Yaya! I canned stuff again.

I'd recommend the hell out of this book. Although I haven't tried any of the canning myself (first year gardener here - tomato crop sucked, cukes sucked just a bit less...) just yet, the book comes highly recommended by both my mother and grandmother, the latter of which cans occasionally, the former being what one might describe as "mildly obsessed."

http://www.amazon.com/Putting-Food-Plume-Janet-Greene/dp/0452268990

my tomatoes suck this year, they were about all I planted beyond some hot pepper plants....so far I had 2 hot Portugal peppers and 1 habanero, but there are 3 and 2 respectively just about ready for the picking. I need something other than hot pepper jam...
 
No concrete proof but there have been several reported cases from beef in the eastern part of the state when I came down with it the strains where cultured and I think reported to cdc.
took 3 shots of morphine to help with the pain on day 1. I lost about 20lbs over the whole ordeal.

We are about at the end of our tomatoes, just put up 15 quarts tonight.
 
No concrete proof but there have been several reported cases from beef in the eastern part of the state when I came down with it the strains where cultured and I think reported to cdc.
took 3 shots of morphine to help with the pain on day 1. I lost about 20lbs over the whole ordeal.

We are about at the end of our tomatoes, just put up 15 quarts tonight.

How many tomato plants did you have and what type? I had 12...and so far I have one tomato that is ripe....about the size of a golf ball.... a few more on their way, but most look kinda nasty looking...
 
Yikes! That's terrible. How did you determine the source of the food poisoning? Have enough proof to sue them?

I usually use Ball Book for my recipes, though I tend to change them slightly (usually spices/veggies used in some of the soups/stews).

This is supposed to be a good book. I'm planning on buying it when I buy a new canner. I need something that will can a lot... my current canner will only do 7 quarters or 16/18 pints. The one I want will do 32 pint jars or 19 quart jars

I have 2 ball blue books, and that one is on my list of books to get. My grandmother canned alot so I learned from her. Except she had all the recipes in her head. She never had a recipe to follow.
We started canning again a few years ago and this year really have gotten into it.
Next years garden will be even bigger.We picked up a second canner at a flea market. We paid 4 dollars and Glenn replaced the gauge and seals for me.
I love the thing since I don't have to bring out the huge canner when I have smaller batches.[laugh]
 
I have 2 ball blue books, and that one is on my list of books to get. My grandmother canned alot so I learned from her. Except she had all the recipes in her head. She never had a recipe to follow.
We started canning again a few years ago and this year really have gotten into it.
Next years garden will be even bigger.We picked up a second canner at a flea market. We paid 4 dollars and Glenn replaced the gauge and seals for me.
I love the thing since I don't have to bring out the huge canner when I have smaller batches.[laugh]

I don't like having seals on the canner, something about lack of reliability seem to bug me whenever I use it. I'm going to get the All American 41.5qt one....one of these days.
 
We have done a ton of blackberry jam, sauce and even some whole berries this year. Like to give it away as gifts at Christmas. Going to do tomato sauce, apple sauce and try apple pie filling this year also. Our beans and cukes got eaten by a woodchuck so no pickles and we freeze most of the veggies. Our other experiments will be catsup and maybe tomato soup if I can get a bushel of tomatoes at a farmers market next week.
 
After using my All American canner, I wouldn't even consider using another. Once you pick it up for the first time, you know you have bought something that will last several generations!

This past weekend, I put up 18lbs of peaches. I can't wait to dig into those in the middle of winter! Also, as I have found with other canned fruit in simple syrup, the syrup makes a perfect addition to wine and mead recipes!
 
After using my All American canner, I wouldn't even consider using another. Once you pick it up for the first time, you know you have bought something that will last several generations!

This past weekend, I put up 18lbs of peaches. I can't wait to dig into those in the middle of winter! Also, as I have found with other canned fruit in simple syrup, the syrup makes a perfect addition to wine and mead recipes!

I'll be doing more applesauce here soon also.[grin]
 
How many tomato plants did you have and what type? I had 12...and so far I have one tomato that is ripe....about the size of a golf ball.... a few more on their way, but most look kinda nasty looking...

16+ plants, I made a huge mistake this year and planted Romas. they did horrible in our garden, (we are out in the hills and it tends to be colder out here) so I will not be growing them again. Of course everyone had a bad year with tomatoes and cukes. We only planted a few Picking cuke plants but it did ok considering the amount of rain.
Next year we are going to convert the whole front lawn into veggy garden. Much better light and drainage. (and I won't have to mow!)
 
16+ plants, I made a huge mistake this year and planted Romas. they did horrible in our garden, (we are out in the hills and it tends to be colder out here) so I will not be growing them again. Of course everyone had a bad year with tomatoes and cukes. We only planted a few Picking cuke plants but it did ok considering the amount of rain.
Next year we are going to convert the whole front lawn into veggy garden. Much better light and drainage. (and I won't have to mow!)

Not mowing is good :) I only used about 1/4 of my garden....a nd I kinda want to expand the size next year....I only used 1/4 cuz I didn't start it until early-mid July. I had beefmaster and patio. I think the patio will be giving me more yield, but they are tiny as can be. I mean I think hardly any of them are close to the size of a baseball.... I need to figure out what I want to plant and get seeds at some point... I started from plants, I want to start from seeds next year. Also sort of want a green house.... Costco has a 8'x8' green house for $1000... I'm sure I can build one cheaper and better though...
 
I figure if the neighbors say anything, we'll just tell them we are putting it back to the original homestead. I actually have pics of wayyyyyyyyyyy back when and that part of the yard was fenced off as a garden. [grin]
 
I figure if the neighbors say anything, we'll just tell them we are putting it back to the original homestead. I actually have pics of wayyyyyyyyyyy back when and that part of the yard was fenced off as a garden. [grin]

Awesome... my property AFAIK was just trees. Of course I kind of wonder if the rocks piles are natural...or rocks taken from the digging foundation.... and what it looked like a hundred years ago....there are a number of oldish rock walls.
 
I don't know we seem to grow rocks out here. Actually you dig down far enough we could have a gravel bank.[laugh] You don't even want to know how they did our foundation on the house in 1796.[thinking] All I can say is I am glad Glenn's ancestors over built everything, other wise I don't think it would be standing today.[laugh]
 
I don't know we seem to grow rocks out here. Actually you dig down far enough we could have a gravel bank.[laugh] You don't even want to know how they did our foundation on the house in 1796.[thinking] All I can say is I am glad Glenn's ancestors over built everything, other wise I don't think it would be standing today.[laugh]

I don't have to dig far in most areas for rock. I need to find my masonry drill bits so I can setup my telescope pier and get that up and running one of these days.
 
My tomato plants are out of controll... I had my sister stop by yesterday while I was at work to get rid of some. She picked about 12 of them, I have about 12 in the fridge, another 8 on the window sill, and another 15-20 in the garden that need to be picked. On top of that, I have at least 20 more that haven't even started to turn red yet!

The bad part though, is now most of my plants have started to wilt and the leafs are dying. That means that now you shouldn't use those tomatoes to can, and the acidity level has already dropped. Without a way to test the acidity, there would be no way to ensure you have it high enough to can them with confidence. For the past 3 weeks, EVERYTHING I have eaten has had tomato added in one form or another! I'm thinking of making some sauce and just freezing it, I think that will be my best bet!
 
My tomato plants are out of controll... I had my sister stop by yesterday while I was at work to get rid of some. She picked about 12 of them, I have about 12 in the fridge, another 8 on the window sill, and another 15-20 in the garden that need to be picked. On top of that, I have at least 20 more that haven't even started to turn red yet!

The bad part though, is now most of my plants have started to wilt and the leafs are dying. That means that now you shouldn't use those tomatoes to can, and the acidity level has already dropped. Without a way to test the acidity, there would be no way to ensure you have it high enough to can them with confidence. For the past 3 weeks, EVERYTHING I have eaten has had tomato added in one form or another! I'm thinking of making some sauce and just freezing it, I think that will be my best bet!

Use a bit of lemon juice? I'm sure there are things to help bring up the acidity... I need to keep this in mind... I was going to can a bunch of them, but some of the tomato plants are wilting... then again... I've canned used stuff from a grocery store... so I'm not sure how well you can trust them...
 
Yup everything we have read add lemon juice to your sauce Adam and it will be good to go for canning.[grin] We haven't had any issues this way.
 
Not mowing is good :) I only used about 1/4 of my garden....a nd I kinda want to expand the size next year....I only used 1/4 cuz I didn't start it until early-mid July. I had beefmaster and patio. I think the patio will be giving me more yield, but they are tiny as can be. I mean I think hardly any of them are close to the size of a baseball.... I need to figure out what I want to plant and get seeds at some point... I started from plants, I want to start from seeds next year. Also sort of want a green house.... Costco has a 8'x8' green house for $1000... I'm sure I can build one cheaper and better though...

I'm hoping to start from seeds next year, m'self. I'd like to go with heirloom everything, so that I can just keep my own seeds each year. Y'know, just in case there was a situation down the road where the seed companies had to close up shop for a bit.. *cough*Monsanto takeover*cough* :p

Speaking of greenhouses, there are some interesting ideas in this book...

http://www.amazon.com/Four-Season-H...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220579307&sr=8-1

Can you tell I like to read? =)

Interesting to see how these folks managed to continue gardening year-round in their coastal Maine location. I'm not quite ready for a full-on greenhouse due to space constrictions, but I'm going to be trying out a couple cold frames over the carrots and broccoli, to see how long I can keep them going.
 
My tomato plants are out of controll... I had my sister stop by yesterday while I was at work to get rid of some. She picked about 12 of them, I have about 12 in the fridge, another 8 on the window sill, and another 15-20 in the garden that need to be picked. On top of that, I have at least 20 more that haven't even started to turn red yet!

The bad part though, is now most of my plants have started to wilt and the leafs are dying. That means that now you shouldn't use those tomatoes to can, and the acidity level has already dropped. Without a way to test the acidity, there would be no way to ensure you have it high enough to can them with confidence. For the past 3 weeks, EVERYTHING I have eaten has had tomato added in one form or another! I'm thinking of making some sauce and just freezing it, I think that will be my best bet!

Acid OD...is your skin turning red...[wink]
 
7 quarts of chicken soup canned + 2 quarts in which I just put in the fridge
7 quarts of onion soup canned + a bunch in the fridge
Currently canning: blueberry jam. Unknown how much just yet. Estimating 9-16 half pints
 
I've never canned, but would like to. It would be helpful to me to see a couple of pictures of someone's home canning set up. Can ayone post a shot or two?
 
Sure let me see what I can do.[grin]
I am in the process of canning 14 pints of grean beans.
Doobie you're making me hungry. You have a good recipe for the onion soup?
Hmmm if I start doing soup, I'll definitely have to get more quart jars.[laugh]
 
Damn! I feel so ... inadequate. [sad2]

Don't. My grandmother always had us kids help her with canning. The worst part it was all in her head, she never ever had a recipe or cookbook. Some of that has come back to me, but I use the ball blue book for my guide.
In all honesty it isn't that hard, it is just time consuming.[grin]
I am pretty much done with beans this year, and hubby says same with the tomatoes. So about the only thing I have left is zucchini as it comes in. That I just blanch and freeze.
I just wish I had all my grandmothers recipes.[sad]
 
Sure let me see what I can do.[grin]
I am in the process of canning 14 pints of grean beans.
Doobie you're making me hungry. You have a good recipe for the onion soup?
Hmmm if I start doing soup, I'll definitely have to get more quart jars.[laugh]

Well my real recipe I don't have access to... but it also is a PITA to can in bulk.... i usually caramelize the onions....and well, it ain't fun caramelizing 10 lbs of onions..

Onions (Carmelize or not); I usually use red and vidalia
Sugar about 1/4 cup per 3 lbs of onions (more or less for sweater or less sweet).
ground nutmeg
All spice
garlic (optional)
mushrooms (optional)
bay leaves
salt

Spices are to taste.

In larger pot cover onions with beef, chicken, or veggie stock (99.99% of the time I use beef). Slow cook for 8-12 hours (or fast cook for about 1ish). Tasting periodically and adding more spices as needed.

I usually process for 1 hr for pint and 1.5 hr for quarts.
 
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