So, in an effort to capture the local harvest, the free food from my Dad's garden, the blueberry season and as a hedge against inflation, I have begun canning (again). I canned years ago with my mother, when my kids were little. Home canned tomatoes are to die for -- they make the best soup, sauce, and pasta you will ever have. But, except for a few green tomatoes, I have not found many to can. Here is my list of what I have put away so far this past month:
20 pints of corn
20 pints of white acre peas
a few pints of chicken and chicken soup (have been a vegetarian before, and probably will be again, but I still eat some meat now)
a few pints of butternut squash soup
a few pints of okra, tomatoes, squash and corn (with some onion and peppers)
6-10 pints or half pints of the following:
dill pickles
bread and butter pickles
sweet pickle chips
pickle relish
homemade ketchup
homemade mustard (not local, just a hankering for some coarse ground spicy mustard, and ended up with A LOT)
corn cob jelly (I have always wanted to make corn cob jelly, and it is very good)
orange marmalade
citrus ginger spread (this was great on carrots)
peach jam
peach honey (you cook down the peels and strain, then add sugar -- a nice addition to tea or drizzled on pancakes)
blueberry jam
datil pepper jelly
green tomato salsa (much better than it sounds)
The only places I found to buy a large canner was the evil WalMart, George's Hardware, and online. Since I had a couple of bushels of corn waiting on me, I went to Georges, in an effort to keep my money in town. Cost me around $150. I could have saved around $50, I found out later, if I had ordered it online. What I pay for instant gratification and supporting the local economy.
So this year, with the cost of equipment, jars, and building shelves, I am not saving any money, and probably increasing my consumption of sugar (all that jam!)
If anyone knows where I can get green beans, tomatoes, wild plums, wild blackberries, peaches, pineapple pears or any other good local produce, let me know! And if anyone wants advice, recipes, or moral support while putting up food, let me know! It's fun, but a LOT of work. But looking at those 200 jars is giving me a very good feeling...
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