What are you canning now?

[Kim_NC]

Insiderart, JennsPeeps - nice photos! I'm inspired, gotta get the camera out!
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So glad it worked for you.

 

[DuckLady]

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I would think you can cut down the sugar. What pickles it is the vinegar. Try a batch with straight cider vinegar. Then if you need to add a bit of sugar at a time until it is at your taste.

 

[tackyrama]

Chokecherry syrup, nine pints so far and at least that much more to process (ended up with 18 pints) plus about two more gallons of chokecherries to pick. This is the best year ever for chokecherrys around here. I've been helping this harvest for 20 years by being Johnny Cherryseed and spitting the seeds everywhere on my property. I think chokecherry jelly and syrup is simply the best there is and well worth all the effort in picking and processing. When I was a lad of 6 I remember picking the little tart berries by the bucketfull and how wonderful it tasted on pancakes. Then we moved out of the country and chokecherries became a thing of the past. It turns out many farmers try to eradicate them. Why, I don't know but they are making a comeback on my little piece of Heaven.

 

[Chicken Woman]

Just put up 12 pints of pickled garlic,12 dilly beans,12 pickled carrots,12 pints dill pickles and starting on chockcherry jam ands syrup ! happy to have that done today.
Put 75 ears of corn in the freezer yesterday !

Heading to the mountains where its cool and we have a cabin. Be back in about 5 days I guess.

Next week I will put up peas with pearl onions, and start on tomatos.

 

[ams3651]

ive got a 1/2 bushel of pickles on my porch I plan to start refrigerator pickles tomorrow. I figure theres not much I can mess up with them, my applesauce failed miserably last year.

I have one old recipe from my gram that uses pickeling spice and one from a magazine that adds onion, more dill and canning salt. Have to see which one I like more. Question though, she told me I cant boil in a metal pot because of the acid but thats all I have. Can I boil it in the microwave instead?

 

[Catalina]

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Yes, you can boil the brine for pickles in stainless steel. It's not that acidic.
Do you have a Ball Blue book or a canning book? I would highly suggest getting one or checking at your library for one. It's nice to have all the basics of canning and some proven recipies to try.

 

[NotTheMomma]

Did salsa, blueberry jam, and dill pickles this past week. Got LOTS of lemon cucumbers that I need to work up. Figure I"ll make some type of pickle out of them. Saw a recipe that used white raisins and cucumbers for pickles. Sounded different anyway.

I made some cucumber catcup... NEVER AGAIN! Nasty stuff. Threw it away. NASTY! Waste of good sugar and spices I tell ya.


Neighbor is selling green beans $20 a bushel!!! OMG! I about fainted. I called her up, and am next on the list to get them when they're picked. I can't believe she's only charging $20! WOW! I just canned 21 quarts a few weeks ago, and paid $.99/lb for them, figure that's $60/bushel!!! WOW! Unbelieveable.

Hubby bought me a box of qts and pts today at a yard sale. Pints were new with the lids and seals!

Tomatos and Green Peppers coming in left and right. Anyone have a good spaghetti sauce recipe that is canned? Need to buy some garlic and I think I probably have everything else I need, except a recipe.

Didn't see one listed in the index from here yet. Thought I'd check and see.

Otherwise, my garden is about done for. Don't think I'm going to have any corn, it's just not growing, and the chickens have helped pecked it.

This was our first year of having a 'real' garden, so we're learning lots as we go, and figuring out what we need to plant for next years harvest.

So far my mistakes have included:
1. Not planting enough peas. Didn't get enough to can.
2. Not planting the corn, and green beans early enough.
3. Didn't get tomatos staked early enough.
4. Planted way too many cherry, and roma tomatos, and not enough of the large ones. Think the big ones we planted were beef masters?? Large and meaty! Great tasting, and good size for sandwiches as well as canning. Planted one I think it's called Early Girl, rather smallish, round, smooth tomato. I like it, and right size for canning, but didn't plant enough of them.
5. Figure out rotation so I use the area better. Gotta remember to get peas, lettuces, etc in early, then pull those and start second round.
6. Need larger garden space!
7. Let neighbors know what we'd like so we can buy from them if they have an excess. Let them know what we have in case they want some.
8. Don't wait until canning season to look for jars, lids, etc. Prices went up then.
9. Buy sugar during the winter before prices go up on it as well.

I'm sure there's more, but those are the ones I'm thinking of right now.

 

[Kim_NC]

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So glad it worked for you.

Here's a Kwi Jam recipe that I came across a couple months ago. I haven't tried it.

Kiwi Jam

9 kiwi, peeled
6 cups granulated sugar
6 ounces liquid pectin

In a large heavy saucepan, combine crushed fruit and sugar. Stir well.

Bring mixture to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in liquid pectin. Return mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly, and boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Skim foam from top of mixture.

Water bath can for 5 minutes.

 

[tampitt]

We canned our very first batch of strawberry preserves. We have never canned anything before, we went to a "Canning for Beginners" seminar yesterday. I guess I'll know by tomorrow if we did it ok. The jars seem like they are sealed, just don't know if the jam is thick.

 

[JennsPeeps]

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Congrats on your first canning! Jam will continue to thicken over the next 2 weeks. Grab a jar a tip it. Does the jam run or stay pretty solid? That'll be a good indicator of how thick it is. And if it didn't set, give it away as "ice cream topping". Nobody needs to know...!