Hello TGibson, Sulfite,is that Sulfur?If it is Sulfur,a yellowish powder or granule,it can be put on about once a year,about a couple tablespoons per plant,mixed gently into the soil surface.It may take about that long to see results though,as the microbes change it to Sulfuric acid. It is a good idea to see what the actual soil pH is,by way of a soil test or an accurate meter. It will probably make a difference to pull the berries off the first couple of years,so that the plant can grow more in roots and leaves.Not so much fun on our part. Bumblebees are usually the most common pollinators of Blueberries and they will fly a good distance between plants. Strawberries also like an acid soil.I'm not sure about Raspberries. I also have a Pink Lemonade Blueberry plant,that I picked up early this Spring and it is growing like a weed.It only has a few berries though,which I'm eager to try. What is your soil amended with?I use Pine bark mulch and Moss Peat.About 70/30 mix. I'm going to close with the words that the man who welcomed me on this forum a little over a year ago, when I announced my intentions to grow them."Blueberries are the easiest things to grow until their not".Have fun and I hope they do really well. Brady

I like using rice wine vinegar as it is still sweet but colorless. I don't know the acidity though so haven't used it for canning. Be careful not to scorch with balsamic. It scorched easily.

It looks like I picked up Ken's "cranky rants" banner, LOL. I worked in a cannery when I was in college. When you're sourcing fruit, determining standards in the field, grading, testing in the lab, it's easy to arrive at consistency. Lemons by the boxcar tend to average out and I certainly can see that for commercial applications a ton of lemons is consistently more acidic than an equivalent amount of bottled. But the home canner uses only one or two or three lemons, which individually may be lower in acidity. Who can know? There is just no way to account for all the things which may happen with a canning formula in the home kitchen. You make applesauce and use windfalls, which are less acid than apples picked from the tree, not even imagining it's an issue. Inexperienced canners, especially, are prone to doing the unimaginable. I can say as a teacher, I can't count the ways the human mind can re-configure the most basic of instructions. I told a friend how to can tomatoes, believing I'd covered every possible way for it to go wrong, only to discover he'd decided water up to the level of the fruit in the jar was sufficient for a boiling water bath. Fortunately, my husband happened to go down the street to visit, spotted the error and insisted he re-process the batch. Sorry if I came across as hostile. Canning fatigue. Like farmers, glad to see the end of harvest. Carol

For instant gratification, you can't beat homemade salad dressings. It will probably take you longer to get the ingredients out on the counter than to actually make a dressing, and it will improve the taste of the salad as much as using a garden-fresh tomato instead of a hydroponic one! Since they're quick, inexpensive and usually keep a long time, it's definitely practical to have several on hand if everybody in your family prefers a different 'flavor'. If you have kids who won't touch a salad, try making ranch with a little less milk or buttermilk than called for so it's thicker. Tell them it's a dip, and even picky eaters can usually be coaxed into trying it with something that's raw and good for them. And I can almost guarantee that the next time you have company for dinner, somebody will say, "Ooh, your dressing is so much better than mine! What brand do you buy?" It's priceless to see the looks on their faces when you say, "Well, actually..." lol Of course, salad dressing is a small item in the grand scheme of things, even though making it should give you a lot of positive reinforcement. Ruthanna made such a good point about identifying the "big offenders" so you won't just be spittin' in the wind in your efforts to eat healthier meals. If you're a working mom juggling an insane schedule, chances are that casseroles are a mainstay, so one of the huge culprits is soup. (Cream of ______, anybody?) Learn to make a white sauce instead, seasoning it with various herbs and spices and adding different cheeses for infinite variety and insanely improved taste! It's easy as can be, I promise. Also, as so many others have said, make your own broth. There are some superb tutorials, with lots of pix, on recipezaar for chicken, vegetable and shrimp stock. (I apologize again for not figuring out links here. Just click on "Communities" at the top of the recipezaar home page, then scroll down to the French Forum.) There was an amazing post here the other day about beef broth. You have to babysit a little since it must simmer for several hours, but the 'hands on' time is minimal, and it's so simple to assemble that a 3rd grader could do it. (Well, maybe a 6th grader, since a knife is involved...) So don't be intimidated when you think "homemade broth"! It's as simple and straightforward as boiling eggs. If you never bought a can of Campbell's again, it would reduce the offending stuff in your diet to an astounding degree. Then there are all those little foil packets. Fajitas, tacos, spaghetti sauce, chili, Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix... Lots of dishes are so simple if you just sprinkle in the stuff in the little foil packet. Not great, but edible. I'm thinking the junk in those little foil packets probably is about the unhealthiest stuff you buy. If you use them often, your salt intake is off the charts. The internet is such a wonderful source for recipes for stuff like Creole/Cajun seasonings so you can reduce or eliminate the salt. Here's a recipe I found for a substitute for dry onion soup mix. Haven't tried it yet, but I plan to soon. Lipton Onion Soup Mix Sub 4 t. beef bouillon granules 8 t. dried onion flakes 1 t. onion powder 1/4 t. celery salt Mix well to blend. Can be stored for up to 6 months. Equivalent of 1 envelope dry onion soup mix. With pre-teen or teenaged children, snacks may be the single biggest problem you need to address. There is nothing in the frozen food section you can't do better and cheaper at home, using far less sodium and preservatives. But there's a big trade-off of taste vs. time. Maybe you could organize a OAMC group of moms, preparing dozens of after-school snacks to be frozen? Or just call your sister and demand that she come over to help? :) The main thing, I think, is to keep a sense of balance. Healthy is wonderful, but all of us must have our "Cheetos" in one form or another. If your family hates one of the substitutes you come up with, give it up. There are other ways to introduce healthy foods that they will enjoy. If your kids are miserable without their Oreos, preach moderation instead of denial.