Ways to Preserve Sweet Corn

 

I love the late summer, early fall season. Summer storms, fresh fruit, and an abundance of veggies.  Gardens exploding and spilling over raised beds and beautiful summer and fall flowers. This is a busy season for canning, freeze drying, and trying new recipes. 

 Sweet corn is one of the crops you can look forward to harvesting at this time.  With so many ways to preserve sweet corn, it's a must have crop if you have the space.  Also nothing beats fresh picked sweet corn slathered in butter, salt, and your favorite seasonings.  So I thought I would compile all my sweet corn posts to make it easy to find info on harvesting, growing sweet corn, and preserving sweet corn.

Growing Sweet Corn

When to Harvest Sweet Corn

3 Recipes for Preserving Corn

Vegetable Soup

Freezing Corn on the Cob

Sweet Corn Relish

Silver Queen white sweet corn

Controlling Early Blight in Tomatoes

 

Our monsoon season has brought lots of rain and humid conditions for both July and August.  While early blight is not usually an issue because of our dry conditions this year is the exception and many people have lost their tomatoes.  Early blight can affect both potatoes and tomatoes.  The key to not losing your crop is to recognize it early, understand this pathogen, and use cultural methods to control and prevent, and use fungicides when necessary.

What is Early Blight?

Early Blight is a fungal disease that occurs on mature vines.  Don't be confused by the term early; it usually shows up in mid to late summer if rainy, humid conditions exist.  It can affect the leaves, stems, and fruit of both potatoes and tomatoes.

Early blight is caused by the fungus Alternaria solani. The fungus overwinters on debris from previously diseased plants. Airborne spores will cause infection on  new tomato and potato plants.  The spores are  produced on infected debris and on volunteer tomato and potato plants. The disease is more serious under wet or humid conditions. The first lesions occur in the lower part of the plant where humidity is highest.  (USU Extension)

Blight on tomato fruit.

Symptoms of Early Blight (USU Extension)

• Early leaf symptoms begin as pinpoint brown or black spots, usually on the lower (older) leaves.
• Leaf spots are frequently surround by a yellow halo.
• Concentric rings can be seen within the enlarged lesions.
• Irregularly shaped lesions that may be somewhat angular because they are often limited by large leaf veins.
• Sunken and silvery stem lesions ranging from 1/4 to 1/2 inch in size.
• Stem lesions may join to produce large infected areas.
• Stem lesions are an indication of a serious early blight outbreak.
• Tomato fruit symptoms are not common in Utah, but include greenish brown to black sunken lesions (usually on the stem-end of the fruit) with concentric rings.
• Irregularly shaped potato tuber lesions that look dark colored at first and then become sunken.
• Dry and leathery tuber tissue that ordinarily remain hard and dry, but wet rot will occur if the lesion is invaded by other fungi or bacteria
• Tuber infections are infrequent in Utah.

Notice the lesions on the stems

Treatment

• Frequently check for early signs of blight in wet conditions especially on the lower leaves.  Brown spots will be the first indication.
• As the disease spreads and progresses, leaves will yellow, lesions will cause dark dead spots, and it will progress up the plant.
• As you monitor your plants remove any diseased leaves by pruning them off.  There is no cure for a fungus so pruning off diseased leaves is important.  Fungicides only prevent the fungal spores from colonizing on new leaves.
• Do not throw pruned leaves on the ground or leave in the garden.  Throw them in the trash.
• If the disease occurs during the beginning of August you will need to treat with a fungicide to prevent the spread.
• I use a copper fungicide when I have blight.  Neem is also a fungicide but with continued humidity and rain you will want to use the copper fungicide.  
• If you know moist, wet conditions are coming your way you can use Neem as a preventative spray before the moisture comes but it is not as affective when you already have early blight.

Cultural Methods to prevent fungal disease

• Remove all diseased plant material at the end of the season and put it in the trash or burn it.
• Rotate where you plant tomatoes and potatoes.  Use a 2 year rotation.
• Do not use an overhead water system.
• Give plants adequate space to allow good air circulation.
• Buy disease free starts.
• Destroy all volunteer tomato and potato plants.

Zucchini Relish

 

This time of year there is usually an abundance of zucchini with drop offs at the local mailboxes or post office.  There are so many ways to preserve zucchini that you can use as well a share will others. 

Harvesting

I think more zucchini would be eaten and used if it was picked at the proper time.  You want small or medium size zucchini.  The skins should not be hard but soft.  At this stage the seeds are small and few.  As the zucchini ages it produces more seeds, seeds enlarge,  and skins harden in order to produce viable seeds. These a best feed to chickens or pigs unless you are saving seeds.  For cooking and preserving and for breads pick them small.

Zucchini Relish

This recipe is similar to my Sweet Pickle Relish but with less sugar.  There are lots of ways to use the relish.  Some of our favorites are mixed in with tuna or a chicken sandwich, mixed in macaroni or potato salad, on crackers with sliced cheese, and on hamburgers or hots dogs. Perhaps later I will share my macaroni and potato salad recipes they are always a favorite. You can double, triple or quadruple this recipe.

2 cups chopped zucchini (3 medium zucchini)

1 cup chopped onion (1 medium onion)

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

2 TBS pickling salt not table salt

1 3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. celery seed

1 tsp mustard seed

1 cup cider vinegar 5%acidity

Pickle crisp (optional)

Distilled water

Prep:

Wash produce. I use a veggie and onion chopper for the zucchini, onions, and peppers.  This makes nice diced pieces and is quick. 

Combine chopped zucchini, red and green peppers, and onions in a large bowl.  Sprinkle pickling salt over the veggies. Pour distilled water over the veggies until covered.  Let it stand for 2 hours.

Drain and rinse with cold water to remove salt.

Coook:

Combine sugar, spices, and vinegar in a large saucepan.  Bring mixture to a simmer.  180 F Add drained vegetables; simmer for 10 minutes.  Always use stainless steel when making pickling products.

Fill:

 Add 1/16th tsp Pickle Crisp to half-pint jars, 1/8 tsp in pint jars. 

Pack hot relish into clean jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. 

Remove air bubbles

Clean jar rim.  Place on the rack elevated over simmering water in a boiling water canner.

After all jars are filled lower rack into canner.

Process:

Water must cover the jars by 1 inch.  cover canner and bring to a full rolling boil.  

half pints 10 minutes, pints 15 minutes  add 10 minutes for high altitude.  

In New Harmony you must add 10 minutes.

When time is complete remove the lid of the canner.  Leave jars in canner with the lid off for 10 minutes then remove the jars.  Let jars set and seal.  When cool remove the rings, label, and store. 

(Recipe from Ball Blue Book)

 

Boiling Water Canner Altitude Adjustments

Because barometric pressure is reduced at high altitudes it affects the temperature at which water boils.  To ensure safety you MUST adjust the canning time.

Altitude in Feet                    Increase Processing Time

1,001-3000                                   5 minutes

3,001- 6,000                               10 minutes

6,001- 8,000                               15 minutes

8,001-10,000                              20 minutes