the peppers. Okay, and then you soak them in the salt water for what? Is it? 18 hours right there about then, you take those peppers and pack them in an in your jar. You haven't cooked him at all. But all of the other ingredients you cook. And you pour what you cooked into the jar on top of those peppers and then you seal them and they shouldn't get mushy they do they will not get we've done it that way and we haven't had the problem. I did that did you process them and then afterwards in a hot water bath, how long did you do that? Let's say ten minutes and they turn mushy. Well, they're not real mushy, but I would like them a little firmer firmer. Yeah, and I didn't know if keeping them in the water before I put the hot Solution on and then process them was make making them less you're not well, they should not be it should not only haven't had a shit, but I will tell you something. I got the recipe that I use and I used in the book and so on and on and on from the Hennepin County agent in extension service. Yes, she it took us several days to find the recipe and she finally call me and give it to me and and I copied it as she read it to me and Joe the first ones we did could have easily turned out to be mushy who are not many of them. Unfortunately because we cook the peppers along with the ingredient and they were mushroom. You were not mushy. They were they were soft and very let's call this caller says she did not do that though. She just poured the hot ingredients over the peppers and they still were mushy. Well, I don't quite know what to say it and then she put them in the boiling water bath. Hmm only 10 minutes. Well, maybe she's better try him right in the shoes. Maybe I was wrong with the peppers. The only this morning I put 1111 pint science in in a book in a boiling water bath. I took them out they all seal when I left. I looked at him to see how they looked and they look just fine and I'll almost guarantee you that not a one of them will be much. I just don't understand. Well, let's move on to notice. You see if we can help this person. Hi, you're next. Hello. I have two questions. My first one is our Co-op was taught. Not coconuts and they weren't old. I graded them all up. How do I store that? Do I put that in the refrigerator or will it be alright in a Krueger Place? Well, we'll have to do some guessing we never have preserved the coconut right II tried them. Well, you're dehydrated. What are they in pieces or did you create it you created? Well, yeah sure. I know I wouldn't do that. I could imagine that you could do what they do in the store to do you have a one of these gadgets that will Seal Seal bags you could put them in bags to but some of my older books aren't as conservative about canning vegetables as others and I wondered if I used a open bath canner with for example. Green beans is it would be all right to say Can them for an hour in a bath? No rather than the pressure cooker. No, even if I get a seal in my still maybe ceiling and don't don't do it. You're running a risk. There is danger and I wouldn't try it for a minute. Okay, we'll move on to a next listener with the question. I you're on the air. Yes, this caused by the way because if the rush me I say something. Yeah. Sure. I have a feeling that there's something besides what I heard. I think the problem is you don't have a can of a pressure canner and you don't have access to a pressure canner. Let me tell you something the other day I call the largest Garden Center in this area, which is Lindale talked to one of the owners in told him that a lot of gardeners. Would preserve food much better and much safer if they had access to a pressure canner but a pressure cannot cost between ninety and a hundred dollars and that's an awful lot of money for a lot of people and their two three ways. You can you can you can get around that and you must have a pressure canner with a gauge. There's some cheaper ones that without gauges and Lord knows how you can use those safely. But at any rate if you belong to a garden club or if you've got friends in the neighborhood who are gardeners all of you pitch in with 15 or 20 dollars each and you'll end up with a pressure canner that can circulate among your friends or among the members of your garden Club. I wanted the Lyndale Garden Center to put these on on a rental basis. Hmm and so that we chatted and talked about it and I said, I was quite sure that they'd have no difficulty in charging five dollars a day. For pressure count and that is being considered. Okay, you go to your garden center and talked to the manager the owner of the Garden Center and see if you can't get them to buy from Eau Claire Wisconsin close by I might tell you that that place in Eau Claire does sell sometimes refurbished ones second hand for not too much money. How much did we pay for the one we gave our youngest daughter about $40, but that was a number of years ago. No, I was also going to add that some of the counties have canning centers to that allocated in schools or senior centers or something where you can bring your produce and then everyone pitches in and prepares vegetables and can spend an entire day. And then there's there's a charge for so much per quart or something. But that's a good way to your county home invasion is a person to talk to about this. Thank you. Now. Let's go to the question. Yeah. Alright, here's our next listener. Go ahead, please. Okay, this call is from Stillwater and it's for mrs. None. The question is about freezing peaches. Did you cover did you say your sliced peaches with was that canned orange juice or frozen? Orange juice? What I did was I had the the concentrated frozen orange juice thawed and I used a very large can then as I took the skins off the peaches and took the stones out. I slipped them into the orange juice because that also acts as a deterrent to their discoloring so they just sat in there and then after I finish with all the peaches they generated some liquid as well as the orange juice. We put 8 in a plastic bag and then sealed them with a heat sealer and then just froze them flat out flat on on the shelves and Are very good because you get a combination kind of orange and peach flavor. And then the other question in drying herbs. You mentioned hanging them from the ceiling. I wondered how long roughly would you hang them for them to dry? And then would you crush them and store them in jars is yes, but you you hang them until they're dry. And that is it our house sometime after Christmas. I'm sure that if we were careful we could we could we could we could remove them but generally a matter of time just a matter of time. I don't have time to do these things unless of course pastels, but but and I don't know how to tell you how you determine whether something is dry enough because you read and you read in the books and you are told to do something after the thing you're drawing is brittle. Okay, what is brittle yeah, and and then we do crush them and put them in jars and then store them. In a place where the sun where the light won't get at them too much because it will fade the color someone. Let me add something to that. You have a choice if you will hand rub them you'll end up with flakes. If you will put them in the blender you will end up with powder and and either one is good. Yes, we're different purposes. So with regard to basil, for example, we invariably end up with some of each because you use them for different in different ways. Okay. It is 16 minutes before one o'clock. Another listener is waiting. Go ahead you're on the air. I'm calling from Rochester and I'm glad to hear that there was an excellent crop of pears and Bluth in Minneapolis. I have a beautiful Bartlett Tree here that is produced wonderfully over the years, but this year And over those years it's always been enough for both the people and the squirrels this year was only enough for the squirrels that couple years ago. And I had so many I tried to Kandi and I followed the directions in the county agents booklet, but they came out very flat. I guess I didn't mention that orange juice. Well, I've never tried it. I've done that that was with peaches. I've never tried it with pears. I've used that method for peaches but I suppose it might work for pairs. I don't know how pairs would freeze. I have Frozen pear sauce. I was going to adjust the man from Luke over your route and freezing or drying because it was really flat baseless. Oh really panting. Oh, that's too bad because I can't Bartlett pears usually are good. According to the directions. I put a little sugar in that it's it didn't help any I mean when I can I had one of those old Claire died. So Clara pressure cooker. Well we use that we use a Light syrup. You do have to use some sweetening. I think for the pairs to achieve their maximum flavor When you're counting them if you use very little it is possible that they could have been quite flat. The lines were jammed a few minutes ago. Now we've got some open again to 276 thousand in Minneapolis st. Paul. If you have a question about preserving your garden vegetables in other parts of Minnesota. The number is 1-800-695-1418 extra snare. Go ahead, please yes. I'm calling from Burnsville and I've been listening to mr. 940 many years now and I wanted to come in to them and to their listeners course is that seem to be offered in the area around the Twin Cities every fall that cover freezing and canning and drying and I was able to learn quite a bit about the drying process and these were given by the county agent or someone representing the 4-H program in the county. Are they are these Around in different areas. Do you think I'm sure the answer to that is yes, but the best way to find out is to talk to the county agent and and she she can tell you the person I'm thinking about is the home demonstration agent to use the complete title. She can tell you what kind of courses are being held in your part of the country and they're apt to be pretty good. All right. Thanks for the tip. We'll move on to our next caller. Go ahead please you're on the air. Yes. Good afternoon. I'm coming from Northeast Minneapolis. I'd like to know when canning anything that needs a sweetening agent added to it if the nuns ever use anything beside sugar. Yes, I was supposed to put sugar in the jaw Lupino Peppers that I finished only this morning. I didn't use real sugar at all. I use something called sugar twin and that is an artificial sugar in the reason. I felt perfectly safe in doing that is that it required only one half of a cup of sugar for five quarts of jealousy. No Peppers. Hmm, and I didn't think whether they had the sugar or not was of any importance at all. All right, we'll take another listener with a question. Go ahead, please. Hello. I'm calling from Browerville. I was wondering if there's a way to bring parsley and if there's a way and bring it in so that I could have fresh parsley for the whole year. I know I dug one up the other day and That the roots are really long. Does it work? I tried it one summer and didn't have much luck. Although I have read of people having parsley all winter long. You can keep parsley fresh in the refrigerator for a long time. I've just cut it and then put the stems in a jar of water and kept it in the refrigerator. You can dry it very successfully to but I'd say try it and see if it works. But I know that it may well be that I had the same problem that you did because it does have a long route. It's difficult to get the entire root structure. What kind of parsley are you talking about? I don't know. What kind of well what I'm getting at is it two kinds of parsley one is the Italian parsley, which is the full leaf parsley and and and then the that's for flavor. That's for flavor. The other parsley which is the most common partial is not for flavor, but for beauty and you put it on your plate and it decorates the plate the kind I have looks like what you get in restaurants. Okay. Well, I would suggest that next year. You don't plant too much of that. But what you do plant is the Italian parsley where you get the flavor now with the Italian parsley, you can dry those very flavorable leaves just as you would any other herb and you have excellent results. Thank you. Good thanks for calling will take another listener with a question now for Bill and Joe none on the subject of preserving vegetables. Go ahead please hello. I'm from Bloomington and I want to know how I can freeze apple slices for making apple pies and different desserts in the wintertime. Joe do you want to I was going to say I think I'm trying to remember if I've ever done that but I know that there are instructions in any number of canning and freezing books and I would suggest that you get one of those and then when you pair and slice the apples, I would put them into a solution of ascorbic acid and water so you don't get discoloration. Then I would think one thing that I have done with sucks it with great success with vegetables recently. We used to take our vegetables blanch them and then put them in plastic bags and suck the air out and put them in little boxes, but recently particularly with things like broccoli and cauliflower and asparagus. I have blanched them and then put them out on cookie trays separately and Frozen and I'm sure you can do that the same thing with apple slices. And then use a spatula to scoop them up and put them in a bag and you either can pre-measure the amount that you need for pi and freeze those separately or just put them all in a big bag and take it out as you need it, but I'm not exactly sure of whether you have to blanch the slices and so on because I have it was so long ago that I did at that. I'd suggest you really refer to a manual of some sort. It's about eight minutes before one o'clock. Here's another caller. Go ahead, please. Hello. I'm calling from Minneapolis. This is back on parsley and other herbs for years. My husband and I have Frozen parsley quite successfully by chopping it up putting it in ice cube trays. No, we just chop it up and leave it leave it on the counter until it's very very dry. And then we put it in little baggies and toss it in the freezer and use it all winter and we've had some success doing that with other herbs also, Choose to sort of partially dry them but they probably know I'm trying very very dry before you put them in good. Thank you for calling. All right, another listener with the call. Hi, you're on the air. I have this crab apple tree and we have found out a way to keep the birds out of it, but we cannot keep the squirrels out of it. You have any advice? Well, if you where do you live? Oh, I was going to say if you were passing my house. I would introduce you to a plastic snake. Thinking about that, but I didn't know if they worked or not. Well, I bet they will well loved by all means if you'll let me know if your telephone me or something. I will give you the name of the manufacturer of the yes, I'd try that and I think it might work. Okay, seven minutes before one o'clock. We have time for some more calls at 2276 thousand. You have a question about preserving Garden produce, you know the parts of Minnesota toll-free at 1-866-553-2368. I just gotta wait for one or two to come in and here's one right now. Okay. All right. Go ahead. You're on the air. Yes. I'm calling about the woman who wants to know how to freeze apples sighs good in the past. I've lined up. I shall a pie pan with aluminum foil made the apple filling as I would for a pie. Putting in the sugar and everything in it sure the aluminum foil in the filling out of the tray wrap it very well. And then when I want to make a pie in the winter, I make the pastry shell and put this Frozen filling in and then cook it a little bit longer than usual. Another thing that I do is to just make it apple pie and freeze it and we're eating one now that we made last fall and it's very good. Yeah. I have Frozen them bake too. And I think they're excellent that we that's a I wish I'd thought of that. That's a very good idea. Okay. I know there is a there is something else that should be said about the Apple thing, you know, we used to do a lot of things that we've stuck doing commercially. I don't believe you can buy dried apples anywhere now. Can you yes, I think you can then when I when I was a little boy every grocery store in America. So sold dried peaches and dried apples and dried. What have you and and what they did then we can do now. Okay five minutes before when we've got time for some more calls. Go ahead. You're next. I am calling from South Minneapolis is I was wondering can you how would you go about preserving red tomatoes doing what preserving red tomatoes? Well, they're not too many ways you can but you can take a red tomato and you can freeze it whole just as it is and you can you can keep it you can take the Red Tomato. You can chop it up and you can you can freeze it for all sorts of uses. You can make jam and jelly and goodness knows what out of red and waiters you can draw. Red tomatoes but the most important thing you can do with a red tomato is is is is can it and one of the wonderful things about canning red tomatoes? You don't have to have a pressure canner. You can can them with the in a boiling water bath. So you can preserve every one of those red tomatoes. I was going to add that of course, if you freeze a tomato, you're not going to have a product that you can slice and use in a salad really you can use it in sauces and soups and so on but it will lose its texture in freezing. Okay, here's another listener with a question. Go ahead please apples are remarkable for lasting whole winter. I keep them in a room about 40 degrees and I have them through April May of the next spring in beautiful condition. Yes. Alright. Thanks for the for the comment. We'll take our next caller. Go ahead, please. Yes, this is Bonnie Olson from Scandia Minnesota, and I just wanted to share something that an elderly Aunt of mine had said with the Apple if you take your apples and slice them in a solution that will keep them from turning brown and then You're finished with them layer them for every gallon of apples with one cup of sugar than Let Them Sit covered for all proximately 15 hours in this forms a juice. Then you can put them in jars separate the Jews for the number of jars you have and then hot water bath and for approximately 20 minutes to a half hour and you'll have apples that will remain firm that you can use for pies or for anything. Where you desire for a more ample. Very good. Thank you. Well, I guess we've pretty well settled the Apple question. We didn't much more time left bill, but I wanted to give you a chance to talk just briefly about maple syrup and whether in order to make maple syrup, if you need a whole Forest of maple trees. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no last winter. We tapped three maple trees. And we got what was it 50 half-pints didn't we 55 have finally got quite a number of we got we got a very good harvest you need several things to do this one. You need a maple tree, of course and and but you don't have to have a sugar maple tree indeed. You will make better maple syrup. If you don't use the sugar maple tree, but you use the red maple tree, you will need spirals. They're the things you drive into the tree. You don't drive them into the tree. You've bore hole into the tree with three eighths inch bits and then you put the spiral in then you need a bag or something for the satellite repair to You're better off if you will not use 10 cans or anything else you're much better off. If you use plastic gallon jugs, and and we save the ones that we've bought vinegar in and other things and then wash them out very carefully. Then you need to boil it and I'll tell you with the kind of syrup. We use we make we make it thick we start out with 30. A little more actually, let's say 40 40 gallons of sap for where you'll end up with 1 gallon of syrup has got a boiler. We don't do it in your house. All the wallpaper will come off. All right, well folks we have run out of time. I want to thank both of you so much for coming in Bill and Josephine done talking about preserving the fall vegetable Harvest and we'll be chatting with you next spring about the planting season and the process of picking vegetables and getting things out of the catalogs and so on.