What are you canning now?

[rancher hicks]

Rancher, I would just freeze them once and cook them once.
Cook them when you are ready to make jelly.
Make it easy on yourself.

Things are better for us now, But this canning thread sure did help us through some tight times.
I think I will always can now.

When you get free fruit it's a great way to save. Especially if you have a large family. Freezing ( if you have a generator) help too. It's much easier.

 

[donrae]

I don't think it really matters how old the honey is, does it? I thought honey was good pretty much forever.

7 jars of hot salsa and 5 jars of regular salsa. Big boy's decided he likes spicy foods now, so I'm trying to make some for his taste.

 

[hennible]

An older friend of mine ( 84 at the time ) feed me 40+ year old honey. Proof enough for me that it keeps for ever.

 

[iawoodchip]

I'm sure they are, but that does little good when you don't have any of them.

These were FREE and even you can't beat that price.

Most of my jelly making is just for something to do. Strawberry, red raspberry, rhubarb, wild grape & wild plum are the extent of my jelly making. There's only the two of us, so the most of the jellies go for gifts. My big adventure now is making 5# kraut in a gallon jar on the kitchen counter. When it's ready in 5 or 6 weeks it goes in the fridge, probiotics & all. I use a plastic bag of water for a weight & air lock. The gases can escape that way. The lid is loose to keep the insects out

 

[sunflower4you]

An older friend of mine ( 84 at the time ) feed me 40+ year old honey. Proof enough for me that it keeps for ever.

True. Real honey never spoils.

Just watch out for the store-bought concoctions that are mostly fake honey from China.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/

 

[sunflower4you]

Most of my jelly making is just for something to do. Strawberry, red raspberry, rhubarb, wild grape & wild plum are the extent of my jelly making. There's only the two of us, so the most of the jellies go for gifts. My big adventure now is making 5# kraut in a gallon jar on the kitchen counter. When it's ready in 5 or 6 weeks it goes in the fridge, probiotics & all. I use a plastic bag of water for a weight & air lock. The gases can escape that way. The lid is loose to keep the insects out

I love the idea of using a plastic bag of water as a weight. I was making large bowls of pickles and didn't know what to use for a weight (I considered cleaning some rocks!), but that is a great idea.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Very cool. I've thought about bees before but my plates pretty full... What sorts of flowers do the "harvest". I've heard pumpkin honey is pretty good, if you like pumpkin.

Mine would be Wildflower honey, a mix of everything. Around here, most of it would be blackberries. They also have my fruit trees, raspberries, and manzanita along with several types of weeds. They can range 2-3 miles in any direction from the hive, so everything in the area.

In order to call it anything but wildflower honey, the bees have to get most of their pollen from that source.

 

[rancher hicks]

Most of my jelly making is just for something to do. Strawberry, red raspberry, rhubarb, wild grape & wild plum are the extent of my jelly making. There's only the two of us, so the most of the jellies go for gifts. My big adventure now is making 5# kraut in a gallon jar on the kitchen counter. When it's ready in 5 or 6 weeks it goes in the fridge, probiotics & all. I use a plastic bag of water for a weight & air lock. The gases can escape that way. The lid is loose to keep the insects out

I do it for the family but also it makes a nice gift when going visiting friends and on holidays. Most of our friends are older or have kids so it's always welcome. Plus like you there is only the two of us.

Last year I made quarts of applesauce for a friend who has five kids. I know that sounds like a lot these days but I think folks should spend more time on kids. Not things.

Free or cheap apples are out there. I bought a half bushel of mixed varieties for $4 last year.

 

[hennible]

True.  Real honey never spoils. 

Just watch out for the store-bought concoctions that are mostly fake honey from China.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/

Wow after reading that I'm sure glad I'm a shop local type.

 

[Happy Chooks]

True. Real honey never spoils.

Just watch out for the store-bought concoctions that are mostly fake honey from China.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/

Wow, great (and scary) article. Thanks for sharing.