Who here cans??

[Frozen Feathers]

This is my first year canning. I have both a water bath canner and a Pressure canner that I inherited from my Gram.

So far I have made strawberry Jam...from strawberries we picked our self, woohoo! Making raspberry Jam tonight, with raspberries from our own backyard! And as soon as I collect enough blueberries, I'll be making them into jam too.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I can!! But I made freezer jam with my strawberries this year. I am saving my canning jars for tomatoes, salsa, etc.

If you do make blueberry jam, you will have to add alot of lemon juice to it or it won't set. i made it years ago, and wasn't happy witht hte way it turned out. .

It's low in something that causes it not to set well.

Good luck!

 

[Cassandra]

Frozen Feathers, I just started last year. I'm not sure what set it off. (dh) John & I bought our first home together in 10/06. And that spring, it just came to me. I started doing it without even thinking about it, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

I remember when I was very young, ages 4-12 or so, watching my grandmother freezing and canning. I was her little apprentice (actually, the only one of her 19 grandchildren that could pay attention and stand still long enough to help.) I also helped her make butter and tend many, many chickens. She had a milk cow, but I never learned to milk.

She also taught me to sew (by hand, we didn't have a machine), and quilt.

After that age, we ended up moving and my mom never got into doing that kind of stuff. My grandmother died when I was about 21 or 22. For almost 15 years, it never occurred to me to make jelly or put up tomatoes or have chickens or any of that stuff. And when we bought this house we have now, I wasn't thinking of any of that stuff at all. We bought it so our little son could go to the school we wanted.

But as soon as it got warm I thought--man, I want some chickens! Out of the blue! Just went to the feed store and bought some chickens. Then, I thought--man, I need to make some jelly! And bought all the jelly making supplies.

I guess what I am asking is what inspired you to get started? I know what inspired me, but still haven't figured out how it hit me out of nowhere.

Cassandra

 

[yotetrapper]

I can. But I have virtually NO garden this year, other than my tomatoes. So hopefully, I will be canning tomatoes, and blackberry jelly. Applesauce, Apple butter, and thinking of trying pumpkin butter....anyone ever make that??

 

[miss_thenorth]

I sympathize with you Yote. My garden is a bust this year, as it rained almost every day for over a month. It was under water for most of that time.

thankfully, I live in a very agricultural area. Farmers markets and roadside stands are everywhere. Orchards are 5 minutes from my place where I can pick strawberrries, blueberries, and raspberries, apples, pears and cherries, etc etc. I plan on taking full advantage, and fill up my pantry, and freezer.

the only thing I have done with pumpkin is bake it, scrape it off the skin, and freeze it. I use it later for pie filling, pumpkin loaf and pumpkin muffins.

 

[hoosier]

I can, but this year all I have are a few tomato plants and they don't look very good.
I pick blackberries and elderberries and freeze them so my chooks have special treats all winter long.

 

[ticks]

My grandma cans she has taught me.

 

[yotetrapper]

Yeah i usually freeze pumpkin too, but I saw some recipes somewhere for pumpkin butter, and thought it sounded good.

Here's another question. I found a baked bean recipe (made it up, actually) that my dh LOVES. Uses Pork and Beans. I was looking at the jumbo pork n bean cans for $4-something at my store, and was wondering... can I make a batch of baked beans up and then can them?? Also, since they are cooked, can they be canned in a water bath, or would they require pressure canning?

 

[miss_thenorth]

They can definitely be canned, but as to the method, I'm not quite sure. If the recipe contains tomatoes, I would recommend the pressure canner, actually I would recommend it just to be safe, but I am sure you could look up canning websites and see if they have similar recipes, and see how they would preserve them. I have also frozen baked beans, but I think canning will do a better job.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Cool! I'm not alone in my newbie endeavors!!
Here is a link http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can7_jam_jelly.html that has probably most everything you need to know about canning. It's been a big help to me so far.