Tag Archives: canning

Growing A Garden For Canning – How To PLAN TO CAN and Save Big!

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^ quarts of homemade pasta sauce sit in the pressure canner

6 quarts of homemade pasta sauce sit in the pressure canner.

Canning can give you the taste and goodness of your garden year round - and save money as well!

Canning can give you the taste and goodness of your garden year round – and save money as well!

It seems that every year, more and more people are coming back to the art and joy of gardening.  Not just because they love the feel of getting their hands in the soil – but because they ultimately want to feed their families better tasting and healthier food while saving money.  As food prices continue to rise – people are looking to the garden to offset the cost. This spring, with just a little extra planning – you can maximize those gardening efforts into a virtual year-round pantry – and in the process, take a big bite out of those escalating grocery bills!

As much as we enjoy our garden for the fresh tomatoes, peppers, corn, green beans and more –  we create our garden plan each year with the additional goal of canning and freezing enough of the harvest to feed our family year-round.

We’ve figured out that the best way to maximize our effort is to plan now for what we want to eat later.  It’s really no different than the age-old concept of planning out your week’s meals before heading to the grocery. It eliminates ending up with produce that you have no idea what to do with in late fall – and not enough of the ones you need to can and freeze to feed your family.  Here are some helpful tips to help Plan to Can:

Take stock now of what you eat and need year-round

Tomatoes make up a large part of our garden because we use so many of them fresh and canned!

Tomatoes make up a large part of our garden because we use so many of them fresh and canned!

Fresh Picked Pasta Sauce Ingredients : Roma Tomatoes, Green Bell Pepper, Sweet Yellow Onion, Red Roaster Pepper, and fresh picked basil

Fresh picked Green Bell Pepper, Sweet Yellow Onion, Red Roaster Pepper, and Basil turn into great tasting pasta sauce

This may sound simple – but its easy to overlook!  Nothing can beat the taste of a freshly picked ear of corn, or a spring onion pulled right from the ground.  But sometimes we get caught up in thinking only about the fresh – and not about what you and your family eat and enjoy the most all year long. The key is to take both the fresh and year-round concepts and translate it into your garden plan – planting enough to satisfy both needs.

A great example for us is tomato juice.  Mary and I love our homemade tomato juice.  Its delicious and most importantly – we know exactly what goes into it – just our organic tomatoes!  On average – we go through a quart jar every week, meaning we need a minimum of 52 quarts canned to get us through.   The result: A dedicated row planted each year for our  juicing tomatoes.  Last year that row netted over 70 quarts!

Tomatoes in fact take up a large part of our garden space because we use so many tomato based products throughout the year. Homemade pasta sauce, salsa, picante, pizza sauce and ketchup are all big hits in the house. We make a pasta dish almost weekly for a family meal – and the kids can devour a jar of salsa in a single sitting.  The result – 3 entire rows in our garden each year dedicated to La Roma and Celebrity tomatoes – great for making sauces, salsas and more.

Plant More Of  What You Currently Buy:

We have more rows of green beans planned for this years garden

We have more rows of green beans planned for this years garden

This is also the time to think about what you buy now and that you could grow or grow more of to preserve.  We fell in love with the taste of our canned green beans last year, and just didn’t plant enough to store as many as we would eat.  So for this year, we have bumped up the number of planting rows from one to four.

All of this planning can save big money!  We have not purchased a store bought can or jar of  tomato juice, salsa, picante or pasta sauce in three years.  Just using a conservative estimate – that saves us nearly $500 to $700 a year on those items alone.  The best part – it’s home grown food with no preservatives or chemicals – what could be better than that?!

Growing For The Freezer and Freezing Smart:

Frozen peppers are a great addition to many dishes, and easy to sue when they are in single dish portions

Frozen peppers are a great addition to many dishes, and easy to sue when they are in single dish portions

The same concept goes into freezing.  We love to use peppers, onions, and snap peas in stir fry’s and other dishes, so we make sure to plant enough to eat fresh, and preserve some by freezing for later.  We also freeze a large quantity of our Cajun Belle and Jalapeno peppers to use later as quick appetizers.

When we first started out – we would simply freeze them into big bags – only to find out we could never use them up quick enough before going bad.  Now – we freeze sliced green peppers, onion, and snap peas in the perfect dish serving size.  Come winter – it’s a snap (no pun intended) to pull them out and throw them in whatever we are making.  No waste of time or produce!

Thinking Outside Of The Box With Surplus Vegetables:

A bumper crop of peppers led to us making our own dried pepper flakes, grind and chili powder

A bumper crop of peppers led to us making our own dried pepper flakes, grind and chili powder

Now we enjoy our own hot pepper flakes, smoked chipotle peppers and chili powder

Now we enjoy our own hot pepper flakes, smoked chipotle peppers and chili powder

You also have to think outside of the proverbial box when a certain plant goes crazy and your left with a huge surplus. A few years back – we had a mammoth crop of hot peppers.  We love them more than anybody – but there are only so many fresh jalapenos and habaneros you can eat in a given day without shooting flames from your head.  The solution: We decided to take the extras and dry them on low heat in the oven and our smoker.  The result – some of the best homemade pepper grind, flakes and chili powder we have ever tasted.   We’ve since cut back on the amount of peppers we grow – but we make sure to include enough every year to roast a few pans for our needs.

So this year as you think about the garden and all of those amazing fresh things you will grow and eat – put a little extra thought into what you want year round – you will be rewarded with some great winter produce – and huge savings on your grocery bill!

Happy  Growing!  For those that want to see our garden plan for this year – you can see it here : 2013 Garden Plan

- Jim and Mary

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Homemade Tomato Soup Recipe – Fresh Or Frozen

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Struggling with what to do with the last of your tomato crop from your summer garden?

The last of our tomatoes from this year’s garden.

Homemade tomato soup is a great way to finish off your tomatoes. It can provide you with a healthy meal in the middle of winter or a quick option when you are recovering from those back to school or wintertime colds!  When coupled with a grilled cheese sandwich (aka toasted cheese as Jim calls them), your meal can be ready in less than 5 minutes.

The health benefits of homemade tomato soup are plentiful.  It contains key ingredients that help to improve your health — vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, which are all needed to sustain good health.  Tomatoes and tomato soup also contain antioxidants which work to protect cells from free radical damage.   By making the soup yourself, you are using fresh ingredients and can cut the salt content significantly than the varieties you find in store-bought soup.  Finally, tomatoes have a high vitamin C content which is needed to help absorb iron. These particular vitamins and minerals are important to women with osteoporosis and iron-deficiency anemia.

If you really want to know what goes into the food that you eat.  What better way to be sure than to make it yourself!

 

Homemade Tomato Soup simmering before canning.

Homemade Tomato Soup Recipe
6 onions, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
8 quarts fresh tomatoes (or 5-6 quarts of juice)
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons  salt
1 Tablespoon crushed black pepper
1 cup butter
1 cup flour
1/4 cup lemon juice

Tomato Juice – after put through the strainer

Directions:
1. Chop onions and celery.
2. Place in large stockpot with just enough water to keep them from burning.
3. While this simmers, cut tomatoes (remove stems if not using strainer).
4. Add to pot and cook until tender.
5. Place this all through strainer or food mill
6. Reserve 2 cups of juice and chill

Mixing flour, milk, and the juice

Mixing the flour, milk and the juice

7.Add remaining juice back into the pot
8. Add sugar, salt, pepper and lemon juice and heat until warm (not boiling)
9. Cream butter and flour together and mix thoroughly with two cups of COLD juice, until dissolved (or blend together in a blender), to avoid lumps of flour in the juice.
10. Add butter/flour mixture to warmed tomato juice. (Add before it’s hot, to avoid lumps of flour!).
11. Stir well.
12. Heat just until hot. (If it gets to a boil, it can make the flour lumpy).
13. Just prior to boiling, turn off the burner. (It will continue to thicken as it cools.).
This recipe is great fresh or you can freeze some for later – either way – it’s a great way to use up those summer tomatoes.

To serve, mix equal parts tomato concentrate to milk, and add 1/2 t. of baking soda per pint as it cooks (1 t. per quart).

***For an extra creamy soup, Wes, our 15 year old,  likes to substitute the milk for half and half.

GARDEN HARVEST PICTURES – The Pantry Is Filled!

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The pantry is filled again and waiting for the fall, winter, and spring of 2012-13!

With our fall crop of lettuce, radishes and sugar snap peas in the ground - the rest of the summer garden has begun to slow down. Just this past week – we canned a few more quarts of tomato juice to finish off filling the canning pantry. The last of this seasons tomatoes hang on the vine and will be picked in the next week for making big batches of vegetable soup and chili to freeze for great winter meals.  Nothing beats heating up a bowl of summer goodness in the middle of a snowstorm!  It has been a great garden year in spite of mother natures attempt to ruin it with scorching temperatures and dry conditions.  We thought for our monthly picture feature about the farm and garden, we would share some of the photos of this year’s summer harvest.  So without any more words – here they are:     –  Jim and Mary

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In spite of higher heat and dry conditions – the garden fared well this year

Our tomato staple..the Roma.

Fresh Picked Pasta Sauce Ingredients : Roma Tomatoes, Green Bell Pepper, Sweet Yellow Onion, Red Roaster Pepper, and fresh picked basil

Sweet Mini Bell Peppers – a great snack or addition to any salsa or sauce

All In A Days Harvest : One of our bigger days of a harvest – these were pulled from the garden on the 15th of August.

Fresh Basil – washed and ready to be used in a batch of pasta sauce

One of our favorites! Red Ripe Cajun Belle Peppers – waiting to be eaten fresh or made into appetizers or put into salsa or soups.

Tangerine Dream, Cayenne, Serrano and mini bell peppers on the counter

Yukon Gold Potatoes – It was our first year to try them and they have produced well.

Sweet Yellow and Red Onions. We still have quite few in the ground but pulled these early to tie up and dry

One big colorful bowl of a days pepper picking

We have had a steady supply of carrots all year – we just keep them in the ground and pull them as needed.

 

Close up of a beautiful bloom from our everblooming rose bush.

“Canning is Cool” – The Class.

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How do you find the time?
I wouldn’t know where to begin.
I would end up poisoning someone if I tried that.

These are the comments that Jim and I hear from so many people whenever we talk about canning our vegetables from the garden.

The kitchen in “full canning mode” during the last “Canning is Cool” class

Just like any new adventure, canning can be frightening if you have never tried it before. But the best way to try something new is to just do it. Easier said then done, right? Ok, I have to admit, I would rather have someone right there with me when I am trying to learn something new. That is the exact reason that we decided to hold a ‘Canning is Cool’ class series this summer.

Our last canning class of the year occurred this past weekend. I like to keep the classes small so participants can have “hands on” experience, and everyone has the opportunity to practice the skills that we talk about. The participants all had interest in canning, but most had never tried it before or had tried it once and needed a refresher course.

Lots of cutting and chopping…

Two of the individuals I have known and kept in touch with over Facebook for the past three years. The other two, I had met a couple of weeks before the class at a Goodyear Tire store of all places! While in the waiting area to have the dreaded “nail in the tire” fixed – I overheard a conversation next to me about gardening, recipes, and canning. My ears of course perked up! As i joined in the conversation – I ended up meeting two new friends that were delighted to hear about the ‘Canning is Cool’ class.

What do we cover in the class? Well it really depends on the attendees and what is available in the garden. Since this last class was filled with individuals new to canning, we covered the basics.

Jarring up the Salsa before the water bath

We completed two recipes – salsa that can be canned using the water bath method, and spaghetti sauce by pressure canning. Each of them had a cutting board and a knife and all chipped in to make the recipes. We were then ready to give everyone the opportunity to practice the actual canning methods.

There is no charge for the class. In fact, the only “cost” was a band-aid for a tiny cut, and a little milk poured over the hands of someone who touched a few too many hot pepper seeds :) . The best part is getting to spend time with others who enjoy the same things we do, and knowing that we helped someone else learn to preserve the goodness of a summer garden.

Some important tips from the day:
1. You learn best by doing – both successes and failures
2. Wipe the rim of the jars after you fill them
3. You don’t have to have fancy equipment to can
4. You must follow a recipe to know what are safe water bath or pressure canning procedures.
5. You don’t have to have a garden to can – Farmer’s markets are a great resource for fresh vegetables!

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Picante Salsa – Fresh Or Canned

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We definitely need more than two rows of picante and salsa in the pantry canning cabinet for this year!

A big bowl of Roma’s waiting to be made into picante salsa

We dice up the roma’s – skins and all into 3/4 in ch to 1 inch pieces and fill the stock pot.

A big bowl of diced tomatoes cooking down

Cooked tomato being strained through a mesh sleeve to remove skins

Minced onion, garlic, peppers chopped up in the food processor

There is nothing better than home made salsa or picante. Each of our kids, family and friends prefer it a different way – some mild, some medium and some hot – so we make and can it all three ways. But one thing is for sure – they all love it and we go through a ton of it throughout the year. I think what I like most about this recipe is that it tastes so fresh coming out of the jar. So many canned salsas we have tried and canned just had a flat, overcooked taste to them. With this – we open up a jar – chop up a little fresh cilantro – and it’s like you’re in the garden again!

So here is a really straightforward and simple way to make some great tasting picante salsa in no time at all. It usually takes us about 2 1/2 to 3 hours of real-time to can a batch – but we are only truly working at it for about 25 to 30 minutes of that time – and are free to do other chores around the house.This recipe will make enough for about 8 to 10 pint jars.

As for mild or medium or hot – that is really to personal preference – but I can tell you that we use no hot peppers for the mild – 1/2 of the amount for medium, and all of the amount for hot.

Here are the ingredients and steps:

MILD INGREDIENTS:
40 to 50 Roma Tomatoes
4 Green Bell Peppers
8 Cloves of Garlic
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
3 Sweet Red Peppers
4 Medium White or Yellow Onions
2 Tablespoons Garlic Salt
1 Tablespoon of Black Pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons of Salt
2 Limes
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

HOT INGREDIENTS :
NOTE : Use 1/2 for medium heat – ALL for Hot – we use a variety of hot peppers to add more depth of flavor – if you want – you can just use 5 jalapeno’s for medium heat and 10 for hot
4 Jalapeno Peppers – seeds and all
6 Cajun Belle Peppers
3 Tequila Sunrise peppers
2 Serrano Peppers

STEP 1 (10 minutes) We start with about 40 to 50 washed Roma tomatoes – We cut the ends off and dice them up into small 1/2 to 1 inch chunks – skins and all. We will fill a 6 to 8 qt stock pot – add in 1/4 of the cup of apple cider vinegar and put them on low to medium-low heat to cook down.

STEP 2 (10 minutes) While the pot full of tomatoes is heating slowly and cooking down (we will stir it about every 10 minutes or so) – we take all of the other ingredients listed above – in no particular order – and dice into a fine liquidy chop in our food processor. We also add the juice from the two limes and the other 1/4 cup of vinegar to the mix. We place it all in a large Tupperware bowl – put the lid on it and set it to the side.

Step 3 (1 minute) After an hour or so – when the tomatoes first start to break down – we take our immersion blender into the stock pot and blend it all together – it speeds up the cooking down of the tomatoes.

Step 4 (1 minute) After another 20 minutes or so – when the tomatoes are really heated up and breaking down – we take the immersion blender one final time into the stock pot and blend together.

Step 5 (5 minutes) Using a small mesh strainer bowl – we then shake through the contents of the tomato plan into another stock pan – it leaves behind all of the skins and most all of the seeds – and leaves us with some good pulpy tomato stock to start our picante salsa with. You could also use a mill grinder at this point – the strainer bowl has always seemed faster for us.

Picante Salsa!

Step 6 Dump in all of the ingredients you have in the Tupperware bowl and let it all heat through for another 30 or so minutes to a slow boil

Step 7(5 minutes) Ladle into clean pint jars – and pressure cook at 10 lbs. of pressure for 18 minutes. You could also choose to water bath at this point for 45 minutes – we just find that it is so much easier to pressure can.

After that – your all set! When we do open up a jar to use – a lot of times we will chop up a little fresh cilantro and maybe a chopped sweet pepper or onion to add even more freshness to the picante.

Happy Canning!

Jim and Mary

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The ‘Must-Haves’ for Canning!

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It’s Harvest Time!

It’s one of my favorite times of the year – Harvest Time!  We are starting to pick baskets of vegetables out of the garden each day, and we don’t let anything go to waste.  We love to eat fresh veggies from the garden throughout the season.  However, even after giving a lot away to family and friends, we have plenty that need to be preserved for future use.

Whether you plant your own garden, or purchase fresh vegetables at your local Farmer’s Market, you can enjoy the summer time luxuries throughout the entire year.  Canning your own tomatoes, salsa, pickles, etc… will allow you to have peace of mind in the middle of winter, that what you are eating is healthy and not full of artificial preservatives.

The following is a list of the ‘must-haves’ for maximizing the preservation of your garden vegetables:

Make sure to use fresh, firm vegetables when canning.

1. FRESH, FRESH, FRESH (and I do mean FRESH) VEGETABLES:   If your vegetables are becoming soft, then that is how they will turn out when canned. Use softer vegetables in cooked dishes – but don’t use them for preserving.  You want to make sure you have firm vegetables when you are canning.  You can place them in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator for a few days until you have gathered enough crops to make a full batch, but for the best results – can them as soon as they come out of the garden.

Here is our Pressure Canner being used to Hot Water Bath.

2. HOT WATER BATH : a large stock pot will work just fine.  You want to use the largest diameter stock pot you have.  If you are thinking of purchasing a commercial Hot Water Bath product from the store, I would like to suggest something different.  If at all possible, make the jump and purchase a Pressure Canner.  You can use the base as your Hot Water Bath and you are able to can so much more using a Pressure Canner.

3. THE INTERNET : Sure, you could go purchase the Ball Canning Guide, but there is a wealth of information at your fingertips with the Internet.  You can find basic tips, recipes, and even videos to take you step-by-step into the canning process. Be smart and do your research   Now you will be able to find out what you may can by using a Hot Water Bath and when you will need a Pressure Canner. The specific instructions are  NOT interchangeable!  As a great resource, you can always use the online Ball Canning Guide too!

3 Must-Have tools for canning: Jar Funnel, Magnetic Lid Lifter, Jar Lifter

4. $6 FOR 3 BASIC TOOLS : These 3 tools are a LIFESAVER when you begin to can.  I am serious – spend the extra $6 dollars to purchase these items – it will save you time, energy and possibly prevent burns to your hands down the road:

Funnel : Do not use the one in the garage!!!  These funnels are designed to fit the rims of canning jars.  They will prevent extra leakage and drips that will save you clean up time.

Jar Lifter : This will allow you to place the jars in and out of the boiling water without splashing and burning your fingertips – Must HAVE!

Lid Lifter : You would be surprised how this magnetic tool will make your life easier when canning.  Typically when you try to get your lids out of the hot water, they end up sticking to one another, and then you waste valuable time trying to separate the lids.  Just place 3 or 4 lids in a small skillet with water covering the bottom of the pan. When you are ready for the lid, use the lid lifter to magnetically attach to it and place it on your jar.  Simple as that!

5. TOWELS and WASHCLOTHS : Sounds simple, but make sure you have 4-5 towels, and 2-3 washcloths handy during the canning process.  You will be surprised on how many you use — and if you are like me, you can’t remember where you put the one you were just using.  Wiping the rims of the jars is a critical process of canning — keeping an extra washcloth close by will come in handy.

Remember, these are just basic tips to save you time when you begin to can. Although the must-have list includes only physical items,  I would have to say the most important tip not listed above is the COURAGE to try.

The finished product!

There are many people that have never been around canning and it is completely new to them. However, more and more people have a desire to live a healthier lifestyle which includes knowing what they are eating, and canning is a great way to have healthy food year around right from the garden.

Go ahead and try to can something –you just might be surprised with yourself!

- Mary

Using Pallets to Build A Canning Pantry Cupboard

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Crate and pallet boards after disassembly

Our crate and pallet board pieces after disassembling a pallet and a shipping crate

Over the last few months – about every few days we get a comment or two on the canning cabinet or buffet hutch we built out of old shipping crates and pallets.  A lot of people want to know how we went about making it. So we thought for today’s post we would go through the how 2′s of building things with pallets and shipping crates – with a little extra information on the canning pantry.  In fact, we finally added the canning pantry plans to our Etsy shop because of it’s popularity.  It’s a great project – with very little cost involved – and lets you store over 200 jars of canned goods!

Our Canning Cabinet made from pallets and shipping crates

Our Canning Cabinet made from old pallets and shipping crates.  We tilted the top shelf forward a touch for a better display, and added a lip to keep jars from coming off the other shelves.

We have actually made two of them – the first we built from pallets – the second from some old shipping crates and pallets.  But for both – the only tools we used were a Sawzall, Nail Gun, Construction Adhesive (liquid nails heavy – duty), 3″ coarse drywall screws and a drill with a Phillips #2 screw bit (for drywall screws)

For the canning cupboard, we started by tearing apart about 4 pallets to use for the sides and shelving boards.   We learned early on to not waste time trying to pull the nails from  boards and remove every little speck of everything.  You end up damaging way too many boards and it takes forever!

Canning pantry shelves are made from pallet boards nailed into 2 x4 frames.

We use a reciprocating saw with a long demolition construction blade and simply slice through the nails.  Leave all of the remnant flat nails in the boards, not only does it add lots of  character – its super quick.  If you place the pallet up on end you can slice through all of the nails in about 15 seconds.  Just repeat the process until you have cut them all and you end up with 15 to 25 single boards to work with for every pallet. (depending on pallet size and make-up – you usually get boards about 3 to 5″ wide by 30 to 48″ long).  With shipping creates – we just disassemble the sides with the sawzall and then you have ready-made building panels to work with.  Whatever you use – pallets, shipping crates or old barn wood – the important thing is to have simple straight boards to build with.

Buffet Hutch made with pallet panels and shipping crate remnants.  Same concept – just a little bit bigger than the canning cabinet.

Anytime we make anything with pallets – whether it’s the canning cupboard or the buffet hutch – we will then use the left over 2 x 4′s that make up the pallet’s inside rails to build the carcass structure.  They are durable – and although heavy – they are free and make the structure strong.  Speaking of the structure – we always use coarse drywall screws and heavy-duty construction adhesive to assemble.  The screws hold tight and the adhesive holds forever.  Don’t worry about anything other than the framing being straight.  Once again if there are some left over bits of nail that have been sawed off smooth – let it be – it just makes for a great patina when stained or painted over.

Side of the cabinet – simple straight pallet boards nailed to a long pallet board makes up a building panel.

Once we have the structures carcass built – we just simply use all of the straight boards cut from the pallets to cover.  For this we will use the nail gun for speed and looks – but you could just as easily use a hammer and nails.  Once you have trimmed it out to your liking – you can paint, stain or leave natural – and you have a unique conversation piece.

The biggest piece of advice – don’t sweat the details!  The biggest mistake people make when using reclaimed lumber or pallets is tot try to make it too perfect.  It’s far better to not try to sand everything super smooth  - or take out every little crack or dent in the wood.  Let them be  - it just makes it look that much better.

Jim and Mary

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Front view of the cabinet

Front view of the cabinet

 

Canning Pantry made from pallets

Canning Pantry made from pallets

Garlic Dill Pickle Canning Recipe

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I have to admit, with the heat and lack of rain this year, our cucumbers have suffered.  We continue to pick 3-4 cucumbers per day, however, they are smaller and thinner than last year’s crop.

Although the leaves look healthy, the lack of rain and high temperatures have taken a toll on the production of cucumbers this year.

After eating cucumbers and onion salad and cucumbers directly off the vine (yes, standing there in the garden), we decided we better preserve some of our crop for later in the year.

One of our favorite canning recipes for cucumbers includes Garlic and Dill Pickles.  The key is to use fresh, firm cucumbers.  If you use soft cucumbers, your pickles will also be soft – and who wants that?  Try this recipe and you will never buy pickles again!

Garlic Dill Pickles – sliced in chunks

Garlic Dill Pickle Recipe 
Makes approximately 8 pints 

16 (approximate number, depending on the size) of pickling cucumbers, sliced any way you prefer (coin sized, spears, chunks)
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups distilled white vinegar
4 cups water
5 tablespoons pickling salt
16 garlic cloves, peeled (2 per jar)
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper – 1/4 teaspoon per jar
8 teaspoons dill – 1 teaspoon per jar
4 teaspoons black peppercorns -1/2 teaspoon per jar

Optional: If you like your pickles a little more on the spicy side, you can add fresh sliced hot peppers (any variety) to the jar with the cucumbers.

In a large saucepot, combine vinegar, water and salt. Bring to a simmer.

Arrange jars on counter. Evenly divide each of the spices and place them in the bottom of the jars.

Wash and slice the cucumbers. Pack the slices firmly into the jars, leaving as little space in between them as you can. Pour the brine into the jar, leaving ½ inch headspace.

Canning using a Hot Water Bath

Wipe rims, apply warmed lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Promptly remove the jars from the pot and allow them to cool on a towel placed on the countertop.  Make sure each lid has sealed (you will hear the popping sound as each jar begins to seal).  After 24 hours, press down on each lid to make sure they do not pop back up.  If they do not, then the process is complete.

After the canned pickles are gone, add fresh cucumber slices/chunks to the brine to make refrigerator pickles.

Pickles can be stored in a cool, dry place for up to a year.  However, our pickles never make it on the shelf that long – they are usually gone by early winter.

If you want to skip the boiling water process, these pickles are also wonderful as refrigerator pickles. Just pop the jars into the fridge once they’re cool. Conserve your time and energy — once the pickles are gone from the jar, you can use the brine over and over again (up to 5 times) by just adding fresh cucumbers to the cold jar.

Happy Canning!

Jim and Mary

Preparing for Canning Time – Stocking The Shelves

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The cupboard as it was late last summer – filled and ready for the winter season!

It’s getting to be that time of year – CANNING!

When we built the canning pantry cupboard last year – I don’t think we realized how much we would use all of the goods stored from the garden.  The cupboard, built from some old shipping crates and pallets we had holds close to 250 quarts and pints of product.  It seemed like so much at the time – but that full pantry from last fall has a lot of empty shelves on it now!

So before we begin the new season of storing up some food – we spent some time and went through last year’s inventory to get ready for this season’s canning efforts.

STOCKING UP:

It’s a pretty quick study as to what we need to make more of :  Hot Pepper Mustard, Pasta Sauce, Picante Sauce  and Apple Butter!

Mary’s Hot Pepper Mustard Sauce – A family favorite!

Hot Pepper Mustard :  By far the most popular !!!  It’s Mary’s secret recipe and  I think everyone that comes over takes home a jar.  Mary already had orders for them and already pre-sold every one she made from her first batch this week.  The boys love it as a dip with pretzels, and it great to use on brats and hamburgers or any sandwich for that matter!  I used it last year to make tuna fish salad and replaced the mayonnaise portion with the mustard and it was a great combination.

Pasta Sauce : Another big hit.  We used close to 35 to 40 quarts last year – with about 5 remaining.  It’s a great way to make quick dinners a thousand different ways!

Our Salsa and Picante Sauce…we will have to learn to make some more mild this year for those not loving the HEAT!! :)

Picante Sauce – We went through a ton of this last year – and I think the only thing we will do is to create more pints that are medium and mild heat as opposed to so many that were hot.  We love  it hot – but sometime the guests like it a bit more mild :)

Apple Butter – We “found” two jars stashed behind some sauce…I vaguely remember hiding them among other jars to keep for myself :) –  and then like a challenged squirrel –  forgetting that I hid them in the first place!  It’s so good on toast – definitely going to make more!

Tomato Juice – We canned 80 quarts last year – which we thought might have been too much , but we are down now to about 12.  I think we will do about the same again this year.  It’s great for our soups and chili – and we drink quite a bit of it as well.  One thing we want to do this year is to can more made with some pepper extract  - for a hot and spicy juice.

Still good on our inventory of banana and jalapeno hot pepper rings. They are great toppings for pizza and nachos!

Roasted Tomato and Peppers :  Mary trialed them last year and they turned out great – so I think we will add a few more pints this year.

I think we still have enough jalapeno, and banana pepper rings to last us for another year – so this year  instead of canning the rings, we will  freeze more whole and use them for appetizers.

So as the garden approaches ripening time, one thing is for sure: I know we will start to hear that gentle hum of the pressure canner or the roll of boiling water almost every evening in the kitchen as one or both of us cans something….it’s a sound we love to hear!

Jim and Mary

This post featured on The Barn Hop

Our Old World Garden Pizza Sauce Recipe

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Our Old World Garden Pizza Sauce

Here is one of our favorites  -  our own Old World Pizza Sauce recipe.  It’s great on home-made pizza, pizza on the grill, or to use a  bread stick dip.   You can make it fresh – or freeze to use throughout the year. Either way – it’s a great way to use all those vegetables that will be ripening soon in the garden!  You can also check out one of our earlier posts on a recipe for a great pizza dough to make it on the grill.  http://oldworldgardenfarms.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/grilled-pizza-dough-recipe-a-summer-must/

Mary and Jim

THE RECIPE:

1/2 bushel tomatoes (wash, core, dice)

3 clove of garlic

4 hot peppers

2 stalks of celery

1 onion

Chop in blender until mixed well

Add 1 pint of olive oil, pour into stockpot, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add:

1 1/2 cups of sugar

3 TBSP salt

4 12 oz. tomato paste

oregano/basil to taste

 

The pizza sauce is great for grilled pizza!