Preserving Your Harvest

[muddy75]

we got a ph tester last year when we were making the hot sauces. i believe the magic number is anything 4 or lower

 

[Sally PB]

I will send recipe for soup base.

Please, oh please???

 

[Happy hen lover]

Please, oh please???

Here you go . I made it last year too but I feel the cabbage ferments in the jar so will leave out this year. But here's original recipe. I think the cabbage kind of overtakes the taste. It's an old recipe. Basically the women that gave me this recipe just takes end of garden stuff and throws most of it in and she bakes in roaster in oven.

HOME CANNED VEGETABLE SOUP BASE
1 pk. ( 8 qts. ) Tomatoes. 2 medium sized heads cabbage (opt.) or use less.
1 bunch celery
2 quarts carrots = 4 #
12 onions
3 each green and red peppers
5 quarts water or substitute water with quarts of tomatoes.
1/2c. salt (scant)

Scald &peel tomatoes; chop and quarter them. Chop or grind cabbage, celery carrots , onions and peppers. Put all ingredients with into large kettle with water and salt to taste. Boil for 1 hour and process in hot water bath for 45 minutes.
EDIT I pressure can quarts for 40 minutes as I feel there's not enough acidic foods to safely water bath this. Use leftover meat broth, leftover meat, potatoes, or rice to make a meal. Makes 12 - 14 quarts.
My hairdresser only does water bath and has never had a problem but I have a pressure canner so I use that.
Funny story first time she gave me recipe verbally and she left out the water! I could barely stir the mix !?! THAT WAS FUN we still laugh about it. The sweet older lady that shared this recipe makes 10 batches a year! That's over 100 jars ! That's a lot of vegetable soup. I love soup in winter but not all vegetable. My guess is her hubby loved gardening and she lived through depression so we'll figure out a way to use it all. The 90 year old pioneers are very recourcful.

 

[BReeder!]

Didn't read all 5 pages, so I don't know if someone already suggested these, but a couple of my favorite tricks:

1.) Make a ready-to-go peach pie filling by adding your sugar/flour/cinnamon/butter and freezing in a Ziploc inside a pie plate.

2.) Freeze pesto in ice cube trays. Then pop them out into a Ziploc, and you can grab them as you need them.

Clever idea to freeze pie filling in a pie pan. It's ready to plop right into a crust and bake.

For pesto, do you have a recipe you can share?

 

[Happy hen lover]

Don't use starch i.e.. noodles, crackers, flour corn starch, in your canned foods. And I agree make your pie filling with sugar and spices, fruit fresh before freezing.

 

[BReeder!]

Here you go . I made it last year too but I feel the cabbage ferments in the jar so will leave out this year. But here's original recipe. I think the cabbage kind of overtakes the taste. It's an old recipe. Basically the women that gave me this recipe just takes end of garden stuff and throws most of it in and she bakes in roaster in oven.

HOME CANNED VEGETABLE SOUP BASE
1 pk. ( 8 qts. ) Tomatoes. 2 medium sized heads cabbage (opt.) or use less.
1 bunch celery
2 quarts carrots = 4 #
12 onions
3 each green and red peppers
5 quarts water or substitute water with quarts of tomatoes.
1/2c. salt (scant)

Scald &peel tomatoes; chop and quarter them. Chop or grind cabbage, celery carrots , onions and peppers. Put all ingredients with into large kettle with water and salt to taste. Boil for 1 hour and process in hot water bath for 45 minutes.
EDIT I pressure can quarts for 40 minutes as I feel there's not enough acidic foods to safely water bath this. Use leftover meat broth, leftover meat, potatoes, or rice to make a meal. Makes 12 - 14 quarts.
My hairdresser only does water bath and has never had a problem but I have a pressure canner so I use that.
Funny story first time she gave me recipe verbally and she left out the water! I could barely stir the mix !?! THAT WAS FUN we still laugh about it. The sweet older lady that shared this recipe makes 10 batches a year! That's over 100 jars ! That's a lot of vegetable soup. I love soup in winter but not all vegetable. My guess is her hubby loved gardening and she lived through depression so we'll figure out a way to use it all. The 90 year old pioneers are very recourcful.

I save scraps sometimes to make soup base too. Onion skins and ends, tomato ends, potato peels, celery leaves and ends, cabbage cores, carrot peelings and ends, and so much more. A few gallon zip bags in the freezer is great for storing until there's enough to fill my stock pot. I do this with meat/bone scraps too. Around the holidays we make stock because we buy several turkeys when they are cheap and break them down and to pack the freezer for months to come. I roast the carcasses and scraps and then add vegetable scraps to it all in my largest pot and simmer for several hours.

 

[Happy hen lover]

I save scraps sometimes to make soup base too. Onion skins and ends, tomato ends, potato peels, celery leaves and ends, cabbage cores, carrot peelings and ends, and so much more. A few gallon zip bags in the freezer is great for storing until there's enough to fill my stock pot. I do this with meat/bone scraps too. Around the holidays we make stock because we buy several turkeys when they are cheap and break them down and to pack the freezer for months to come. I roast the carcasses and scraps and then add vegetable scraps to it all in my largest pot and simmer for several hours.

Great idea.

 

[Sally PB]

I save scraps sometimes to make soup base too. Onion skins and ends, tomato ends, potato peels, celery leaves and ends, cabbage cores, carrot peelings and ends, and so much more. A few gallon zip bags in the freezer is great for storing until there's enough to fill my stock pot. I do this with meat/bone scraps too. Around the holidays we make stock because we buy several turkeys when they are cheap and break them down and to pack the freezer for months to come. I roast the carcasses and scraps and then add vegetable scraps to it all in my largest pot and simmer for several hours.

Excellent! I do something very similar too.

I save bones, onion peels/ends, garlic ends, celery in any form, and carrots in any form in a bag in the freezer. I use that to make bone broth in my Instant Pot. I cook my rice in bone broth.

The bones can be used more than once. If I can mash it with my fingers, it's served its purpose and goes on to its next use: Either I bury it in the garden, or mash up and give it to the chickens in small servings.

 

[MountainWoman73]

Clever idea to freeze pie filling in a pie pan. It's ready to plop right into a crust and bake.

For pesto, do you have a recipe you can share?

I always look up a recipe online, and then don't follow it very well, so it turns out different every time.

But basically, lots of fresh basil and garlic from the garden, some olive oil, some parmesan, and whatever nuts I have on hand. Pine nuts are good, but I put in walnuts a lot because I have them in the cupboard.

 

[WthrLady]

::hyperventilating::
I found 6 cases of jars at the tractor store.
I have a ridiculous number of jars and lids, but I like a buffer, and darn if the buffer is gone.


I just looked at what I need to get processed this weekend.
20 pounds of chicken breasts and 15 pounds of lean ground beef
3 pounds of stew meat
24 ears of corn
25 pounds of tomatoes

Is there a Patron Saint of Preservers?

HA Saints Preserve us! OMG I think I'm over-tired.