8 Months Chasing Dreams: Should You Make The Leap Too?

[@ireneb2390]

We call those ground cherries Cape Gooseberries where I live. It makes terrific jam. When husked, they freeze really well. You can gather them untill you have enough to make jam.

[@theurbstead]

Oh awesome!! Do you have a specific recipe? I'd love to get that. I just used them in a hot sauce and it made a terrific sweet pop to the flavor. They have been a favorite of the neighborhood.

[@crankybanshee3809]

This is the first year I was thinking about making jam from cape gooseberries. I have always used unripe fruit instead of packet pectin to set jam, but based on what was said in this video about unripe cape gooseberries I guess I shouldn't do that with them. Any input you may have on the pectin issue for this kind of jam would be appreciated.

[@ireneb2390]

@@theurbstead sure! 75% sugar of whatever the uncooked berries weigh. Then add the berries to a pot (without the sugar) and add about half a cup of water - you would need to keep an eye on it and stir every now and again. Once berries have softened, add the sugar and stir to dissolve. You would then cook it like any other jam. The reason you would first cook the berries is that if you cooked the jam with the sugar from scratch, the berries would harden and you would not get a nice soft jam texture. It is as easy as that. This recipe works well for most berries. In the case of strawberries, however, you would cover the raw strawberries with the sugar overnight and it would make its own lovely gooey mixture before cooking.

[@theurbstead]

@crankybanshee3809 Now I'm not a scientist by any stretch but it looks like (on a quick Google) that this chemical, Solenine, is mostly dealt with in green potatoes (or slightly green). Looks like when potatoes aren't fully covered and turn green, this chemical is present. Apparently boiling temperatures don't break the chemical down, but what seems to break it down is exposure to acetic acid, vinegar. Not sure if a similar thing happens with citric acid. Not sure that any of that information is useful. But do you notice a lack in setting up if you just use the ripe berries without using some unripe ones?

[@theurbstead]

@ireneb2390 That's great! So easy, thank you for the advice. So far we've been doing small batch runs with reduced sweetener (our own honey) to make grape jam and rhubarb preserves. Have yet to have any fruit that is plentiful enough to make enough to store hah.

[@LesTurnerEduEng]

Your chickens and bees are huge wins as well. Protein and sugar!

[@theurbstead]

Very true they have been a steady pillar to the homestead!

[@laurenalexander2098]

Ok after tasting your ground cherry, I decided it’s nature’s Willy wonka gum ball 🤯 Loved hearing about the personal benefits you’ve been enjoying

[@theurbstead]

Definitely agree on the wonkaness of the ground cherry! Thank you! It's been a heck of a season!

[@crankybanshee3809]

The problem with your grow tower is most likely to be that the soil temperature is getting too warm in Summer from full exposure to the sun when the individual containers only have a small amount of soil. Kale isn't a fan of heat. If you have something big/tall in a pot you could place in front of it to give some shady relief it should perk up or else swap out the kale for something that likes warmth. Good luck on your gardening adventure.

[@theurbstead]

Oh that's really helpful, thank you! I didn't even think about the fact that they are just baking in those pots.

[@erinptrsn]

I'm not sure how long it's been green and matured, but it'll take a bit for those green peppers to turn red. It could take three weeks or so after the green bell reaches maturity.

[@theurbstead]

Oh wow, I didn't realize it had to get mature first. It's there any sign of maturation? Perhaps you could also give me some tips. Do I need to wait till it's fully red to collect the pepper for seed saving purposes?

[@erinptrsn]

@@theurbstead I wish my gardening skills were that far along to tell you when the right time to save seeds is! My garden hated me, so I am having to start over again, and I'm pretty new to gardening in general. I just know about the peppers because red peppers are my favorite and it annoyed me that I had to wait so long to get a red pepper! The biggest sign for me that it was getting close was the fact that the pepper itself stopped getting bigger and just seemed to sit there. At that point, I knew it was on its way! You might try checking out the youtuber roots and refuge. Use her search bar to look up saving seeds and/or peppers. I'm not sure if she's your zone, but she give a lot of great general information and her videos have really helped me with planning so that I can try again next year. Keep doing what you're doing...it's inspiring to watch people create a garden for themselves in an urban environment and see that it's not just for lots of acres or farmland!