I use a powered product called Serenade and its worked quite well in reducing the damage of mildew. None of my sprays for the garden are petrolium based or chemcial based. There is water nearby and most has only been swampy, but my garden doesn't contribute any contaminates to the environment. When I do pickles, its usually in quarts. Add Jersey Green Sand to the garden to raise the potash level. I just applied 60 pounds to my garden as it was quite low in Potash/potasium. It always seems hin in phosphorous even though I never add any. My recent soil test also told me my nitrogen is low, so out went fish meal. All these get tilled under. I do most of my sprays in early morning or late after the sun passes over. If you have squash vine borers, there can be two kinds of protection, A form of Bt injected into the stems near the soil and about 1 foot away, then 2 feet away. If you are concerned about Bt, you could also use beneficial nematodes and inject them instead. I use an insulin syringe to do the job, and it usually only needs one treatment. The cuke beetles carry the mildew around on their feet. I use yellow sticky traps and scent lures for catch the beetles. There are two kinds of cuke beetles, spotted and striped. Here its striped and they can also infest the melons and squash plants. Last summer after 3 weeks, I had to replace the sticky traps, as they were all loaded. Here is a link that might be useful: Organic potash source

My favorite recipe, is plain and simple, comes from a book called "Food that Really Schmecks" by Edna Staebler. Boil beets until tender, plunge them into cold water, slip off the skins. If different sized beets are used I cut them into equal sized chunks. Mix the following and bring to a boil. 1 1/2 cups vinegar 2 Cups Sugar 1/2 Cup water 1/2 teaspoon salt Add the beets to the boiled syrup, heat til warm through out, but don't boil them! Drop into sterlized jars, pour syrup over them, cover and process 10 minutes in boiling water bath. Although after reading this thread and the recipe on the NCHFP website I might change the processing time to 30 minutes. As an option I like to add one nice thick slice of onion to the bottom of the jar before I put the beets in. We always fight over the onion! Jenny P

Sugar dissolves better when warm, or put into warm/hot liquid. If the directions say boil, then boil.

DMForcier: It's probably 4 minutes total and I work in larger batches(2 lbs or so) Total BOILING time is probably 2 mins. once the water reaches boiling point again. Cookery . a. to scald briefly and then drain, as peaches or almonds to facilitate removal of skins, or as rice or macaroni to separate the grains or strands. b. to scald or parboil (meat or vegetables) so as to whiten, remove the odor, prepare for cooking by other means, etc. Don't knock my way until you try it. I've been told my hot carrots are better than the taco shops that are on every street corner here in San Diego. The peppers have the crisp of a pepper that you would pull out of a #10 can of whole Jalapenos from Mexico that you might find at Costco. But yes, you're right. Logic tells one that blanching less will tend to lead to more crisp Bruce: The only time I ever peel the skins is when I fire roast. And sometimes I don't even do that if it's a slight char on smaller chiles like jalapenos, serranos, and habs. and I want to obtain a more rustic and caramelized result.