What are you canning now?

[texasgal]

Okay, I've spent all day reading 75 pages of this thread ... LOL .. not a very productive day at work, huh?

You guys are going to get me in SOOOO much trouble ..

Let's see .. we're building our new house and already I'm wondering if I have enough space to store all my canning supplies ..

And I have to purchase .. hmmmmm.. jars, pressure cooker, a bigger crock pot, funnels, dehydrater, freezer bag supplies, books about canning ...

... incubator, supplies for brooder, chicken tractor, chicken barn, purebred showable chickens, a fabulous rooster ..

.. and livestock guardian dog .. a barn cat ..

.... maybe some quail ...

.. oh geezzz ... I'm gonna kinda miss my husband .....

 

[bethandjoeync]

I hope to go strawberry picking this weekend and get about 20 pounds and make my first ever strawberry jam!! I want to can up the vegs that we grow this year, so I tripled the size of my garden to maximize harvest! my biggest thing will be canning tomatoes. and probably will test my hand at pickles because I may end up with a huge crop of cucumbers this year. and I found a blackberry bush growing at the edge of our property that i may baby this year and see what i can get from it.

question to the pros though:
you know how you can buy the chopped or minced garlic in the jars at the grocery store, in the produce section? has anyone ever canned this before? I'm not asking for pickled, because I have seen a recipe for this, but the kind in the store is in olive oil. just wondering if anyone has every tried it. I won't have much of a garlic crop because I think a mole ate half the ones i planted last fall. I only had to sprout up. I will be planting more though.

 

[freemotion]

Quote:
May I ask what is your recipe for your cat food? I hate how cat food is fillers like commercial dog food. But my cat has to be on urinary tract cat food so I have limited choices in commercial food.

But never know what to make in homemade cat food.

Check it out on our sister site: http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1936

Both my cats have "issues" and one was on prescription diet. It wasn't helping, and we were going to sadly have him put down. We went to one more vet (I think it was four or five, total!) who recommended making our own food. He has been fine ever since, several years later. Our other cat lost lots of weight and initiates play for the first time in his 16 years.

I would prefer to feed it raw, but these older boys won't have anything to do with raw food. The more cooked, the better, it is what they are used to in the commercial foods. So, I can it. Next cat will be started early on raw, same recipe, just raw. And frozen.

Let me know how it goes!

 

[Acre of Blessings]

bethandjoeync-----I am praying for a bumper crop of cukes this year. We canned 7 full cases in '06 and we just ran out a month ago.

I am also hoping for lots of Zuchinni's and Squash so we can make relish with those. It is so good and you don't have to use the cukes up for the relish.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Quote:
You can't can pureed pumpkin but cubed is safe. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

 

[bethandjoeync]

Quote:
You can't can pureed pumpkin but cubed is safe. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

thank you for the link, i understand now. so how big of cubes?

 

[Equus5O]

I would love to start canning. I freeze my plum tomatoes at the end of the season (sliced in half, frozen in layers, with the peel on). I found it a great way to keep tomatoes for cooking all year long.

I just don't see how I'd have the time for canning, though

 

[freemotion]

If freezing is working for you, stick with it! My freezer was getting WAY too full certain times of the year, so I got a....make that two, now.....pressure canners, so I could can things and save freezer space for veggies, which I prefer frozen to canned for most of them.

Catfood was taking up too much room, and I've found that when I freeze leftover soups or stews, we tend to not eat them. When I can them, we eat them. I think it is a visual thing, seeing the soup or stew through the glass jar makes me want it, whereas the mystery frozen chunk is not so inviting.

I want to start buying meat by the side or quarter, so I will need to can some of that as well. Having two pressure canners going at once really cuts down on the time needed, once the pain of the investment has faded!

 

[Equus5O]

I definitely agree with the visual concept. The freezer gets so packed, and then you forget what's in it (all that stuff at the bottom!). I do wish I had gotten a larger freezer, though. I hadn't had one before, and thought it would be big enough. Now, with all the veggies and meat, I don't really have room for quiches and pies, etc.

If we wanted, we could get a side of beef from a friend, but where would I put it? I still have a freezer full of chopped venison and venison sausage! I'm not too good at the venison thang

 

[luvs2garden2000]

Would LOVE to have a recipe for canning chili. I am a chili freak. I can eat chili 7 days a week 24 hours a day. With it just me and my DH it is hard to just cook a "little" chili. With the times now i try not to be wasteful and do not want to throw anything.