Ripening Your Soft Fruits

Every year when the local Peaches, Nectarines, Plums and Melons are gone and the Central American or Mexican fruit come in...so do the complaints. And I can't say that I blame them. The "so called" soft fruits are hard as a rock and have absolutely no flavor. Folks love their fruits and melons, but they just can't stand to eat them during the winter months. For some of you folks out there that don't know why...I'll explain it.

Every grocery store wants shelf life. They don't want "tree ripened" fruit coming in to their store, because they don't get enough shelf life. Tree ripened fruit comes in and for the most part; you have about three days to sell it, or it turns bad. Therefore, when fruits are grown in Chili, Costa Rica, Honduras or Mexico, they are picked very green. Most of the fruit will have no color at all. The growers and packers want them to look pretty for sale; therefore, they will place those fruits into a large room where they will be gassed. Now I won't go into all the scientic jargon about what this gas does to your fruit, so I'll give it to you in laymens terms. The gas kills any bugs that come on the fruit and it excites the enzymes in the fruit which causes it to continue to change color. The packing houses' will however, call it a ripening process. I say "bull-hockey."

Basically all that happens to the fruit is that it begans to change color so that the peach looks more like a peach. They go through this process so that the soft fruit that you purchase in the winter will look nice and pretty. And of course; as a consumer; you like to see pretty. It "excites your enzymes to buy" so to speak. Then you take them home thinking that you are going to sit them on your kitchen counter for a couple of days and they will be great. Afterall; they sure look pretty. After a couple of days the fruit continues to change color and you think it's ready to put into your cornflakes. But when you start eating it, you then realize that the Peach still has no flavor and it's still hard as a rock. And then you come into me and say "Gary; them dog-gone Peachs you sold me the other day taste like cardboard and they never do ripen up. Ok! You've got the skinny on why...now let me try and help fix it..

After you have purchased those foriegn fruits; get yourself a small paper sack from the cashier. Don't be bashfull...just ask the cashier for one. The store owes it to you for selling you an inferior product anyway. When you get home; put those peach's, nectarines and plums into the sack with a BANANA PEEL. Not the whole banana...just the peeling. Fold the paper sack down until it's fairly close to the fruit and then sit it on the counter. You can do this with canaloupe and honey dew mellons also. And be sure to do it with those tasteless Mexican tomatoes too.

Now to explain why and what is happening in that sack. The banana peel emmits a gas (much like the gas they use to excite the enzymes in fruit) and it continues to excite the enzymes in the fruit. Except when it is done in this manner; the fruit continues to ripen much like when left on a tree or bush to ripen. Not only will the fruit continue to change color, but the fruit will soften as well. Mexican tomatoes are famous for having no flavor. Follow this procedure and you will have more flavorful tomatoes. Now please understand...this fruit is still not going to taste as good as it would if it was vine ripened, but it will certainly be more tolerable. I will however, give you a couple of hints about using this method. Do Not Use a Plastic Bag...it has to be paper. And don't leave your fruit in the bag for more than about two days, or you will end up with rotten fruit. I hope this tip has helped a few folks out there who love their soft fruits and mellons. Good Luck!
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A New Garden Plot

When I first moved to the current location in Missouri that I'm at now from the South Coast of Oregon; I knew that my gardening experience would change dramatically. However, I didn't realize that I would create such a jungle.

One of the first things that I looked for when I attained this home in the Springfield area was to where I was going to put the new garden. We are in the middle of 270 acres here, but only one of them is mine. Therefore, I knew that it would be the same place where a garden had been in years past. It was a small plot that I knew would just never be large enough so...I went bigger.

This plot was at the time about 20x25 and I increased it to 40x50 and all in a hearty fescue grassed yard. I knew that I was going to have problems this year trying to keep under control.

Since I moved here late last year, I didn't have time to take the precautions in which I discuss in my book Simple Gardens Exposed.

Therefore, I knew that I would have a fight on my hands, but I pressed on in order to fulfill my desire for a garden this year. Working up the ground with my rear tine tiller wasn't a problem. After several passes the ground was in fairly good shape and proceeded to plant.

I didn't take the time to draw out a real good plan for planting this year and I suffered some because of it, but overall; everything turned out extremely well. We were able to plant many things that we couldn't grow in the Northwest region and was excited at the prospects.

After getting everything planted we proceeded with laying down the black plastic between the rows in order to keep the grass from growing back. Everything looked great. The Drip Irrigation was built and in place, the plastic was between the rows as is suggested in my book; however, I was not ready for what happened over the next month.

The fescue began to push up the plastic around the edges. I knew that fescue grass is a formidable foe, but this stuff is ferocious. I tried to pull it the best I could. I laid straw on top of the plastic to try and keep it down, but the winds this year always seemed to be blowing about 40 mph., so it was always being pushed and raised to allow more air to get in. This caused me a little grief so I made wire pins to push into the ground to hold the plastic down. This helped tremendously, but the fescue was already taking a strong hold.

I didn't wish to use any spray to kill the grass so this year I just fought it by hand. I didn't divide and conquer in any sense of the word. That is the reason why that this year I will have the time to implement all the options of which I wrote in my book for having a weed free garden next season.

We had a fantastic garden, but we put a lot of work into it. I knew that it would be tough working up a new plot of land like that, and I knew that it would be especially bad with the fescue I had to fight. It would have all been easier if I would have been able to have enough time to work the garden according to Simple Gardens Exposed.

The work is always worth the enjoyment of seeing things grow and produce. And with all the extra product we grew; we were able to help with the food share program in our area plus help out a lot of needy folks in our church.

I do; however, look forward to this year and being able to work the garden the right way and not having to fight the weeds and grass next year. I will implement everything that I have written and follow my own advice. I've used my method for years, and it works every time. This year the plot fought me pretty good, but next year the victory will all be mine.

If you're interested in gardening methods that are proven to reduce labor and disease by up to 60%, then go to Simple Gardens Exposed and order my book. The book has been reduced from $12.95 to $3.95 for a short time and will give you a much needed revelation about how little work there can be when a garden is prepared the right way.

Thanks for reading and good luck!.

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The Mid-West Heat has Fried the Garden

The mid-west is on its way to breaking some serious heat records. Temperatures are soaring to well above 100 degrees with no relief in sight.Apparently the official diagnosis is "drought". I'm one of the luckier individuals here in my area as far as the garden is concerned and part of that luck is due to; what I believe, is My Drip Irrigation System.

While everyone is complaining that they can't get enough water to their gardens so that the plants can survive...my garden is still doing fairly well. However, the heat has made a tremendous difference in the plant bearing property.

The plants are definitely stressed and showing extreme signs of wear, but they are still surviving and bearing fruit. I notice much of the corn stalks in the gardens now are burnt up. They are brown and look now what they would normally look like in late August.

My corn is still green, but the corn cobs are not filling out properly and those cobs that are still small are not growing much in size.

The Drip Irrigation System that I designed and built has already paid for itself this year in continued yields of Tomato's, Bell Peppers, Hot Peppers, Pumpkins, Cantaloupe and Watermelons. The Sunflowers are still doing good and I always plant lots of flowers in my gardens that are still doing well. Marigolds are huge and blooming beautifully.

I believe that most of the production that I'm still receiving right now is positively due to The Drip Irrigation System. It puts the water right at the root; therefore, there is very little dehydration of water before it get to the plant and there is no water on the foliage that can lead to disease, bugs and of course; leaf burning.

If you would like to learn more about Drip Irrigation, just visit Gary's Simple Gardens and read an article that wrote concerning the many benefits to your garden.

I do think that if we don't see some relief from these soaring temperatures soon...the garden along with the mid-west will fry like a chicken.

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