Question for those who garden, RE: canning/freezing

purple_magada

purple_magada

Cathlete
I know that there are a few of you on here that have home gardens. Do you can or freeze your veggies/fruits from your garden? If so, do you have any recipes that you would like to share? Currently I don't have a garden b/c our soil is so bad - mostly shale/clay. I buy most of my produce during the summer from the Amish. Then I can my little heart out. I usually do: pickled red beets, pickles, relish, jelly (strawberry, peach, cherry), tomatoes/green pepper/onion mixture. My son and I go to a local orchard to pick cherries. I love homemade cherry pie and nothing tastes better at the holidays then cherry pie with real cherries (vs. the pie filling). We also go picking strawberries, blueberries and I always order bushels of peaches. Last year we ordered 300 ears of corn from the Amish and my DH and I froze that. I freeze green beans from my dad's garden. (Don't have a pressure cooker so I can't can those).

Just wondering if you have any other ideas since I do the same stuff every year.
 
Wow! I wish I could find the time to do that. I've been wanting too, and soon I will be buying an upright freezer so I'll have the space. My mom always canned when we were little and we raised our own food. We even sold pickles to Paramount for extra money. Maybe this year I will pick strawberries and freeze them. I bet it helps the grocery bill a lot to do all of this preparing ahead of time. I've also been thinking about buying 1/2 a cow to put in the freezer to help in the meat department.

Thanks for the ideas! I might be emailing you for more details if I decide to go through with this.
 
Hi, ladies. I have a veggie garden every year, and this year I just doubled the size of it so I can grow more. I freeze almost everything there is. I usually grow green beans, peas, green/red/yellow peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, and carrots. This year I am adding zucchini, yellow squash, and more tomatoes. My neighbors (all retired women) are going to teach me to can, but in the past I've frozen everything except the tomatoes. I am going to try out broccoli and cauliflower as well.

To freeze them, I pick them and wash them clean. Then I will put the veggies in boiling water for about 2 minutes and then place them directly into ice water to stop the cooking (this is blanching them). Then I will dry them and vaccuum-seal them using my Tilia FoodSaver. I mark the bags with exactly what the item is and the exact measurements.

For things like zucchini that don't freeze really well, I will bake zucchini bread and then freeze that.

The FoodSaver saves me tons of money all year round because I buy meats when they are on sale and stock up, in addition to all my veggies that I grow and save.

I would love to hear what everybody has to offer too.

Gayle
 
The only thing I can is salsa and applesauce.
Salsa is wonderful because I use everything from my garden to make it and it is really the best since everything is soooo fresh!
I never measure so I can't really tell you how much to use, but I do get everything into a 6 qt pot and you will have to decide how hot or mild you like yours by how much peppers you use, etc. It is basically just tomatoes, onions, jalapeno's, green peppers/yellow peppers and a 12 ounce can of tomatoe paste. I put the tomatoes in a large pot of water and let them simmer until they become soft and then I just throw them into my blender until chunky or puree...whichever. Then I add the chunks of other veggies and paste. I also add a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of dry hot pepper. Simmer...simmer and simmer. Then I put the salsa into the canning jars (I always clean and boil my canning jars for 30 mins before adding the salsa in there).

Charlotte~~
 
I have started canning more in the past few years, usually produce I buy at the local farmers market, but now with our new house/yard I finally have space to grow my own. Two weeks ago I tilled up a huge space and I am so excited to get growing! My cousin has a great recipe for canned green beans that are pickled and very spicy/garlicky. I ate half a can in one sitting! I will try and get the recipe if you are interested - well, I want it for me anyways, so I wil definitely get the recipe.

It sounds like you are super woman with all that storing up!

Tracy
 
Tracy that sounds like a great recipe. I would love a copy when you get it.

Charlotte, I think I will need to experiment with the salsa before I make a big batch. I don't want to make a large amount of it and then not like the taste of it.

I really wish that our soil was better - maybe next summer I can talk DH into getting me some topsoil. I don't know if I"ll have the energy this summer for a garden.
 
We usually can lots of Salsa, and for variety sometimes add corn and/or black beans. We also make Salsa and add raspberry jam for rasberry Salsa. If you look on the internet, you can find lots of other variations. We've also made peach Salsa.
 
I freeze almost everything I can....
Peas
Corn
Green Beans
Pumpkin puree
Blueberries (These are awesome to eat frozen!)
Cherries
Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots
(I cut the peaches, nectarines and apricots in halves, remove pits, leave skins on and place on cookie sheets to freeze, then, when frozen, put in freezer bags - This way you can take out only as much as you want after they are frozen and don't have to thaw the whole bag or container.)Eat these partially frozen. Delicious!

Tomato products I always can.

Sweet potatoes we wrap up in some kind of white paper that my husband's parents gave to us and this keeps them good for a long time. We actually have a bunch from our garden last year that we need to eat up!

Too bad the soil is not great where you are at. Gardening is a lot of work but it's enjoyable!

You sure need a lot of freezer space though
 
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