WHAT ARE YOU CANNING TODAY?

[tortoise]

I canned apple butter a few days ago too. I made the apple butter probably 2 weeks ago and put it in the fridge. Then reheated it, filled jars and canned it a different day. It's too much work for me to do in one day! I didn't use vinegar in my recipe so I used the longer processing time for applesauce (15 minutes) instead of the processing time for apple butter (5 minutes). Yield 6 pints. I like to use it in place of banana in banana bread recipes. I was hoping to put up 12 pints this year, but I'm not sure we have enough apples left.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I made applebutter earlier this year. I used it in a recipe for carrot cake that called for applesauce. Soooo good!

 

[Britesea]

Not canning, yet, but this week I've dehydrated potatoes and some chilies, and I've freeze dried 4 dozen eggs and a bunch of bell peppers.

 

[baymule]

One of my customers asked for more jars of sliced jalapeños. I told them how DH and I made a lot of jalapeño poppers, baked them 15 minutes, let them cool, vacuum sealed and froze them.

So today I go to the garden to check jalapeños. I picked 280! I had help from Sentry. Sentry always stays close to me, he is my protector. Check out all the weeds, it's time to turn the sheep in, but I have to cage off ONE survivor bean plant that has pods, for seed. And of course, I wanted to pick the jalapenos one more time. They are still loaded with small ones.

I sent a picture to my customer. They wanted canned jalapeños, I reminded them of pre-making the poppers. She went right down to Walmart and bought a food saver. They wanted 5 dozen fresh jalapeños to make poppers.

I charged $4 a dozen for the fresh jalapenos and $10 per quart. $90 my six little jalapeno plants made me today. I have gotten over 800 peppers from only 6 plants.

 

[flowerbug]

@Britesea there is something in my brain that says "does not compute!" when it comes down to the idea of freeze dried eggs. i mean it just doesn't want to go there there...

 

[flowerbug]

@tortoise i would not worry as much about apple butter anyways as it is pretty concentrated and there is some acid in apples too. when you concentrate those sugars they act as a preservative. doesn't hurt to be safe and i usually add a bit of lemon juice to apple sauce because i like things both sweet and sour so it is ok for me, but we've done apple sauce plain here with nothing added and it was fine. in a pinch you could always check the pH...

 

[Britesea]

@Britesea there is something in my brain that says "does not compute!" when it comes down to the idea of freeze dried eggs. i mean it just doesn't want to go there there...

Lol. Freeze dried eggs are really good for baking, and they can make a decent omelette. It's just frozen eggs with the water taken out under vacuum. I like having them on hand for winter, when my hens don't lay as well. In fact, I may have to dig into them early, since everyone's molting and I'm only getting 3 eggs a day out of 24 hens. I just bought some more mealworms to give them some extra protein, hoping that it gets them through the molt a little faster. I've also got a couple dozen in limewater as an experiment this year. They've been in there since April. Some people claim they stay good for up to 2 years that way. I decided to check it out in case the electric grid goes away or becomes otherwise unreliable. I've got plenty of lime, and if I need more I can either burn eggshells or use woodashes

 

[baymule]

@Britesea that's interesting about the eggs in limewater, be sure to let us know how it goes.

On the molting hens, you can also give them dry cat food for extra protein.

 

[BarredBuff]

10 quarts and a pint of Winter Squash, and 17 pints of navy beans.

I've got more to can still.

 

[Mini Horses]

My hens are molting!! Feathers everywhere -- keeps you looking and counting to be sure it wasn't left from a predator. I Bought a dozen "close to lay" pullets 3 weeks ago and first egg was 6 days later -- now at 5 a day & others coloring up. Have several hens who will be 5 in Feb, so......still laid this yr but, it can't go on forever! Have 4 pullets hatched here, about 2 months to lay. Might buy another half doz at auction next Sat, if good ones there.

Customers will get eggs this winter! I use few but DD and DGD eat them regularly.

Cats fight for their share of food. it is less expensive than the mealworms, works well. I've considered raising the worms. So far haven't gone there. Buy more Meow Mix.