Many of the issues have to do with serious soil conditions. Hope you get your garden soil tested sometime. I have it done every 3-4 years at about $26. The last time was this past fall, when it came back with less than .005% iron, and the the N was also very low, PK were fine though. I added a LOT of feather meal and cottonseed meal, as well as iron sulfate and a bit of lime. Had another test done in May 1 and it was all back to normal. I grew my broc and brussels from seeds indoors in early April, as well as tomatoes, peppers and most of my herbs. I use a soil 'bean innoculent' for peas and beans. The two batches of peas are now just the later ones left. These are huge pods on taller plants, and even at 90 degrees and a cool shower after 5pm daily they are still surviving. To help keep heat stress down, I also spray the foliage every few days with kelp mixed with water. The broc is huge and the last time I grew it a few years back it was as big as the heads you see in the markets. Nice thing too, as they have many smaller side shoots that last a month longer. In a couple of days the rest of the peas will get picked, and judging by the size of the pods I should get about twice what I had picked a couple of weeks ago. I do plan to put in another batch of peas in mid August. By that time its unbearable heat but because the summer heat of days goes down at night, the late peas can grow into mid October. As mentioned in another post. Brussels sprouts need to be cared for, snapping of lower leaves will help to increase some of the lower sprouts size. Adding a good quality organic fertilzer is also important ingredient even if soil tests are all normal at first. After the spout plants reach about 5 foot tall (mine easily do), I cut off the top most leaves. Again, these are cole crops and can take freezes quite well into late October in your zone. Broccoli can also be started indoors now, and then planted in the middle of August, for a fall crop. Hope this all helps. BTW, if your not sure about a soil test, do NOT use the home test kits, totally useless, as are those meters! A lab is the best way to get a soil test done. as for the basics, minerals and any micronutrients they can report to you. The soil is taken from about 5-6 inches down, and from several spaced apart areas. You send out a 1 pound bag, and the results are mailed back usually within 2-3 weeks. Getting one done now, is a good idea as it can give you more insite on what is needed for next year. I have a big rototiller and after I apply the ammendments in spring, I till it under, the garden is really healthy for a change. Avoid Miracle Grow products when fertilizing any high water veggies like tomatoes, cukes, and squash. My ferts are all based on chicken manure and plant based NPK as a start. I had bought 300 pounds of Humate. Really black, mined, and has a LOT of stuff my soil would never see. It too was added last year and had given the best lab test rating I ever saw.

I use an old hand cranked Squeezo, it belonged to my mother. It's all stainless steel, a precursor to today's plastic Victorio/Villaware. I use it for tomato sauce, but I find that I have to cook the tomatoes slightly or it's too hard to crank them. Others, with stronger arms, put their tomatoes through raw. I don't use it at all for salsa because it smushes everything up too small and I don't use it for raspberries because some of the small seeds get through even the smallest screen. That's OK, I like a few seeds anyway. It's a champ for applesauce too, but doesn't work worth a rip for cherries for jam. (grin) I've gone back to hand pitting those. Annie

That deal you missed isn't a very good one anyway.. It looks like a very old version of a Victorio food strainer and they were very messy, and leaked out the shaft. The latest version is from Villaware and has a wrap around plastic shield to keep spatter down to a minimum. Also, the berry screen, as an option will get all the seeds out of raspberries and so you have a perfect seedless jam. I use it for my tomatoes and the skins and seeds pass out the end, which, on the newer Villaware, is another 4 inches of clear plastic cone to push out the waste even further from the metal conical strainers. The Villaware also has a rubber seal on the cranking shaft that stops any leakage from flowing out where the handle is attached. Cutting big tomatoes in halves and smaller ones are left whole. I can 'crank out' a bushel in less than 10 minutes. Very little effort compared to a Foley and works great even for small bits like for salsa, and even pumpkin. I sold my old Victorio for $5.00 a few years ago, but still have a similar Back To Basics model, that has the older wing nut screen design of the Victorio., but that shaft still leaks when I do watery stuff like tomatoes and even raspberries.

If you were doing a tomato/vegetable juice (onions, carrots, celery in addition to tomatoes), would you still run them through the strainer first? It all depends on the kind of strainer you are using I guess. I use a Victorio/Villaware type so precooking isn't necessary for them - just run them through fresh, cores, skins, seeds and all are removed. So yes, when I make Shirley's Veggie Juice Cocktail for example I mill the tomatoes first and then add all the other veggies to the tomato juice blend and cook. When ready to jar I just pour it through a metal screen strainer into the jars. It strains out all the other veggies and they go into the soup pot. But if you are using an older type like a Foley or a chinois then I can see how pre-cooking them would be necessary so in that case they tell you to remove the cores and blossom ends first. But with cherry types, I'd just throw them in the pot with everything else and just cook it longer before doing the milling. Personal choice. I think many of the BBB recipe instructions were written before modern tomato mills were invented. ;) Dave