Canning season

[SeabeeMan]

It's not quite a recipe so I'll put it here...how many others on here can food? We put up 12 quarts of tomatoes, 10 pints of pizza sauce, 8.5 pints of tomatillo salsa, and a few random pints of tomato juice (AKA Bloody Mary base) with the leftovers this weekend. This weeks goal is 40-50 quarts of apple sauce and a bit of apple pie filling. It's nice to crack open the spoils of my ongoing garden warfare with the deer, turkeys, and bears in the middle of December. That, and knowing that there is A LOT of food that requires no attention or cooling if anything ever happens.

[oneokie]

Let me put it this way, I am sick of looking at tomato's.

As to your deer, turkeys, and bears, want to trade for grasshoppers?

They have eaten my peas and beans, half my sweet corn, all my popcorn, working on the bell peppers and the jalapeno's, all the habanero peppers, stripped the peanuts of all leaves, same with the okra, and am having to pick the tomato's as soon as they start showing any sign of pink color.

[sljacob]

The last few weekends have been spent gathering currant and wild hawthorn berries for jellys and pancake syrup.

Next weekend it will be wild chokecherrys and some elderberrys if I can find some.

[firefly1957]

Yes, not done yet for the year but we have had a frost the last of my peppers will be dried they are more compact that way.

[jpatm2]

We have done Asian pears, applesauce and apple jelly. First time on the pears and apple jelly.

[retread]

Just got back from the season's first goose hunt and canned 41 pints of goose meat. Followed that the next day by canning 6-1/2 cases of tuna. Wife just put up a couple of cases of green beans and is working on some tomatoes as I type. Life is good.

[dragonrider]

We will be doing some applesauce this week. Also do jams and jellies in season. Blueberry and peach mostly. Pickles when the cukes cooperate. Tomato, usually as sauce. Sometimes green beans. Did some turnip a few weeks ago.

[rl69]

Our garden burned up months ago tomaters taters and peppers went in the ground in feb still have the bell peppers. green beans and purple hulls wen in the ground first part of march I tried a fall garden but the rabbits cleaned me out

[MT Gianni]

We picked tomatoes # 3,4, and 5 off our plant today. A 95 day growing season has it's limitations.

[Idaho Mule]

Just finished up with 34 quarts of peaches a couple hours ago. Wife and I did 30 some (?) quarts of pears a couple weeks ago. Salmon River grapes are coming on as well so we will be processing them shortly. Our huckleberries seem to have suffered global warming and are all burned up. JW

[MaryB]

6 pints of pickled green beans (only way I will eat a green bean), 13 pints and a quart of crushed tomatoes, 12 pints of sauce. Picking up some granny smiths to can as slices in syrup for pies or just eating. Grasshoppers hit the CSA hard too so kind of slim pickings this fall.

[mnkyracer]

So far I've done:
~70 lbs worth of grape juice into jelly (minus 2 gallons for something special!!)
1.5 bushels of tomatoes into soup
1 batch each of red and black rasp. jelly
9 pts Hot pepper jelly
9 pts Brandied pears
and a bunch of apple and pear sauce.

Still on the list to do:
Pizza and spaghetti sauce
Stewed maters

[FISH4BUGS]

We have been eating veggies directly from the garden since early July - tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, broccoli, carrots, beets, bush beans, peas, and just now starting on squash. I'll be freezing tomatoes, green beans, squash, brussels sprouts and celery soup.
Haven't gotten into canning yet, but we certainly have a freezer full of vacuum sealed veggies of all types. Generator with 50 gallons of gasoline is our backup.
The garden is organic, and I use 1 tbsp molasses, 1 tbsp dish soap to 1 qt of water for the insecticide. Kills the bugs deader than Elvis, and keeps them away, but we have to do it almost daily.
Nothing like a garden..........

[Hickory]

We have been eating veggies directly from the garden since early July - tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, broccoli, carrots, beets, bush beans, peas, and just now starting on squash. I'll be freezing tomatoes, green beans, squash, brussels sprouts and celery soup.
Haven't gotten into canning yet, but we certainly have a freezer full of vacuum sealed veggies of all types. Generator with 50 gallons of gasoline is our backup.
The garden is organic, and I use 1 tbsp molasses, 1 tbsp dish soap to 1 qt of water for the insecticide. Kills the bugs deader than Elvis, and keeps them away, but we have to do it almost daily.
Nothing like a garden..........

How does your home made insecticide work on squash beetles, not to be confused with the cucumber beetle?
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...AA&FORM=IQFRBA
Squash beetle pictured in tbe upper left corner.

[Reg]

Just finished 24 qts. stewed tomatoes last night. Also did 30 qts. spaghetti sauce, 34 pints green beans, 36 pints sweet corn canned, 20 qts. frozen and 30 some ears on the cob. Bags of frozen peppers in various forms, canned hot pepper cut and mixed, pimentos. Seems like I left some things out but will start salsa this afternoon. Great time of year then we also have fall fishing and hunting coming up.
Oh yes, will start another 5 gallons of wine in a couple of days, will match the 10 now cooking.
Come on winter !!

[Tdart]

As far as insecticides, I've gotten good reports of using rosemary water. Just steep a bunch of rosemary trimmings in hot water, then spray away. If you've got a rosemary bush, I'm sure it could use a trim! Think about it, has anything ever eaten your rosemary?

[FISH4BUGS]

How does your home made insecticide work on squash beetles, not to be confused with the cucumber beetle?
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...AA&FORM=IQFRBA
Squash beetle pictured in tbe upper left corner.

The soapy water kills them in a few minutes. I THINK the molasses keeps them away. But know that it has to be done daily or every other day, and definitely after a rain.
I have gone totally organic with the garden. You can't kill every bug all the time, but it sure as hell cuts them down dramatically.
Tomato cutworms are the toughest. Watch for those white moths that lay their eggs on the plants. Those turn into the caterpillars that eat everything.

[Rex]

We are peeling, chopping and freezing tomatoes also making stewed tomatoes and freezing in quart bags.

[Hickory]

I ran across this and thought I'd share it.
Easy Sauerkraut.

http://www.ehow.com/yt/how-to-make-s...t-mixkgu4tjp0/

[waksupi]

I'm canning salsa today. The peppers that I didn't think were hot are more so than I believed. Not too much to the taste, but man, are my hands burning from cutting them up!
I've got three types of peppers drying. Finished drying apples last week.