Since the only cookbook reference I've read on canning stressed that botulism and failure were nearly inevitable......

And 62 jars of yummy pickles.....

And Val's completely gorgeous jars of stuff.........

Give lie to the cookbook that I read.....

Tell me more! I have obviously not been informed as to the features and benefits of this beautiful practice.

How'd you start? Where do you get produce? How do you find recipes and instructions? Is it good? Is it cost comparable to store bought? Must you start with organics? ( A bit out of our reach, right now.) Can you do it with mostly small and emotionally needy children in the house? Can you do it while a little more clumsy than most? Do you need a pressure cooker, or not? Is it expensive to start?

Right now, Texas peaches are about 90 cents a pound, plums, too. DH gets paid tomorrow, but I don't know how much money is budgeted for me. I have a one year old, and a four year old who sucks the air out of the room, most of the time. He starts school in two weeks, though.

Oh, and I've been checking off DG badges. I made cookies for the first time two weeks ago. I made a nylon lunchbag for my son, with a hand traced Darth Vader appliqued on, and star wars, too. It was good enough that his best friend's mom wants one for her kid, and my other son wants one. So does DH, and he usually treats my sewing like a perverse plague.

tia,
ari

Oh Tif... it is simple. Start with hot water bath canning stuff. Look around at garage sales etc for a hot water canner, and get going.

Peaches at $.90 lb? Grab a box... this will yeild 15 quarts of half peaches or 10 - 12 quarts of sliced peaches. This will help. (http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Canning/canning-peach-choices.html) Don't worry about organics just yet... cus then if you do mess up, you will loose your mind with the guilt. Can't have that... KWIM?

How'd you start?
I started canning, freezing, preserving, and making goat cheese with my mother when I was 4 years old or so. We had two apple trees, a hazelnut tree, a HUGE garden, chickens, goats, ducks, dogs, cats you name it, we had it at one time or another. I learned a lot... my mother is completely crazy now... but when I was little she was a lot like me. (What a sobering thought. :eyes: )

Where do you get produce? Well, I am a gleaner... I get produce where ever I can. Neighbors trees, my dads yard, my garden, the farmers market, CSA farms that I know I go and help clean out feilds and then trade for produce. I have even traded babysitting for produce to store. I start talking to people weeks early to get things, and I buy in bulk whenever I can. I start freezing in June, and I really don't stop working on preserving food until October (when I start Christmas gifts. LOL!) Each year I add something to my garden that we will use and I can store... like the currents. This year I bought the two plants and with in two years I will have enough to soak in sugar water and dry for our needs all year. I am working slowly on being as self sustainable as we can be... at least keeping our money out of the system... it is a slow process, but slowly but surely it is working. :hbeat: :smirk:

How do you find recipes and instructions?
Depends. I have many that are in my head. Like my peaches. I use a 1 to 4 ratio of sugar to water, but I also put in a little pineapple juice. My friend uses the same ratio, but with honey and more pineapple juice. I usually just get one from a friend at first, and then adjust it to my families needs (I even did a 3:1 ratio this year for sweeter things like sauce and I had never done that before). My applesauce I made up. I ran out of sugar so I put in apple juice concentrate that I had in the freezer, and then realised that that was the BEST sweetener I could add (and it was also organic!), so I have adjusted that recipe and just kept that as the sweetener.

Is it good?
It entirely depends on what I am making, how many times I have made it, what I have adjusted, and weather or not my guess was right. Peaches and applesauce I have down to a science now. (After 60 quarts of them this year you would hope so. ;) ) Other things it just depends. I don't can beans, I don't can a lot of jellies or jams. (Peach is different... but I buy organic strawberry jam for under $3 for a pint... I can't justify that in the organic berries and sugar.)

Is it cost comparable to store bought?
Depends on what it is. Jam... like I said is usually a no. Esp if you buy a lot of organics. I just go to Trader Joes and buy it on sale. Completely cheaper... but my applesauce? I get that (which is ALL organic and local) for about $.60 a quart or less... so HELL YES it is cheaper than store bought... even WITH the special tuperware I have had to buy Alex so he can still take applesauce in his lunches. ;)

Must you start with organics? ( A bit out of our reach, right now.) Its me. Am I EVER going to tell you that you HAVE to do something one way? Of course not. :D Start with what is cheap so if you screw it up (or make something your family won't eat) you don't have tons of guilt over it... as you get better at it, start getting things that you will be happier with, including organics. (Like my peaches this year. I got three boxes of organic peaches for $18 a box. That made 25 quarts of sliced peaches with some left over, and I wasted ONE peach total... from all three boxes. Now I call that worth it. :D )

Can you do it with mostly small and emotionally needy children in the house?
Again, it depends on what you are doing. I wouldn't try canning chicken with out a pressure cooker and a babysitter... but applesauce? Or peaches (which are more time consuming)? Or even pickles? Why not? You just have to give them something to do. Some bakers clay (considering you have to heat the jars already) and they will be all set. Or perhaps make a set of salt playdough before hand and give that to Little Sam. Salt dough she can even eat and it won't matter... and she will have a blast while you get stuff done. Peanut butter clay (http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Peanut%20butter%20clay) was what I used to make Alex so I could get stuff done. Wonderful stuff, excepting your kids don't have an allergy.

Can you do it while a little more clumsy than most? If I can do it with these preggo fingers droping everything in sight... heck yeah. :lol:

Do you need a pressure cooker, or not? Is it expensive to start? Start with stuff you only do with a hot water bath canner. And then it won't be near as expensive to start. Pressure canners and the things that go with them can be much more spendy and they are rarely necessary for fruits etc. Use the freezer for everything else for now. And never can beans.

Ok... few... I just wrote a book. lol...

I don't have good answers, because, as I noted, DH did the canning, not me. I made strawberry jam one year with my grandma, but I was 14 or 15 and I don't remember how, really. I also remember my parents canning things from the garden. I've seen it done enough not to be terribly intimidated by it, but I've only ever seen hot water canning, and I'm not familiar with pressure canning. Someday, I hope to be doing that, but first I have to actually get a handle on gardening....

DH first canned pickles with his grandma a few years back, and unfortunately, most of them went bad for some reason...Then last year, he canned pickles with his boss (his brothers found that hilarious, for some reason, but they kept asking for more jars of pickles). So this year, he canned some more with his boss and a couple other people from work, and then did another bushel at home.

He did not get organics, I'm pretty sure. I'd intended to plant some cukes this year, so we could have pesticide-free produce, but it didn't happen; however, I'm still thrilled to have the ones he got because we've discovered it's really hard to find pickles that don't contain food coloring and preservative of some kind in them. It really was not a difficult process, just time consuming. DH let the kids pick the flowers off the dill and scrub a few pickles (they quickly lost interest there). Of course, he did a whole bushel of pickles. If you just did a couple pecks, it wouldn't take all day, and it would give you the chance to get the hang of it, then you could decide if you wanted to do more next year and start planning ;).

Find another book that's a little more encouraging! :lol:

Go for it...try a batch of something and see if you like it. You can always do more if you do, or just shelve it if you don't.

I'm starting this year in earnest. I first learned a bunch of years ago, just from trial and error - no one in my family cans anything. I just did applesauce, and I have made lots of tinctures and syrups with fresh and dried herbs.

I am just using my stockpot with either stones or a folded towel in the bottom. I have jars (they also have them quite cheaply, with lids/bands, at Big Lots - $6 a dozen, but I have never used these to can - will try some this year!) so I just buy new bands/lids (and you can reuse the bands, mine are just all rusty). I need a jar grabber thingie, which is cheap. So if you have a big stockpot, that should be all you need. If you love it you can keep an eye open for a used, official canning pot with rack and all that, or a pressure canner (I saw a huge Mirro at the hardware store for $100! yeouch!). But you don't need one. They are handy...but not necessary.

lauren, you make it sound so simple! what do you mean, a folded towel or rocks in the bottom? if you have the chance to explain step-by-step, i'd appreciate it! :) and thanks for that funny excerpt on my other thread about the mdc nutrition forum!!! :)
alycia

Thank you for that site with the pictures. I am such a visual learner now. I wonder why they did the site- to learn to do web pages? It looked like an auntie, of some form or another.

This will have to wait a few weeks. Really, when I say "suck air out of room," I mean screaming basket case. He sort of lives "Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired" so I see where he's coming from, but I can't do anything right now that takes sustained attention.

He started school on Thursday. It was incredible. It was thre first time in 4 1/2 years that I didn't have someone have at least one screaming melt down by noon. I was so relaxed I was slurring. It was amazing. It even helped my marriage.

Hungry, b/c he's so wound up he won't. eat. Angry b/c he's the middle kid and really, really, really, trying to be a fascist control freak. It doesn't work well when you are four year old. He has had completely unhinged freakouts b/c I poured the milk before I made the pb& j. Lonely b/c he's incredibly particular, and has two, maybe three, friends. And they live across town, and are both in wealthy families that take long summer vacations, and are in preschool, with a nanny, too. IE: not available. And the third one spends an unbearable amount of time at doctor's offices. Tired, b/c he gets up when the first one gets up, gets up when the sun comes up, and winds up, and stays wound up. It's like beating an octopus onto a rock to get him into bed. He's like this walking poster for "HALT."

So, he now goes to school two days a week. I have catching up to do on really basic little things- class registration, paying bills, sewing projects that are promised, and then..

Oh, and one worm bin. I have the supplies- an old plastic tote, a roll of duct tape ( ?$- dh got it) $1.48 of fiberglass screening, and the sunday paper. Worms will run $2.50/dozen. I'd photograph it and post it, were it possible.


I do have glass jars, though. California peaches are 87 cents a pound right now. Texas peaches are 97 cents a pound. Amazing?

thanks for the encouragement,
ari

I spent the day canning off and on. I'm up to my eyeballs in produce.

I learned from the internet and asking questions of experts (my mom and MIL).

Most of all, I suggest finding recipes on the internet. Specifically those from county/state extensions. Also, many folks don't realize the invaluable resource of one's county extention office for all things relating to preserving foods. Their assistance in answering questions is free and they know specifics relating to your location.

So.....get off your duff :smirk: and go to a thrift store and find some jars (the best way to find cheap jars). You can buy new lids at the store and bands if you need them, too.

I scored local peaches and nectarines for $7.50 for 25 POUNDS, as well as 25# boxes of pears for 5.99.

Apples: Free. They're in my yard. :)

Start with what local produce would you like to eat in the winter/off season and go from there. Plums, apples, peaches, berries, etc.

Jam is a wonderful way to start. I make both freezer jam and canned. I prefer freezer. It's fresher tasting.

I could go on and on and can point you to some great websites, too. LMK.

:)

One has to love a thread that uses the words bushel and peck.

I heart you all.

I simply heart you all.