Who all cans vegitables?

[shu873]

I think I'm about done for the year... Just finished off 2 batches of salsa (a batch is 7 quarts). That makes 28 qts I've put up of salsa this year. Also have 28 qts of dill pickles. I've got 14 qts of canned corn, 14 qts of green beans, and 20 pints of canned diced tomatoes. This is in addition to somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 dozen quart bags of frozen green beans, a dozen or more bags of frozen corn, maybe half a dozen bags of frozen brocolli, and a bag or 2 of brussel sprouts.

I really got in to the canning this year. I kind of had to because we ran out of freezer room at our house. I've also got a side of beef in our chest freezer along with all the other stuff that gets tossed in as time goes on too. I do think though, after I spent the money to buy a good canner and A LOT of brand new jars that in the future I'm not going to mess around with freezing anything. Canning it takes a little longer but it will last far longer in a jar than it will in the freezer. You also don't have to worry about using it up out of the freezer within 6-8 months, and it takes no electricity to store jars. We had a lot of vegitibles this year. Was just curious who all stocks up out of the garden around here besides me?

[ralph]

got jars, but need better equipment. looking into canning myself. no elec, sits on a shelf, good for months, etc. got a good salsa recipe? sittn on a case of maters and dont want them to go bad.

[shu873]

Originally Posted by ralph

got jars, but need better equipment. looking into canning myself. no elec, sits on a shelf, good for months, etc. got a good salsa recipe? sittn on a case of maters and dont want them to go bad.

As far as a salsa recipe my wife and I just dice the tomatoes and put them in a big pot, add in salsa seasoning packets you can buy at walmart or any grocery store, add jalepenos or other peppers, onions, fresh cilantro and stir it all together. Tomatoes can be done in a water bath easily. Don't need anything special other than a pot big enough to hold a few jars that is deep enough so you can fill it with water at least one inch over the tops of the jars. Make sure you start with sterile jars and once you fill them with salsa/tomatoes I always add a tbsp of lemon juice. Fill the jars to within a half inch to one inch below the top. Bring the water to a boil and then start your timer. Tomatoes need at least 10 minutes at a boil, a little longer doesn't hurt anything. Remove jars from the water and set them on a towel or rack and let them cool naturally. They will seal as they cool.

Here is a good site I got a lot of information on... Very informative.

How to Can, Freeze, Dry and Preserve Any Fruit or Vegetable at Home

we can everything... got about 50 jars of canned pears from out pear tree. 40+ jars of tomato paste. along with unknown amounts of beans, apples, pickles, baby corn, etc... one whole side of my basement is filled with canned food

[shu873]

Originally Posted by wriott

we can everything... got about 50 jars of canned pears from out pear tree. 40+ jars of tomato paste. along with unknown amounts of beans, apples, pickles, baby corn, etc... one whole side of my basement is filled with canned food

I'm not quite there yet, but year after year I'm steadily working on it. Nice to know if things get really tough we can take care of our own...

[Adam-Arc]

We moved to farm country here in the Bay Area. Turns out there 30 plus farm stands 5 minutes from the house. Wife started with tomatoe sauce and salsa. When I was off for a few weeks, I was making pickles. A friend from church has an apricot orchard that is free for the picking. Walked out with 6 grocery bags full. I can't wait till next year.

This was our first year of canning. Learned quite a bit in a short time. Nice to know what you're eating is not full of crap.

the bad thing about canning is that its addicting...

[shu873]

Originally Posted by wriott

the bad thing about canning is that its addicting...

Yeah it is... In our house my wife does 90% of the picking and helps me out cleaning, cutting up, preparing and filling the jars... Then it's all up to me to sit there with a beer in my hand taking care of the actual canning...