Anyone canning/freezing/drying/otherwise storing food yet?

I started on pasta sauce, pesto & drying basil this weekend. Today I need to buy salt so I can start on pickles and relish. I'm also making mustard, drying hot peppers and canning more pasta sauce. I have a huge bunch of basil and I'm torn on whether to dry it or make more freezer pesto. I could eat basil all year long.

I'm calling a local orchard for prices on bushels of peaches and apples once they're ready to pick.

Tell me about your plans for putting up food.

Yay! One of my favorite topics.

We are getting tons of greens from our CSA. I blanched and froze some spinach that we couldn't polish off. I also tried freezing some raw, and freezing some beet greens raw. I use them both in smoothies so I'm not sure the texture will matter. We will see how that goes, and then I'll decide what to do with whatever else is extra in coming weeks.

I'd love to pick some local strawberries, which are almost completely done...so that may be out. Sigh.

I am totally planning on going for 40-50 lb of blueberries from the local picking place. They may be ready in as soon as a couple of weeks. :D I can't wait. I'm just freezing them flat in ziplocs and storing for smoothies during winter.

I have 14 cherry tomato plants. :eek: I am planning on cutting them in half and dehydrating.

Thai basil is in, in the garden...I should decide what to do with it. I didn't do pesto basil this year, but may yet pick up some seeds and throw them in the ground. It's been such a cool, rainy summer that I may as well, because I don't even know if I'll end up with tomatoes at this rate.

I've just done jam so far. We'll see what the garden does or what I can get for free or very cheap and then decide what else I do!

Today:
We went blackberry picking in the a.m. 1.5 gallons more in the freezer.
Bread & Butter Pickles
Mustard- omg! I'm never purchasing mustard again!
Pasta sauce
pesto
ginger ice cubes
peanut butter

blanched & froze:
zucchini
green beans
sweet corn

Went on a trip 12 miles away and purchased free range bison from the owner (23lbs), 10lbs blueberries, tomatoes & potatoes. The bison farm is 800 acres, nearly 300 head of bison. Amazing. I'm in awe.

I feel like I'm forgetting something.

Tomorrow I'm making bread and that's it for a few days. :lol:

I have put up collards and New Zealand spinach... today is summer squash and zukes.

I made Strawberry Jam. I usually freeze corn, beans, maybe squash. I'm hoping to can Applesauce this year, but some many apple trees were damaged in the early spring, that I'm not sure I can afford it. :)

Jeni

Wow you guys! You are a good month ahead of me. I am getting ready though... going to take the next few weeks off to get some around the house projects done, and then start getting foods for storage. I planted squash this year to put up for winter (delicata... yay!) and I have a friend who is doing Zucchini, so we will share. I will have eggs this winter to share, and plenty of greens which I am just planting now. My strawberries were unhappy this year, so we only got a bit, but I am ok with that. I am about ready to pick my blueberries and blackberries for the season. The raspberries are starting to bloom again... I want to dry some herbs this year now that I have them so established... perhaps making some mint teas. I will have to find a good mix to give away for Christmas. Mint tea... mint cocoa... yeah... that sounds good.

My peas just finished. We ate all those. My beans are getting ready and MAN will I have plenty to put up this year. Esp with my CSA. My tomatoes are going CRAZY! I will have plenty to put up of those and plenty to share as well.

Anyway... good luck ladies! I will be working with you shortly!

Val

I have put up New Zealand spinach...
I just have to LOL at this. New Zealand spinach is sooo yummy. The best I have ever had. :)

It is winter here..I have nothing to contribute except my dreams of ordering compost this week. Fingers crossed:)

In the last couple of days I've put up 40 quarts of grean beans, 12 quarts of tomato juice, 24 pints of dill pickles and 18 pints of bread and butter pickles.

I also shredded 50 cups of zucchini yesterday, and put them in 2 cup measurements in freezer bags, so that all I have to do is thaw out a bag to have bread or soup, etc through the winter. I've flash frozen a bunch of yellow squash too.

They ate all the peas, and I think will eat all the corn. I think the butternut and acorn squash I might just leave packed the way I have them. I have them in boxes, single layer and then thick layer of newspaper, then another layer. Not sure. I was going to can and freeze the first yield, and then do this with the second.

I've still got to freeze the okra and can tomatoes, pizza and spaghetti sauce. I don't like canning tomatoes. :P and it just always boggles my mind how many tomatoes you need!

Lauren, how are you going to do those cherries and how will you use them later?

Marina - I have one of those plug-in dehydrators, the plastic kind - not sure how well it works, but I plan to find out. I plan on slicing them in half and drying them in that, or building screens with wood frames for drying.

I was inspired by Kingsolver's book, yet again - she stores the dried tomatoes in jars, and then rehydrates them for use, or eats them dried on/in salads, etc.

But honestly - it's been so wet and cool and cloudy, I don't know if we will have tomatoes at all this year. I am counting two per plant right now, and they're green and not ripening. And that's over half my garden! The squashes and zukes are flowering, but not producing yet.

I forgot about the herbs. I have already started: elder flowers from the elderberry bushes (which are HUGE this year and doing great). The other herbs I am growing: lemon balm and catnip, and calendula. For calendula I just keep deadheading the flowers, ripping off the petals, letting them dry, then adding them to a jar to later infuse in oil and make into calendula cream. Herbs I'm wildcrafting from our land (picking, drying in bunches, then removing the medicinal parts to store for tea or tincture later): yarrow, rose hips, red clover, coltsfoot. I had lobelia but it didn't do too well and then the chickens dug it up. *sigh* I also want to make I-ching sticks from the yarrow stalks. :) Fun!

So far, I have frozen tomatoes (I didn't have enough come off at one time in my garden to can them).

I have 3 peach trees, last week one of them exploded, so I have made 3 batches of peach jam and given away a lot of peaches. I have one tree ready this week so a collander full of peaches on my counter waiting for canning.

Next month I will be freezing corn. And, hopefully making grape jelly.

I did 11 pints of refrigerator pickles (sweet ones) and grilled up five large servings of summer squash, which went into freezer bags.

I have a gajillion green tomatoes. Not one red tomato. Not one.

Next week I will get 25 lbs. of blueberries to freeze

In a couple weeks I will get one - 2 bushels of peaches that I will make some jam with, eat a ton of, and then puree and freeze the rest for smoothies.

I will buy several bushels of apples and put up about 100 qts. of apple sauce since this is one of my kiddos favorite foods.

I will buy 10 lbs of sour cherries for jam

I have 18 tomato plants so I will be canning and freezing a bunch of tomatoes and I will also be grating and freezing zuchinni as well.

One of my favorite topics, too. :)

So far, we did U-pick organic strawberries and I made a batch of freezer jam. Raspberries are ripe and I need to go pick those, but I'm hedging b/c I don't want to pay for them (and take the time to pick) since we've got bushels and bushels of wild blackberries on our property. Raspberries are my fav., but I'd rather save my $$ and walk out my door to pick, yk? Our few raspberry vines are producing well. We also have a few blueberry bushes, but not enough to put up.

Last Sunday, we picked about 40 pounds of cherries at the home of an elderly patient of Jay's. It was a lovely evening and I even picked a couple pints of raspberries there, too. Yum!

I spent the week putting up the cherries. Mostly frozen and dehydrated, but also made a batch of freezer jam. I've got a few more pounds and I plan to do some leather.

From the garden, I've also dehydrated zucchini. Oh my!!! They taste like potato chips!!

The peas from the garden have all been eaten off the vine...mostly by the kids. The beans are flowering and I'm anxiously waiting for fruit...same w/tomatoes.

We've harvested volunteer potatoes and eaten those and have more to come.

Peaches, pears and nectarines: Those will be ready around labor day and I hope to do what I did last year. I picked up 50 pounds of pears and 125 or so pounds of peaches/nectarines from another part of the state when I was visiting family.

Re: Basil. No way I would dry it. It's easy to buy good, organic bulk dehydrated basil. I would certainly make freezer pesto. I love to do it and it's treasured around this house.

Only thing I am doing right now because life has taken an unfortunate turn is I am going to make peach jam today (peaches from my dad's orchard). I have been gone 3+ weeks from my garden so I have no idea what is going on out there!

I had to ask about mustard though. Please DO tell more. I don't have a pressure canner (if that is what it is called) so I only do the boil method. Can I make mustard like that???? Anyone have a recipe to share? Does it really taste better than your average 65 cent bottle???

Put up a case and a half of white beets from local organic farm. Blanched and frozen.

Ate one and froze one 13X18 inch pan of peach/cloudberry bars... OMG SO good! I wish I could share these all with you guys. I am tempted to go and get more berries just cus these bars were SO tasty!

Picked 3 or 4 pints of blackberries, but haven't done anything with them yet. Will bag and freeze later tonight. Will pick more later this week. Have to wait for the rest to ripen.

Picked 17lbs of blueberries (and then bought 10lbs extra from the same place) and so am washing and getting ready to freeze those right now.

Tomatoes, squash, and beans are still coming in small spurts. No big treasure that we can't eat in one day... But I will be buying a box of green beans for freezing from the organic farm this Thursday when I get my CSA box. I will be blanching and freezing those.

Freestone peaches aren't ready here yet. Another two or three weeks and I will be doing peaches.

Apples arn't ready either. Same time frame as peaches... another couple weeks. My aunts tree is fit to burst, my dads isn't as fruitful this year. So I will have enough, but just so.

I am drying dill, and making freezer pesto out of the basil right now. I am harvesting (daily) my garden salad greens, and have planted a winter crop of beets (for greens), romaine lettuce, and mesculin mix along with a second round of bush peas.

Rubarb is about ready...

Garlic I am already picking and using right out of the ground. Omgoodness... yummy!

I missed cherries this year I think... I will have to check our local stand. Those would be neat to can... my mom always used to can them and we would eat them all year round. I think that is the only thing I missed this year.

Val

We bought a bag of cherries earlier this season... grown in Sedro Wooley. I was thinking of you and Amy when I bought them. You two are lucky to live in the land of strawberries and cherries!

No peaches or apples here this year. A late frost killed them. :vent:

We kindof do... more like we live in the land of Apples, and then strawberrys and cherries can grow here too. lol! Across the mountians really produce all the cherries and peaches etc. I love living here though... most of the produce you could ever want is within 100 miles of us. I love it!

I am sorry about your apples! I would teleport them to ya if I could. We have more than we could ever use. :)

Val ~ Greetings from the land of apples. You are welcome here... bring bags.

I may have missed it somewhere in this thread...but can someone tell me how to make freezer pesto?? Please??

The farm where we get our CSA has bulk pickling cukes and pesto basil ready to buy...was thinking of getting basil and making freezer pesto. We do the pickles in real brine w/garlic and flowering dill heads...they are SO zingy and delicious!! I am going to get a 1/2 peck to pickle w/Katie this week. I will be happy to post the recipe if anyone else is interested.

I may have missed it somewhere in this thread...but can someone tell me how to make freezer pesto?? Please??

The farm where we get our CSA has bulk pickling cukes and pesto basil ready to buy...was thinking of getting basil and making freezer pesto. We do the pickles in real brine w/garlic and flowering dill heads...they are SO zingy and delicious!! I am going to get a 1/2 peck to pickle w/Katie this week. I will be happy to post the recipe if anyone else is interested.
I would LOVE the dill pickle recipe...pretty please.

Me too! I did bread and butter pickles and I still haven't touched a single jar of them. :blush: We like dill around here.

Val

These are SO good - "real" dill pickles as I remember them, floating in barrels in the New York delis of my youth. ;) Zingy and yummy.

One tip I learned the hard way: a 1/2 peck is a lot of pickling cukes (I think I tripled the recipe, though they were a wee bit salty). They decompose quickly out of the fridge (before pickling) and unless your fridge is close to empty, they won't fit in there. So, buy your cukes the same day you get them fermenting!

Here's the recipe, from Sandor Katz' book, Wild Fermentations:

for 1 gallon (4 liters)

3 to 4 lb cukes (small to med)
3/8 cup (6 TAB) sea salt
3 to 4 heads of fresh flowering dill heads or 3 to 4 Tab of any form of dill (fresh or dried leaf/seeds)
2 to 3 HEADS garlic, peeled
1 handful fresh grape, cherry, oak and/or horseradish leaves if available
1 pint black peppercorns

Rinse cukes, make sure blossoms are removed. Scrape off any remains at the blossom end (imparts bitterness).

Dissolve sea salt in .5 gallon water to create brine

Clean crock and place dill, garlic, fresh leaves, peppercorns

Place cukes in crock

Pour brine over cukes and way down (see above--can also use a plate or boiled rock)

Store in a cool place

Check crock daily. Skim any bloom from the surface. If there's mold, rinse the plate and weight (if using--I never had any mold problems).

Depending on the temp, the cukes will be pickled in one to four weeks.

Move to fridge to slow down fermentation.

*

You need to store them in the fridge after this...bear this in mind. We did ours in a 5 gal, food-grade plastic bucket, then stuffed widemouth quart mason jars w/them, pouring the brine over them.

K always asks to drink the brine...with these pickles I can let her! :D

These are SO good - "real" dill pickles as I remember them, floating in barrels in the New York delis of my youth. ;) Zingy and yummy.

One tip I learned the hard way: a 1/2 peck is a lot of pickling cukes (I think I tripled the recipe, though they were a wee bit salty). They decompose quickly out of the fridge (before pickling) and unless your fridge is close to empty, they won't fit in there. So, buy your cukes the same day you get them fermenting!

Here's the recipe, from Sandor Katz' book, Wild Fermentations:

for 1 gallon (4 liters)

3 to 4 lb cukes (small to med)
3/8 cup (6 TAB) sea salt
3 to 4 heads of fresh flowering dill heads or 3 to 4 Tab of any form of dill (fresh or dried leaf/seeds)
2 to 3 HEADS garlic, peeled
1 handful fresh grape, cherry, oak and/or horseradish leaves if available
1 pint black peppercorns

Rinse cukes, make sure blossoms are removed. Scrape off any remains at the blossom end (imparts bitterness).

Dissolve sea salt in .5 gallon water to create brine

Clean crock and place dill, garlic, fresh leaves, peppercorns

Place cukes in crock

Pour brine over cukes and way down (see above--can also use a plate or boiled rock)

Store in a cool place

Check crock daily. Skim any bloom from the surface. If there's mold, rinse the plate and weight (if using--I never had any mold problems).

Depending on the temp, the cukes will be pickled in one to four weeks.

Move to fridge to slow down fermentation.

*

You need to store them in the fridge after this...bear this in mind. We did ours in a 5 gal, food-grade plastic bucket, then stuffed widemouth quart mason jars w/them, pouring the brine over them.

K always asks to drink the brine...with these pickles I can let her! :D

just wanted to bump this as I am going to pickle today with your recipe Lauren:)

just wanted to bump this as I am going to pickle today with your recipe Lauren:)

Cool! Let me know how it turns out! :D Man, I missed pickles and picking berries this year.

Oh YUM!

So not fair, Linda! :lol:

Oh YUM!

So not fair, Linda! :lol:
well, I had a winter too:)
don't hold your breath~my success has not been measured yet. I'll let you know how successful I am:)