Water bath canning is usually the first canning someone does, and for good reason. With water bath canning you don’t really need any special equipment, you can usually make due with what you already have. But not everything can be preserved with a water bath, low acid foods need to be processed using a pressure […]
Preserving the Harvest…Peaches
We got seven peaches off our peach tree this year. Oh my, they were so very good! But obviously, with only seven we just ate them and didn’t even think about preserving them. So, I did what I do every year. I purchased peaches so I could actually preserve peaches for the rest of the […]
Canning Chili con Carne {ultimate meal in a jar}
I know, who can think of soups, especially heavy soups like chili in this heat? I do. In fact, every summer I spend a couple of days canning chili con carne and beef (or venison) stew for the winter. Why? Because it helps me feed the family home cooked meals even during the busy school […]
Tips for Using a Pressure Canner
We’ve been canning up a storm lately and most of has been done using a pressure canner. We ordered extra meat from our meat co-op and canned some with onions and garlic like we do venison. We also canned some chili con carne (recipe will be on the blog next week). A friend gave us […]
Tips for Preserving the Harvest
Many years ago, I canned about 30 quarts of pear chutney. I had never tried pear chutney, in fact I had never even heard the word “chutney” before that day. But our pear tree was producing a bumper crop that year and I decided it would be fun to try something new. {ahem} No one liked it…not […]
Preserving the Harvest….Blueberries
We kicked off July 4th weekend by going blueberry picking . Yes, we have blueberry bushes but they are not producing. Last year fire ants got into the pots and destroyed the roots. We bought new plants but they are still young. Normally, we would just go without but because of all the rain we […]
Preserving the Harvest…Tomatoes
Preserving tomatoes is a summer tradition in many homes. But preserving tomatoes can be more than spaghetti sauce and salsa. There are so many ways of preserving tomatoes and really, you need to do what is best for your family. Because I’m pretty simple, I mainly can tomatoes with onions and garlic and dehydrate tomatoes […]
Preserving the Harvest….Cucumbers
It seems to be feast or famine with cucumbers at our little homestead. Some years I just cannot get them to produce at all and other years I’m wondering what in the world we’re going to do with them all. We’re in a feasting year this year. Normally that would be a good thing but […]
Preserving the Harvest…..Herbs
One of our goals this year was to add more herbs to our garden for both culinary and medicinal uses. Many times those uses overlap. The thing with herbs is that they do not grow year round outside (even in zone 9) and they are not always ready at the same time complimentary vegetables are […]
Preserving the Harvest….Green Beans
Welcome to week one of Preserving the Harvest which will be a twelve week series on preserving fruits, vegetables and herbs to use throughout the year. My goals isn’t to teach you everything you need to know about every preservation method or every fruit or vegetable. My goal is to encourage you to not see […]