Chris - Those scotch bonnets and Pink Berkley Tie Dye (PBTD) are looking great. PBTD is definitely a keeper tomato in our garden, its done very well and the taste is great. My sugar rush peach pods are just starting to turn. It is a massive plant and there's probably 40 pods or so right now.

Jacob - glad to see those tomato plants looking like they will pull through!

Nervous to cut it open, but we harvested our first watermelon this morning! The tendril was dried up earlier in the week, so we let it go for another couple days based on some guidance I've seen here and elsewhere. Will update when we cut it up tonight or tomorrow!

10 lbs, 8 oz. Sugar Baby

Congrats on the first watermelon! I will be eager to hear how it is.

I expect to cut the 11+ pound cantaloupe later today. I will post a pic when I do.

Jamie - I thought I read that they like poor soil, but I could be wrong. The odd thing is that where they are thriving now is definitely not poor soil.

Feels weird starting seeds again, but I like it!

Heather - sorry to hear about the cantaloupe :-( I hope you get more from the plant.

Crazy, but awesome, that you're still getting bombarded with cukes! I harvested 14 of the Early Jalapeno peppers this morning, but brought them into work, because the plant is absolutely loaded! All of my hot pepper varieties are growing so wild and are extremely prolific.

Jacob - Sorry to hear about the unwanted pepper pruning. I think it's about time you put up a "No Deer Allowed" sign.

What cover crops are you thinking of growing? I have seeds for oats and hairy vetch, which I plan to sow next month. I will have to undersow in some areas, because vetch needs some more time to get established, but I'll be using oats as a nurse crop.

This wacky weather will likely be the new norm. There are some new things us gardeners will have to get used to.

itsmce - hope you get that rain you've been looking for, sans the strong winds. We are under Severe Thunderstorm Watch here, so I am also crossing my fingers that the winds aren't too crazy. The good thing about the location of my garden is that my neighbor has a tall PVC fence to the west, so it really subdues any straightline winds.

Can't wait to see that cut melon!

Kevin - thanks! I agree with the PBTD. It's been very productive, unfortunately too productive for it's own good. My staking techniques will need to be altered next year.

The SRP pepper plant is crazy! Basically the same scenario here, but still waiting for signs of ripening. I was hoping to add some to the hot sauce mix. What's the word on the freshness of the hot peppers for hot sauce? Do the peppers need to be harvested fresh or will they be ok for a bit?

That Sugar Baby is a beauty! I always loved their dark green skin and round shape. I bet your kids are very eager to give it a try!

Chris - I usually freeze up all my hot peppers as they ripen, then pull them out when I'm ready to make a batch of sauce. Not sure if there is any ill effect - the sauce ferments and tastes great to me!

Yes Chris, I'm afraid this wacky weather will likely become the norm with the solar minimum coming. It's a tricky weather pattern that seems to repeat itself every, single, time we have had a solar minimum in the past. Extreme everything due to no solar weather median (influencer): extreme cold, extreme heat, extreme storms. I believe the last time we've had one as major as this one was the Maunder Minimum in the 1700's, which brought record heat and cold to much of Europe and North America. We've been a bit spoiled the last century or two.

I've not decided yet RE cover crops. Do you have any experience with cover crops in shade? I was considering tillage radish, rye, and/or some red clover. I believe Red clover would take some shade. My idea is to use this back garden for spring crops, but just plant shade tolerant cover crops for fall, eliminating my need to add compost, a big expense.

Salad greens do wonderfully in the area during spring and summer due to partial shade. It's an asset for that. I was picking lettuce well into June this year when others had them bolting in May due to early heat. Next year I will experiment with shade cloth more, and succession planting heat tolerant varieties (like Buttercrunch).

As promised...here’s the 11 pounder cut in half.

My mouth is watering.

That looks sooooooo good!!

Ninecrow --plant micro tomato seeds by August 10, for November harvest. Start new seeds every three months for extra harvests during the whole year.

Tony

Success!!!

Kevin- I'd say you’re a melon farmer! Looks great. Congrats.

That melon looks good enough to eat!!

Thanks Tony
Looking Forward to this Trying this New {To Me} Plant....
I'll Keep You Posted on What Happens....

jacoblockcuff
Thank You For Talking About The Solar Minimum Coming Because Everybody else I've Spoken Too Says It's BS.....
So Nobody is Prepping For it, So I Can See a Lot of Deaths Happening...

Cut down 3 more bush tomatoes to bare bones -- all flowering had stopped, plus half of the branches we dead from diseases.

Interesting experiment -- to see if they overcome the diseases with new growth.

Tony

Tony, I bet you end up with lots of new, healthy growth! Some of my Margherita plants have started putting out new growth and blossoms. I haven’t cut any down yet. Will wait and see how things look after currently set on tomatoes get harvested.

I was thankful to wake up to an inch of rain in the gauge this morning. I promptly went out and picked all the tomatoes that I could find with even a hint of red. Almost 17 pounds total.

This Celebrity is loaded. I hope these don’t all crack. I counted 20 on this side of the plant.

Looking Forward To Seeing the Outcome of You experiment Tony....
Can You Do This with the Micro's?
Thanks

Yes -- micros, too.

Cool Beans and Thank You Tony

Kevin
Do You have any Idea on What Crops You want to sell at Market?
Thanks

Sorry Tony
Another Question re Micros.....
What's the Smallest Pot Size I Can Grow Them In?
Thanks

Yesterday's harvest. Started processing tomato seeds.

Whatever cross strain of hab and ghost this plant is, is surely a keeper. Think I found my 2018 overwintering bonchi. This is two sides of the plant.

Kevin
Please Will You Explain What You do to Bonchi a pepper, Half Tempted to Try it with Mine.....
Thanks

https://www.fatalii.net/bonsai_chiles_bonchi

Kevin - Nice looking Sugar Baby...you picked it at just the right time. I went over and checked on my melon and pumpkin patch yesterday. Lots of male blossoms and bees visiting them but not a single open female blossom. I saw several females that were about to open though so I bet I see some growing fruit in a a couple weeks. Those peppers looking deadly!

Shell - Great looking harvest! Did you take it all to market or did you spend the day making sauce and pickling? I've been battling stink bugs this year like no other so I'm getting a lot of blemished fruit.

I should let you know that the BKX did not grow true. The fruits are not black/purple but more of a deep red. Taste is pretty good though. JD's Special C-Tex also did not grow true to type. The fruits are small at around 4 oz. and ripen to orange. All of the other grow outs from your seeds grew true. My favs have been Rebel Yell, Indian Stripe, and Girl Girl's Weird Thing. RY and GGWT have been slow to ripen but they are loaded and really starting to come on now.

I sowed 50' row of carrots on Saturday. Bolero and Yellow Bunch. I yanked out my pickling cukes and sowed Mammoth Melting snow peas on those 2 trellises. Also sowed a few more summer squash seeds. Yesterday I planted out 4 Jade Cross Brussels Sprouts and gave the rest to my neighbor. My Provider green beans germinated really well. I rigged up some fencing over them to protect them from the deer and rabbits.

Thanks For the Link Kevin

Itsmce, I ought to try the Celebrity tomato next year. It seems to be giving you great production. It's always a scary time watching tomatoes for cracking after a heavy rain hahaha.

Kansas Farm Girl, that's a lot of tomatoes!! I bet you've been busy. What is your favorite variety?

Kevin, how exactly did you overwinter your Bonchi plant? I've wanted to overwinter peppers for some time now. Mine haven't done well this year so I think I'll start with a fresh batch next year. The trouble is keeping them completely above freezing, or so I've read.

Jack, all of my carrots and beans are coming up now, as are some Buttercrunch lettuce I sowed last week. I'm going to try and get more lettuce in at some point here. I wouldn't mind finishing these cold frames and putting some in those.

We were at my grandparents' all weekend. They live in south central Missouri. Their garden, as well as ours, has been quite dry and is suffering for it. Rain does something supplemental watering just can't provide. The cooler temperatures have been a lot easier on the garden though. I'm starting to see a couple 90 degree days towards the end of my 10 day forecast. Curious as to how August will be.

jacoblockcuff
Thank You For Talking About The Solar Minimum Coming Because Everybody else I've Spoken Too Says It's BS.....
So Nobody is Prepping For it, So I Can See a Lot of Deaths Happening...

Jacob, I'll be starting my lettuce a week from today and plan to put them out the last week of August. I'll be growing my usual Breen and Dragoon mini romaine, Sparx and Ridgeline full size romaine and Muir Batavian type. The last couple years I've planted my lettuce starts out in mid August and they prematurely bolted during a hot spell in September so this year I want to wait a little later to avoid the heat and have them head up in mid to late October when it is cooler.

I'm going to put some AG19 over my carrot bed to keep the direct sun off of them until they get up a couple inches. Looks like 90+ days will return starting later this week and stick around until mid August at least.

We are going down to lake Pomme de Terre next weekend. I think it may be too hot to do much fishing but we might throw out a few jugs for some catfish.

Jack, I'm trying some heading types this go around, but my main crop will be my normal, succession planted cut and come again crops....The latest I have luck planting it around here is early Sept., so I'll probably end it then. Succession planting should help with bolting. If I lose some, I have a younger crop coming in anyways.

Some pictures from my grandparents'

Ninecrow, I definitely don't want to start a climate change debate here (not the place or time..), but yeah, it's definitely not mentioned as much as it should be....No, I don't think it'll wipe us off the planet (partly my Christian beliefs speaking) haha, but it could cause some serious food shortages, especially in the northern hemisphere. Weather is weather, always changing. Wonky. It's just something we gardeners (and humans alike) have to adapt to and learn from. I appreciate talking to a lot of older folk in relation the weather. They're much more experienced with it (big surprise there) than I'll ever be. Many will tell me firsthand that these cycles just happen.

For bonchi - at the end of the season (definitely before frost), I cut just about all of the vegetation back so that there are basically only the main stem(s) left. Dig up the plant, cut back enough of the root mass so they will fit in whatever pot I am going to use. Pot them in some orchid mix or specialty bonsai media. Side shoots will hopefully grow from those stems starting in a few weeks (the below photo was taken in November of last year, probably a month after initial transplant).

Put in a sunny window or under artificial light. Then apply bonsai principles (prune, shape, etc).

This is what one of the plants looked like in mid February after some major pruning:

Weather happens whether we want it to or not :-p

If your brave, There are plenty of climate change debates over on the Hot Topics forum mixed in among the Trump bashing threads.

Jacob - Those are stunning flowers! That's a great idea to spread out planting lettuce over a few weeks. I may go ahead and start a couple cell packs of Muir tonight since it is the most heat tolerant.

I couldn't get through the first page of the hot topics forum.. GAG.

Yellow Balcony micros -- 7-30-2018 update:

12" tall by 12" wide (both in a 5 gal window box). First ripe fruit today -- amazing from seed (started 5-07) to ripe in 84 days !!!

(micros need a min of 1 gal pot per plant)

Tony

Jack, LOL. Yeah, I'll stay off that forum. I'd probably make someone mad. Couldn't agree more about the weather, out of our control.

Tony, those tomatoes look great!

I know I'm fighting a losing battle, but...This morning I cut off several leaves from my 2 zucchini plants and promptly put them in my trash cart. I have a terrible infestation of aphids. I've been spraying horticultural oil spray and have used a Murphy's Oil Soap spray too. There must be trillions of the little suckers. I probably should have just pulled the plants, but they are both still producing, so I'll keep fighting.

Itsmce, I have never found a way to control aphids, and they've destroyed my plants every year. This year I just decided to do absolutely nothing. Figuring my plants would die, I was surprised to see that a team of parasitic wasps came in and wiped out the aphids by the thousands....Keep fighting them. I despise aphids.

Great evening here. Got some rain. Yes, I still need to get a rain gauge. I might as well just put a marked jar out. Same thing right? I'm hoping to order myself a nice min/max thermometer.

A gorgeous 64 degrees right now. Listening to the bugs. May drop into the 50's tonight and tomorrow night. Garden is looking good so far. I'm hoping to get some more pumpkins set!! They haven't been setting many. The hail had really stunted them. Beans are showing some blooms!

jacoblockcuff
I Agree Not The Time or Place But Just Wanted To give You the Shout Out You Deserve for saying about it....

Neither Could I re Hot Topic's....

But as Was Said The Weather With Do What it DAMN Well Pleases, Nothing To Do With Us....

Thank You Tony,
I'm Sure The Poinsettias Come in Gallon Pots, Need to Up Pot One So.....

Kevin
As My Pepper is Alread in a 20cm Pot, Can it Stay in that, or Can it Be Down Potted as I'll Need Some of the Space the 20cm is Taking Up?
Thanks

Had Rain Again Last Night and This Morning, which is Good as We SO NEED It!!!!

The thread is quiet today!

We're enjoying a below average day in the upper 70s here. Tomorrow it starts to ramp back up and we will be back into the mid 90s by next week.

I harvested about 15 lbs. of just blushing tomatoes last night. Most of them were Big Beef, Orange Jazz, and Rebel Yell. Thankfully very few of them had stink bug damage. Assuming they ripen in time that should be enough to make another batch of Annie's Salsa when we get home from our trip to the lake on Sunday.

Jacob - I completely forgot to sow my Muir lettuce seeds last night. I'm putting a reminder on my phone right now so I don't forget again.

Itsmce - I've never had aphids on my zucchini that I've noticed anyway. I usually see a few lady beetles on the plant so maybe they are taking care of them. I did remove several squash bug egg clusters from my plant last night and squished a couple mating adults and 2 swarms of nymphs. I'm still getting a half dozen or so fruit a week so the plant will stick around a bit longer. My next generation plants are still at least a couple weeks away from producing.

Gets ya some of these!

Garden pictures · More Info

LoneJack - I find it interesting that some days it's hard to keep up with the thread and other days you begin to wonder where everyone is! Love the cartoon!

Life keeps getting in the way for me. I have yet to start seeds for Fall. Broccoli, beans, and lettuce are on the list. I need to poke in a couple zucchini seeds too. Soon, the 2 plants I have now will finally give up the fight. Oh, I also have potatoes that I want to stick in the ground. It has been a quite unusual potato year for me. I have yet to dig about half of my in-ground potatoes. They're still quite green and growing.

Ok so whenever we have this gathering, I've decided that fresh melon must be part of the dessert :-)

itmce - I just want to take a big bite out of that melon lol It look so good!

Sorry to hear about the aphid infestation. I must say, I haven't experienced them on squash plants before. I suppose they will feed on just about anything, but still seems weird to me. Actually I have barely seen any aphids this year, which is weird. Either the beneficials are taking care of business or I'm just choosing not to see them haha. Hope the plants pull through for you.

Kansas Farm Girl - amazing haul!! How many varieties are you growing this year?

Kevin - excellent job with the melon harvest timing!

Who is gonna do the taste test for one of those demon spawns?? Looks like a very productive plant! I think you need to make a hot sauce with them.

Jacob - that fresh rain contains nitrogen, which is probably one of the reasons rain seems to give plants a pick-me-up unlike other water sources.

I know I mentioned it already on Instagram, but that phlox is stunning! Glad you are enjoying the Sun Golds too!

You should checkout the CoCoRaHS rain gauage. Then you can record the data on their site. This is where I got the gauge http://www.weatheryourway.com/cocorahs/store.html Not the cheapest, but it works well.

Tony - let us know how those cut back tomato plants do!

Jack - can you send pics of the Rebel Yell? BTW, I harvested another Orange Jazz the other day that was 26 ounces! It looked like 2 tomatoes stuck together lol. I guess essentially that's what it really was.

How many pounds of tomatoes do you need for the salsa again?

Jack/Jacob - we are starting lettuce already?? I think I'm just gonna direct sow this time. Have any of you used Johnny's Fall Planting Calculator? It's pretty good! You type in your average first frost date at the top and it will calculate when you need to plant out various cool weather crops for a fall harvest. It also mentions if it can be directly sown or should be a transplant. http://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/calculator-planting-dates-fall-harvest-crops.html This is it.

Chris, that's a handy calculator. For my first frost of Oct. 10, it says to start heading lettuce right about the 3rd of August. Not too far off hahaha. I'm going to start another round in a few days according to the calculator.

Thanks

It's great to get a general idea of planting time. The only thing it leaves for you to figure out is when to start your transplants. It says that it even factors in the slower growing time due to shorter days and cooler temps, which is great.

Edit: I lied, it even tells you when to start the transplants :-)

Chris - I think around 12 lbs. but it varies a little by type used. You are draining off all of the liquid which is about 3/4 of some tomatoes. I try to remember to take some pictures of Rebel Yell tonight. I have a couple ripe ones and then the ones I picked last night as well. That's a giant OJ! I had one of the fused ones last year that was just a couple ozs bigger.

Yes, I'm starting some lettuce this week and next but they won't go out for 3 more weeks from seeding. I used Johnny's calculator several years ago but now I just go by experience.

Itsmce - if you lived closer I'd give you some broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce starts!

Jack - thanks for the tips. I have all slicers, which I think are pretty watery, so I'll see. A lot of them are blushing now, so I'll have a bunch to use within the next week. It says it makes 6-7 pints, but is it ok to just use quarts?

That's what I'm hoping to accomplish eventually. I can't wait to get to the point where I just know when things need to be started, without looking lol.

Itsmce, RE broccoli, my broccoli got devastated by flea beetles so I likely won't be harvesting any. At this point I don't really care lol. I'm ready to just get some beets and greens in, and take it easy for a fall crop (especially with school coming back soon). Of course, my cabbages and Brussel sprouts and carrots are doing so well. So excited for carrots, 75 ft. Up and growing. With all the pest issues I've had I've decided to take it easy for the fall crops and not do as many as planned. I really want to focus on my soil, and I hope to plant cover crops this fall. I'm also building some cold frames and getting moveable low tunnels set up for overwintering some salad greens.

Doing less will allow me to focus on taking care of these pests as well. Deer haven't been in in about a week now, so fishing line fence is working.

Chris - The recipe specifically states that it cannot be canned in larger sizes. Here's the version that I have:

Annie’s Salsa

8 cups tomatoes, peeled,
chopped and drained

2-1/2 cups onion, chopped

1-1/2 cups green pepper,
chopped

3 - 5 jalapenos, chopped

6 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1/8 cup canning salt

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup 5% apple cider vinegar

2 cups (16 oz.) tomato sauce

2 cups (16 oz.) tomato paste
(optional)

Mix all ingredients, bring to a
boil and boil for 10 minutes. Pour into hot pint jars leaving 1/2"
headspace, seal and process in a boiling water canning bath for 15 minutes.
Adjust for your altitude (see below).

Makes about 6-7 pints.

Additional Notes for
Ingredients and Processing

8 cups tomatoes, peeled,
chopped and drained

Any type or color of tomato may
be used (paste, canning, beefsteak, a combination of different types, etc.) The
paste types will be meatier, the canners such as Rutgers are somewhat juicier
than paste types and the beefsteaks the juiciest of all.

Some prefer, as Annie does, to
remove the tomato seeds and gel sacks. Some don't remove the seeds - this is
personal preference.

Measure after peeling, chopping
and draining.

2-1/2 cups onion, chopped

Roughly a 1/4" chopped
size (this is the size used in the NCHFP testing - a little larger won't
matter, but try not to have the pieces larger than 1/2" maximum).

1-1/2 cups green pepper,
chopped

Roughly a 1/4" chopped
size.

3 - 5 jalapenos, chopped

Any combination of green, red,
whatever color peppers is fine. 3-5 jalapenos equates to roughly 1/4 cup, so
total peppers cannot exceed 1-3/4 cups. For a spicier salsa, you can decrease
the sweet peppers and increase the hot peppers by the same amount. Or, you can
use hotter peppers (such as habaneros or serranos) but the TOTAL amount of
peppers cannot exceed 1-3/4 cups.

6 cloves garlic, minced or finely
diced

Do not increase. Small
differences in size of cloves should not matter.

2 teaspoons cumin

For taste only. Can be reduced
or left out entirely.

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

For taste only. Can be reduced
or left out entirely. Any dried ground pepper such as cayenne may be
substituted for a portion of or all of the black pepper.

2 tablespoons (same measurement
as 1/8 cup) canning salt

For taste only. Can be reduced
or left out entirely.

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Can be reduced or left out
entirely. Do not increase. Dried cilantro or other dried herbs may be added,
but not more fresh herbs (fresh herbs change the pH - dried herbs do not). Add
additional fresh herbs only after you open the jar.

1/3 cup sugar

For taste only. Can be reduced
or left out entirely.

1 cup 5% apple cider vinegar

Can use any flavor vinegar
(white, cider, etc.) as long as acidity is at least 5%. However, you can
substitute bottled lemon or lime juice in any proportions according to taste
(for example, 1/3 cup vinegar, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/3 cup lime juice) as long
as the total equals one cup.

2 cups (16 oz.) tomato sauce

Can be reduced slightly. See
"Canning & Processing" notes below.

2 cups (16 oz.) tomato paste

For texture only. Can be
reduced or left out entirely.

JAR SIZES

You may: Process in pint jars
(either regular or wide mouth) or smaller (12 oz., 8 oz. half pints, or 4 oz.
quarter pints). Process all smaller sizes at the same processing time for
pints.

You may NOT: Process in larger
jars (24 oz., 32 oz. quarts or 1/2 gallon jars). Testing was done only in pint
jars.

And the rest of it:

CANNING & PROCESSING

The recipe for pressure canning
originally specified 1/3 cup vinegar and copies of that recipe are still
available on the Internet. Pressure canning salsa has not been tested,
therefore it is not officially recommended.

If you wish to pressure can the
salsa, you must include a full 1 cup of vinegar. Processing time that is
currently used by some is 10 lbs. pressure for 30 minutes. Adjust for your
altitude (see below).

Because salsa is eaten out of
the jar without heating and includes low acid vegetables such as garlic, onions
and peppers, it is one of the riskier products to can at home due to two
factors: the pH or acidity level (the normal cutoff point for boiling water bath
vs. pressure canning is a pH of 4.6 and salsa can edge very close to that) and
the density of the product.

The salsa should be thin enough
for the liquid portion to thoroughly suspend the chopped vegetables so the very
center of the jar heats up to the same temperature as the outer portion next to
the glass during processing.

If you want it thicker, puree
it AFTER you open the jar. DO NOT puree before processing - this would affect
the density. Or, add a thickener such as Clear Jel or cornstarch AFTER you open
the jar.

DO NOT add other low acid
vegetables before processing, such as corn or black beans. Only add them after
you open the jar.

ADJUSTMENTS

If you live above 1000' in
elevation, you need to calculate your altitude adjustments for both boiling
water bath (BWB) and pressure canning (PC). As your altitude goes above 1000
feet the atmospheric pressure is reduced. This causes water to boil at
temperatures lower than 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

For safety in water bath
canning, you must bring the contents of your jar to at least 212 degrees
Fahrenheit. To compensate for the lower boiling temperature at altitude, you
must increase processing time.

For this salsa recipe, BWB
times at altitudes of (per the Ball Blue Book):

Up to 1000 ft. Processing time
is 15 minutes. 1001 - 3000 ft. Increase processing time an extra 5 minutes to
20 minutes total. 3001 - 6000 ft. Increase processing time an extra 10 minutes
to 25 minutes total. 6001 - 8000 ft. Increase processing time an extra 15
minutes to 30 minutes total. 8001 - 10,000 ft. Increase processing time an
extra 20 minutes to 35 minutes total.

Adjustments for pressure
canning can be found in the Ball Blue Book or on their website.

Do make sure you know the
altitude where you do your canning. People that live in Denver know they are in
the Mile High City and have to make adjustments, but portions of cities like
Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Oklahoma City are all above 1000' and it may be
something you're not aware of and need to be compensating for.

DO I HAVE TO USE BOTTLED LEMON
JUICE?

The pH scale runs from 0 (very
acidic) to 14 (very alkaline).

Each increment from 0 to 14 is
10 times more acidic/alkaline (remember the "magic" number of pH 4.6
for BWB vs. pressure canning). pH testing on fresh lemons ranged from 2.20 to
3.20, so one variety of lemon or even an individual lemon grown in a different
orchard might be 10 times LESS acidic than another. Bottled lemon juice, which
is processed to a standard acidity, is used for testing in recipes and is also
pasteurized, therefore it also will not create any further enzyme reactions in
your canned goods (per the folks at ReaLemon a couple of years ago).

Note: Bottled lemon or lime
juices are only called for when canning borderline pH foods (tomatoes and salsa
usually). If you are making jams and jellies with high acid fruits (any fruit
excluding Asian pears, bananas, mangoes, figs and melons), feel free to use
fresh lemon or lime juice.

Do I personally like using
bottled lemon juice? Not particularly, but when a canning procedure SPECIFICALLY
CALLS FOR IT, I use it without questioning it.

A very good explanation is in
this publication from North Dakota State University -"Why add lemon juice to tomatoes
and salsa before canning?"

Especially note the different
pH values of individual varieties of tomatoes (and there are thousands more
varieties).

For the more science oriented,
this 2004 paper from the NCHFP:

Goodbye, July ... hello August https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5421626/veggie-tales-august-2018