2010 Canning and Preserving!

I love doing home canning, preserving food we've grown or that's grown nearby and having it all available to use during the winter.  I remember canning after school in the fall with my Mom.  It was by her side that I learned how to slip the skin off of a peach, cut corn off the cob, and carefully put lids on jars.  Even as a small child I was allowed to assist by mixing the sugar syrup to pour over fruit, or washing the jars.  (I felt so important doing that as Mom told me my hands were just the right size to fit in the jar!)  My Mother learned her canning skills from my Grandma (my Dad's Mother)... and I'm sure she learned to can alongside her mother.   Often when I'm standing with my girls at the sink or stove during canning season, I feel a strong connection with my ancestors.... strong, good women who worked hard to preserve food for their families out of necessity.  No running to Walmart for pre-packaged food for them!  I am honored to carry on this heritage.

All the nostalgia aside, I've been looking forward to this particular post because it means canning season is finished!  Yesterday my oldest daughter Audra, my daughter-in-law Brianna and I canned 40 pints of tomato Salsa.  I finished up the last of my peaches and pears this morning, and though there may be some apples to dry and juice, or a few pumpkins to bake & freeze for pie, the majority of this years canning is DONE!  Happy Day!  :)  I can put away all the canning paraphernalia and reclaim my kitchen for daily cooking!

Each year the amounts of canning are different.  Everything depends on what I have left on my shelves from the previous year, and how well the garden produces or how inexpensively I can acquire fruits we don't grow ourselves (like peaches and pears).  This has been a good year.  The only thing I didn't do that I thought I would, is pickled green beans... and that was mainly because my dill went old and dry before I was ready do do them.  BUT  I still have 13 quarts on the shelf from last year and that is plenty!

Here's the tally sheet:

Canned:

Dill Pickles                      18 quarts

Green Beans                   61 1/2 quarts

Apple Sauce                    51 quarts  plus 12 pints

Pears                             12 quarts

Minted Pears                    3 1/2 quarts

Peaches                          39 quarts

Diced Peaches & Pears        6 pints

Salsa                               40 pints

Apple Pie Filling                  6 quarts

Apple Butter                     11  half pints

Currant Jelly                     10 half pints

Plum Jelly                         11 half pints

Pickled Beets                    4 1/2 pints

Refrigerator Pickles              1 gallon

 

Frozen:

Roasted Green Chile's          20 lbs

Corn                                  54 2 1/2 C. bags

Peas                                    8 Cups

Pea Pods                              4 Cups

Shredded zucchini                  4  2-Cup containers

Raspberry Jam                     20 pints

Strawberry Jam                    15 pints

whole raspberries                  3 Cups

Dehydrated:

11 sliced zucchini

What about that!  I'm pretty pleased with this years' canning and preserving.  My shelves are full, and I've been borrowing jars to finish up.  A few of my apple tree's are just waiting for a good frost to be ready, and then I'll dry cinnamon apple slices and possibly do some fruit leather.   It feels good to be so close to done!

I am blessed to live in an area and be in a position to grow a large garden.  In another month we'll dig over 100 pounds of potatoes, 20-30 pounds of carrots, about a dozen winter squash, a few pumpkins and around 10 lbs of onions to store in our storage room through the winter. 

Now....  with all that done, I'm ready to go out do dinner so I don't have to cook & clean up for a change!  :)  Whew!