Canning....

[freemotion]

Don't forget dehydrating! And fermenting is easy, if you have the fridge room or a reliably cold cellar.

You can grow most of your flavorings quite easily.....oregano, parsley, basil, rosemary, scallions, hot peppers and cayenne, chives, etc. In a bad garden year, the flavorings often do quite well.

 

[rebecca100]

I am just here. I usually don't have anything to add or help with. I just tag along and ask and learn. Everone here is really helpful and caring. I have only in the last few months learned to can. I also found the recipe book that comes with the canner to be very helpful and easy to understand too for the basics.

 

[Ldychef2k]

Proofreading is for sissies !

Well, it IS kind of inconvenient when I want to heat my tea.

Years ago I was a magazine writer for a Christian magazine. They almost fired me for a typo: "Deciding it was time for a bit of a rest, she sat down on the front poop."

Welcome ! I stumbled in here myself a couple of month.s. ago and I blame every one of these wonderful ladies for my unquenchable appetite for canning ! LOL

I am a bit of a rebel with the sterilization. My pressure canned jars I don't sterilize because of the high temperature they will reach. The hot water bath ones, I fill half way with hot water and microwave them seven at a time for six months in the microwave. So far, I have not died. But it's early.
. . .
Kris

Lady Chef- you're the first person I've heard of that heats their water for 6 months. It must be sterile by then. Thanks for the laugh.

 

[rebecca100]

 

[chipmunk]

OMG Lady Chef, you are too funny!

 

[Ldychef2k]

Yesterday I read one of the most profound posts ever on this site. Wish I could remember who and where. But it spoke of the connection that happens with our foremothers and the pioneer spirit and the traditions of the home when you are doing your canning. I had just the day before been talking to my 10 yo DGD and saying pretty much the exact same thing. I had been reorganizing my jars and I was just overwhelmed by the sense of gratitude to the Lord for the provision He has made for me. It was right there in front of me, the bounty of it all. And I also felt that connection to the women who went before me, those who cared for their families under some pretty harsh conditions. Conditions that some of the women here are voluntarily reproducing in their lives today. What an honor to know you and to see how YOU honor the traditions of our past.

 

[farmerlor]

Welcome to the site and good luck in your new adventures in self-sufficiency.
I grew up canning and gardening so had a pretty basic knowledge of everything but when I went to start up again I found that many of the things we took for granted WAY BACK THEN were now considered unsafe. So I bought a used pressure canner which is something we never used when I was a child and started some seasonal canning of vegetables. Now I can all year round, spaghetti sauce, soups, cream soups, anything that's on sale like meat, mushrooms, etc.... I love it.
A couple of years ago my husband brought home a suburban full of canning jars-I mean floor to ceiling, tailgate to driver's seat FULL of jars. And this was in addition to the many cases we'd already scavenged from garage sales and some that were purchased new. This year with our bumper crop of tomatoes I've actually run out of jars.

 

[rebecca100]

When I started canning it took forever to make my mil understand that some foods HAD to be pressure canned. She said they never pressure canned anything growing up and they all lived. She was also determined that botulism is what you get when you eat burnt foods. And I was going to kill my dh with it! I showed her the canning books and so on, but I still don't think she believes me. We just quit discussing it.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't pressure can either ......

 

[keljonma]

There is a lot of good information and recipes here on ss. Here are some good online canning links...

http://www.freshpreserving.com/pages/preserving_club/7.php

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

http://ohioline.osu.edu/lines/food.html#FOODP

http://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm

http://www.canningpantry.com/index.html