Dressed for Canning Success

When starting a canning project, the best way to make it a productive and pleasant experience is to be ready for it.  Like making dinner is harder in a dirty kitchen with no clean pots and pans ....  canning will be as easy as you prepare for it to be.

I can outside most of the time.  It is much more pleasant, I can watch the kids play and I don't heat up the house.  When I blanch, tomatoes and peaches, I set up like an assembly line.

I set up my camp chef and my table so I can stand or sit in one spot and easily reach the produce to put in the hot water, remove the produce to the cold water, peel into the bucket on the ground and place blanched, peeled produce in my clean pot.

Once this is done, I leave the table up and process my jars of produce.  I then set them to cool on a towel on the table.  I know people say the wind can break your jars ...  and I live in a very windy place ... but in four years of canning this way, I have never broken a jar from the wind.  I would say it never hurts to try and if the wind is a problem for you, then simply walk the jars into the house rather than letting them cool outside.

Sorry for the glare ...  can't control the sun!

The camp chef can also handle two canners at a time.  There's not quite enough room for three, but the middle burner is a good place to put a pot of canning liquid (water or syrup) to stay warm without heating the house!

Corn

We are very blessed.  On Saturday I was canning tomatoes.  Tomatoes out my ears.  In the middle of my first batch, my Mr got a phone call from his son asking if we wanted corn.  Apparently there is a farmer, who's kid planted a few acres for FFA and they were going to disc it under now that her project was complete.  The corn was free for the taking, as much as we wanted.

I felt my body slump in anticipation of the future fatigue as I said "Of course we want it dear.  How long do we have to get it?"

The answer came back, that it was to be plowed tonight.  So 30 minutes later (that's how long was left on the tomato batch) my Mr and I headed out for corn.  Oh did we get it too.

Looking at the pictures now, and knowing how much there was, it is hard to feel the pictures do it justice.  To explain, we got through ONE of the totes, and the box.  We put away 3lbs in the dehydrator, 24 lbs in the freezer and 24 pints in the canner.

We didn't finish the corn until Sunday evening.  If I never see another kernal of corn again, it would be too soon.  We ended up giving away the other tote, and the buckets away in bag fulls to the neighbors.

I am slowly putting all the frozen corn through the dehydrator.  I did not have the jar space to can it all and neither did I have the desire to spend that kind of time.  I had to get cleaned up so I could go back to work the next day.

It is amazing how little time it took to shuck and clean and cut the corn off the cob.  We ended up with about 50 lbs of perserved corn.  The frozen/dehydrated corn needed to be blanched, but we did that by the 1lb batch in the steamer basket.  The corn in the jars did not require blanching.

Post Update:
I have reconstituted the dehydrated corn and eaten it.  I am so excited because I always thought it was only good for soups or casseroles; but it's great to eat as a side dish!!!  Reconstitute, add butter, salt and pepper then eat just like fresh corn.  Amazing!!

Canning Tomatoes v. Slicing Tomatoes

I grow mostly roma's.  A great canning and paste tomato.  I also grow a few slicing/beefsteak tomatoes for the fresh eating.  On canning day, they all go into jars.  Just to explain the differences between the two types and why you want to grow canning tomatoes for canning and not just grow slicing tomatoes.

If you look at my post on canned tomatoes, I show a lot of pictures demonstrating the process of blanching and peeling.  What I didn't show you  was the extra steps I had to do for the slicing tomatoes.  Due to the shape of the tomato and the shoulders (the rounded part by the stem), I had to core the tomato before I blanched them.


The red ones are Pantano Romanesco and the deep red/purple ones are Cherokee Purple.



Can you see the splits in the shoulders?  A common problem in a slicing tomato, they make it harder to peel even after blanching.  They act just like a blemish and have to be cut around.

Due to the size of the tomatoes, they have to be halved or fourthed before they can go into the jars. 

These two varieties did hold up well, just so much more work.



Left is Pantano Romanesco, Middle is Roma, Right is Cherokee Purple

 This also demonstrates two other points.

1. A definite need to label what is in the jar.  I usually label 'Tom 8-11' but in this case, I didn't want to think the purple or romanesco tomatoes were bad in 6 months because they are a different hue.  I labeled them what they are because they are different from what I normally bottle as tomatoes.

2. There is space saving features in using the roma/paste style tomatoes over beef steak.  The amount of unused space in the bottom of the jars is far greater in the beefsteak/slicing type tomatoes.

Italian pasta Salad

My amazing husband came up with this simple pasta recipe.  It is delish and a fabulous way to use food storage and fresh produce together.  Zesty and sweet, rolled into one.

This makes a great side dish or an easy lunch for a warm summer day.  When you don't want to heat the whole house up in the evening, simply cook the pasta in the morning or late the night before!

ITALIAN PASTA SALAD

2 c. Pasta, cooked and drained

1 1/2 md Carrot, shredded

1/2 Tomato, diced

1/2 Cucumber, diced

1/4 c. Italian Dressing

Mix all ingredients in bowl.  Chill until time to serve.



Canned Tomatoes !!!

I am always so happy when my tomatoes start getting ripe!  It means that I can get started on the biggest crop my garden provides me with.

Yes.  There are cucumbers again too.  :)

We eat fresh the firstlings .... then we get to canning!  This small batch of tomatoes will only provide me with a few canners full. 

I got 16 quarts out of this sink full. 

In case you have never canned tomatoes before, I have taken pictures of the different steps to help you along.

You do not need to wash the tomatoes, I only rinse them, so the grass, leaves, petals and other pieces that are not attached get rinsed off.  You don't actually even need to do that.

Once your tomatoes are gathered up, you need to BLANCH them.  This is a process where you place the tomatoes in boiling hot water and then remove them to cold water so the skins will come off.

Typically the skins will start to split, and a small amount of pressure will cause them to 'slip' off.  Sometimes you need to use a knife to get it started, or to lift the skin from the flesh of the tomato and peel it.  You should never have to cut the skins off, except at the stem and if there are any blemishes you may have to cut right around the blemish.  If you are cutting more than that, you need to boil them just a little longer.

Once the tomatoes are blanched and peeled, you simply pack them in the jars following the wonderful instructions in your canning book.  The book I own is the Ball Blue Book of Preserving, but since it looks like that is an old version, I would simply recommend getting any Ball Blue Book at a reasonable price.  It is a wonderful quick reference.  It has just enough detail, not so little you are lost and not so much you are overwhelmed.  Great for beginners!

One last tip for blanching.  The temperature of the water, the time in the hot water and the ripeness of the tomato all play a part in the finished product.

The first tomato is very ripe.  The second tomato is barely ripe.  They were blanched at a lower temperature than the third barely ripe and the fourth very ripe tomato.  Can you see the texture difference?  The two on the left are very firm and the two on the right are almost mushy.  Both are good for canning, but the ones on the left will be prettier.

Grapes!!

I love my grape vines.  I planted them about 4-5 years ago, moved them about 3 years ago, lost one of my two vines and finally got a crop.  Yeah!  It was only 3 bunches and I had to save them from the wasps that were eating them, but they are sooooo yummy!

We did find the wasp nest in a neighbors tree ......  We were wondering why they hadn't tried to build in the eaves of the house like the last 3 years.  I guess they found a more suitable spot, a hiding spot of sorts. 



We found 'em!!

Zucchini Pasta

Right now I have a major abundance of zucchini coming from my garden.  My favorite thing to do, other than dehydrating it, is to mix it with pasta and sausage in the best dinner ever.
I got this recipe originally from Your Home Based Mom then I changed it up a little to suite my style.  :)  She calls it Lite Pasta, but I don't think it's very 'lite'.  :)

ZUCCHINI PASTA

16 oz Spaghetti Pasta, cooked and kept warm

32 oz Kielbasa Sausage, sliced

1 Red Bell Pepper, cubed

1 Onion, sliced

2 tsp Basil

2 tsp Garlic

2 tsp Chicken Bouillon

1 small Zucchini cut into approx. 1/2 x 2" sticks

1 can Olives, drained

Brown sliced sausage in pan.  Remove from pan and saute Onion and Pepper.  Add olive oil if there is not enough left from sausage.
Add Basil, Garlic, Bouillon and Zucchini.  Cook until Zucchini is tender.
Toss vegetable blend, sausage and olives with pasta.

My husband likes it with a little cayenne on it.

Cucumbers and Carrots and Green Beans ... Oh My!!

So.  My garden is determined to kick my butt this year.  Carrots are having a slow start, but the cucumbers and squash are in full swing and the green beans are coming to a close.

It's not the first canning I have done this year ....  but man, it was the most in one day!
27 pints of pickles
3 qts of pickles
9 pints of green beans
1 pint of carrots (thank goodness they process the same as green beans!)
16 half pints of chicken

There is enough chicken prepared to put up maybe 24 more half pints, but I am out of energy for the day.  It will have to wait until tomorrow.

I am most excited for the pickles.  I bought a new book, "You Can Can"  I wouldn't recommend it instead of the Ball Blue Book, but it has some different recipes in it which can be fun.  We made dill, with dill fresh from the garden and dill from a store bought packet.  We also made sweet and spicy dill and bread and butter chips.  1 qt of whole dill and 2 qts of spears. 

Thanks to the invention of the mandolin slicer and the discount store selling one for $12, my chips are all perfectly sliced.  Literally. 

Now, I am exhausted. 

Peace Out Folks.

Cherries !!!

I DID NOT GROW THESE beautiful tasty cherries.  I wish I had a tree, but unfortunately we do not.  A kind co-worker offered to let us finish cleaning off his tree and I swear we got a couple hundred dollars worth off the tree.  I am so into planting a cherry tree now.  :)

I do not know how many pounds we picked, I just know it was a lot and after all my canning efforts, we still had 11 lbs for fresh eating!

23 quarts.  Makes my food storage happy!  Yummy yummy!!

My Garden

I have a tiny tiny lot.  I suppose it is large compared to someobdy in a town home or condo ...  but for a stand alone house, it's small.  Not even 1/5 of an acre and the house is huge at 3600 sq ft.  So if you can imagine, there is not much yard left.

Some people think I have such a huge garden, but the fact is ....it is only 240 sq feet.  It is only even that big, this year after we put in 2 more beds.  We have 6 4x8 beds and 3 2x8 beds.  In this space I have been able to grow 19 tomato plants (we lost one), 1 bell pepper, 32 ft of beets, 56 ft of carrots, 40 ft of bush beans (if you compared it to row plantings), 1 watermelon vine, 3 cucumber vines, 2 zucchini, 1 yellow crook neck and 2 smaller melon vines like honey dew.  In my beds I have also added the permanent plants of lavendar, dill, Rhubarb, pot marigold and chives...I think I may have to replant the chives.

I have some border beds...what others use as flower beds, and in them I have planted various herbs and edibles.  I have mint, marjoram, poppy, thyme, and pineapple sage.  We have a planting of raspberries above a retaining wall and a grape vine that frames a window.  We have planted peach, apple and choke cherry trees.  I have plans to plant more herbs and edibles.

My point in this posting is ...  no matter the size of your yard or garden.  You can grow SOMETHING.  Only have a small decorative flower bed??  Thyme is a beautiful plant which produces green or green/yellow foliage and purple flowers.  Mint, Sage and Chives are just green foliage and if you interplant them with flowering bulbs for color can make a low maintenance and beautiful border or bed.

South facing window?  Hang a pot w/ cherry tomatoes.  Small patio or porch?  Plant stands with anything can be nice.  Cucumbers and tomatoes can make good container vines while peppers and eggplant and almost any herb make pretty upright plants.











Don't judge me.  I was too lazy to roll up the hose for the picture.  :)  We have the auto water system working now so no more hose except when starting new seeds.

I love my poppies.  They grew and bloomed!  Last year, they grew and died.  :)   This bed is about 2 feet deep and runs the length of my front porch.  I have room for a few bush/trees here and plan on planting currant bushes.  The poppies are planted to border the currant bushes I will plant next spring.  I love red flowers, they are my FAVORITE!

Aphids and Squash Bugs

We have been infested with aphids and squash bugs this year.  Soooo sad!  I just thought I would share some of the remedies that I have been using and how they work.

Aphids

Aphids on my trees, aphids on my bushes, aphids everywhere!  The most effective thing I have found against them is garlic.  I planted garlic all around both my trees and so far it seems to have helped.  A few years ago we had them all over the honey suckle in the front yard and I planted 2 cloves of garlic next to each one and never had a problem since. 

The tree's are more precious to me than the honey suckle so I planted multiple cloves around each tree.  I was fortunate that although I did not plant the garlic until late June, they are already growing.  I think they are helping.

I just need to dig the grass out a little more so my Mr. doesn't whack the tops off when he is trimming and mowing the lawn.  :)

Unfortunately, I believe I now need to add garlic to my whole yard.  I am finding what I believe are aphids less on my trees and more in my flower gardens.

Although I am not a fan of planting for the sake of planting.....I do have a particular soft spot for lilies and lilacs and roses.  As such, my garden with lily bulbs is showing the signs.  I will add the garlic soon.

Squash Bugs
These horrible little creatures serve no purpose, in my opinion, other than to make life difficult.  I cannot see how they may be useful in any way at all.  I have battled them every year for the past 3 or 4 years.
Nasturtiums are said to repel them.  I planted nasturtiums, but still got the bugs. 
The most effective measures I have found is Diatomaceous Earth sprayed on the underside of the plant leaves with a Garden Spritzer.

This looks like a water toy that your kids might want, but a little bigger around and a fancy inside of the tip to evenly dispense a mist of the DE powder.

I alternate this DE spray every 3rd or 4th day with a spraying of Neem oil.  I use a regular 1 gallon insecticide sprayer which was purchased special for the food safe products.  Neem oil is a natural product, and I don't want to be spraying with a residue of Sevin when I am not trying to.

These two methods with handpicking the nasty little buggers off and squishing their guts into the ground seems to be effective.  When it's not, out comes the Sevin.  I prefer non-chemical natural measures of control but not at the expense of my crop or at the risk of infestation the next year because the natural methods didn't work.

One year, I lost 6 huge, full grown and healthy cucumber plants to squash bugs after they finished ravaging my traditional squash plants.  Did I mention I hate squash bugs?

Another method to control these things is to plant a sacrificial crop for them.  Most common is hubbard squash.  When the plant has attracted all the bugs and is starting to be 'infested', pull it up and throw it away.

One year I planted acorn, yellow summer, zucchini, hubbard, pumpkins, cucumbers and watermelon.  For your FYI....the hubbard went first.  the acorn, pumpkins, yellow and zuch were infested next.  The acorn fell to the infestation, but although heavily infested, the yellow and zuch withstood to produce the whole year.  The pumpkin was attacked, but with intense efforts, was manageable and produced.  After the acorn went, the buggers attacked my cukes, which put up a fight and produced, but eventually fell to the bugs.  The watermelon were not touched. 

Our management efforts were the same on all plants.  I believe some plants are a little hardier than others and locations and plant growth features (how dense the leaves and stems are v. being more spread out) made the efforts effective on some plants and not on others.

Thought it was interesting, so I am sharing.  I do recommend not keeping an infested plant in the ground after the infestation is identified.  I recommend pulling and sealing in a garbage bag and sending to the dump.  This experience was the year I learned what I was dealing with and I did not do as I should partly because it wasn't till the end of the year I finally identified the little buggers.  I have had to battle infestation ever since.

Squash bug, not yet fully ugly adult.  Too close for comfort though.  Pulled off one of my zucchini plants.

Keeping Organized

Gardening can be an organizational nightmare.  You have to plant on schedule, you have to transplant on schedule.  You have to rotate crops and fertilizer.  You have to harvest and use or preserve when the garden tells you too, not when you decide you are ready.

On top of all this, don't forget to use your seeds, first in......first out.  You don't want to find old seeds in the bottom of your seed bucket that now won't germinate because they are way too old.

I buy seeds like some women buy shoes.  I love seeds.  I have regular grocery store seeds.  I have internet only seeds.  I have random and unique seeds.  I have 10 different varieties of tomatoes and 6 different varieties of beets.  I am addicted to buying seeds.  I see a seed that "I am sure I don't have" and then I must have it.  I even buy flower seeds and I don't even plant flowers!  I have no intention of having a flower garden, ever.

This year I finally got organized.

I bought these nifty plastic drawers at the .... (background trumpets and drum roll) .... WALMART.  I taped in some cardboard to divide the drawer into 3 sections and trimmed down some 5x7 index cards to make my seed deviders.

 I put the new bought seed in the back and use from the front first.  I knew I had a problem when I had 3 open yellow summer squash packets.  Seriously.  Those things produce so much, you only have one or two plants a year.  One packet will cover you for 5 years easy!  I had 3 open packets.  I only started buying seed 5 years ago!

"Hi.  My name is Mrs C.  I have a problem.  I buy excessive amounts of garden seed."

I feel better already!  No.  I don't plan on quitting.

In my second drawer, which is for herbs and flowers (not quite as full as vegetables) I have room for my gardening extras. 

And the most awesomest product in the whole world is my uncut twistie ties from the dollar store.

These are great for tying up vines and tree branches.  it doesn't stretch like the plastic tape and it's not ultra expensive like the velcro.  It is reusable, but so cheap I usually don't.  It has two spools on the card for just $1!! 


I am hoping with this system, I will be able to easily move into seed saving with only a little extra work.  maybe just add a label to the seed packet with the year and crop info.  Nothing I do is that easy, but I always hope it to be.  We will see.