Every spring we make strawberry freezer jam. It's SO yummy :D

I tried to can blueberries and blackberries (followed the directions in the ball canning kit, meticulously boiled everything, etc.) and when I opened them three months later they tasted like alcohol. :(

So, I freeze almost everything now, but we've never had our own "crops" (I do pick your own and it's more of a novelty than an frugal adventure). This year I hope to have some of my OWN crops and especially want to learn to make bread and butter pickles because I could eat them for the rest of my life LOL

I only have canned jam type things. I am a lazy girl and I freeze everything else, but this year Sawyer's grandmother gave us several boxes of canning jars and I am going to actually CAN our veggies, lol. We'll see how long that resolution lasts ;)
I will still freeze our berries, I love frozen berries because I just grab a few from the bag at a time for throwing into recipes or munching on cold.

I have canned lots of different things over the year. Well, only fruit and tomatoes and various pickles and jams, because they're all you can do without a pressure-canner. But I'm not doing fruit anymore because noone really likes it. And I only do any kind of canning if it's with free or very-cheap produce. I froze a ton of peaches last year to make peach cobblers and jam because like I said, noone really likes canned fruit around here.

Kerri

My blog last summer was all about my first ever garden and canning adventures. Your welcome to visit at www.xanga.co/simplespirit Use the box near the bottom to brose by date. I started breaking ground in march 06 and kept a picture journal of both my garden and food preservation efforts.

this summer: Chickens!!!!

I can applesauce (at least 6 varieties peach, blackberry, rasberry and tons of strawberry esp (http://www.amitymama.com/vb/yummy-food-forum/309069-my-first-cookalong-strawberry-applesauce.html)), peaches, strawberry jam, pickles, tomato sauce, and a few other things every year, but those are our yearlies. ;)

We freeze blueberries, strawberries, zucchini, Yellow squash, and other things that because they are gone I can't remember. lol...

I've only done strawberry jam. But it is so easy and so yummy, maybe I need to expand my repertoire.

We freeze corn, peppers, strawberries, and blueberries.

We can spaghetti sauce, salsa, applesauce, saurkraut, pickles, strawberry and grape jam. We also have canned homemade grape juice, but seem to have a problem with the seals popping on them.

I do everything that does not require a pressure cooker.

Peaches - halves, slices, sauce, jam, and butter, sweet and sour
Pears - same as above
Apples - sauce and butter
pickles - sweet, bread and butter, dill
relish - corn
grape - juice
cherries - pitted whole

I actually don't really like doing jam. It is easy, but. . . that's just a lot of sugar

I grew up learning to can from the time I was four or five years old. I hope that my children learn to can as well.

Last summer, my brother picked off all the blackberries from the portion of his neighbor's blackberry bush that came into his yard and made blackberry jam. It's just what we do.

Tanya, would you share your salsa canning recipe?
We moved away from the US this winter and you can't buy decent salsa here. I desperately need to learn to can my own (neccessary fresh produce is not available year round where I am at so making fresh is not an option).

Is it possible to use recycled food jars (not ball canning jars) to can? I've been saving them for something (no plan, just wanted to reuse before I recycle), and I was wondering about canning applesauce or jam in them.

You absolutely can use the same cans/jars and rings - you just need new seals (which you need to replace every time anyway) :)

Rebecca - two things. One, I want to see your trees :D Two, when the time comes, would you consider doing a can-along? With your gift of photography and your gift of canning, I think it would be a perfect union ;)

I've done tomatoes, pasta sauce, salsa, jam, peaches, pears, dilly beans and dill pickles. I freeze everything else.

You absolutely can use the same cans/jars and rings - you just need new seals (which you need to replace every time anyway) :)


OK. I get that. But what about jars from spaghetti sauce, applesauce, honey, etc, that you purchase from the store. They don't have rings, but just a screw on lid. ??

You absolutely can use the same cans/jars and rings - you just need new seals (which you need to replace every time anyway) :)

Rebecca - two things. One, I want to see your trees :D Two, when the time comes, would you consider doing a can-along? With your gift of photography and your gift of canning, I think it would be a perfect union ;)

I'd be happy to, but I also bow to Val as being more gifted in both areas.

OK. I get that. But what about jars from spaghetti sauce, applesauce, honey, etc, that you purchase from the store. They don't have rings, but just a screw on lid. ??

I use those for freezing things, so that they can be reheated in that container. If it's really got an ooky lid, I'll add a layer of saran wrap and/or foil underneat the screw-lid.

Sometimes you can luck out and find a canning jar in a mass-manufactured item. However, most of the time, they're standard jars and you may be hard pressed to find a ring that would fit. But, in the Tightwad Gazette she says she's used them many times with good results. I think the key is just finding the rings to fit those jars because you need new seals for sure.

I'd be happy to, but I also bow to Val as being more gifted in both areas.

Fine, then both of ya ;)

I'm just getting started. :D Just made elderberry jelly last year for the first time. I found low-sugar recipes and used the Pomona's low-sugar pectin and it came out delicious. (I made some full sugar too, just to learn how to do it right the first time!)

We made naturally fermented pickles - oh that was fun. Cukes in a crock of salt water, garlic and dill - cover (submerge cover) and let ferment for 4-6 weeks - we still have a jar of those! They are really healthy for you too.

We froze blueberries last year and this year I am planning to expand to picking our own strawberries and blackberries as well. I swear we will need to pick about 80-100 pounds of fresh berries to get us through the year with smoothies! :eek: I don't know if we will make that, but we will try.

I've done brandied peaches and various jams. I played around with the low-sugar pectin recently, and made a raspberry jam sweetened with half sugar, half stevia. It wasn't too sweet like store-bought jam. We really liked it - it tasted more like fruit then sugar.

I try new things every year...I can spiced peaches, pickles, dilly beans, pickled okra, all kinds of jams (raspberry, peach, pear, blueberry), pepper jelly, salsa, coleslaw, ...that's about it.

I havea BIG dedicated freezer, and freezing is easier! But I can more every year.

I am SO SO SO stoked. I found another CSA (the first one I called, and emailed, repeatedly is now sold out :rolleyes:). The killer part is - they have a pick your own in ADDITION to the CSA that they just let you go out into the field and harvest what you want!!!!!!!!!! :cuc: :cuc: :cuc: :cuc: It's part of our CSA fee. OMG. I am positively GIDDY at the prospect of this. Totally organic - peas, berries, herbs, flowers, EVERYTHING! :cuc:

So, I'm TOTALLY going to be bugging you guys about preservation ;)

Please do. It will keep me on track this fall when Logan starts moving around and crawling etc. :cuc:

Rebecca :heart:

I am SO SO SO stoked. I found another CSA (the first one I called, and emailed, repeatedly is now sold out :rolleyes:). The killer part is - they have a pick your own in ADDITION to the CSA that they just let you go out into the field and harvest what you want!!!!!!!!!! :cuc: :cuc: :cuc: :cuc: It's part of our CSA fee. OMG. I am positively GIDDY at the prospect of this. Totally organic - peas, berries, herbs, flowers, EVERYTHING! :cuc:

So, I'm TOTALLY going to be bugging you guys about preservation ;)

Can you share the name and info on it? :)

I have done
apple butter
pepper jelly
sugar free strawberry jam (for my grandma)
greenbeans (w pressure cooker)
salsa

Would love to try more things this summer if time and budget allow

i do freezer jam every year and freeze applesauce, spaghetti sauce, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, onions,chives, and peas. we can tomatoes, beans, and peaches.