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Sep. 1, 2008
Canning Season! Whew!
Nothing serious in this post! Just a glimpse into my canning season this year for anyone who is interested--the harvest from our garden and our little pseudo-farm.
--48 quarts of organic tomatoes (red, yellow, orange, black plum, romas of various sorts). I've got another 8 quarts or so sitting on my counter to do today. That will get us through the year. We use about one quart per week for spaghetti, chili, or soup.
--51 pints of homemade salsa, three different kinds: A black bean jalapeno (made with a blueberry sized tomato called a "Mexican Midget), a corn chipotle (made with cherry tomatoes), and a veggie habanero (made with yellow pear and sun sugar tomatoes). Another 50 pints of "every day" salsa is forthcoming: that will be tomato with roasted green chiles. I'm dicing and freezing the tomatoes and bell peppers as they come in and will finish the salsa when I have enough tomatoes. I'm also waiting on our green chiles to come on so that I can roast them, dice them, and freeze them. It will be good because we have about 15 different varieties of tomatoes of every size and color, and we have purple, orange, yellow, and red bell peppers. (My father blesses us with these tomato and pepper plants each year: He starts about 250 plants each spring and shares with us!). This homemade salsa is one of the gifts we give out for Christmas--the whole family comes together and works on it!
--19 quarts of pickled hot banana peppers. My grandfather grew these this year. He LOVES growing hot peppers. These are especially pretty because I didn't pick them until they had turned every shade from chartreuse to deep red, so the jars are beautiful! My grandfather also gave us about 50 pounds of red potatoes (the potato bugs got mine this year!)
--8 pints of elderberry syrup for sweetening hot tea (my boys' favorite). I've got another stock pot full of elderberries in the fridge that will make another 8 to 10 pints today. That should get us through the year.
And still to do:
My apple trees are LOADED this year. I'm hoping to get lots and lots of applesauce put up this year, but I won't be able to get to it for a couple more weeks.
I will be picking up a load of concord grapes from my friend this week. That will make our grape jelly for the year.
I have never canned pears, but I am considering it, because our two pear trees are loaded, too. We'll see!
Our corn came on strong, then dried out before becoming fully ripe. We're going to go see what we can salvage from it today.
I just gave away the last of the cucumbers today. This year I just wanted to see if I could grow them. I've determined anyone can grow cucumbers! We had so many! Next year, I want to learn to make different types of pickles.
I thought my grandfather grew beets this year, and I was planning to pickle them using a great recipe I found using ginger and fresh rosemary. But he didn't have beets. I will plant some and try next year.
We pulled and cleaned 40 pounds of onions. We had lovely cabbages (miniature purple and green--about the size of a softball) and beautiful lettuce (baby romaine and miniature iceberg). Our broccoli is looking nice--I'll probably freeze it this week. Our peas died (I've never done peas successfully--I need to plant them earlier), and the popcorn is showing promise. I hope the popcorn works out because it's a favorite snack around here, and we planted the "rainbow" variety where the kernels are every shade of purple, red, and orange. I planted a new strawberry bed this year, but according to small-fruit culture advice, we pinched off the blossoms this year so that it would be a better yield next year. Can't wait!
And all I can say now is, "Whew!" And, "Thank you, Lord, for this bountiful harvest and your unfailing, abundant provision for our family." |
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Posted by Anonymous 
Sep. 8, 2008 - We are working hard to can too.
And we will enjoy all the bounty this winter!