What are you canning now?

[silkensunlight]

Did you water bath it? Either way, I think I would start with that one. Sounds yummy!

 

[silkensunlight]

I know it's not canning but I'm super stoked. We found a stand of trees that are black walnut. Walnuts for free!!!

How do you deal with these? Around here they are considered pests cause they affect the growing and production of other plants. People hate seeing them around their property. The squirrels sure love them though. Must be something we're missing out on LOL

 

[Happy Chooks]

Black walnuts, from what I understand, are tough to crack open.

Today I canned nectarine jam. Later this week, I'll make a nectarine blackberry pie. (husbands boss is in town and coming over for dinner)

 

[chazen328]

They are dangerous around here too. We were told they can kill ground up to 5 years so you don't want to add the hulls to compost or put them in your garden. But on the other hand walnuts are expensive and can go for up to $10 a pound.

How the heck do you can nuts?

 

[gardendufus]

Finished up my second batch of 14 day sweet pickles (11 pints). Now have 8 pints of glazed carrots in the PC. This is just the second time I've used a PC. Just wish they had a video out to show what they consider 'gentle rocking'. Well, it's rocking, and less than at hi temps, but still a constant rocking so I guess it's OK.

Lets see, so far this year I've made: Vanilla Extract, Almond Extract, 36 pts B & B Pickles, 36 1/2 pts sandwich dills, 12 1/2 pts Salted Pear butter, 12 1/2 pts Zesty Peach BBQ Sauce, 36 1/2 pts peach butter, 24 pts 14 day sweet pickles, 24 pts Gingered Beets, 8 pts some kinda Whole Dills, and I have a bucket of Deli Dills percolating on the back porch.

I think there's more, but I'm tired and can't remember, LOL.

Still to do: I keep saying I'm gonna make Basil Jelly, Rosemary Jelly and gonna check out if I can make Sage jelly. Then start on the tomatoes that are in the freezer.

All this has made me re-evaluate my garden. Already know changes I am going to make next year to maximize the stuff I really want to can. LOL I made all these pickles and jams and I hate dill pickles, only eat sweet pickles on a sandwich, and absolutely NEVER eat jams. Too funny. I'll be giving away food all year.

 

[Pozees]

Finished up my second batch of 14 day sweet pickles (11 pints). Now have 8 pints of glazed carrots in the PC. This is just the second time I've used a PC. Just wish they had a video out to show what they consider 'gentle rocking'. Well, it's rocking, and less than at hi temps, but still a constant rocking so I guess it's OK.

Lets see, so far this year I've made: Vanilla Extract, Almond Extract, 36 pts B & B Pickles, 36 1/2 pts sandwich dills, 12 1/2 pts Salted Pear butter, 12 1/2 pts Zesty Peach BBQ Sauce, 36 1/2 pts peach butter, 24 pts 14 day sweet pickles, 24 pts Gingered Beets, 8 pts some kinda Whole Dills, and I have a bucket of Deli Dills percolating on the back porch.

I think there's more, but I'm tired and can't remember, LOL.

Still to do: I keep saying I'm gonna make Basil Jelly, Rosemary Jelly and gonna check out if I can make Sage jelly. Then start on the tomatoes that are in the freezer.

All this has made me re-evaluate my garden. Already know changes I am going to make next year to maximize the stuff I really want to can. LOL I made all these pickles and jams and I hate dill pickles, only eat sweet pickles on a sandwich, and absolutely NEVER eat jams. Too funny. I'll be giving away food all year.

Rosemary Jelly? Sage Jelly? These I would be interested in knowing how to make - I have a Rosemary plant that's been in the ground 7 years, and I keep hearing they aren't supposed to live through winter, but winter has been pretty mild most of those years, and I have it in sort of a dish-shaped garden surrounded by big rocks, so maybe the rocks retain enough heat from daytime sunshine to keep the ground from freezing and that's why it lives? I have sage plants that overwintered too. I assume if you can make Rosemary and Sage Jelly, you could also make Marjoram and Thyme Jelly?

I'm with you on re-evaluating how to use garden beds This spring I was in the last semester of finishing my BS (after a 30 year break) while working full time, so the garden has really gotten short shrift the last three years - now that I can re-focus my energy on it, I want to plan better and protect better. Flea beetles and grasshoppers have gotten the better of any seedlings that came up the last two years, and it's just depressing to come home from work and see all these beautiful little first leaves destroyed in a day.

 

[Pozees]

Did you water bath it? Either way, I think I would start with that one. Sounds yummy!

Water bath, don't have a pressure canner (yet). It turns out cranberry jelly is really darned good on toast! A few years ago I made cranberry jelly for Thanksgiving, which I had never eaten because it was too sweet, so making it myself meant I could control ingredients. I cut the sugar WAY back - like used about 1/4 recommended - and added orange juice and zest in place of about 1/2 the water. I am very bad at making small amounts of anything, so of course there was a LOT left, and the next day DH put some on his toast. How he ever thought of it I don't know - I asked and he shrugged and said he had always done it. I guess, jelly, toast, made sense in retrospect. Anyway it's delish, and I have been keeping cranberries frozen for making jelly ever since, snap them up when they go on sale. When I bought the strainer attachment for the Kitchen Aid last year, holy cow did that make it easier!

 

[chicken stalker]

Its been forever since I've posted here. I'm a canning junkie and since I opened my shop been waaaayyyy to busy to can anything. I finally have things under control now and first off 100lbs of plums! 25 lbs will be going into the steam juicer to make various jellies and the pulp will be used for plum butter. Most of the time when I buy this much fruit I prep it all into freezer bags for later use. That way all I have to do is dump the bag add sugar and pectin.....BTW I have one freezer dedicated to fruit. =D and 100's of jars in my basement...did I mention I am a canning junkie!

What is your favorite plum recipe??

These are my NYS Italian Prune Plums



and my children taste testing them at my shop.

 

[mickey328]

Aren't those KitchenAid attachments great, Pozees? I use mine a lot, especially in canning season. We prefer homemade cranberry relish as well, tho what I make is more of a jam than a jelly. I just whiz 'em in the food processor. Haven't tried it on toast, but we have it with turkey, chicken and pork...makes a nice tangy accompaniment.

Wow, that's a lot of plums, CS! We got our first harvest from our tree this year and there was enough to make a batch and a half of jam. I've never tried plum butter...do you keep the skins in the mix, or use just the flesh? All I've ever done with plums really is make jam...and it's just about our favorite jam of all time.

 

[gardendufus]

Rosemary Jelly? Sage Jelly? These I would be interested in knowing how to make

Here's a site I found. http://jimlongsgarden.blogspot.com/2011/09/herb-jelly.html Probably the base is pretty close to the Basil Jelly previously posted here. Liked the fact that he suggested some substitutions of fruit juices. I'm not a fan of all the sugar in jams and jellies, just too chicken to start adjusting recipes much, so I'm always glad when someone else tests it out first. Also, for some reason I'm prejudiced towards brown sugar rather than granulated (probably no health benefit, it just seems healthier). I'm just looking for something other than a jelly. Have no idea what that would be. I was interested in his quick comment about freezing fresh herbs in freezer bags. I watched The Chew one day last week and they also were showing how to lay out basil and rosemary in freezer bags and freeze them for later use. I may see if I like the frozen better than the dried. Lord knows I have enough herbs to try both methods.

Or try this one for freezing your rosemary and other herbs http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2006/08/how-to-freeze-fresh-herbs-rosemary-and.html