How did you preserve your garden?

[Dani]

This week I have made up 24 pints of Chow Chow, 9 quarts whole Dills pickles, 9 quarts & 1 pint Marinara Sauce, froze 3 gallons of green beans ( I am waiting for a slow time to can them, but at least the prep is done for them), candied pineapple, made Hot & Spicy Cucumber Chips, Sour Cream & Onion Cucumber Chips, tried Candied Cucumbers, but wont to that one again. Wanting to try out a BBQ style, we'll see. Got tired of canning up pickles so dehydrating chips for awhile seems like a good alternative and they are ones even the veggie hatin hunny loves.

 

[Dani]

Today was mainly weeding the garden, but I did chop up a bunch of tomatoes, put on cookie sheets and threw in oven to cook for about an hour. Once their skin is all wrinkled, pulled out and ran threw the blender. This is the easiest way to make any kind of tomato sauce base item. Since I only got around 20 cups, I let it cool down and stuck in fridge till I get some more in the next day or two and then can it all up. Probably more Marinara sauce. Also collected dill and coriander seeds. Getting Dill, you just rub the seed heads thru your fingers and I let mine drop into a jar. With coriander, the easiest is to pull it up when dried, put in a large sack and thrush the seeds off. Beets make a pod and when dried on the plant just pick off. The seeds are inside. These are to plant next year and also cook with. Dill seeds are good to add into pickles and coriander is good in gravies. Since my onions were dry, I braided them and hung from my stockroom shelves.

 

[Brent S]

Today was mainly weeding the garden, but I did chop up a bunch of tomatoes, put on cookie sheets and threw in oven to cook for about an hour. Once their skin is all wrinkled, pulled out and ran threw the blender. This is the easiest way to make any kind of tomato sauce base item. Since I only got around 20 cups, I let it cool down and stuck in fridge till I get some more in the next day or two and then can it all up. Probably more Marinara sauce. Also collected dill and coriander seeds. Getting Dill, you just rub the seed heads thru your fingers and I let mine drop into a jar. With coriander, the easiest is to pull it up when dried, put in a large sack and thrush the seeds off. Beets make a pod and when dried on the plant just pick off. The seeds are inside. These are to plant next year and also cook with. Dill seeds are good to add into pickles and coriander is good in gravies. Since my onions were dry, I braided them and hung from my stockroom shelves.

I'm picking a load of onions in a couple days and will try braiding them. Those and the potatoes are ready to come out of the ground. I have garlic this year for the first time and am not sure when to pick it? I made a bunch of zucchini pickles along with regular dill pickles. I still have some pickles from 2 yrs ago that are a little mushy now, so will rotate those out and toss them to the chickens. Even when I waste food here, it dosent go completely to waste.

 

[Dani]

When the tops of your garlic turn yellow, they should be ready. Kinda like harvesting onions, it's the same concept and they lay out to dry. I also braid them too. Since we have been so wet, I didn't get any in the ground but planning to for the fall months. My preserving for today was blanched and put up another gallon of green beans in the freezer. Made 9 quarts of whole dill pickles, cooked up another tray of tomatoes, so I know what I'll be doing first thing in the morning. Cut up the rest of my cucumbers for relish and they are soaking in salt water right now to finish canning up in about another hour.

 

[Dani]

When the tops of your garlic turn yellow, they should be ready. Kinda like harvesting onions, it's the same concept and they lay out to dry. I also braid them too. Since we have been so wet, I didn't get any in the ground but planning to for the fall months. My preserving for today was blanched and put up another gallon of green beans in the freezer. Made 9 quarts of whole dill pickles, cooked up another tray of tomatoes, so I know what I'll be doing first thing in the morning. Cut up the rest of my cucumbers for relish and they are soaking in salt water right now to finish canning up in about another hour.

Turned out to being 20 half pints relish and I am hearing that magical popping sound!. . .between the garden, preserving and the normal everyday life. . . I am calling it a day

 

[Dani]

This week have ended up canning
12 20 oz enchilada sauce
18 qt spaghetti sauce
23 pt relish
21 pt tomato sauce
12 pt bread n butter pickles
14 1/2 pt hot sauce
7 1/2 pt cocktail sauce
14 qt BBQ sauce
started sweet potatoes to make slips for planting
didn't need all of my green onions so sliced the tops till about 2 inches above roots. Dehydrated to make 'chives' and replanted the roots for more green onions.
had chopped onions to dehydrate for chopped and make into onion powder. Store in old bottle with one of those moister absorbers

 

[Gazrok]

Can't wait to get into this.
Mostly, I see us canning:

Stews, Soups, Stir Fry veggie mixes, Salsas, Tomato Sauces, typical veggies, typical fruits, some pickles, jellies

 

[Dani]

Your stir fry veggie mixes are doable, but with the pressure canner they will get soft so the texture will not be the same. Whatever veggies you add into, just take the longest processing time and use that one. If anything, great to add into a soup.

 

[Gazrok]

Good point, on the stir fry.

 

[Brent S]

This week have ended up canning
12 20 oz enchilada sauce
18 qt spaghetti sauce
23 pt relish
21 pt tomato sauce
12 pt bread n butter pickles
14 1/2 pt hot sauce
7 1/2 pt cocktail sauce
14 qt BBQ sauce
started sweet potatoes to make slips for planting
didn't need all of my green onions so sliced the tops till about 2 inches above roots. Dehydrated to make 'chives' and replanted the roots for more green onions.
had chopped onions to dehydrate for chopped and make into onion powder. Store in old bottle with one of those moister absorbers

Wow, you're my hero. I am looking fowards to canning some tomatoes, hopefully this weekend. I just didn't get too much stuff to have extra this year.

 

[Brent S]

Can't wait to get into this.
Mostly, I see us canning:

Stews, Soups, Stir Fry veggie mixes, Salsas, Tomato Sauces, typical veggies, typical fruits, some pickles, jellies

Freezing works well on some veggies too.

 

[Dani]

Yesterday hunny and I ended up picking about 60 lbs of pears towards the end of the day. So today I cooked about half of them down and ran thru my Sauce Maker II to make pear sauce. Added in my cinnamon nutmeg cloves and a little lemon to can on up. Neighbor had to come down to try it out when hunny told him what I was up to today and I got his approval. If you don't have a Sauce Maker II look into it cause it is hand cranked so no electricity needed and saves a lot of time with peeling and coring. Ended up makin 21 pints of pear sauce and 1 sheet of pear leather. Tomorrow will be more leather and some pie filling. Spotted the pears at a business running into town. Stopped at the no named business and they said help yourself. I did notice that as we left out they promptly locked their door. Neighbor asked if I was wearing my rubber boots and of coarse I said yes. . . that's the norm around here, feed, harvest, process and then do whatever. . . said he would have locked the door too Ok whatevere

 

[Brent S]

Yesterday hunny and I ended up picking about 60 lbs of pears towards the end of the day. So today I cooked about half of them down and ran thru my Sauce Maker II to make pear sauce. Added in my cinnamon nutmeg cloves and a little lemon to can on up. Neighbor had to come down to try it out when hunny told him what I was up to today and I got his approval. If you don't have a Sauce Maker II look into it cause it is hand cranked so no electricity needed and saves a lot of time with peeling and coring. Ended up makin 21 pints of pear sauce and 1 sheet of pear leather. Tomorrow will be more leather and some pie filling. Spotted the pears at a business running into town. Stopped at the no named business and they said help yourself. I did notice that as we left out they promptly locked their door. Neighbor asked if I was wearing my rubber boots and of coarse I said yes. . . that's the norm around here, feed, harvest, process and then do whatever. . . said he would have locked the door too Ok whatevere

Yeah, you look pretty scary bottle feeding those baby cows .
I bought some pear trees from lowes about 4 yrs ago. They were supposedly Bartlett I think. Anyways, they produce a tiny round thing that looks kind of like a miniature pear, but is the size of a pea. I'm kind of thinking that they are a decorative tree, not fruit producing. I'll give it a couple more years before I chainsaw them into firewood, giving them the benefit of the doubt as mayby there just young???
I canned a small batch of tomatoes last night, and cut the last of the chives which went into the dehydrator this morning on low. It's kind of sad, looks like the squash, Cukes and zucchinis are done for the season. It got so hot so quick this year. I did just buy a large terra cotta pot and put some spinache seeds in it yesterday. I'm going to try and keep fresh salad greens all year. If it works I'll get a few more pots that I can move inside or out with the weather conditions.

 

[Dani]

I have been picking peas lately and hand shelling them. but have been looking into a Mr. Pea Sheeler which is hand cranked. Anyone used this before? My carpel tunnel has been an issue . The one I am looking at is only around $40 and it gets 4 out of 5 stars. I hate the not being able to sleep at night cause my wrist wake me and hurt like crazy

 

[Brent S]

I have been picking peas lately and hand shelling them. but have been looking into a Mr. Pea Sheeler which is hand cranked. Anyone used this before? My carpel tunnel has been an issue . The one I am looking at is only around $40 and it gets 4 out of 5 stars. I hate the not being able to sleep at night cause my wrist wake me and hurt like crazy

Yeah, I have aches and pains most of the time now. I guess we're just not 20 anymore. I got pretty tired of shelling peas earlier, but they all succumbed to the heat a while ago. I was growing the really sweet snow peas. I'd like to see how the pea sheller works, as they are a pain. I had peas loose all over the dining room floor on a couple occasions. The little rascals try to escape when you're breaking open the pods.

 

[Brent S]

I finished drying and storing my chives finally. I have enough for a couple years now! It's probably my favorite spice.
Hope to do a few more jars of tomatoes later this week. I have a bunch of store bought canned tomatoe products in the pantry that I need to use, but the home stuff has so much more flavor that I use it mostly. I've read that you need to use most tomatoe products within three years as they don't store well long term.

 

[Dani]

Yea I would try to use them in that time frame too, They tend to get a change in color and taste after 3 years. Today I worked at the real job and came home for a swap meet. Yesterday hunny wanted a day off so after I picked and weeded a little and then we took a boat ride down the river, but tomorrow I will be back at it. Had one of the boys call and asked a 'favor'. Wanted me to make him a spicy dill cause that was one of the best dill pickles he has ever had. . . how could I sat no, right! So made about a case and a half of my dill recipe and threw in some jalapenos and some red pepper flakes, so he can have his spicy dills now.

 

[Brent S]

Yea I would try to use them in that time frame too, They tend to get a change in color and taste after 3 years. Today I worked at the real job and came home for a swap meet. Yesterday hunny wanted a day off so after I picked and weeded a little and then we took a boat ride down the river, but tomorrow I will be back at it. Had one of the boys call and asked a 'favor'. Wanted me to make him a spicy dill cause that was one of the best dill pickles he has ever had. . . how could I sat no, right! So made about a case and a half of my dill recipe and threw in some jalapenos and some red pepper flakes, so he can have his spicy dills now.

I'm still working on pickles from two years ago! They are starting to get a little soft, but still edible. I made one case this year, but the Cukes died out early. Luckily I've had enough for cold salads at least.

 

[jontte]

seems like I stored my whole garden in water....to much of that stuff this year,any warmer and I would cultivate rice......

 

[Dani]

There is always the fall garden right around the corner Jontte.

 

[jontte]

there is still some hope here..it only takes some sun and a warm period long enough to save some of this...

 

[Dani]

Heck with all the rain we had this year, I thought some of my garden was a lost cause too. . . Even though I had dug deep trenches, the water filled them up and even began to drowned out my rows, but the rain eventually stopped and the water went down thankfully! I did end up losing the lowest parts of 2 rows, but the rest survived and are doing very well now. I almost gave up hope on them cause it took so long to bounce back. It looks like I will be able to get a good harvest from what is left of my Johnson beans.

 

[Dani]

Today I was able to pick some sweet corn finally. I ended up cutting them from the cob, saving a few for some dinners this week, threw them on cookie sheets and placed in the freezer to half way freeze then Ziploc bags for now. Later when I get more time, I will eventually can them up along with my green beans that are still in my freezer. Other than weeding some, and yes I am loosing the battle this time of year, harvesting and shelling peas to dry, not much more got accomplished other than the norm of housework and laundry, but my sweet hunny brought it in off the line and folded it up for me.

 

[Brent S]

Today I was able to pick some sweet corn finally. I ended up cutting them from the cob, saving a few for some dinners this week, threw them on cookie sheets and placed in the freezer to half way freeze then Ziploc bags for now. Later when I get more time, I will eventually can them up along with my green beans that are still in my freezer. Other than weeding some, and yes I am loosing the battle this time of year, harvesting and shelling peas to dry, not much more got accomplished other than the norm of housework and laundry, but my sweet hunny brought it in off the line and folded it up for me.

Teamwork makes common chores more bearable.

 

[Brent S]

I just started picking apples! It starts out as an exciting thing, then the reality of processing them for the next week sinks in! I'm dehydrating, canning and making applesauce so far. Oh, of course I also made my first Apple pie of the season last night. I thru in a handful of blueberries in it for fun. It was a good combination of flavors. Any ways, I'm always looking for more ways and things to do with apples.

 

[Dani]

Jellies, Conserves, Chutneys, Syrup . . . . and lots of different variations of all. Lots of different kind of applesauce recipes out there too, but normally I just like to add in when I have a bowl that way we don't have to have the same ole thing every time. I like to use a jar of Pear Butter or Sweet Potato Butter to make sweet bread and cakes with. I interchange apple and pear recipes all the time since pears are what we mainly grow here. Sweet Potato Butter was something a friend bought at one of the swap meets. Since I found some sweet taters on sale (it was around Christmas time) for 18 cents a pound, I bought about 5 lbs worth. Did my research and came up with a recipe. After making, I asked my friend to come down along with a friend and he brought his jar too so we could compare. His had some kind of ingredient I wasn't certain on, slips my mind now what it was, but it had something to do with making it gluten free. Mine was just plain simple ingredients that most people would have in their cupboards and in my opinion tasted more like a smooth pear pie. When making a sweet bread, I took my Banana Nut Bread recipe made like normal but omitted the cinnamon, salt and bananas and in place used a jar of the butter. Makes enough for 2 loaves at a time.

 

[Dani]

I am currently canning 11 quarts of 10 Bean Soup (Thanks Jim for asking that question on winter comfort foods !) and once that is done, I will be starting on 16 pints of Pork & Beans. I do not normally like to take up space with my jars on beans, but I have been going thru canning withdrawals and it will make it convenient. I also took out a turkey to start defrosting in the fridge for later.

 

[Dani]

Since I roasted a turkey yesterday for dinner, I pulled the meat off the bone this morning and threw the bones into a big pot to cover to start making chicken broth. Ended up with around 20 cups. With this, I made and canned 7 quarts of South of the Boarder Chicken (Turkey) Soup, 5 quarts of Sweet and Sour Chicken (Turkey) and had 2 pints left over of just broth. Yeah, poor hunny was to eat leftovers today. . . but then came home with parts he had ordered and picked up at Kubota (maybe. . . I thought they were to be shipped here) to fix the skid steer (the axle broke when the neighbor borrowed it) so asked for a sandwich to curve his appetite.

 

[jimLE]

looks like that i need to get more busy at canning now..

 

[Brent S]

looks like that i need to get more busy at canning now..

She's pretty hard to keep up with!