What are you canning this year?

[Triss]

Please take a minute to take some pictures and share with us.

Here is my first set of stuff.  Strawberry rhubarb jam on the left and strawberry jam on the right.

[Bonnie]

They look yummy, Triss. I haven't canned anything yet, but I have been thinking about buying some tomatoes.

[Triss]

I have not found any good deals on tomatoes yet but once I do I will be up to my eyeballs in salsa.  Looking forward to it though.

[Wrennie]

Nothing here. My tomato plants are looking good though so I hope to be up to my eyeballs in salsa too!

[landofoz]

We've been dying for tomatoes and FINALLY!  there is ONE ripe cherry tomato out on Rachael's plant.  She is being punished (aka put to bed), so we will pick it tonight. Mmmmm

I'm waiting for my pot to boil and then I'm canning up my first batch of pickles.  I got 10-15 lbs of cukes off the trellis last night!!

[barleychown]

Right now I'm eyeball deep in strawberry jams, soon it will be blueberry season, then the vine berries. My tomato plants all have blossoms, so those won't be too far off, either. 

[Tonya]

I have been canning pickes, chow-chow, tomatoes, and jalapenos. Corn to come this week, and more tomatoes. I'll try to remember to get pics and post

[Dianna]

Looking good, Triss!

I have been "putting up" peas in the freezer and canning tomatoes.

[Patty S]

  The little collections for your larders are off to a good start, & looking good!

Dianna, how come your peas are different colors? (Mine only come in "pea green".) 

I dont have any pics to post (unless you want to see what I have from previous years), cuz I have far too many things going on here this summer, to even think about doing any kind of canning. 

I've always hated cooking, but back in the old farmhouse, when the kids were growing up, canning seemed to be something all together different to me... & it was about the only time my kitchen was "operating room clean" & organized.  We had a small root cellar, about 10 ft square (dirt walls between the supports under the house... access through a door in the kitchen) & I had to put some shelving in, cuz the dirt "shelf" that was carved into the wall couldn't hold all my canning.  I canned garlic dills & sweet gherkins, tomato sauce (unspiced, cuz different dishes require different spices), beans, peas, beets, apples, applesauce, peaches, pears, chicken & a lot of our venison, when we had a good hunting year & ran out of space in the freezer. 

Oh, how I wish I had a pic of that root cellar.

It was a lot of work, but I can't think of a sweeter sound in life, (other than babies) than the "ping" of lids sealing after the jars come out of a canner. Also, when the blues would hit & cabin fever set in during those long Montana winters, spirits could be lifted by sitting on the cellar stairs & marveling at all those jars, lined up like trophies.  (Remembering/missing the beautiful veggie garden & counting the blessings of our bounty.)    I'm so glad to know that the art of home canning isn't a thing of the past.

[Tonya]

Patty- I agree with you about the sound of the jars sealing being awesome!! Canning some more tomatoes tonight as well as pickled Jalapenos and I think I am going to can some small potatoes as well. Also have to freeze some Okra. I am beat!!

[Jim]

Dianna, how come your peas are different colors? (Mine only come in "pea green".) 

Just like flowers, peas come in different varieties.  I planted some "purple hull cow peas", some "crowder peas" that Dianna bought last year, some "pink-eye purple hull cow peas" and some "mississippi silver skin cow peas".  All those varieties look just a little bit different.  I like them all mixed up.

[Tonya]

Here are the pics I have so far- Pickled Jalapenos, pickled hot green tomatoes, and a 50/50 mix of those two.

[Tonya]

Ok- got pics of some more stuff- Pickles, tomatoes and salsa, and chow-chow and relish. The large jar of pickles on the right, the seal has gone and I lost em. Not sure what happened because the rest of that batch is fine.....

[landofoz]

As usual, Tonya, lovely pics!  Those jars of toms are making my mouth water!!

With my cukes, I wound up making 6 quarts of sandwich pickle slices (you know, cut lengthwise, so they cover your bread), 2 quarts and 4 pints of small whole garlic dills.  Do you guys use a crisping agent?  I usually, although not always, sprinkle in a bit of alum. 

Tonight I will be canning up some more pickles, okra with sweet and hot cherry peppers (I don't know which is which, so I'll leave that to my anti-spicy husband to discover!), and hopefully a couple pints of banana peppers.

[Triss]

Oh that all looks good!  YUMMY! 

I love the ping!  My favorite sound when canning season is going on.  Today I am working with raspberries.  It is cool today so I am going to try and get all I can done today while the weather is cooperating!

[Tonya]

I canned up 9 quarts and 1 pint of Garlic dills the other day, 7 quart bags of cream style corn, 1 quart bag of Okra, 9 pints of pickled Jalapenos and one pint of mixed jap/Thai dragon mix(also pickled), and yesterday I did 5 quarts and 1 pint of tomatoes with zucchini(something we love around here ). Today will be some plain tomatoes and more corn.

Anyone else got pics??

[Wrennie]

I canned up 9 quarts and 1 pint of Garlic dills the other day, 7 quart bags of cream style corn, 1 quart bag of Okra, 9 pints of pickled Jalapenos and one pint of mixed jap/Thai dragon mix(also pickled), and yesterday I did 5 quarts and 1 pint of tomatoes with zucchini(something we love around here ). Today will be some plain tomatoes and more corn.

So.... are you getting any produce from your garden? 

[Tonya]

Just a little bit

[Penny]

 

[Tonya]

Here's the tomatoes and zukes I did the other day-

[landofoz]

What do you do with a can of zukes and toms?? 

[Tonya]

We have them as a side dish, but you could make a spaghetti sauce out of it(we like squash and zukes in our spaghetti).  I like em with pork chops and mashed potatoes You can buy them in the grocery store- I had them like this the first time in a greek restaurant and fell in love with them!!

[landofoz]

Isn't that kind of runny for a side dish?  Kinda reminds me of something to put on swiss steak...  If all my zukes hadn't been brutally murdered by SVB, I would try making up some of those.  My mom was always doing the grossest things with squash and zukes and I'm just starting to get over those traumatic experiences. 

[Tonya]

Sarah- I serve it with a slotted spoon, so most of the juice gets drained off. Or you could serve it with some kind of meat mixed in and serve over rice or noodles

[Triss]

Sure looks good, I can imagine a lot of different dishes with that combination!  YUM!