How much are you preserving this year?

[Wannabefree]

This 100 of everything thing has me slightly confused. Are we talking 100 jars full of stuff, 100 plants to plant to pick from, 100 pounds of produce?

Please explain, because I find it an intriguing idea.

100 quarts

 

[justusnak]

I am talking 100 jars of EACH vegetable, or sause. 100 jars of green beans, 100 jars of corn, 100 jars of spaghetti sauce..etc. This SHOULD get us through the winter. Oh, and I am planning at least 50 quarts of each meats.

 

[Neko-chan]

Okay, that makes easy sense, lol. I think it'd be great, I just have to figure out where I'd put 100 jars of everything! Especially as I'm working on stocking up at least 6 months worth of supplies for hubs and I.

 

[freemotion]

And we experimented with canned meats last year - we did some cubed venison, cubed beef for stews, and some Texas chili. We need to work on those meats some more as they were good but not great.

Have you made FarmerLor's cream of mushroom soup yet? I love to simply re-heat some of that with a jar of canned cubed meat of any kind and it is an instant home-cooked meal. Yum! You can cook the sauce down a bit for more flavor, too, and maybe not add the milk if you want a different gravy.

Have you tried putting a clove of garlic and some salt into each jar? Using flavored bone broth as the canning liquid instead of water for more flavor?

Grinding the meat and making canned meatloaf (recipe on www.canningusa.com) is wonderful and makes a great quick meal or sandwich meat at a fraction of the cost of deli meat. Very tasty, too.

 

[freemotion]

Oh, and 100 of everything.....well, of everything that you want to eat twice a week for the entire year! Assuming you open one jar per meal. Don't forget that there are often many things that you can make with some items....tomatoes, for example. I will make spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, chili, stewed tomatoes, and plain diced tomatoes. 50 of each will do, except maybe a few more spaghetti sauce as it is great in lasagna and in zucchini casserole. We eat a lot of canned soups in the winter but not so many in the warmer weather. We do like canned meatloaf for cold sandwiches in the summer, though.

Think about what you have and what you will use, and slightly over-estimate. I do a lot of fermenting, too, so some of the tomatoes can become salsa, ketchup, and barbecue sauce. (still looking for the right recipes for the last two...not happy yet!) Oh, and dried tomatoes....love 'em on nachos and on feta pizza.

Another thought is that if you have a bumper crop of something you can preserve it all and it can cover you if the next year's crop is lousy.

 

[JRmom]

The only thing from my garden that I preserve is the tomatoes, peas, and hot peppers. Everything else (cukes, squash, green beans) is eaten as it comes in. During the summer, I do go to the produce market weekly (sometimes more) and buy whatever is a good deal and preserve it. The last few weeks, conk peas have been plentiful and cheap so I've shelled and frozen about 2 gallons so far. I've also been preserving carrots, potatoes, peaches, and making jam.

100 jars of everything? Wow, that would last my husband and I a loooooooong time. As it is, with the staples I have put back, along with the meat in the freezer and what I've preserved, I think my husband and I could get by 5-6 months (of course, the last month's meals would probably consist of beans and rice ). I'd like to have a year's supply of food. So my dehydrator has been getting a work out 'cause I'd much rather be eating real food than boxed stuff if times get really tough.

One thing I have a whole lot of is quarts of vegetable stock. Add some veggies, tomatoes, and homemade egg noodles and that's a cheap, easy, filling meal.

 

[snapshot]

Like Marianne, we process everything that we don't eat right away. Sometimes it lasts all winter and sometimes not. I have stopped planting corn. It's so cheap at all the roadside stands and our farmer's market when mine are ready to harvest that it's not worth the effort and garden space. Also I like to help the local farmers with equipment maintenance (it's kind of like a hobby for me) and they give us more sweet corn than we could ever eat.

I think we canned 60 pt. of tomatoes, 40 qt. sweet corn, 40 qt. of green beans, 20 pt. chicken stock, 20 pt. split pea soup, 20 pt. beets, 20 pt. green peppers, and a biszillion pickles. I hung up 14 large bunches of onions and they really stayed nice all winter - I think we still have one bunch left. We had 2 shelves of various jellies and jams and five 5-gal buckets of potatoes. And we experimented with canned meats last year - we did some cubed venison, cubed beef for stews, and some Texas chili. We need to work on those meats some more as they were good but not great.

Last year I pressure canned elk as well as some beef chunks in V-8 juice with a little garlic and onions! Tender and tasty!